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Rio Vista couple identified as victims killed in fiery Arizona plane crash
Police say 70-year-old Michael Reinath and 76-year-old Linda Gifford died in the Feb. 19 collision at Marana Regional Airport on the outskirts of Tucson. Reinath and Gifford lived in Rio Vista, California.
NTSB ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATIVE HEARING ON ASIANA FLIGHT 214
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board is convening a 2-day investigative hearing to discuss the ongoing investigation into the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 and to gather additional factual information. The hearing, which will be held December 10–11, 2013, at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center in Washington, DC, will focus on pilot awareness in highly automated aircraft, emergency response, and cabin safety. Parties participating in the investigative hearing will be announced at a later time.
Below is an update of the ongoing investigation. This is a factual update only and no interviews are being conducted.
• The investigator-in-charge and investigators from the Operations and Human Performance Group traveled to Korea and met with officials from Asiana Airlines and the KARAIB. While in Korea, investigators conducted numerous interviews with Asiana management and training personnel, observed Asiana procedures in a simulator and an exemplar aircraft, and gathered further documentation on airline training and policies.
• NTSB investigators from the Maintenance Group also traveled to Korea and reviewed the records for the accident airplane, including the maintenance that had been performed on the evacuation slides.
• The Survival Factors Group conducted an examination of the evacuation slide/raft systems at the manufacturer’s facility in New Jersey and is planning future testing of the systems. The group also re-examined the wreckage to gather additional information about the fire propagation and structural damage. Following that examination, the wreckage was sectioned and moved to a secure storage facility.
• Investigators and party members met in Seattle to examine the recorded flight data and compare it to the expected airplane systems operation. The Systems Group is currently developing a test plan for the mode control panel and the Vehicle Performance Group is finalizing the event simulation match.
Boeing Beats Airbus to Win Huge Plane Order
Boeing secures a landmark $18 billion deal with Turkish airline Pegasus for up to 200 jets, marking a major win after a challenging year.
FAA UPDATE: NextGen Research Agreement Moves Forward
June 18–The FAA and the European Commission concluded negotiations today on an agreement that will allow the U.S. and Europe to work together on research aimed at providing seamless air traffic services for aircraft flying between the two continents.
“Harmonization is the key to the future of air travel over the North Atlantic,” said FAA Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski, who signed a Memorandum of Consultations with Daniel Calleja, European Commission Director for Air Transport in Madrid. “This agreement allows us to work together to give the airlines a seamless transition between our airspaces.”
The goal of the agreement is to provide aircraft flying over the North Atlantic with consistent service in terms of avionics, communication protocols and procedures, and operational methods under NextGen and its European counterpart, the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR).
The agreement calls for 22 specific areas of cooperation. These areas include research on Data Comm, which will improve safety and efficiency by replacing voice communications with data communications, and System Wide Information Management (SWIM), an information platform that will allow FAA systems to speak to one another. Research will also be conducted on systems used by other parts of the aviation community, including the European Commission, the airlines, the military and the Department of Homeland Security. Collaborative research will also be done on emerging technologies such as 4-D Trajectory-Based Operations, which introduce the fourth dimension of time to the existing dimensions of latitude, longitude and altitude in an aircraft’s flight profile, meaning pilots and air traffic controllers will know when an aircraft will be at specific points along its flight path.
Today’s agreement, which was finalized in Madrid because Spain holds the current presidency of the European Union, replaces a Memorandum of Understanding reached between the FAA and the European Commission in 2007. That agreement allowed both sides to collaborate on basic strategies in the move toward NextGen and SESAR. This agreement calls for specific, joint research and development on NextGen/SESAR projects.
Woman fuming as man in front of her on plane reclines his seat—”sir please”
Reclining seats is a hot topic when it comes to discussion among airline passengers, and one woman’s reaction has sparked a conversation online.