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NASA INVITES PUBLIC TO DISCUSS “WHAT MATTERS NEXT” AT TEDxNASA

HAMPTON, Va. — NASA is inviting the public to join agency leaders and innovators from a variety of fields on Nov. 4 to discuss “What Matters Next.” Discussions and presentations on the theme will be the centerpiece of the second TEDxNASA, a daylong event modeled on the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conferences that bring together leading thinkers to create a dialogue on important global challenges.

NASA’s Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace, both in Hampton, Va., are sponsoring TEDxNASA at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in nearby Newport News. It is free and open to the public and will also be streamed on the TEDxNASA website. Registration opens on Oct. 11 and runs through Oct. 24. For more information on the event and how to register or view, visit:

http://tedxnasa.com

“At TEDxNASA we’re able to bring together artists and engineers, rocket scientists and musicians,” said Lesa Roe, director of Langley. “Together we can create extraordinary conversations about what matters next and ideas to help us meet world challenges.”

More than 20 top speakers — focusing on education, innovation, family, technology, literature art and NASA — will share inspiring and thought-provoking stories as they do at a full TED event. The challenge of those presenting is to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less, based on the theme. NASA’s Chief Technologist Bobby Braun and Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, are among those slated to speak. Green will present at the same time NASA’s EPOXI spacecraft is flying by and snapping close-up images of comet Hartley 2, more than 11 million miles away from Earth.

Last year’s TEDxNASA event attracted international best-selling author Mitch Albom, Carnegie Hall humorist and guitar virtuoso Mike Rayburn and Virginia Tech robotic pioneer Dennis Hong, among others.

Reporters interested in attending the event should contact Kathy Barnstorff at kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading.” Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. Conference presentations are made available for free at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Sir Richard Branson, and many others. The “x” in TEDxNASA indicates it is an independently organized TED event.

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    Press Release – FAA Proposes $530,250 Civil Penalty For Aviation Technical Services

    For Immediate Release
    November 19, 2010

    SEATTLE – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $530,250 civil penalty against Aviation Technical Services, Inc. (ATS), an aviation repair station in Everett, Wash., for allegedly failing to follow approved procedures while maintaining 14 Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s.

    Specifically, the FAA alleges ATS failed to follow Southwest’s Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Program (CAMP) during work to accomplish five Airworthiness Directives to detect fuselage skin cracks. ATS used shortened “cradles” to support the aircraft at two of three specified points while they were off their wheels, a deviation from the Southwest CAMP.

    ATS alsoallegedly failed to install and monitor load-measuring cells to ensure the maximum loads did not exceed limits for the engines, wings and horizontal stabilizer locations while the aircraft were suspended in the cradle. The alleged violations occurred between January 2007 and March 2008.

    “We have the highest standards in place to ensure safety,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, “Maintenance work has to meet those standards wherever it is performed.”

    Aviation Technical Services has 30 days from receipt of the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the agency.

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    GPO LAUNCHES FACEBOOK PAGE

    11news09GPO LAUNCHES FACEBOOK PAGE
    WASHINGTON—The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has launched a Facebook page in an effort to continue to use social media as way of increasing transparency and engage with the public on the workings of this critically important agency of our Government. GPO’s Facebook page will feature announcements, press releases, agency job listings, photos, videos and a link to the award- winning Government Book Talk blog. GPO joins the White House, National Archives & Records Administration, Library of Congress and other Federal agencies on Facebook. GPO also utilizes other social media tools, such as Twitter and YouTube, to interact with Federal agencies, the library community and the public.
    Link to GPO’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/US?Government?Printing? Office/162592897126454?v=wall
    GPO maintains a Facebook account to share information with the public about agency activities. Please review all polices under the information section on the page. All official information can be found and verified through the agency’s official Web site: www.gpo.gov.
    With 2,300 employees, GPO is the Federal Government’s primary resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government in digital and tangible forms. GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies. In addition to publication sales, GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through GPO’s Federal Digital System (www.fdsys.gov) and through partnerships with approximately 1,220 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program.

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    Press Release: FAA Proposes $295,750 Civil Penalty Against Skywest Airlines

    faa
    faa

    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $295,750 civil penalty against SkyWest Airlines, Inc. of St. George, Utah, for allegedly violating DOT drug and alcohol testing regulations.

    The FAA alleges SkyWest failed to include more than 150 safety?sensitive employees in its random drug testing pool. Further, SkyWest allegedly failed to receive verified negative drug test results for two other employees before hiring one for, and transferring the other to, safety-sensitive positions.

    The FAA also alleges SkyWest subjected three employees who were not in safety-sensitive positions to post-accident drug tests that are only applicable to safety-sensitive employees, and improperly cancelled a return-to-duty test because it was not directly observed.

    SkyWest is scheduled to have an informal conference with the FAA this month to discuss the matter.

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    Press Release – FAA Proposes $664,000 Civil Penalty

    Press Release – FAA Proposes $664,000 Civil Penalty Against Parachute Center

    For Immediate Release
    October 12, 2010

    LOS ANGELES – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $664,000 civil penalty against William C. Dause, doing business as The Parachute Center of Acampo, Calif., for allegedly failing to perform required aircraft parts replacements and failing to comply with safety directives.

    “Putting parachutists at risk by neglecting to follow safety procedures is unacceptable,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood. “We expect aircraft operators to comply with our safety rules and will take enforcement action when they do not.”

    The FAA alleges that The Parachute Center operated a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter when critical parts were well past their life limits and without inspecting portions of the wings for corrosion.

    In all, the FAA alleges that The Parachute Center operated the aircraft on approximately 2,121 flights between March 21, 2008 and Nov. 4, 2009 with elevator control cables that were overdue for replacement and when the plane was not in compliance with Airworthiness Directives requiring visual inspections of the wing main spar, lower spar cap extensions and wing support strut for possible corrosion.

    The FAA also alleges that the company operated the aircraft on at least 500 flights between April 16, 2009 and Nov. 4, 2009 with aileron control cables that were overdue for replacement.

    “Passengers and crew have to be able to trust that an operator has done the right thing and has complied with all the rules,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “Safety and compliance are the right choices, every time.”

    The Parachute Center has 30 days from receipt of the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the agency.

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    NTSB FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2009 SB-09-11

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2009 SB-09-11

    NTSB ISSUES URGENT SAFETY RECOMMENDATION TO ADDRESS ENGINE THRUST ROLLBACK EVENTS ON B-777 AIRCRAFT

    Washington, DC – Following two engine thrust rollback events on Boeing 777 aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the National Transportation Safety Board issued an urgent safety recommendation today calling for the redesign of a Rolls- Royce engine component. The Safety Board also recommended that, after the redesign is completed, the new system be installed on all affected B-777 airplanes at the next maintenance check or within six months.

    These recommendations are being issued in response to the findings in two investigations – an accident and an incident – involving engine thrust rollbacks on Boeing 777-200ER airplanes powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 Series engines. In both cases a build-up of ice (from water normally present in all jet fuel) on the fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) restricted the flow of fuel to the engine, resulting in an uncommanded engine rollback.

    The first event, which is still being investigated by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), occurred on January 17, 2008, when a Boeing 777 experienced a dual engine rollback on final approach and crashed short of the runway at London’s Heathrow International Airport. One passenger was seriously injured, eight passengers and four of the flight crew sustained minor injuries; the airplane was substantially damaged.

    The second event occurred on November 26, 2008, when a Delta Air Lines Boeing 777 experienced a single engine rollback during cruise flight over Montana while en route from Shanghai to Atlanta. Normal operations resumed after the flight crew followed Boeing’s published procedure to recover engine performance; the airplane landed safely in Atlanta.

    Testing in support of the UK accident investigation led Boeing to develop procedures to help prevent ice accumulation, and to recover thrust in cases of ice blockage. As more information from the Delta rollback event was developed, Boeing modified the procedures, which became the basis of an airworthiness directive issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

    While the procedures may reduce the risk of a rollback in one or both engines due to FOHE ice blockage, they add complexity to flight crew operations, and the level of risk reduction is not well established. And because the recovery procedure requires a descent, the aircraft may be exposed to other risks such as rising terrain or hazardous weather, or the inability to achieve maximum thrust during a critical phase of flight, such as during a missed approach.

    Because of these hazards, the Safety Board has determined that the only acceptable solution to this safety vulnerability is a redesigned FOHE that would eliminate the potential of ice build-up. On February 23, 2009, Rolls-Royce indicated that a redesign of the FOHE was underway, and that they anticipated the redesign to be tested, certified and ready for installation within 12 months.

    “With two of these rollback events occurring within a year, we believe that there is a high probability of something similar happening again,” said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. “We are encouraged to see that Rolls-Royce is already working on a redesign, and we are confident that with the FAA and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) overseeing the process, this flight safety issue – even one as complex as this – will be successfully and expeditiously resolved.”

    The NTSB has made the following two recommendations to both the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency:

    Require that Rolls-Royce redesign the RB211 Trent 800 series engine fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) such that ice accumulation on the face of the FOHE will not restrict fuel flow to the extent that the ability to achieve commanded thrust is reduced.
    Once the fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) is redesigned and approved by certification authorities, require that operators of Boeing 777-200 airplanes powered by Rolls Royce RB211 Trent 800 series engines install the redesigned FOHE at the next scheduled maintenance opportunity or within 6 months after the revised FOHE design has been certificated, whichever comes first.

    The NTSB and AAIB will continue to work together closely on both of the rollback events as each of the investigations move forward.

    src: http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2009/090311.html

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  • Emergency: Honeywell Bendix Navigation Issue


    Emergency Notice
    Notice Number: NOTC2101
    Emergency Notification
    The FAA has been made aware of an issue with an update to a navigation database that became effective on 14 January 2010. To date, the known affected models are: Honeywell Bendix/King KLN 35, KLN 88, KLN 89, KLN 89B, KLN 90, KLN 90B, KLN 94, KLX 100, KLX 135, KLX 135A, KLN 900.

    *** URGENT SAFETY BULLETIN ***

    January 11, 2010

    Reference: Databases for KLN 35A/KLN 88/KLN 89/KLN 89B/KLN 90/KLN 90A/KLN90B/KLN 94/KLX 100/KLX 135/KLX 135A/KLN 900

    After production and distribution of the Cycle 1001 databases (effective date 14-Jan-2010),Honeywell was informed by our data supplier, Jeppesen, that the data file delivered to Honeywell contained incorrect Dynamic Magnetic Variations for all terminal and en route waypoint records.For that reason, it is imperative that the incorrect databases NOT be used for arrival, departure, or approach operations.

    Any of the following databases contain incorrect data that must be corrected before use:
    1. Cycle 1001 databases downloaded from Wingman Services prior to January 12th, 2010.
    2. Cycle 1001 databases on programmed media and received prior to January 12th, 2010.

    To fix this issue, a corrected database must be installed prior to the next flight. For all units except the KLN 94, refer to the applicable pilot’s guide for database update instructions. For operators using KLN 94 equipment who downloaded the Cycle 1001 database prior to 16 January 2010, please refer to Service Information Letter “Incorrect Dynamic Magnetic Variation Data on database cycle 1001” PN D201001000010.

    To obtain a corrected database:
    1. For customers with web distribution, download the new data file Cycle 1001 and load the new database in the unit.
    2. For customers with all other types of distribution, return the distribution media (except diskettes) to Wingman Services and a new Cycle 1001 will be sent back to be loaded into the unit.

    Note that if it cannot be determined whether the Cycle 1001 database falls within the categories listed above, or if there is any uncertainty about the correctness of the data, a corrected database should be installed.

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