|

Press Release – Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers Share Safety Data

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2010

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced a safety program that for the first time will integrate voluntary safety information self-reported by pilots and air traffic controllers. This data-sharing program will give the FAA a more complete picture of the national airspace system by collecting, assessing and reviewing safety events from the perspective of both pilots and air traffic controllers.

United Airlines and its pilots have the first agreement in place to participate in a demonstration program. The FAA expects to sign similar agreements with other carriers in the future.

“Safety is our number-one priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Having pilots and controllers provide information abut potential air safety problems will help us correct them before they become accidents.”

“This revolutionary program will give us an incredible amount of data that will help us find problems, make corrections and avoid incidents,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “I applaud air traffic controllers, pilots and airlines for their dedication to keeping our aviation system as safe as possible.”

For the first time, information from the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) and the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) will be merged, so input from both pilots and controllers can help guide safety decisions. The program will develop processes and policies to share and analyze relevant safety information in a non-punitive way, consistent with the basic principles of Safety Management Systems. These systems are widely used within the FAA and the aviation industry.

ASAP encourages aviation employees to voluntarily report safety information that may help identify potential precursors to accidents. The ASAP process resolves safety issues through corrective action rather than through punishment or discipline. Each program is based on a safety partnership that includes the FAA and the aviation operator, and usually includes a third party, such as the reporting employee’s labor organization. In today’s agreement, the airline’s labor organization is the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). Today, 73 air carriers have 169 ASAP programs for pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, and dispatchers.

ATSAP is an agreement between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) that is designed to foster a voluntary, cooperative, non-punitive environment for FAA air traffic employees to openly report safety concerns As a result of ATSAP, all parties have access to valuable safety information that otherwise might never have been discovered or reported. The FAA analyzes the information to develop skill enhancements or system corrective actions that will help solve safety problems.

Voluntary reporting programs have significantly contributed to the nation’s impressive aviation safety record, including improvements to training and enhanced operations and maintenance procedures.

To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.

Similar Posts

  • Court Supports IATA in PaxIS Dispute

    For more information, please contact:
    Anthony Concil
    Director Corporate Communications
    http://www.iata.org/pressroom

    Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) won a major court victory in a dispute with Travelport over PaxIS. On 1 October, the Amsterdam District Court denied an application by Travelport for an injunction to block IATA’s use of airline data stored in Travelport databases for PaxIS.

    “IATA has won an important legal battle to preserve competition for airline data transaction products. The Dutch court decision vindicates the rights of airlines to earn profits from commercializing their data,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

    PaxIS is an airline business intelligence product based in part on data that it collects through its billing and settlement plans (BSP), some of which is stored in third party databases.

    In late August, Travelport sought a preliminary injunction against IATA’s use of BSP data in PaxIS. Travelport argued that the EC database directive gave it the right to control the use of data that it retrieves from its database and transmits to IATA’s BSP settlement systems on behalf of its airline clients.

    The 1 October decision of the Amsterdam District Court (Netherlands), denied Travelport’s application, ruling in favor of IATA on almost every significant issue.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.

  • South African Media Release:

    MEDIA RELEASE 12 May 2010
    AFRIQIYAH AIRWAYS A330 CRASH
    The South African Civil Aviation Authority has been informed of the aircraft accident that took
    place in Libya this morning. The Afriqiyah Airline aircraft took off from OR Tambo International
    airport on Tuesday 11 May at 19:30, and was scheduled to land in Tripoli on Wednesday
    morning 12 May at 04:30.
    The aircraft is an Airbus A330, which as far as we know had 93 passengers and 11 crew
    members on board. At this stage we cannot confirm the nationalities of the passengers who
    were on board.
    According to the Civil Aviation Regulations; the country of occurrence becomes the
    investigating body. Therefore the Libya Civil Aviation Authority will be investigating the accident.
    About the SACAA:
    The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) was established on 1 October 1998 following the enactment of
    the South African Civil Aviation Authority Act, No.40, in September of the same year. The SACAA promotes and
    maintains a safe, secure and sustainable civil aviation environment, by regulating and overseeing the functioning
    and development of the industry in an efficient, cost-effective, and customer-friendly manner according to
    international standards.
    For more information contact:
    Phindiwe Gwebu
    Senior Manager: Corporate Communications and Marketing
    South African Civil Aviation Authority
    Tel. + 27 11 545 1086
    Cell: + 27 83 461 6070
    Fax: + 27 11 545 1400
    Email: gwebup@caa.co.za
    Website: www.caa.co.za

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    Boeing Announces Agreement to Acquire Summit Aeronautics Group in Montana

    Provides additional capacity to manufacture titanium and other hard metals structures

    SEATTLE, Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Boeing announced today that it has agreed to acquire the business and operations conducted by Summit Aeronautics Group in Helena, Mont. Summit employs 135 people to manufacture titanium and other hard metal structures for commercial and military aircraft.

    This acquisition extends a strong partnership between Boeing and Summit. Summit currently performs hard metal machining on 747-8 fail-safe bars, which allow the flaps to move on the wings; 787 edge frames that fit around the doors; and 767 main-landing-gear beams, which facilitate the landing gear rotation. After the transaction, Summit will continue its work on these Boeing programs and manufacture other machined parts for the 787. Summit also will continue to support existing military programs.

    “Bringing this successful partner and its talented employees into Boeing provides additional flexibility to support increased production rates,” said Ross Bogue, vice president and general manager of Boeing Fabrication. “It grows our capacity to manufacture titanium and other hard metals structures in support of current and future airplane production requirements.”

    “Our Summit team is proud of the work we have done to support key Boeing programs,” said Tom Hoffman, president of Summit Aeronautics Group. “The acquisition recognizes that our people and capabilities are world class. We look forward to expanding our relationship with Boeing and becoming an integral part of the Boeing production team.”

    Through the agreement, Boeing will acquire, among other things, the building, assets and inventory as well as assume operation of the site. Boeing anticipates this transaction will close in the fourth quarter following satisfaction of customary closing conditions. This transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Boeing’s 2010 or 2011 financial results. Terms were not disclosed.

    Once acquired, Boeing Fabrication will manage the Helena facility. Boeing Fabrication, which is currently located at 10 sites worldwide, provides key manufacturing and assembly capabilities and technologies to Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | |

    FAA Shutdown

    All air traffic controllers and safety inspectors continue to work at full capacity during the shutdown, however:
    4,000 FAA employees are still furloughed
    70,000 construction workers commissioned for aviation-related projects out of a job.

    FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has come out in support of a long-term reauthorization bill recognizing the safety priorities of the FAA. “We’re not going to budget safety.”

    219 STOP WORK ORDERS have been issued.

    A Press Release was submitted July 27, 2011 titled What They’re Saying: We Need an FAA Bill Extension

    Contractors have been told to stop work on critical airport modernization projects around the country after Congress failed to pass legislation giving the FAA the authority necessary for work to continue by last Friday’s deadline. Dozens of “stop work orders” have been issued for major projects designed to build and modernize control towers and other aviation infrastructure from coast to coast. Construction workers, engineers and planners were told not to come to worksites across the country after the FAA was forced to issue stop work orders on projects ranging from the construction of new air traffic control towers to the rehabilitation and modernization of air traffic facilities. Nearly 4,000 FAA personnel, many needed to oversee various aspects of these projects, were furloughed on Saturday. Stopping work on these projects could significantly increase the ultimate costs of construction for taxpayers. Affected contractors, airport managers, and local officials across America are calling for action.

    “This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world.”
    -Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, Portland Press Herald, July 26, 2011

    “Unless Congress acts quickly, more work on projects critical to our nation’s aviation system will come to a halt.”
    -Randy Babbitt, FAA Administrator, My Fox News Chicago, July 25, 2011

    “So for them [construction workers] this is like running into a brick wall, and they’re asking me, ‘How do we explain this to our families?’ I don’t know what to say to them.”
    – Lucca Toscano, Vice President Paul J. Scariano construction firm, Fast Lane, July 25, 2011

    “I got a telephone call Friday about noon that said the job was going to go into suspension effective midnight Friday…Disappointment for the most part. Most don’t really understand what’s going on and why something like that there is affecting what’s going on here on their everyday job.”
    –Ken Hengst, project manager for EAS Contracting, KRIV-FOX Houston, July 26, 2011

    “It’s never a good way to run a construction project just to randomly tell people just to stop work.”
    -Paul Bradbury, Jetport Director, Portland Daily Sun, July 26, 2011

    “I’ve been doing this for 19 years, 7 here at this airport. I’ve never seen anything quite like this… As you can tell, if this project stopped right now, we’d literally have a torn-up ramp. The busiest ramp here at the airport, having this kind of hole in it.”
    – Brian Kulpin, Reno-Tahoe International Representative, KTVN Nevada, July 25, 2011

    “It’s depressing, you got a site [McCarran Control Tower] that was flourishing with activity and there’s nothing going on right now.”
    –Sasha Milosavljevich of Archer-Western Contractors, CBS News, July 26, 2011

    “The economy has devastated construction in Las Vegas in the last couple years and we were really excited to get this going…It’s disheartening we’re in this position now and our people have to stay home while Congress works this out.”
    –Darren Enns, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council, Las Vegas Sun, July 26, 2011

    “It’s very frustrating. It puts about 50 construction workers out of a job. But about 200 people are involved in this some way—designers, engineers, vendors, delivery folks. It’s going to be a hardship on them.”
    – Kevin Klein, Cherry Capital Airport Director, Associated Press, July 26, 2011

    “The longer it goes on, the worse it affects us.”
    – Bob Graf, contractor for Palm Springs International Airport, Desert Sun, July 26, 2011

    “We were informed Friday to stop all construction activity… The scary portion for us is the indefinite nature of all this”
    – Dan Anello, project manager at Oakland International Airport, San Francisco Chronicle , July 26, 2011
    “The shutdown affected all airport divisions…The folks I normally deal with have been furloughed. Any questions or things we have to do are on hold until this is resolved.”
    – Rich Nuttall, Denver Airport Manager, Telluride News, July 26, 2011

    “We had already bidded and awarded the contract and most of that cash would have stayed in the local economy, so there is an economic impact.”
    – Cindi Martin, Glacier Park International Airport Director, Daily Inter Lake, July 26, 2011

    “Our airports are not only our most important resources for moving goods and people, they are critical to creating jobs and putting Americans back to work…we need Congress to pass extension legislation for the FAA now.”
    -Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, Our Weekly, July 25, 2011

    “We seem to be being hijacked by a completely ego-driven and frankly ridiculous fight in Washington,”
    – Annise Parker, Houston Mayor, KHOU 11 News, July 26, 2011.

    “It’s inaction like this that’s hurting our economy that everyone is working so hard to improve. Laying all these employees off, stopping this project, delaying grant money that’s already been awarded, it only trickles down to hurt our economy even more.”
    -Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla, Citizen’s Voice, July 27, 2011

    “It’s very important that the people in Washington get back to work and get this bill passed so the tower is completed and the working-class people get back to work.”
    – Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton, Citizen’s Voice, July 27, 2011

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    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

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    Wyle Veteran Named New President of the Company’s Lexington Park, Md.-Based Aerospace Group

    EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 7, 2011 — A longtime Wyle veteran has been named president of the company’s Lexington Park, Maryland-based Aerospace Group. Peter Green replaces Brent Bennitt, who has been promoted to the position of executive vice president in the company’s corporate offices.

    Green has spent the last 25 years with Wyle and its heritage companies as a systems engineer, program manager, chief pilot, and, for the last six years, as the Aerospace Group’s vice president for business development and strategic planning. Most notably, he played a key role in expanding Wyle’s presence in the DoD services market.

    He is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and served as a P-3 pilot and test pilot. He left active duty and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1985, retiring in 2001. Green completed his graduate studies at the University of Southern California and the executive management program of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

    Wyle’s Aerospace Group provides a wide range of capabilities and services to the Department of Defense, including program office support; systems engineering; systems integration and analysis; cost analysis; life cycle management; sustainment engineering; pilot and aircrew services; test and evaluation support; and information operations.

    “Under Brent Bennitt’s leadership, the Wyle Aerospace Group has doubled in revenue over the last five years,” said George Melton, Wyle CEO and president. “Based on that outstanding record, Brent will focus on a broad portfolio of initiatives to accelerate Wyle’s growth and customer outreach. He will oversee Wyle’s multi-business unit pursuits and lead Wyle’s company-wide efforts in exploiting indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contact vehicles.”

    Bennitt joined Wyle in January 2005 and served as group president of the Aerospace Group which was formed as a result of the acquisition of General Dynamic’s Aeronautics business, formerly a sector within the Veridian Corporation. He joined Veridian as vice president of the Lexington Park, Maryland-based Naval Aviation Programs Group in 1998, and was named president of Veridian Engineering’s newly formed Aeronautics Sector in 2000.

    “My tenure as a group president, through our Veridian, General Dynamics and Wyle phases, has been a tremendously fulfilling experience for me,” said Bennitt. “It has been my honor to watch the Aerospace Group build itself into an organization with a culture, commitment, capability and business ethic that we can all be proud of.”

    Prior to joining Veridian, Bennitt served as a U.S. Navy vice admiral and had served as the commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet from January 1996 until his retirement in 1998. He commanded the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz from 1987 to 1989. Bennitt graduated from the Naval Academy in 1964 and has flown more than 4,000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft types and models.

    Wyle, a privately held company, is a leading provider of high tech aerospace engineering and information technology services to the federal government on long-term support contracts. The company also provides test and evaluation of aircraft, weapon systems, networks, and other government assets; and other engineering services to the aerospace, defense, and nuclear power industries.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.