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The FAA Adjusting Separation

The 787 Dreamliner and the new 747-8 will have adjusted separation distances, according to the FAA which is adjusting the recent separation guidelines.

The FAA is gathering data on Boeing’s flight-test flights to determine the minimum spacing between the Boeing jets and planes following behind. The original document which has been rescinded— has incorrect data about the weights of the 787 Dreamliner and the new 747-8. The final standard has yet to be announced.

For more information check the briefing guide

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    NTSB INVESTIGATING TODAY’S JETLINER RUNWAY EXCURSION IN WYOMING

    The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into an incident in which a passenger jetliner departed the runway while landing at Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming.

    At about 11:38 am MT today, American Airlines flight 2253, a B-757 (N668AA) inbound from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, ran off the end of runway 19 while landing at Jackson Hole Airport. No injuries were reported among the 181 passengers and crew on board.

    The aircraft came to rest in hard packed snow about 350 feet beyond the runway overrun area. The weather was reported to be snowing at the time of the incident. No damage to the aircraft has been reported.

    Senior NTSB Air Safety Investigator Joseph Sedor has been designated as the Investigator-In-Charge.

    At this time, parties to the investigation are American Airlines, Boeing, the Allied Pilots Association, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

    Improving runway safety has been on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements since its inception in 1990: http://go.usa.gov/rTn

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  • Aramark Workers Threaten Strike

    Failed contract negotiations at Logan airport may lead to a strike, and disruption in service. Even though they are upset over stalled negotiations regarding worker’s rights (they earn between $8 and $9 an hour, with few or no benefits, and that they have gone years without a raise), the strike was postponed due to Massachusetts Port Authority security concerns.

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    2 Injured as Small Plane Crashes in College Station

    A single-engine Cessna 172 plane crashed in a parking lot in College Station, Texas, on September 17.

    Authorities said the plane, travelling from Edgewood to Port Aransas, lost power before it went down around 10 miles south of Easterwood Airport.

    There were 2 people aboard, including the pilot Daniel Albert Fox and his wife Charlynn. Both of them sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to College Station Medical Center.

    The DPS and the FAA are investigating.

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    For Immediate Release: Emas Fact Sheet


    Background

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that commercial airports, regulated under Part 139 safety rules and federally obligated, have a standard Runway Safety Area (RSA) where possible. At most commercial airports the RSA is 500 feet wide and extends 1,000 feet beyond each end of the runway. The FAA has this requirement in the event that an aircraft overruns, undershoots, or veers off the side of the runway. The most dangerous of these incidents are overruns, but since many airports were built before the 1,000-foot RSA length was adopted some 20 years ago, the area beyond the end of the runway is where many airports cannot achieve the full standard RSA. This is due to obstacles such as bodies of water, highways, railroads, and populated areas or severe drop-off of terrain.

    The FAA has a high-priority program to enhance safety by upgrading the RSAs at commercial airports and provide federal funding to support those upgrades. However, it still may not be practical for some airports to achieve the standard RSA. The FAA, knowing that it would be difficult to achieve a standard RSA at every airport, began conducting research in the 1990s to determine how to ensure maximum safety at airports where the full RSA cannot be obtained. Working in concert with the University of Dayton, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Engineered Arresting Systems Corporation (ESCO) of Logan Township, NJ, a new technology emerged to provide an added measure of safety. An Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) uses materials of closely controlled strength and density placed at the end of a runway to stop or greatly slow an aircraft that overruns the runway. The best material found to date is a lightweight, crushable concrete. When an aircraft rolls into an EMAS arrestor bed, the tires of the aircraft sink into the lightweight concrete and the aircraft is decelerated by having to roll through the material.

    Benefits of the EMAS Technology

    The EMAS technology provides safety benefits in cases where land is not available, where it would be very expensive for the airport sponsor to buy the land off the end of the runway, or where it is otherwise not possible to have the standard 1,000-foot overrun. A standard EMAS installation extends 600 feet from the end of the runway. An EMAS arrestor bed can still be installed to help slow or stop an aircraft that overruns the runway, even if less than 600 feet of land is available.

    Current FAA Initiatives

    The Office of Airports prepared an RSA improvement plan for the runways at approximately 575 commercial airports in 2005. This plan allows the agency to track the progress and to direct federal funds for making all practicable improvements, including the use of EMAS technology. Of the approximately 1,000 RSAs at these airports, an estimated 60 percent have been improved to full standards, and an estimated 79 percent have been improved to the extent practicable.

    Presently, the EMAS system developed by ESCO using crushable concrete is the only system that meets the FAA standard. However, FAA has conducted research through the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) that examined a number of alternatives to the existing approved system. ACRP Report 29, Developing Improved Civil Aircraft Arresting Systems, published in January 2010, provides the industry with the most up-to-date and complete resource on potentially viable materials that can be used in future arresting systems. More information on the project, including a free copy of the report, can be found at the Transportation Research Board web site at http://www.trb.org/ACRP/.

    Many of the EMAS beds installed prior to 2006 need periodic re-painting to maintain the integrity and functionality of the bed. FAA is working with ESCO to develop a retrofit of the older beds with plastic lids that are used on newer installations. The lid should eliminate the need for the periodic re-painting. The FAA’s Technical Center and ESCO continue to conduct research that will further improve EMAS.

    EMAS Arrestments

    To date, there have been seven incidents where the technology has worked successfully to arrest aircraft which overrun the runway and in several cases has prevented injury to passengers and damage to the aircraft.

    • May 1999: A Saab 340 commuter aircraft overran the runway at JFK
    • May 2003: A Gemini Cargo MD-11overran the runway at JFK
    • January 2005: A Boeing 747 overran the runway at JFK
    • July 2006: A Mystere Falcon 900 overran the runway at Greenville Downtown Airport in South Carolina
    • July 2008: An Airbus A320 overran the runway at ORD
    • January 2010: A Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet overran the runway at Yeager Airport in Charleston, WVA
    • October 2010: A G-4 Gulfstream overran the runway at TeterboroAirportinTeterboro, NJ.

    EMAS Installations

    Currently, EMAS is installed at 51 runway ends at 35 airports in the United States, with plans to install 8 EMAS systems at five additionalU.S.airports.

    Airport Location # of Systems Installation Dates
    JFK International Jamaica, NY 2 1996(1999)/2007
    Minneapolis St. Paul Minneapolis, MN 1 1999(2008)
    Little Rock Little Rock, AR 2 2000/2003
    Rochester International Rochester, NY 1 2001
    Burbank Burbank, CA 1 2002*
    Baton Rouge Metropolitan Baton Rouge, LA 1 2002
    Greater Binghamton Binghamton, NY 2 2002
    Greenville Downtown Greenville, SC 1 20023**
    Barnstable Municipal Hyannis, MA 1 2003
    Roanoke Regional Roanoke, VA 1 2004
    Fort Lauderdale International Fort Lauderdale, FL 2 2004
    Dutchess County Poughkeepsie, NY 1 2004**
    LaGuardia Flushing, NY 2 2005
    Boston Logan Boston, MA 2 2005/2006
    Laredo International Laredo, TX 1 2006
    San Diego International San Diego, CA 1 2006
    Teterboro Teterboro, NJ 1 2006+
    Chicago Midway Chicago, IL 4 2006/2007
    Merle K (Mudhole) Smith Cordova, AK 1 2007
    Charleston Yeager Charleston, WV 1 2007
    Manchester Manchester, NH 1 2007
    Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Intl. Wilkes-Barre, PA 2 2008
    San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 2 2008
    Chicago-O’Hare Chicago, IL 2 2008
    Newark Liberty International Newark, NJ 1 2008
    Charlotte Douglas International Charlotte, NC 1 2008
    St. Paul Downtown St. Paul, MN 2 2008+
    Worcester Regional Worcester, MA 2 2008/2009**
    Reading, Regional Reading, PA 1 2009**
    Kansas City Downtown Kansas City, MO 2 2009+/2010
    Smith Reynolds Winston-Salem, NC 1 2010
    New Castle County Wilmington, DE 1 2010
    Key West International Key West, FL 1 2010
    Arcata-Eureka Arcata, CA 1 2010
    Telluride Regional Telluride, CO 2 2010

    ( ) Bed replaced

    * Widened in 2008

    ** General aviation airport

    + Reliever airport

    Additional projects currently under contract

    Location Number of Systems Expected Installation Date
    Farmingdale, NY 1 2010
    Stuart, FL 2 2011
    Augusta State, ME 2 2011
    Teterboro, NJ 1 2011
    Groton-New London, CT 2 2011
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  • FAA Aviation Safety Rating for Kenya

    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has announced that Kenya complies with international safety standards. Kenya has been granted a Category 1 rating under the International Aviation Safety Assessment program.

    Kenya’s civil aviation authority meets International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. With a Category 1 rating, Kenyan air carriers can secure FAA and DOT authority can establish service to the United States and carry the code of U.S. carriers.

    The FAA had not previously assessed Kenya’s civil aviation authority for compliance with ICAO standards. The rating is based on a February, 2017 FAA assessment of the safety oversight provided by Kenya’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

    The agency assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that have applied to fly to the United States, currently conduct operations to the United States, or participate in code sharing arrangements with U.S. partner airlines, and makes that information available to the public. The assessments determine if foreign civil aviation authorities meet ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

    To maintain a Category 1 rating, a country must adhere to ICAO safety standards, the United Nations’ technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.

    IASA information is posted at www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/.

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    Non-Compliance Results in FAA Fines

    $160,000 in penalties may be levied against SkyWest Airlines.

    Four passenger flights failed to follow cargo and baggage documentation procedures, resulting in weight, balance, cargo and baggage load data errors.

    Four flights went out without a load manifest that accurately reflected the weight of the cargo and baggage, when the total weight of the aircraft was not computed under approved procedures, and when the aircraft were not loaded according to an approved load schedule.

    SkyWest has paid civil penalties in eight similar previous cases.

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