From major milestones to forgotten curiosities, this daily feature highlights the stories that once made headlines — just as they appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on this day in years past.
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New Black Boxes with one big Upgrade
The thirty-day ping life that black boxes are known for is about to be history, thanks to Radiant Power Corp, and Air France 477. After AF447, U.S. and European agencies decided to raise their expectations of black boxes. In 2011, they mandated a requirement that acoustic emergency transmitters be powered for at least 90 days. But with the rapid-fire application (standard for aviation procedures) that standard goes into effect next year. Associations like the FAA and the NTSB, and the BEA in France are cognizant of the size of airlines fleets, and the prohibitive cost of upgrades; so it is common for safety standards to take a long time to go into effect.
If they had raised the bar sooner and faster, MH370 might have had a bigger “ping” window, but the black box batteries are quickly coming to the end of their span.
Recommendations included the standard of expecting a new, lower-frequency emergency locator on every airliner, in addition to the 90 day battery-life.
The video Below has a representative of Radiant Power Corp showing a current beacon.
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.
Agape Flights recovers bodies of pilots killed in Haiti plane crash
Officials with Agape Flights have confirmed that recovery teams have located the bodies of two pilots killed when a cargo plane crashed in the mountains of Haiti.Read More
Etihad Adds Used Single-Aisle Jets Amid Global Plane Shortage
Etihad Airways PJSC is adding single-aisle planes from the secondary market to navigate a historic global aircraft backlog and persistent supply chain disruptions, Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves said.
