NTSB issues update on 767-cargo airplane fire

In its continuing investigation to determine the cause of the June 28, 2008, fire that burned a hole through the top of the fuselage of an ABX Air Boeing 767 cargo airplane parked at San Francisco International Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board has developed the following factual information:

The primary location of the fire was outside the cargo hold in an area just aft of the cockpit.

The fire was extinguished by San Francisco Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting, but not before causing substantial damage to the aircraft.

The flight crew of two, who were preparing to start the engines when the fire broke out, escaped from the aircraft without injury.

The NTSB dispatched a team of five investigators to the accident scene. Joining them were representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Transportation Security Administration; the Federal Aviation Administration; the San Francisco Fire Department; and Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting.

NTSB investigators have worked closely with all of these groups throughout the process of examining and documenting the fire damage to the aircraft.

After the NTSB was notified of the fire, it was reported that within a week prior to the accident, the cargo carrier had received a threat against an unspecified aircraft.

Preliminary examinations have not revealed any indication of an explosive or incendiary device.

The 21-year-old aircraft was originally configured for passenger operations and modified in 2004 to a cargo configuration by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The Israel Ministry of Transport has designated an accredited representative to the investigation under the provisions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13.

IAI will serve as a technical adviser to the accredited representative.

NTSB investigators interviewed both members of the flight crew yesterday.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are at NTSB headquarters in Washington where data from each is being analyzed.

The NTSB team anticipates completing the on-scene phase of the investigation by Sunday, July 6.

Parties to the investigation are the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, ABX Air, the San Francisco Fire Department, the San Francisco Airport Authority, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Fonte: NTSB Advisory 04/07/2008

AAAE Transatlantic Aviation Issues

Thanks very much, everyone. I appreciate that. I think Jim Elwood’s done a terrific job this afternoon framing the scope of the conference and setting us all on the right heading for the next two days.

Airport capacity, air traffic, safety, the environment. That’s quite an agenda. Forget two days. We can fill the next two weeks talking about these issues. We probably won’t see eye to eye on everything, but that’s not the point of being here. It’s to meet each other halfway, to air our differences, and at the end of the day, continue to feel as confident about where aviation’s going as where it’s been.

Where it’s been in the context of this conference goes back to about 90 years ago, almost to the day.

In 1919 two aviation pioneers broke tremendous ground. Two Brits — John Alcock and Arthur Brown — did what no one else had ever done. They were the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic. Today, dozens and dozens of flight make that trip.

They do so because we have learned to work across time zones, cultures, and accents. Ours is a business that demands it. Safety’s at the top of the list.

We have to raise the bar higher every chance we get. And we are doing just that. We’ve been working with the EC together for several years on exchanging ramp inspection data. And we recently completed a successful demonstration of exchanging data.

The next step will be a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the data-sharing.

I’m also pleased to announce that in a few hours, Commissioner Tajani and I are going to sign a sweeping safety agreement — sweeping because it’s a new way of doing business.

It will enhance cooperation in aircraft certification, the sharing of safety data, and oversight of maintenance repair. What’s more, the pact will eliminate duplication — the multiple bilateral agreements that are between us now into a single agreement — which translates into lower costs and greater efficiencies.

There are still some things to be worked out with this agreement before diplomatic notes are exchanged, but I am confident of our ability to do so. Together, we can solve the problems that we face.

Take delays. Even at a time when we are facing a crisis in our industry that is akin to 9/11, delays remain a big problem.

And we’re not alone. We see what’s happening in Heathrow. You and I are dealing with the same issue, which means we have to move NextGen and SESAR forward as quickly as possible.

Transforming air traffic management takes on even greater significance when you hear the numbers for total scheduled flights between here and the United States. They’re up 5.4 percent between January and November compared to the same time frame last year. They’re expected to grow in the years ahead, so we’ve got to pull in the same direction.

While the good news is that there are still healthy traffic flows between our shores, the bad news is that it is a lot more expensive to make that trip.

Airlines are reeling from the cost of fuel, and passengers are reacting in disbelief to the cost of checking luggage and increased ticket prices.

This was brought home to me just a few weeks ago when I was invited to participate in IATA’s annual general meeting. The topic of conversation in every speech, every panel, every casual conversation was around one thing — the rising cost of fuel and what it may do to our industry.

Think about that. What the cost of fuel will do to peoples’ jobs, to the global transportation systems — let alone to a simple flight between Washington and Brussels. And perhaps the most frightening part of these questions to me is that no one really knows the answers.

I came back from that meeting knowing one thing — all of us will have a part to play in helping to address the unknown. Now I don’t have all the answers. And I know that we’ll have some efforts that the FAA is undertaking in this regard in the near future, but let’s talk about what we can do today.

The environment. It’s “Topic A” everywhere you go, and that’s good. Because we welcome the opportunity to remind everyone that aviation is not the enemy here.

Worldwide, aviation represents less than three percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S. commercial sector, between 2000 and 2006, moved 12 percent more passengers and 22 percent more freight while burning less fuel. That’s reduced our carbon output by a million tons. The industry continues to produce more fuel-efficient technologies, with the 787 and A380 being the most recent example.

All of this efficiency comes without a single government-imposed emission standard. That’s because there is no better motivator for efficiency in our industry than the price of fuel.

The Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions, AIRE, was launched last year. As most of you know, this effort is intended to provide operational efficiencies using new technologies and procedures — efficiencies that help to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Through AIRE, we have demonstrated how CDA approaches reduce emissions, enable less fuel burn, and help make airports better neighbors.

Last month, we completed initial flight demos with U.S. carriers in Miami and Atlanta. They were using enhanced navigation technology, RNAV and RNP, two of our CDA tools.

In the demos, the estimated benefits in fuel savings per arrival were in the range of 155 to 415 kilograms, or just under one percent of the fuel consumption for the entire flight.
That may not sound like a lot. But with the price of jet fuel these days, any savings are significant.

So, we plan to continue with the next phase of the demonstrations in September, with the aim of proving that the benefits are repeatable.

Also coming this September, a tailored arrival demo in Miami, and we’re looking forward to having our European partners participating in the trials as well. This NextGen capability integrates automation tools to provide data that presents a cleared trajectory path for landing.

The estimated benefits add up to anywhere from 300 to 400 dollars per arrival. That translates into CO2 savings of up to one ton for every flight. Going down the list there is WATRS Plus, announced just a few weeks ago. WATRS provides almost 40 percent more routes in U.S. controlled airspace across the Atlantic. Forty percent. These new routes are expected to get aircraft to their destinations quicker, reduce carbon emissions by some 3.9 million tons, and save between $300 million and $700 million over a 15-year period.

And we can’t leave out the airport community. To them, NextGen means better use of airport capacity. It means greater design flexibility, reduced physical footprint, and reduced separation between runways.

We’re opening three new runways in November — at Sea-Tac, Dulles, and O’Hare, because no matter how smart the technology is, concrete still matters. Later this year, we’re also putting in an end-around taxiway at Dallas/Ft. Worth in December.

Once all the construction is done, we’re looking at hundreds of thousands more operations a year, better surface management, and cleaner air.

We need to continue to focus on airport development, even while the carriers draw down capacity. Because one thing we do know is aviation is resilient, and growth will come back.

So, with all of these examples that maximize fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, let me challenge us all to roll up our sleeves and try to find solutions that don’t involve unilaterally-imposed trading schemes.

If our partnership between NextGen and SESAR and our agreement on AIRE are indication, we will set a new benchmark for the global industry by working together. It’s not a nice thing to do, it’s a critical thing to do.

And I am challenging the folks back in Washington as well. We’re at a point where the word “crisis” is the best way to characterize the unknown in our industry.

Rather than focus energies on issues where we don’t see eye-to-eye, let’s sit down and talk about some of these procedures I’ve highlighted today.

Let’s talk about how we can implement them safely and quickly. Let’s talk about new ideas that may never have been given a chance, or old ideas that were discarded “just because.” That’s the conversation we should be having, and will.

You know, a lot can happen in the span of a year. We’ve all seen that. But here what doesn’t change is our unwavering commitment to constantly improve safety, increase capacity, and manage aviation’s impact on the environment. Let’s keep it going.

Thank you.

Source: http://www.faa.gov/news/speeches/news_story.cfm?newsId=10250

Bomb threat disrupts Los Angeles airport; no explosives found

LOS ANGELES: A man was detained Wednesday after allegedly making a bomb threat to police at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to ground several flights and halt traffic into the area.

No explosives were found on the man or in a backpack he had, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

The man was identified as Scott Juhun Lee, 27, police Officer Jason Lee said. He was booked for investigation of making a false bomb threat and held on $20,000 bail.

Lee faces possible psychological evaluation and federal charges have not been ruled out, Eimiller said.

Authorities say he walked up to an officer, dropped a backpack at his feet outside the international terminal and made threats.

McCain orders shake-up of his campaign U.S. Government report recommends improvements in reporting deaths of immigrant detainees McCain and Obama differ on same-sex marriage initiative" He said, 'I'm a terrorist, I've got a bomb in the bag and I'm going to blow it up now,'" airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb told The Associated Press. Holcomb described the man as between 25 and 30 years old.

Holcomb said a police bomb squad squirted the bag with a water cannon and the bag did not explode.

Authorities shut down traffic near the airport's terminal 3 while the threat was investigated. Holcomb said flights at several terminals were also grounded but that normal operations resumed in the early afternoon.

Airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said no one was evacuated from inside the terminals but the upper and lower roadways near terminal 3 were closed.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/03/america/NA-US-Airport-Threat.php

Fonte: Flight Safety Information 03/07/2008.

Feds say FAA needs to change overview of airlines

DALLAS - The FAA must make changes to ensure that airlines correct safety violations like those that occurred at Southwest Airlines, according to a new government report.

The report says more inspectors should review safety cases before they are closed, and that inspectors should be barred from immediately going to work for airlines that they monitor.

The Federal Aviation Administration agrees with several of the suggestions but rejected an idea to rotate inspectors so they don't become too close to particular airlines.

And the FAA only partly accepted another recommendation designed to protect whistle-blowers like those who publicized problems at Southwest.

The suggestions were contained in a report this week from the Transportation Department's inspector general.

House Transportation committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., requested the report after disclosures that Southwest Airlines Co. (nyse: LUV - news - people) operated dozens of flights with planes that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their metal frames.

In the report, described as interim and to be followed with a final version later this year, the inspector general made eight recommendations for improving the FAA's record in making sure that airlines obeyed safety orders.

The FAA said it has already begun acting on six of the suggestions, including more review of cases so that a single inspector can't decide to close a case.

But the FAA rejected a proposal that it rotate supervisory inspectors every three years to prevent them from growing too cozy with particular airlines. The agency said it would be too costly to keep moving employees.

The agency only partially accepted a proposal to create an independent organization to investigate inspectors' safety concerns. Inspectors who raised safety concerns about Southwest say their bosses who were too close to the airline ignored their objections.

The FAA said it was setting up a new process under which inspectors could send safety concerns directly to the agency's associate administrator for safety, and had already received 11 reports of potential safety issues.

But the inspector general countered that the new process only added another layer to an existing system that is "ineffective and possibly even biased against resolving root causes of serious safety lapses."

In April, the FAA proposed a $10.2 million penalty against Dallas-based Southwest this year. Airline officials are in informal talks with the agency, hoping to reduce the sum.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/02/ap5179147.html

Fonte: Flight Safety Information 03/07/2008.

Honduras keeps large aircraft ban in place at Tegucigalpa

Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has decided not to authorize the re-opening of the international Tegucigalpa Toncontin airport for larger jets after preliminary reports about the 30 May TACA Airbus A320 fatal overrun failed to guarantee safe operations under current conditions.

The decision is a serious blow to the economy of Tegucigalpa whose mayor Ricardo Alvarez has been seeking the immediate full reopening, arguing the TACA accident "cannot be attributed to the airport, but to a pilot error".

Zelaya initially attempted to convince the US government to authorize the joint military and civil use of the nearby US military base at Palmerola, but the US rejected the request.

Now Tegucicalpa has no short-term option to restore major international carrier traffic as the work to extend its runway and improve approach ATC facilities "would take years", should they be approved. It would also require a change of the airport administration contract with its concession holder, Inter Airports.

Since the TACA accident, which left seven dead, the airport remains closed for jet aircraft carrying more than 42 passengers. This has left the country's capital virtually isolated from international air travel. Currently only two ATR 42-300s operated TACA's Guatemalan subsidiary Aviateca are operating an emergency schedule linking Tegucicalpa with San Pedro Sula (Honduras), San Salvador and Guatemala City where international connections are provided.

At the time of the accident, TACA, PANAMA’s Copa, American Airlines, Aeromexico, American Airlines and Continental Airlines served the airport. They all have either cancelled the route to Tegucigalpa or are redirecting the flights "temporarily" to San Pedro Sula, Honduras' largest city.

The Tegucigalpa Toncontin airport features a single 1,863 m long runway, which is surrounded by mountains, which requires a very challenging approach procedure.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

Safety Agreement Signed with Europe

July 1 – Saying, “Safety should not stop at the border,” Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell signed a safety agreement between the two largest trans-Atlantic aviation markets on June 30, 2008.

The agreement builds on years of regulatory cooperation on aviation safety between FAA and its European counterpart, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The accord involves the exchange of information on safety findings, including aircraft design and manufacturing, continued airworthiness, and repair station oversight.

Both parties believe that the agreement will promote safety and harmonization by providing for regulatory cooperation, particularly in rulemaking and safety data exchange. It is also expected to lead to the expanded acceptance of European aviation products.

Implementation of the agreement will be overseen by a bilateral board, which will also provide a forum for discussion and consultation on safety issues. The agreement will enter into force upon a subsequent exchange of diplomatic notes after each party to the agreement has completed any ratification procedures and final arrangements regarding EASA fees and charges are settled.

Fonte: http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=56582

FedEx Begins Installing Enhanced Vision

The FAA has certified an Elbit enhanced vision system on a FedEx MD-10 aircraft as the airline moves to equip its entire fleet of 362 aircraft with the capability by 2015.

Gulfstream Aerospace was the first manufacturer to equip its business jets with enhanced vision, forward-looking infrared (Flir) in 2001, but no Part 121 air carrier had installed the equipment until now, FedEx notes. Airline officials say the move is being made purely for safety reasons.

An Elbit EVS 2, made by the company’s Kollsman unit, will provide Flir imagery to be displayed on a single Honeywell liquid crystal display head-up display (HUD) mounted over the left seat. Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines have either equipped or are equipping their aircraft with HUDs, but only FedEx has added enhanced vision when installing the displays, says Joel Murdock, strategic projects managing director for FedEx.

Flir imagery can show the pilot a view of airfield activity and surrounding terrain at night or in rain, snow and light fog, to ease operations during periods of limited visibility. Murdock and Bob Rachor, FedEx vice president for planning and performance, say enhanced vision also will help pilots avoid runway incursions. FedEx procedures call for the captain to stay head-up looking through the HUD during approach while the first officer monitors aircraft performance head-down. An early view of the airfield despite darkness or poor visibility will make it easier to transition to landing, FedEx says.

FedEx will equip its 16 MD-11s first (after securing that certification), then move on to its Boeing 757s and 777s and Airbus A300s and A310s. Equipping the entire fleet with EVS for safety has been a “long-term interest of (CEO) Fred Smith,” but the airline had to wait for quite a few years for the technology to mature, say Murdock and Rachor.

FedEx also will benefit from a variety of HUD safety enhancements, with performance information such as flare guidance. But FedEx isn’t installing the HUD to fly Cateogry-3 approaches by hand, a procedure used by some airlines, because FedEx aircraft already are equipped for Cat.-3 autoland. Boeing does not offer enhanced vision on its new production aircraft yet, but it is certifying enhanced vision on a HUD on the Boeing Business Jet.

http://www.aviationweek.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/publication/awst/loggedin/AvnowStoryDisplay.do?fromChannel=mro&pubKey=awst&issueDate=2008-06-30&story=xml/awst_xml/2008/06/30/AW_06_30_2008_p24-62609.xml&headline=FedEx+Begins+Installing+Enhanced+Vision

Fonte: Flight Safety Information 02/07/2008.