12 AUG 2008 _______________________________________ *Jet with blown tire lands safely in Houston *United pilots call for CEO's ouste *Booze ban for Chinese airforce pilots *FAA reviewing reports of malfunctioning oxygen masks on American flight *787 wiggles its toes in landing-gear test *NTSB: no obvious malfunctions in Eclipse 500 crash *Private planes on TSA's radar *NASA Safety Panel Expresses Constellation Concerns *United Pilots Question Airline's Maintenance Standards *Alaska Airlines Cancels 41 Flights Due To Volcanic Ash *Air India secures pre-delivery loans for eight more 777s *Emirates readies to test lighter weight seat material *Etihad names new flight operations chief **************************************** Jet with blown tire lands safely in Houston HOUSTON (AP) - Airport officials say a passenger jet landed safely after blowing a tire on takeoff from Houston. Northwest Airlines Flight 3492 was headed to Minneapolis on Monday morning. Airport spokeswoman Marlene McClinton says the plane circled the airport so the control tower could check damage from the ground. Some rubber from the blown tire scattered along the runway. The jet returned safely to Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport, and the airline is rebooking passengers. ************** United pilots call for CEO's ouste CHICAGO - In a show of clout and frustration, United Airlines' pilot union called for CEO Glenn Tilton to step down, Monday, and launched a Web site that details the carrier's lackluster operational and financial performance. The move comes as the powerful pilot union and United's management jockey for position in advance of contract talks that are slated to begin April 1, 2009. Analysts expect labor unrest to roil the airline industry over the next 18 months as contract negotiations heat up at American, Continental and Southwest Airlines. The animosity is expected to be intense and personal at Chicago-based United, where Tilton is a popular target for frustrated employees, and where every major union contract is set to be re-negotiated by 2010. Prolonged union unrest at United could threaten the carrier's already shaky financial position, but the company's management has refused to offer concessions to repair ties. Captain Steve Wallach, the activist leader of United's pilot union, has been working behind the scenes to put pressure on Tilton since the 30-year United pilot took office with the Air Line Pilots Association in January, sources said. http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_10170259 **************** Booze ban for Chinese airforce pilots China has banned its air force pilots from drinking alcohol at lunchtime, to help improve the force's image. State media say airforce officers and other personnel could be dismissed or demoted, under new rules on drinking introduced this week. The rules also cover drink-driving, and Xinhua news agency says breathalysers are being installed in airforce facility parking lots to enforce them. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200808/s2333174.htm?tab=latest *************** FAA reviewing reports of malfunctioning oxygen masks on American flight Officials are investigating concerns that some of the safety gear did not deploy and others failed to provide oxygen on a Boeing 757 that made an emergency landing last week at LAX. The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the reported failures of dozens of oxygen masks aboard an American Airlines flight that made an emergency landing last week at Los Angeles International Airport. FAA officials said Monday that they were looking into concerns that some masks for passengers did not deploy during the incident while others failed to provide oxygen. American Airlines flight makes emergency landing at LAX "We take reports like this very seriously," said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman. "The FAA is working closely with American to determine what the problems are, why they happened, and to make sure the problems are fixed." American Airlines Flight 31 had just taken off from LAX about 9 a.m. on Aug. 5 when the pilot reported smoke in the cabin. The Boeing 757, which was en route to Honolulu, immediately returned to LAX and made an emergency landing. Airport officials said 188 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated using the aircraft's emergency chutes -- a rare occurrence. Eight people suffered minor injuries. American Airlines blamed the incident on hot oil that leaked from a compressor for one of the plane's two jet engines. It produced a strong odor and some haze in the passenger cabin. Tim Wagner, an airline spokesman, said the problem turned out to be minor. Wagner said American was reviewing the emergency landing and whether the aircraft's oxygen masks worked properly. He said the masks are specifically designed to supply oxygen to passengers and crew members during the loss of cabin pressure at higher altitudes. "They are not meant to be used in a fire or smoke situation," Wagner said. Federal officials say emergency oxygen masks are supposed to work whether they are automatically deployed during depressurization or manually activated by the flight crew, as was the case with Flight 31. The FAA has been concerned for some time about oxygen mask failures aboard Boeing 757s and 737s -- aircraft that are popular with foreign and domestic airlines. In May 2007, the agency issued an air worthiness directive ordering carriers to inspect oxygen masks on those planes and correct any problems by 2012. The directive affects about 815 of the two types of jetliners that fly routes in the United States. FAA officials issued the order after receiving information that oxygen generators had failed during in-flight depressurization. The agency blamed components that had fractured between the oxygen masks and the release pins that activate the flow of air. During its review of the emergency landing, Wagner said American would consider the decision by the flight crew to evacuate passengers using the chutes. Questions have been raised in news reports about the necessity of activating the slides for what turned out to be a relatively minor problem. Wagner said that American flight attendants receive safety training and have the authority to activate the chutes if they think it is necessary. Gregor said the decision to deploy the slides did not violate FAA regulations. Air traffic controllers at LAX were concerned that the American Airlines pilot did not notify the tower that emergency chutes were going to be deployed, said Michael Foote, a local representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. Foote said controllers are responsible for directing aircraft as they taxi to and from terminals. Advance notice from the American flight, he said, would have made it easier for controllers to handle the situation. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-oxygen12-2008aug12 ,0,6890661.story *************** 787 wiggles its toes in landing-gear test Boeing began testing the landing gear of the first of its new 787 Dreamliner jets Saturday, as the airplane nears readiness for first flight... The tests, which began Saturday on the the first of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner jets, continue this week. Boeing began testing the landing gear of the first of its new 787 Dreamliner jets Saturday, as the airplane nears readiness for first flight in about three months. The tests involve swinging the landing gear into a stowed position and back down into a landing position to verify that it works as it should on a regular flight. The gear action is initiated from the plane's flight deck and requires the successful integration of the airplane's electronic and hydraulic systems with its structural parts. The nose and the main gear parts were tested independently and then jointly. Testing continues this week. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008106330_webboein gtest11.html *************** NTSB: no obvious malfunctions in Eclipse 500 crash US National Transportation Safety Board investigators say the Eclipse 500 that overran a runway when landing at a Pennsylvania general aviation airport on 30 July showed no signs of pre-impact issues with the airframe, mechanical subsystems, engine or braking controls. The aircraft was substantially damaged when the pilot and passenger exited the end of the runway and plummeted down a 12m (40ft) embankment and into trees. Neither was injured. Investigators found 670m of skid marks along the final portions of the 1,020m runway, raising the potential that the pilot may have inadvertently landed too fast and locked the brakes. Eclipse earlier this year, armed with flight monitoring data from the fleet, alerted pilots to problems with blown tyres caused by landing too fast and locking the manual braking system. Officials removed the flight data system for analysis and planned to issue a preliminary report this week. Investigators continue to examine first responder reports that one of the aircraft's engines could not be shut down after the crash, an issue that draws attention to ongoing investigation involving malfunctioning throttle controls of an Eclipse 500 after a go-around on 5 June at Chicago's Midway airport. The US Federal Aviation Administration has mandated a new Eclipse service bulletin detailing inspection procedures and potential modifications to the throttle quadrant. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/08/11/310563/ntsb-no-obvious-malfu nctions-in-eclipse-500-crash.html *************** Private planes on TSA's radar By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration is planning a massive expansion of aviation security that for the first time will regulate thousands of private planes now flying with no security rules. The new regulations, expected to be proposed in coming months, stop short of passenger screening, but would aim to prevent someone from flying a small plane, possibly packed with explosives, into a building. Authorities also worry about terrorists transporting hazardous materials or themselves on private aircraft, said Michal Morgan, TSA head of general aviation security. The threat is real, said aviation-security consultant Glen Winn, former United Airlines security chief. Some small airports reserved for private planes "really don't have a lot of security," which would make it easy for someone to steal a small jet, Winn said. "There's a huge window that's open, and I do believe they've got to close that," Winn added. Corporations and aviation groups are watching closely as the TSA prepares to regulate roughly 15,000 private planes that are seen as a convenient alternative to commercial flights. The planes fly in a network of 4,700 small airports - 10 times the number of commercial airports - that rarely have delays and often sit closer to city centers, said Robert Olislagers, executive director of Centennial Airport near Denver, one of the busiest small airports. Security regulations could hamper some convenience, aviation groups worry. "The new security proposals must be workable and should strike the right balance between the need for security and for mobility," said Dan Hubbard, spokesman for the National Business Aviation Association, a trade group for businesses with private aircraft. The new regulations, which would apply to planes that weigh more than 12,500 pounds, would most likely require measures such as checking flight crew backgrounds, parking planes in secure areas and inspecting planes, Morgan said. "We've worked very closely with industry to garner as much input with respect to what is operationally feasible," Morgan said. It is not clear whether passengers would get background checks. Many but not all private operators already safeguard their planes. The new rules will "provide a standard of security for a community that doesn't have one right now," Morgan said. The regulations come as Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has voiced concerns about terrorists using private jets. The department has proposed doing background checks of people flying on private planes into the USA and is looking at tightening security for small airports and for businesses such as fuel dealers that operate on them. Eric Byer, head of government affairs for the National Air Transportation Association, which represents companies that service business jets, said new security rules "will be a little bit of an inconvenience" but might draw some passengers who now are worried about private planes. "Having a program like this will make (private planes) even more secure," he said. ************** NASA Safety Panel Expresses Constellation Concerns Says Program Suffers Lack Of Direction, Morale NASA's Constellation program is besieged by a lack of morale, money and direction, according to the space agency's safety panel. The Associated Press reports those were the findings of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel's 143-page annual report, released Monday. Overall, the report is generally impressed with NASA's safety programs... but the safety panel also cites "surprising anxiety among NASA employees" about many aspects of Constellation, particularly -- and, perhaps, most troubling -- in areas related to astronaut safety. Constellation is the catch-all name for NASA's next-generation manned spacecraft program, intended to transport crews to the International Space Station, and later to the Moon and Mars. It has been fraught with issues since its inception... from reported vibration issues with the Ares I launch vehicle, to difficulties securing necessary funding, to delays in development timetables. As ANN reported, the first manned flight of the Orion space program is tentatively scheduled to occur no later than March 2015... just a shade under five years after the last space shuttle mission is flown. NASA had hoped to accomplish Orion's first manned launch two years sooner, but last month the agency announced that's highly unlikely. NASA still holds out hope a manned Orion launch may happen in September 2014, but the agency will only publicly commit to the 2015 date. NASA announced Monday it has "re-aligned" a number of program development tasks, in an attempt to meet the revised schedule. But timing may be the least of Orion's woes. Noting past NASA spacecraft were built with sufficient backup systems "to ensure safety and reliability," the ASAP report claims NASA has taken a different approach in designing the next-generation Orion manned spacecraft -- one "without all safeguards included" from the beginning. Due to weight issues plaguing Orion, any additional safety feature must "earn its way in" to the design, the report adds. That mindset doesn't sit well with several NASA workers... or with the safety panel, which includes two former shuttle astronauts. In its report, the panel said it is "concerned that this process may not be capable of providing adequate protection against hazards that will only come to light once the spacecraft is in operation." Jeff Hanley, NASA's Constellation program manager, said such fears are unfounded. "That has made some folks uncomfortable, but guess what? We're not done yet," Hanley said of the agency's view on safety. Hanley added his team "are not just blindly cutting out" backup safety systems... and admitted "we're not going to please everybody. "If we tried to please everybody the spacecraft would not get off the ground." FMI: www.nasa.gov aero-news.net ************** United Pilots Question Airline's Maintenance Standards Cite Four Recent Incidents Involving Boeing 737s Pilots at United Airlines have fired the latest salvo in their contentious war of words against the carrier's management. In a letter sent last week to Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell, the chief of the United branch of the Air Line Pilots Association said four recent engine failures on Boeing 737s flown by United may indicate "maintenance standards have deteriorated at United as operational decisions are increasingly driven by economic considerations." In his letter, UAL Captain Steve Wallach called on Sturgell to press senior management at the Chicago-based carrier to "stop the egregious management decisions which have caused events such as four engine failures in two weeks," adding that United has increasingly made maintenance decisions "based on economics, often times at the expense of safety and regulatory compliance." The Wall Street Journal reports the four incidents occurred from July 12 to August 3. The engine failures took place shortly after takeoff, and resulted in emergency returns to the airport but no injuries. Pilots at United have been at odds with management at the nation's number 2 airline for years, over pay cuts pilots agreed to take even as senior executives, including CEO Glenn Tilton, were rewarded with lucrative bonuses. Most recently, the airline reached a temporary agreement with ALPA to limit what the airline said were pilot "work slowdowns," that forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights last month. United doesn't deny that four of its 737 Classics -- which are due for retirement by the end of the year -- suffered engine shutdowns... but spokeswoman Jean Medina vehemently denied those failures had anything to do with the airline's maintenance practices. The airline's "engine performance and maintenance requirements exceed all federal safety standards," Medina continued, pointedly adding "It is unconscionable and intentionally misleading for ALPA to suggest otherwise." Medina also disputed the union's separate claim that related engine work on United's 737s is performed by outsourced maintenance workers. "All of this engine maintenance is performed by our dedicated and highly competent employees in San Francisco, and is held to our own very high safety standards and those of the FAA," she said. Medina added United is investigating why the airliners' CFM56 turbofans shut down in flight. FMI: www.united.com, www.alpa.org aero-news.net *************** Alaska Airlines Cancels 41 Flights Due To Volcanic Ash Things Seem To Be Returning To Normal Now Alaska Airlines announced Monday it cancelled flights to and from Adak, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka, Alaska, late Sunday and early Monday morning. The flights were cancelled as a safety precaution related to the pattern of ash at altitude created by the eruption of Kasatochi volcano in the Aleutians Islands last week. As of midnight Pacific time, 41 flights were cancelled -- including flights between Alaska and Denver, Los Angeles, Portland OR, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. The airline is monitoring the ash pattern on a continuous basis and hopes to resume flights later on Monday. "We recognize these cancellations will significantly impact our customers intending to travel to or from Alaska," said Glenn Johnson, executive vice president of airports, maintenance and engineering. "These decisions are guided by our commitment to safety, and we are making every effort to re-accommodate passengers whose flight schedules have been disrupted." Things seemed to be returning to normal by Monday afternoon, with Alaska adding flights to accommodate stranded passengers. Officials with other airlines serving Alaska -- including Continental, Delta and United Airlines -- told Reuters some of their flights had been cancelled Sunday and early this morning, but things were now back on track. If ingested through an airliner's turbofans, heavy concentrations of ash may cause flameouts due to the caking effect of the material on turbine compressor blades and fuel injectors. Lower concentrations can severely reduce thrust, and lead to costly blade replacements and other pricey maintenance. FMI: www.alaskaair.com aero-news.net *************** Air India secures pre-delivery loans for eight more 777s Air India has secured a more than $200 million loan to help it make pre-delivery payments on new Boeing widebody aircraft due for delivery next year and in 2010. The carrier says in a statement that parent company National Aviation Company of India has obtained a $214.1 million loan to help with pre-delivery payments for three 777-200LRs and five 777-300ERs. The aircraft are all due for delivery in 2009 and 2010. Air India says the lead arrangers of the loan are Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank, with ING Bank and Natixis Transport Finance acting as co-arrangers. "The facility was negotiated at very competitive pricing and was signed in London on 30 July 2008," it says. "The facility will be repaid from the delivery financing to be concluded for the aircraft." Air India and the former Indian Airlines several years ago ordered a combined total of 111 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. To date Air India and the former Indian, which was acquired last year by Air India, have taken delivery of 38 aircraft from the orders, made up of Airbus A320-family narrowbodies, Boeing 737-800s and 777s. Boeing 787s are also on firm order. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Emirates readies to test lighter weight seat material Emirates soon plans to start testing a seat foam that is lighter weight on some of its economy class seats to determine if the material could be used effectively to reduce aircraft weight. Airline divisional SVP of service delivery Terry Daly recently told ATI that the lighter material has been touted in the past, "but hasn't lived up to promises". The trial includes monitoring the seats featuring the material with pressure tests to gauge the density of the foam, how much it decompresses and how it regains its firmness, Daly explains. If the trials prove promising, Daly estimates using the material could save approximately a half-ton of weight on an aircraft like the A380. Emirates is considering other weight reduction strategies including a prototype galley cart being offered by certain manufacturers that could reduce weight by about 4 kilos on a full size cart, but Daly notes "it has to work in practice". Further out, options could include using a lighter weight material for galley boxes. Both Airbus and Emirates are working to reduce a 5t delta in the A380's weight. The airframer is aiming for a 2.5t to 3t reduction while the airline is working trim 1.5t to 2t. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Etihad names new flight operations chief Middle Eastern carrier Etihad Airways has named Airbus A340 chief pilot Capt Christoph Schippel as the airline's vice-president of flight operations. Schippel will take responsibility for all of the Abu Dhabi-based carrier's operations and day-to-day management of its 675 pilots, and oversee preparations for new routes. He has been with Etihad for several years but previously flew Airbus A330s, Boeing 767s and 757s for German charter operator LTU. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************