Flight Safety Information October 26, 2010 - No. 218 In This Issue NTSB Probes Safety of Airline Partnerships World Airways Names George Wilson as Vice President of Corporate Safety Delta Defers 787 Order To 2020 And Beyond American Airlines Responds To Blind Passenger Loophole found in pilot-fatigue rules ICAO opens audit on airport safety in Mauritania Man gets 15 months in federal prison for aiming laser pointer at a CHP helicopter... NTSB Probes Safety of Airline Partnerships NTSB probes whether regional airlines are being held to the same standards as major carriers WASHINGTON October 26, 2010 (AP) When Elly Kausner, a 24-year-old Florida law student, bought a ticket online from Continental Airlines to fly home to see her parents in western New York, she had no idea the last leg of the flight would be on an airline she had never heard of - Colgan Air. Her e-mail confirmation ended with a cheery "Thank you for flying Continental." Kausner, along with 48 other passengers and crew members, and one person on the ground, was killed last year when Continental Connection flight 3407 crashed near Buffalo. The National Transportation Safety Board begins a two- day forum on Tuesday probing the safety implications of "code sharing" agreements like the one that allowed Continental to book Kausner a seat on a Colgan- operated flight, and whether larger carriers are ensuring the safe operation of their smaller partners. The issue is an important one for anyone who flies in every part of the country. Regional airlines now account for half of domestic departures and a quarter of the seats filled with passengers. For more than 400 communities, they provide the only scheduled service. The last six domestic airline crashes all involved regional airlines. Pilot performance has been cited as a factor in four of those, including the Buffalo crash. Continental chief executive Jeffrey Smisek told a congressional hearing in June that his airline doesn't have the resources to oversee safety at all of its code- sharing partners. That responsibility, he said, belongs to the Federal Aviation Administration. John Kausner, father of Elly Kausner, said he was outraged by Smisek's remarks. Even if his daughter had known part of her flight was operated by Colgan Air, she couldn't be expected to make an informed determination of whether a small airline she was unfamiliar with was safe, said Kausner, of Clarence, N.Y. It is essential to make sure pilots "have the same standards you make them have when they fly for the Continental people we bought the ticket from," Kausner said in an interview. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said last year that he would look at whether the FAA has the authority to review code sharing agreements with regard to safety oversight by major carriers. However, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said Monday the agency doesn't plan to review the agreements. She said all carriers - large and small - are held to the same minimum safety standards laid out in FAA regulations. Babbitt has also leaned on major carriers to work voluntarily with their regional partners to adopt many of the crew training, aircraft maintenance and other safety programs at larger airlines that exceed FAA standards. Airlines and FAA officials say the effort has been successful. "Regional airlines fly under the same gold standards as the majors. There is one level of safety," said Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association. But airline pilots say major carriers partner with regional carriers in part to cut costs. Regional carriers can't keep costs down, they say, by adding expensive safety programs and hiring more experienced pilots. "I think they might be talking the talk, but there is no evidence they are walking the walk," said James Ray, a spokesman for the US Airlines Pilots Association, which represents pilots at US Airways. --- Online: www.ntsb.gov www.faa.gov Back to Top World Airways Names George Wilson as Vice President of Corporate Safety and Security PEACHTREE CITY, Ga., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- World Airways, a subsidiary of Global Aviation Holdings Inc., has named George Wilson as Vice President of Corporate Safety and Security. Wilson is a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General and a retired Delta Air Lines captain. He served as Vice President of Flight Operations for World Airways from September 2004 to March 2008 and continued as Director of Operations until June 2008. Since then he has served as a DC-10 flight instructor for World. "George is a highly qualified aviation veteran with extensive knowledge of World Airways operations," said Larry Montford, Chief Operating Officer. "We are pleased to have his expertise in this critical role at World." World Airways, a subsidiary of Global Aviation Holdings, Inc., is a U.S.-certificated air carrier providing customized transportation services for major international passenger and cargo carriers, international freight forwarders, the United States military and international leisure tour operators. Founded in 1948, World Airways operates a fleet of wide-body aircraft to meet the specialized needs of its customers. For more information, go to www.glah.com. SOURCE Global Aviation Holdings Inc. Back to Top Delta Defers 787 Order To 2020 And Beyond Delta Air Lines reached an agreement with Boeing to defer the delivery of 18 Boeing 787-8 aircraft for about a decade, the carrier disclosed in a regulatory filing Oct. 25. The deal keeps the aircraft on Delta's order books, but shows how long the airline is willing to wait to acquire new widebodies. The carrier instead has opted to upgrade its existing widebody fleet with business-class lie-flat seats, new economy-class in-seat audio and video, and other enhancements. In its Securities and Exchange Commission filing Oct. 25, Delta says it entered an agreement with Boeing to "reaffirm our previous orders" for the 787-8 and defer delivery to 2020-2022. Under the original deal signed by Northwest, the carrier was slated to receive the aircraft between 2008 and 2010 as the North American launch customer, but 787 production problems rendered those dates meaningless. Delta has been vague about its plans for the order, which led to speculation about whether it would take them at all. Delta inherited the order from Northwest Airlines when it acquired that carrier and never fully endorsed it. But CEO Richard Anderson hinted in a Sept. 21 interview that the carrier would be keeping the order. In that interview, Anderson reiterated his belief that Delta's trans-oceanic fleet is "in really good shape right now," and he did not dispel the belief that Delta would not take 787s for a while. But he also was effusive in his praise for the aircraft's potential in spite of its "growing pains." "It will end up, I think, really revolutionizing aviation because it gives you the range and seat-mile costs that you need to really develop long-haul global markets in a free-trade economy," he said. The aircraft is going to work, he added, but "it's just a question of when." http://www.aviationweek.com/ Back to Top American Airlines Responds To Blind Passenger OIL CITY (KDKA) Bill Diamond says he was asked to give up his walking cane on an American Airlines flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago. An airline passenger from Oil City, who is blind, says he was told if tried to use his cane, he would be removed from a flight and arrested. All William Diamond wanted was an apology. He is completely blind in one eye and sees shadows in his left eye. That's why he reacted with both fear and anger when an American Airlines flight attendant ordered him to give up his cane on a flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago. Diamond says he was trapped in his seat and couldn't use the men's room because he was worried he would fall if he tried to walk in the aisles. American Airlines investigated Diamond's complaint. "I am concerned about the flight attendant behavior you described and hope you will accept my apology," a spokesman said in a written statement. The airline went on to say: "Our flight attendant advised that your cane needed to be stowed for takeoff and landing." The airline also stated: "Our flight attendant has also indicated that she did not threaten to have you thrown off the aircraft." American also indicated that allowing Diamond to hold on to the cane during takeoff and landing would be a violation of a Federal Aviation Administration regulation. Diamond accepts the apology, but isn't buying the explanation from American Airlines. He says he just flew Delta and they had no problem with him or his cane. Diamond says he's disappointed by the response from the airline and is convinced American Airlines did everything but call him a liar. Meantime, American says it is hopeful it can use the criticism to help improve service. http://kdka.com/local/bill.diamond.cane.2.1980321.html Back to Top Loophole found in pilot-fatigue rules Jets that are privately owned or in charter service: Sources: General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Federal Aviation Administration By Alan Levin, USA TODAY Pilots who fly passengers on private jets and charter flights lack protections against fatigue that airline pilots have and sometimes work long days with only a few hours of sleep, according to a USA TODAY review of safety reports and interviews. The pilots have complained about being forced to work beyond the normal 14-hour daily limit because of loopholes in federal regulations, and they fear reprisal for declining to fly when they are too tired, reports filed with the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System show. PILOTS: Long shifts, fatigue on private aircrafts "The issue of flight crew fatigue needs to finally be resolved," said one pilot report in the NASA system, which releases the information without revealing the names of people or their employers. "Sadly, you cannot count on operators to do the right thing." Pilot fatigue has been one of the nation's top safety issues since the crash last year of a commuter plane near Buffalo killed 50 people. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last month unveiled a sweeping proposal to reduce airline pilots' fatigue. But the rule will not apply to flights by corporations, charter firms or the companies that sell shares in fleets of jets for wealthy clients. In 2008, there were 11,042 such jets, federal data show. These flights are already less tightly regulated, allowing pilots to fly more hours per day than airlines and mostly lacking protections afforded by unions. The FAA says it plans eventually to extend the new fatigue measures to charter firms, and last week agency Administrator Randy Babbitt urged other business jet operators to adopt stricter airline rules voluntarily. At NetJets, which has 499 aircraft that are jointly owned by its customers, fatigue is one of the top issues raised by pilots, says Mark Luthi, president of the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots. Yet the issue is "far more of a problem elsewhere" at firms that lack the protections given to NetJets' 2,600 pilots, Luthi says. NetJets issued a statement saying that it encourages pilots who feel tired to opt out of flights. Companies flying business aircraft have taken many steps to confront fatigue, says Steven Brown, senior vice president of the National Business Aviation Association. Often, they have tighter restrictions than federal rules, he said. The industry's top training facilities all provide pilots with measures to minimize fatigue. Back to Top ICAO opens audit on airport safety in Mauritania Nouakchott, Mauritania - A team from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Sunday opened an audit on the safety of Mauritanian airports, sources close to the country's National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) told PANA on Monday. The seven-day audit will be carried out by several departments, national public and private organizations, as well as foreign airlines using an airport platform in Nouakchott. The audit, which aims at 'assessing the supervision and implementation capacities of safety norms and regulations for the international civil aviation', will be the subject of a report made at the end of security and safety investigations. The report is to inspire the confidence of airlines and insurance policies, which itself will have an impact on the prices for travel securities. Sources say that Mauritania has been the object of a safety audit in 2005 and 2007 from which the government adopted a national plan for civil aviation safety (PNSAC) in May this year. http://www.afriquejet.com/ Back to Top Man gets 15 months in federal prison for aiming laser pointer at a CHP helicopter A Coachella Valley man who aimed a laser pointer at a CHP helicopter last year was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Monday, authorities said. Nathan Ramon Wells, 19, aimed the laser at the aircraft while it was assisting Cathedral City police investigating a residential burglary in June 2009. Along with the prison time, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips in Riverside ordered Wells to be placed on supervised released for three years when he completes the sentence. In September, Wells pleaded guilty to a felony count of interference with an operator of an aircraft. According to the U.S. attorney's office, the California Highway Patrol pilot was flying at 700 feet when the helicopter's cockpit was suddenly illuminated with a bright green light, causing both CHP officers aboard to look away and change course. The officers aboard determined that the light was coming from a vehicle below, which they tracked as it drove through Cathedral City in Riverside County. When police stopped Wells' vehicle, they found a laser device inside. The case was investigated by the FBI, with help from Cathedral City police. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC