Flight Safety Information June 17, 2011 - No. 124 In This Issue Fight Is Heating Up in Europe Over New Pilot-Fatigue Rules FAA Fines Atlantic Southeast Airlines Air France Rio crash: Remains returned after two years How safe is that foreign airline? AF447 Team Aims To Complete An Interim Report Next Month A340 laminar flow test modification nears design review Pilot smells fumes in US Airways jet bound for PIT Saggy pants lead to passenger's arrest DCA: The 'nation's airport' turns 70 Fight Is Heating Up in Europe Over New Pilot-Fatigue Rules By ANDY PASZTOR VIENNA (WSJ) -The fight over new European pilot-fatigue rules is heating up, with union leaders and Danish government officials on Thursday challenging the safety of proposed regulatory changes. Arguments over the extent of risks posed by sleepy airline pilots-and how to rewrite longstanding limits on their flight hours and workdays-have roiled carriers, labor representatives and the European Aviation Safety Agency for months. But the latest developments highlight that European politicians and regulators face heightened pressures to revise and tighten the agency's proposals. During a meeting of the EU's Transport Council In Luxembourg Thursday, dozens of pilots from across Europe demonstrated outside the session and distributed leaflets to underscore their argument that the proposed changes don't go far enough. Inside, the Danish Transport Minister formally raised the same issue and expressed similar concerns. The outcome of the debate, which appears to be coming to a head, will determine pilot scheduling practices throughout the region for decades. It also will affect the competitive stance of various countries and their primary air carriers, during a period of anticipated turmoil stemming from Europe's growing passenger traffic and increasingly congested airways and airports The European Aviation Safety Agency's proposals would allow pilots to be routinely assigned to work some 14-hour days, a longer shift than is now typically permissible in Europe and one that is unlikely to be legal in the future in the U.S., which also is revamping outdated pilot-fatigue rules. Released last December, Europe's approach has been criticized for failing to reflect the latest scientific findings, according to outside sleep experts and officials of the International Air Transport Association, the biggest global industry trade group. Faced with such attacks, the European safety agency is reconsidering its stance even as it sorts through tens of thousands of comments, many apparently lobbed in as part of a coordinated labor campaign to try to scuttle the process. One of the most controversial issues focuses on whether national regulators will be allowed to mandate tougher fatigue-prevention rules than those adopted for the region. Since the proposal doesn't permit such deviations, it would "reduce safety standards currently in place in many EU countries," according to the European Cockpit Association, the union that organized Thursday's demonstration and represents more than 38,000 pilots. The final rule probably won't pass until 2013. Debate over the most effective ways to combat pilot fatigue also came up here earlier in the week, during at a high-level meeting of U.S. and European aviation safety officials. Chris Glaeser, a senior IATA safety official, told the group that rigid mandatory regulations, which fail to account for wide differences between airline operations, aren't the long-term answer. "One size cannot fit all," Mr. Glaeser said, adding "you can't always hammer a round peg into a square hole, no matter how large you hammer is." Earlier this year, Danish Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidt wrote Sim Kallas, the EU's Commissioner for Transport, that "fatigue among pilots seems to be a more widespread problem than we have been aware of before," On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kallas said "it is an issue we are well aware of," adding that Mr. Kallas "will not prejudge" the arguments and is waiting for completion of further technical analyses. "There are many airlines in Europe that are not talking at all with pilots" about reducing risks posed by fatigue, according to Gustavo Barba, co-chair of the union group working on the issue. And Europe's longstanding system to collect incident reports form pilots, according to the Spanair captain, "doesn't include any way for crews to mention fatigue." Highlighting splits in the industry, SAS officials last month told Danish lawmakers the airline has taken various voluntary steps to reduce fatigue hazards because mandatory restrictions aren't strict enough. From June 2010 to February 2011, SAS said, its safety officials received 183 pilot reports-or about one for every 1,000 flights-complaining about fatigue. At Finnair, a recent survey found that that nearly 20% of pilots who responded said they already worked a 14-hour day roughly twice a month. European pilot representatives, who have been working with Danish officials to fight the proposed rules, expect to gain leverage once the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration releases a final version of its pilot-fatigue prevention rules, perhaps as early as August. The U.S. rules will rely heavily on flexible fatigue-mitigation efforts tailored to the operations of individual carriers, an approach European regulators at this point effectively have rejected IATA this week released its first report to help national air-safety regulators develop techniques to combat cockpit fatigue, and it's working on similar guidance documents targeted to assist individual airlines. Unlike the U.S., European rules allow pilots flying international routes for certain airlines to sit behind the controls for longer than eight consecutive hours. Pilot union officials also complain that even when there is a third pilot onboard, the one who leaves the cockpit often doesn't have any place to rest except a seat in the economy section. Back to Top FAA Fines Atlantic Southeast Airlines Says The Delta Connection Operated Out-Of-Compliance CRJ Aircraft The FAA is proposing a $425,000 civil penalty against Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), of Atlanta, for allegedly operating two Bombardier CRJ regional jet airliners when they were not in compliance with FAA regulations. The FAA alleges that ASA, a subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. and flying as Delta Connection, failed to complete required inspections of the two aircraft after they were struck by lightning. One strike took place on July 21, 2008 and the other on July 23, 2008. The FAA alleges that ASA operated the two aircraft on a total of 13 revenue passenger flights between July 22 and 24 when they were not in compliance with regulations. FAA regulations require the carrier to conduct and document the detailed check for lightning strike damage mandated in the airline's aircraft maintenance manual. An FAA air safety inspector discovered both alleged violations. "All operators must comply with maintenance regulations and requirements in a timely fashion," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Atlantic Southeast has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's enforcement letter to respond to the agency. FMI: www.faa.gov Back to Top Air France Rio crash: Remains returned after two years F-GZCP, the Air France jet which crashed, is seen here in an undated image (BBC) Remains of 104 of the 228 people killed when an Air France jet crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, leaving no survivors, have arrived in France. A ship carrying three containers of wreckage and a fourth bearing human remains from the ocean bed docked in the south-western port of Bayonne. The harbour was closed off by the authorities out of respect for bereaved families and friends. Fifty bodies were found just after the crash but others remain missing. Flight AF 447 went down on 1 June 2009 after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm, four hours into a flight from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to the French capital Paris. The Airbus 330 plane stalled and fell out of the sky in three-and-a-half minutes, French investigators said in a technical report late last month. While the causes of the crash are still being investigated, one theory being pursued is that the jet's speed probes failed. Flight recorder data have raised questions over the way the crew handled the plane when the "stall alarm" was sounded. Air France, however, insists its pilots "demonstrated a totally professional attitude". Long wait The main wreckage of the plane was only discovered in April after a search of 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) of sea floor. A brief ceremony was expected to be held in the port before the bodies were removed to Paris for DNA identification, while the containers containing wreckage were to be sent to the city of Toulouse for analysis. An AFP reporter in Bayonne reports that the salvage ship, the Ile-de-Sein, pulled into harbour at dawn in rain and fog. Those on board the jet came from more than 30 countries, though most were French, Brazilian or German. The identification process is likely to be lengthy as investigators will have to collect "ante mortem" information on each victim - from when they were alive - to compare it to evidence retrieved from their dead bodies, Reuters news agency reports. It took around two months to identify the victims retrieved from the surface of the ocean just after the crash. The final minutes of Flight AF447 1. 0135 GMT: The crew informs the controller of the flight's location 2. 0159-0206 GMT: The co-pilot warns of turbulence ahead before the captain leaves the cockpit for a rest break 3. 0208 GMT: The plane turns left, diverting from the planned route. Turbulence increases 4. 0210 GMT: The auto-pilot and auto-thrust mechanisms disengage. The plane rolls to the right. The co-pilot attempts to raise the nose. The stall warning sounds twice and the plane's speed drops. The co-pilot calls the captain 5. 0210 GMT: The stall warning sounds again. The plane climbs to 38,000ft 6. 0211-0213 GMT: The captain re-enters the cockpit. The plane is flying at 35,000 ft but is descending 10,000 ft per minute. The co-pilot says "I don't have any more indications", pulls the nose down and the stall warning sounds again After location 6. 02:14 GMT: Recordings stop Source: BEA. Note: Last known position = last known position before the plane's "black boxes" were retrieved Back to Top How safe is that foreign airline? (USA TODAY) - 23 Millions of Americans board flights on foreign airlines every year with little or no idea of how safe they will be, and the U.S. government provides no help telling them which ones may be risky to fly. In contrast, the European Union gives passengers a safety yardstick by listing foreign airlines - more than 270 of them from 20 nations - it has banned from flying into airports within the EU because it considers the airlines too unsafe. The U.S. government's aviation safety regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, lists nations' civil aviation authorities that do not meet minimum international standards for safe flying and do not provide proper oversight of airlines based within their borders. Some consumer and aviation safety advocates say the U.S. government is not doing enough to protect and inform Americans who board foreign-based airliners without knowing of the increased risks. "I don't believe the average traveler traveling internationally has any idea about the safety, or lack thereof, of foreign air carriers," says passenger-rights advocate Kate Hanni, executive director of the U.S. group FlyersRights.org. "Good, reliable data about foreign airlines and their countries' safety oversight is not publicly provided. If fliers knew the truth, they would likely not fly on many carriers." More than 20% of foreign civil aviation authorities evaluated by the FAA- or 22 of 103 countries assessed - don't meet minimum international safety standards and don't sufficiently oversee the airlines in their countries, the FAA says. The agency says its approach to alerting Americans about the safety of aviation overseas is best because it allows the U.S. government to deal with foreign governments, rather than individual airlines, to try to improve safety. It says foreign governments' civil aviation authorities are legally responsible for ensuring aviation safety and encouraging airlines' compliance with national aviation laws. The agency assesses foreign civil aviation authorities' ability to meet international safety standards through its International Aviation Safety Assessment Program. Consumer safety advocates say the program fails to provide useful safety information to travelers. The program is "very incomplete, potentially deceptive and only a starting point for travelers concerned about safety," says consumer advocate Paul Hudson, a member of the FAA's rule-making advisory committee. 22 nations on FAA list It's easy for U.S. air travelers to be lulled into thinking air travel is safe just about anywhere they want to go. Fatal airline accidents are rare in the USA. There has been one since the beginning of 2007 - the crash of a Colgan Air plane near Buffalo in February 2009 that killed 50 people. But accidents occur more frequently abroad. There were six fatal accidents of airline passenger planes from Jan. 1 through June 12 this year, according to the Aviation Safety Network, a website that compiles accident data. Last month, all 25 people aboard a Merpati Nusantara Airlines flight were killed when a Chinese-built Xian MA-60 turboprop plane crashed into the sea short of a runway at Indonesia's Kaimana-Utarom Airport. Merpati Nusantara Airlines, based in Indonesia, is banned by the Europeon Union from flying into EU nations for safety reasons. The FAA's assessment program says Indonesia's civil aviation authority does not meet minimum international safety standards. Frequent business traveler John Green of Sandy, Utah, says the FAA and the Transportation Department should provide Americans who are traveling abroad with specific safety information about airlines, as the EU does. "The European Union does a much better job of keeping an eye on foreign airlines," says Green, the president of a company that sells equipment to make composite materials. The Transportation Department, which includes the FAA, has an aviation consumer protection division, but safety matters are the responsibility of the FAA, department spokesman Bill Mosley says. FAA spokeswoman Sasha Johnson says the agency publicizes its assessments of foreign countries' aviation authorities on its website and in press releases "so that all travelers can make informed decisions about traveling overseas." The program, which began in 1993, has "improved safety for the flying public" by helping other countries meet international safety standards, she says. Most of the 22 aviation authorities not meeting the standards are in Third World countries. Israel, a nation visited by many Americans, and Barbados, a popular vacation destination, are among those nations the FAA lists as having insufficient oversight of aviation safety. Shani Rozanes, a spokeswoman for the Consulate General of Israel in New York, says the FAA determined in December 2008 that Israel's aviation oversight authority was understaffed and its safety regulations were outdated. Rozanes says the Israeli Knesset passed a bill several weeks ago to correct the deficiencies. New aviation regulations meeting international safety standards will be passed within the next few weeks, she says. Although the FAA says Israel's aviation authority doesn't meet the standards, the agency allows the Israeli airline El Al, which has been flying into the USA for decades, to continue flying here. An El Al cargo plane had a fatal accident in 1992, but the airline has had no passenger fatalities since 1950, the Aviation Safety Network database says. Any foreign airline flying into the USA can continue to do so "under heightened FAA surveillance" after the agency determines the aviation authority in the airline's home nation doesn't meet international standards, the FAA says. No airlines from Barbados fly into the USA. John Beale, Barbados' ambassador to the USA, says he thinks the FAA's assessment of his country's aviation oversight was based on too few staff members and the "structure" of the aviation authority. 'The plane was smoking white mist' Many countries on the FAA's list of below-standard aviation oversight - such as the Pacific Island nations of Nauru or Kiribati - are places that are not visited by many Americans. Cuba isn't assessed by the FAA because the United States does not have full diplomatic relations with the nation and doesn't allow direct flights. Many Americans, such as Ronald Howard, a teacher in Atlanta, fly to Mexico or Canada to connect to flights to Cuba. Howard, who flew to Havana last year from Cancun, Mexico, says he had an unsettling experience on a flight operated by Cubana airlines, the island nation's flagship carrier, which flies to Paris and other major cities. Howard recalls a white mist spewing into the passenger cabin of the Russian-built Yak-42 aircraft during his flight. The mist, which could restrict visibility during an emergency evacuation, probably was from a faulty cooling and heating system, says John King, a former airline mechanic and safety advocate. "The plane was smoking white mist all the way. The interior was ice cold, and the emergency exits were rusted," Howard recalls. The jet landed safely in Havana. USA TODAY e-mailed four contacts listed on Cubana's website but did not get a response. Cubana's last fatal accident was in 1999, and it has the worst accident rate of any airline from 1986 through 2010, says PlaneCrashInfo.com, a website that compiles accident statistics. Consumer safety advocates question whether countries such as Russia, China, India and Thailand meet minimum international safety standards, even though the FAA says they do. The accident rates of those countries' airlines "belie the effectiveness of their civil aviation authorities," says Mary Schiavo, an aviation lawyer and a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation. Frequent business traveler John Owens wonders whether his life was at risk on a flight within Russia two years ago. Owens was so frightened by his Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Samara, Russia, that he switched airlines for his return flight. "The Ilyushin aircraft was so old and felt like it was being held together with duct tape," says Owens, a vice president of sales for a travel technology company. "It would shudder, shake and make very loud noises." PlaneCrashInfo.com says Aeroflot has a poor fatal accident rate. The FAA's assessments of foreign civil aviation authorities rely largely on self-reporting by nations to determine whether they are compliant with minimum safety standards, says Hudson, the consumer safety advocate. In written answers to USA TODAY's questions, the FAA says for each country it conducts an in-depth, in-person evaluation that costs the agency $25,000-$30,000. The FAA says it asks questions and validates information received. Bonnie Rind of Newton, Mass., says she doesn't think the assessments are thorough or accurate. She says she has brought evidence of bribery, corruption and excessively long duty hours in Thailand's aviation system to FAA officials assessing the country's civil aviation authority, but they have turned their backs on the information. Rind's brother, Stefan Woronoff, was among 90 people, including four other Americans, who were killed when a plane flown by a Thai airline, One-Two-Go, crashed in Phuket, Thailand, in September 2007. The FAA says it's aware of Rind's concerns and has followed up with the Thai government about safety improvements since the accident. Thailand meets international standards, the FAA says. Schiavo, who left her Inspector General post in 1996, says State Department relations with a nation are a factor in the FAA's assessments. Schiavo says she "saw firsthand" the State Department's influence in FAA ratings. The FAA decided some countries didn't meet minimum standards, but State intervened and the FAA changed its assessments, Schiavo says. The FAA says State Department relations with a foreign country do not influence the FAA's reviews. The agency says its assessment program has been successful during the past 20 years because the number of countries not meeting minimum international safety standards has dropped from about two-thirds of the countries evaluated. No matter how many countries the FAA says meet international safety standards, the agency's disregard for Rind's evidence about Thai aviation shows that the FAA's assessments are not to be trusted, says passenger-rights advocate Hanni. Back to Top AF447 Team Aims To Complete An Interim Report Next Month As more details emerge from the wreckage of Air France Flight 447-which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro on June 1, 2009-air safety experts will probably focus on the need to further explore meteorological unknowns and Airbus's approach to flight envelope protection. Other areas of interest include the outdated technology used in the pitot tubes, flight training procedures and an envisioned plan to upgrade flight data transmissions using communication satellites. Last month, the Airbus A330-200 wreckage was found at roughly 10,000 ft. below the ocean surface. The twinjet's digital flight data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered thanks to unprecedented efforts, and initial readings have been made. However, it is still far too early to draw any conclusions, and-despite understandable pressure on the investigation team-lots of patience will be needed before a final report lists the probable causes of the crash. The BEA is currently recovering major parts of the Air France A330-200 wreckage, including this auxiliary power unit.Credit: BEA/ECPA D However, key parties involved in the probe apparently do not understand that their erratic behavior may be undermining the ability of aviation authorities to implement flight safety improvements. In the last few days, French politicians and representatives of victims families demonstrated a dangerous lack of elementary knowledge, common sense and savoir-faire in terms of clear communications. Moreover, they expressed concerns about the independence of the French accident investigation bureau (BEA), including the suggestion that the inquiry should be handled by the "more neutral" U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. This is a startling proposal, to say the least. Political interference combined with a lack of public confidence in accident investigations is common in France, and the AF447 case is no exception. Further confusing the situation, Thierry Mariani, French secretary of state for transport, naively expressed the hope that the causes of the catastrophe could be unveiled in time for the opening of the Paris air show on June 20. What is his real motive? That the BEA team should quickly confirm that the A330 is a superior commercial transport, with no technical weaknesses that could be linked to the crash? In other words, human error is the main culprit. The question then arises: Why fill the air with overzealous comments instead of maintaining the necessary unemotional attitude at this stage of the inquiry? And why such haste to judge in advance? Apparently, Mariani thinks his duty is to "protect" Airbus as well as France's trade balance. And he seems to believe that aircraft are sold at major air shows as easily and quickly as pancakes, after an hour-long negotiation held in the manufacturer's hospitality chalets. This simplistic vision could be a rich basis for nasty jokes about irresponsible political judgment. But such declarations can hurt a lot, in a misleading indication that the relationship between the European manufacturer and the four Airbus countries-France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain-is too tight, biased and dominated by collusion. This, of course, is pure nonsense: Airbus CEO Thomas Enders reports to parent company EADS's top management and certainly not to government officials. The impact of Mariani's unsubstantiated remarks extends well beyond the AF447 probe and flight safety in general. They distort reality, and at the worst moment. Keeping in mind the never-ending European Union-U.S. dispute about state aid and illegal subsidies scrutinized by the World Trade Organization, such interference is harmful and indicates a serious lack of political responsibility. On May 27, the BEA issued a three-page statement reviewing the AF447 sequence of events during the aircraft's final 3 min. (AW&ST June 6, p. 36). The brief document, although strictly factual, was released too late-for the crash victims' families and friends, among others-or too early. However, recognizing the BEA's integrity, and in the absence of additional comments, the agency seemed to be responding to the press corps' mounting pressure. But the move further increased confusion and provided food for thought, including speculation based on leaks covering fragments of the ongoing probe. Obviously, some parties have good reasons to disseminate their own version of the truth without further delay, in so-called preventive care initiatives. The BEA is not listening but the public at large is. The end result is destructive communications chaos. http://www.aviationweek.com Back to Top A340 laminar flow test modification nears design review Airbus is approaching a critical design review for heavy modification to an A340-300 test aircraft which will enable exploration of high-speed laminar flow, one of the promising technologies for future configurations. The Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe (BLADE) testbed will feature laminar-flow wing sections outboard of the outer engines. Each will have a shallower sweep, giving the A340 a distinctive kinked wing planform. Airbus head of environment engineering Rainer von Wrede said, of laminar flow, that the "idea is very old" but that taking advantage of it required high quality wing surfaces: limited stepping, low waviness from manufacture or cruise-load deformation, and minimal three-dimensional disturbance from insects or fasteners. The airframer, which is co-operating with Saab on the project, said the A340 demonstration, part of the Clean Sky environmental programme, "will be the most important step for application of such technology in the future". Critical design review for the modification will be completed in December this year. Von Wrede says laminar flow is one of several technological advancements in Airbus's research portfolio as it looks to aircraft design in 2050. "It doesn't make sense to base decisions only on technology and availability," he said, adding that the manufacturer needs to ensure that the technology is applicable. This demand for maturity will govern the arrival of new configurations, he said. Relocating engines on the top of the rear fuselage would have a "huge impact on noise reduction". But certain configurations require reliability "beyond what we have today". "Classic configurations won the game [for current designs]," he said. "One day a different configuration will be the winner." Airbus's concept aircraft are designed to "give an image of some of the things we think about", said von Wrede. The airframer is "striving for more electric aircraft", requiring examination of alternative energy sources such as fuel cells - which, he says, are "not far from being better than auxiliary power units" - and the possibility of more localised energy generation, perhaps even from the heat produced by passengers which is currently "thrown away". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Pilot smells fumes in US Airways jet bound for PIT FINDLAY TWP. (AP) -- A US Airways pilot was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital after he reported smelling fumes in his plane minutes before it landed at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday night. The Phoenix-to-Pittsburgh flight was about eight miles from the Findlay Township airport when the pilot called ahead to say there were fumes of some kind in the airplane. That call, received by the airport around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, triggered a response by the airport's fire department and other emergency personnel, said airport spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny. Fire crews met the plane on the tarmac and allowed it to proceed to the gate, Jenny said. "Passengers deplaned as normal, and we had EMS people at the gate in case anyone was having some trouble," Jenny said. "We don't have any reports of passengers receiving treatment." US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said once the pilot reported the fumes, the crew all donned oxygen masks, but there was no emergency declared, and the passengers were not asked to do the same. "They were well into the descent at that point," Lehmacher said. "The flight was on the ground within a minute or two of the report." The pilot, whom Lemacher did not identify, was taken to a local hospital for examination. Lemacher said he didn't know the status of the pilot on Thursday. The plane was taken out of operation to be inspected, Lemacher said; there were no signs of a fire on board, but maintenance crews had not determined a cause of the smell. Back to Top Saggy pants lead to passenger's arrest Arrested for wearing saggy pants? Deshon Marman allegedly refused requests for him to pull up his pants The college football player was flying back from a funeral, newspaper reported Marman was charged with trespassing, battery and interfering with a police officer (CNN) -- A passenger's refusal to pull up his saggy pants led to his arrest Wednesday aboard a US Airways flight at San Francisco International Airport, according to police. The passenger, Deshon Marman, was charged with trespassing, battery and interfering with the duties of a police officer following an incident that started at the gate, when agents asked Marman to pull up his pants to cover his underwear, said San Francisco Police Sergeant Michael Rodriguez. Marman, 20, a football player at the University of New Mexico, was in San Francisco to attend the funeral of a close friend, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. During boarding for US Airways Flight 488 to Phoenix, three US Airways employees asked Marman to pull up his pants, Rodriguez said. In response to the second request, "he said he didn't have to because he had purchased a ticket," Rodriguez said. US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said the airline does not have a specific dress code, "but we ask our passengers to dress in an appropriate manner to ensure the safety and comfort of all our passengers." After repeated refusals from Marman to pull up his pants, the crew alerted the airliner's captain to the disruption and police were called in to assist, Rodriguez said. Wunder referred questions about details of the incident to police but said it is her understanding that the incident began with Marman's attire but escalated when "he repeatedly ignored crewmember instructions." The captain made a citizens arrest of Marman for trespassing when he refused to leave the plane, according to Rodriguez. The captain decided to deplane the other passengers when Marman would not immediately leave the aircraft, Rodriguez said. After leaving the plane, Marman resisted being handcuffed in the jetway, Rodriguez said, injuring an officer in the scuffle. Marman's mother, Donna Doyle, told the San Francisco Chronicle that her son was distressed after attending the funeral for his friend and former teammate. San Mateo County officials said Marman will be arraigned on Friday. Back to Top DCA: The 'nation's airport' turns 70 (USA TODAY) - Washington's Reagan National Washington Airport celebrates its 70th anniversary today. It was on this date in 1941 that the airport -- then simply known as National Airport -- hosted its first commercial flight. "Airlines drew straws to determine who could land at National Airport first, and American Airlines won the honor. The plane was piloted by Bennett H. Griffin, who later became the manager of National Airport in 1947. The second inaugural landing was made by Eastern Airlines," the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) that runs the airport says in a press release. The Associated Press writes "President Franklin Roosevelt selected the site for the airport and opened it in 1941. It was originally named National Airport. In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed a bill to change its name to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport." As for the airport's origins, MWAA says Congress had "produced reams of debate transcripts and 37 committee reports on the need for a new airport (between 1926 and 1938), but no action was taken." Finally, in 1938, President Roosevelt called a press conference to say he was "tired of waiting for Congress" to select a site for the new airport. He then announced the airport would be built on mudflats on a bend of the Potomac River at Gravelly Point, 4-½ miles south of Washington, D.C. The airport recorded 344,257 passengers in its first year of service in 1941. The capacity-controlled airport now hosts more than 18 million fliers a year. Today, most of the airport's passengers fly out of the B and C concourse areas housed in a new terminal built in 1997, part of an extensive modernization of the airport facilities. However, the airport's original 1941 terminal remains in use, hosting the airport's A concourse area that's used by a handful of carriers, including JetBlue, AirTran and Air Canada. The Sun Gazette of Northern Virginia notes that the airport plans "no special fanfare" for the event, instead choosing just a more simple "look back at its storied history." Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC