Flight Safety Information March 20, 2012 - No. 056 In This Issue AViCON 2012: Aviation Disaster Conference (25APR - NYC) Kingfisher Airlines may lose flying licence (INDIA) Inflight Electronics Ban Under U.S. Review to Assess Risks Air Force to modify F-22 following fatal crash PRISM ANNUAL SMS AUDIT RESULTS Air France revamps flight safety analysis procedures HK government approves 3rd runway for airport U.S. to support search for Amelia Earhart's plane The Asia-Pacific Regional Runway Safety Seminar - Bali AViCON 2012: Aviation Disaster Conference Held At The Intrepid Air, Sea & Space Museum Wednesday, April 25, 2012 The Intrepid Air, Sea & Space Museum Pier 86, W 46th St and 12th Ave New York, NY 10036-4103 AViCON 2012 Trailer by RTI Forensics AViCON 2012 Trailer Aviation Disaster Conference Investigating the Causes, Resolving the Claims Venue: The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum New York, NY April 25, 2012 CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION ACCREDITATIONS ARE BEING SOUGHT FROM 22 STATES, PUERTO RICO, AND CANADA The following distinguished faculty members are scheduled to instruct at the event: Frederick (Rick) Alimonti Alimonti Law Offices, P.C. Professor Graham Braithwaite Head, Department of Air Transport, Cranfield University Christa M. Hinckley Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP Nick Hughes Partner, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP David T. Hunter Orion ADR Jason Kelly President, Crisis Advisors Curt Lewis, PE, CSP Curt Lewis & Associates LLC Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid Partner, Podhurst Orseck Rocie Park Director Aviation Claims, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Tim Scorer Consultant, Ince & Co LLP Kathryn Ward Partner, DLA Piper UK LLP Diane Westwood Wilson Partner, Clyde & Co US Fitzpatrick Grand Central Official Hotel for AViCON 2012 Gather with our distinguished faculty and your fellow delegates before and after the conference. A limited number of rooms have been reserved for April 24th and 25th at the special rate of $209 per night plus tax for attendees of the AViCON 2012 conference. After you register to attend AViCON 2012 you will receive a confirmation email which contains the promotion code for the hotel. Reserve your room at the Fitzpatrick Grand Central by calling 212-351-6800 or at fitzpatrickhotels.com using the code. We look forward to seeing you there. The highly successful AViCONŽ 2010 held in London is set to return to New York. This Aviation Insurance Claim Conference, with its unique format, is gathering reputation and recognition on both sides of the Atlantic since first presented to the London market in 1998. Following are some of the testimonials received from attendees of AViCON 2010: "Excellent having so many professionals together defending their position sitting in the same room and explaining to the audience the consequences of their actions." "I completely enjoyed the whole presentation and found it very educational." "Brilliant!!!" "Very impressive in terms of content and organization." "A very interesting and informative day." This conference will be of interest to anyone involved in Aviation Insurance - underwriters, claims managers, lawyers, risk managers, insurance brokers, airline flight safety directors, airline board members with flight safety responsibility, claims investigators, and aircraft product manufacturers. Previous AViCON events have attracted well respected speakers and delegates from the legal profession and insurance market. Speakers have included aviation professionals, law partners, and associates from: Alimonti Law Offices, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, Blank Rome, Bryan Cave, Clyde & Co., Condon Forsyth, Cozen O'Connor, Cranfield University, Curt Lewis & Associates, Inc., DLA Piper, Ince & Co, Kenyon International Emergency Services, Podhurst Orseck, and Xchanging. AViCON 2012 will follow the same configuration whereby the speakers and delegates move along the timeline of an accident investigation to legal discovery, multi-party litigation, and resolution. Previous AViCON events have worked around the scenario of a new entrant airline buying a new technology airframe that suffers a survivable failure to an engine. This failure subsequently results in multiple fatalities due to a range of issues that include: * Organizational Failures * Crew Competence * Possible Bogus Parts * Defective Warning Systems All are et within an environment that includes many possible choices of forum and law. The 2012 accident scenario will be presented with state-of-the-art animation prepared by RTI's Magic Motion Studios and will highlight a fresh set of complex issues of current concern and debate within the aviation market. This event presents a unique opportunity, in a concise and effective format, for all those concerned with safety in aviation to gain a fuller understanding of the entire range of complexities involved in the resolution of multi-party claims that arise from a fictitious aviation accident. Taking just one day, the 2012 conference is based on a reconstruction of a very conceivable and carefully scripted air disaster that occurs when an airline transport aircraft crashes off the runway in bad weather. Causation is far from clear, and a number of parties may have contributed to the accident. The conference will show how such a disaster may be investigated and managed. It then goes on to illustrate the complex legal issues involved and the strategies that may be employed in settling the claims. After viewing the animation, experts in disaster management and accident investigation will lead the audience through the technical aspects of crisis management and the process and protocols of a formal investigation. The circumstances shown in the video and the results of the investigation lead to potential liability for a number of parties including: the airline, the aircraft manufacturer, and the airport authority. A group of leading lawyers and insurance executives will debate the issues that arise including: forum selection, punitive damages, fee considerations, evaluating claims, discovery, spoliation, mediation and dispute resolution, quantum of damages, and relationship with insurers. Register for AViCONŽ 2012 Go to: WWW.RTIAViCON.COM and select the 'Registration' link to view the Registration Application Form. Regular fee $795.00 * February 1, 2012 to April 25, 2012 Student $395.00 * Prior to April 25, 2012 * Must present law school, college, or university student identification at the door Government / Military $650.00 * Prior to April 25, 2012 * Must present government employee or active military identification at the door DISCOUNT REGISTRATION FEE AVAILABLE UNTIL APRIL 16th! Subscribers to this newsletter are being offered a $100 discount when registering between now and April 16th to attend AViCON 2012. Visit the AViCON website, click on Registration, enter the Regular Fee quantity for the number of attendees, and then enter promotional code AViCON-425 and click on the Apply button. Kingfisher Airlines may lose flying licence (INDIA) Ailing Kingfisher Airlines on Monday faced the prospects of its flying licence being cancelled and its boss Vijay Mallya had been asked by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to present a clear picture of the cash-strapped private carrier. The DGCA mulled cancellation of Kingfisher's flying permit after the airline on Monday submitted to it the summer flight schedule with 15 to 16 aircraft as against 28 planes submitted last month. "The airline not only lacks aircraft, they also lack funds for day-to-day operations. They are failing to meet their flight schedule, causing inconvenience to passengers and also they failed to give salaries to their employees for the past four-five months," official sources said. Sources said Kingfisher might be planning a quite shutdown and Mr. Mallya being an 'accountable' person has been asked to meet the DGCA to present a clear picture. The whole picture was likely to become clear in few days, the officials said. The beleaguered airline was served a showcause notice by the DGCA towards the end of February asking why its licence should not be suspended as it had made unannounced cancellations. The 15-day mandatory notice period has already lapsed and they have failed to give a valid reason for curtailment of their flight schedule, most of their explanations are unsatisfactory and they have not given a definite recovery plan, officials said requesting anonymity, adding the airline was now operating only 15 or 16 aircraft. Facing severe fund crunch, the airline has decided to curtail its overseas flights operations to avoid further losses and also return of a leased aircraft. According to sources, the airline has planned to suspend its overseas operations from March 25, except Delhi-London, which it is withdrawing from April 9. Also the airline would return its wide body airbus A330-200 aircraft to a lessor in the United Kingdom. Struggling to stay afloat, around 60 accounts of Kingfisher Airlines have been frozen by the tax authorities for its failure to pay taxes after levying it from the passengers. Angry over not being paid for four months, airline pilots reported sick, forcing the airline to curtail its scheduled flights. Mr. Mallya at a meeting with the pilots last Friday said their grievances would be looked into but did not set a timeframe. He had also said the airline would come out with a crystal clear roadmap for its future in a few days. Kingfisher has a total debt of about Rs.7,057 crore and accumulated losses of about Rs.6,000 crore. Earlier this month, global airlines body IATA suspended Kingfisher for not clearing its dues. This was the second time in just over a month that the airline was suspended on the same count from the IATA Clearing House (ICH) through which airlines and related firms settle accounts for services provided by them to other such companies. http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article3013393.ece Back to Top Inflight Electronics Ban Under U.S. Review to Assess Risks By Alan Levin - U.S. aviation regulators said they are exploring ways to speed reconsideration of bans on airline passengers using electronic devices during landing and takeoff. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement today it won't change rules prohibiting use of laptops, tablet computers and smartphones at altitudes below 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) until they are shown to not affect aircraft controls. "We recognize that this is an area of consumer interest and our goal is to bring together these key stakeholders to help facilitate a discussion," the agency said. It added that no changes will be made until the FAA is certain they won't affect safety. Airlines can, under FAA regulations, allow use of electronics at all times when they test and determine devices won't interfere with aircraft navigation systems. Testing rules haven't resulted in wider permission to use electronic devices. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, whose agency shares responsibility for regulating cell phones on aircraft, said today he supports changing the rules. Genachowski, testifying at a U.S. House hearing on his agency's budget, said he'd "encourage the FAA to look at that and to ensure it's doing as little as necessary to protect public safety." The FAA hasn't specified the effects of holding talks with airlines, electronics makers, passenger groups and other parties on evaluating devices such as tablets, and didn't say how or when discussions will take place. The New York Times first reported the agency's interest in reconsidering the rules. Transistor Radios Tests by the RTCA, a non-profit firm in Washington that performs research on radio and navigation for the FAA, have shown it's theoretically possible for electronic devices to emit signals that may interfere with airliner equipment. RTCA tests conducted from 2003 to 2006 failed to find evidence that FAA rules should be relaxed, according to an agency fact sheet. Those tests were conducted before the introduction of Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPad or Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)'s Kindle devices. The FAA has wrestled with the safety of electronic devices since discovering in the 1960s that transistor radios could interfere with aircraft navigation equipment, according to Jay Ely, a NASA Langley Research Center engineer. Spurious Emissions Interference from personal devices is unlikely, Ely said in a telephone interview. Regulators are concerned that almost every device can emit radio waves on unintended frequencies, particularly when damaged or not made properly. "From a safety point of view, you want those aircraft systems to work all the time in all conditions -- and you can't guarantee that when there's an unknown emission on board," he said. Rigorous testing is the only way to ensure no interference because so many variables exist in how electronic devices and aircraft function, he said. The FAA has given permission to pilots at airlines such as Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK)'s Alaska Airlines and United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL)'s United Airlines to use iPads in the cockpit in place of paper charts and manuals. Those airlines had to demonstrate that the tablet computers didn't emit radio waves that caused interference with aircraft electronics. The airlines are only required to test the specific models their pilots use, not those that passengers may bring aboard, according to FAA regulations. Airlines will "work cooperatively" with FAA on any efforts to evaluate electronic devices, according to an e-mailed statement from Airlines For America, the Washington-based trade group for the largest U.S. carriers. Safety Foremost The FAA must maintain a high standard in any changes, John Cox, a former airline pilot who is now a consultant with Safety Operating Systems, a company in Washington. "What we cannot do is lower the standards for electronic interference to the point where we create a safety hazard," Cox said in a phone interview. Cox said he has seen how electronic devices can cause unintended consequences on aircraft; a mechanic's walkie-talkie once opened the lock on his cockpit door. Passengers are allowed to use most electronic devices, except cell phones, once a flight has reached an altitude of 10,000 feet. "At a lower altitude, any potential interference could be more of a safety hazard as the cockpit crew focuses on critical arrival and departure duties," the FAA said. Cell phones are governed by FCC, which prohibit their use on flights because of "potential interference with ground networks," according to the FAA. The FCC in 2004 considered changing its rules to allow personal phone use on aircraft. The agency later withdrew the proposal after public comments objected to the change. Phones that can be switched into "airplane mode," disabling their radio transmissions, may be permitted at altitudes above 10,000 feet, according to the agency. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-19/u-s-considers-easing-restrictions-on- inflight-electronics-use.html Back to Top Air Force to modify F-22 following fatal crash The fighter jet's emergency oxygen system will get a new handle after a report finds it played a role in a 2010 crash. The pilot's widow is suing the makers. F-22s fly above Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. F-22 pilots have reported dozens of incidents in which they weren't getting enough air from the jet's oxygen systems. That led to the grounding of the entire fleet last year for nearly five months. The Air Force will modify the handle that engages the emergency oxygen system in its entire fleet of F-22 Raptor fighter jets after a report found that it played a role in a crash that killed one of its top aviators. The changes come as Anna Haney, the pilot's widow, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit againstLockheed Martin Corp.and subcontractors that designed and built the nation's most expensive fighter jet. Capt. Jeff Haney, 31, died when his F-22 crashed in the Alaskan wilderness in November 2010. In her suit, Anna Haney contends that the F-22 is "unreasonably defective" and that the oxygen-generation system, environmental-control system and other life-support systems were responsible for her husband's death. The lawsuit is just the latest blemish for the controversial F-22, which the Air Force asserts is its most advanced fighter jet. The plane has been in service since 2005 yet has never been used in combat in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya. "One of the problems that was found with the emergency oxygen handle is that it's in a difficult place to get to in the dark," said John Noonan, aide to Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "So the Air Force is doing some research on making adjustments to its location." The Air Force confirmed in a statement that about 200 handles, costing $47 each, have been delivered, including spares. The new handles have already been installed in the jets at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, where Haney was based, the Air Force said. Haney's inability to pull the handle during his fatal accident was one of the issues cited in an accident investigation report released by the Air Force in December. In a detailed, minute-by-minute account, investigators found that Haney's oxygen supply was stopped automatically after the onboard computers detected an air leak in the engine bay. The aircraft system shut down the oxygen system to protect itself from further damage, as designed. To save himself and the plane, Haney, wearing bulky cold-weather gear, should have leaned over and, with a gloved hand, pulled a green ring that was under his seat beside his left leg to engage the emergency system, the report said. In the end, the Air Force blamed the accident on Haney's "channelized attention" to get oxygen through his mask instead of engaging the emergency system, which led to factors that contributed to the crash, the report said. In her lawsuit, Haney's widow contends that the plane was "designed, manufactured, distributed and sold with a dangerous and defective backup oxygen system, which could only be activated manually, and whose manual activation mechanism was located underneath and behind the pilot." The suit said the handle's location was "in an area impossible for a pilot to reach while he or she maneuvered the sophisticated aircraft at speeds exceeding the speed of sound and while he or she experienced forces many times the force of gravity." Lockheed declined to answer questions about the suit, which was filed in Illinois state court in Chicago. Instead, the company issued a statement denying the allegations and announcing it planned to fight the accusations. "The loss of the pilot and aircraft in November 2010 was a tragic event, and we sympathize with the family for their loss," the statement said. "We are aware that a complaint that makes a variety of claims associated with the accident has been filed with the court in Cook County, Ill. We do not agree with those allegations." Other contractors that work on the F-22 - such asBoeing Co.,Honeywell International Inc.and Pratt & Whitney - wouldn't answer questions involving the pending litigation. Over the years, F-22 pilots have reported dozens of incidents in which the jet's oxygen systems weren't feeding them enough air, causing wooziness. This issue led to the grounding of the entire fleet last year for nearly five months. An independent scientific advisory board working under the direction of the Air Force studied safety issues on the plane. Although the report has not become public, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz said last month that the advisory board did not find a cause of the oxygen problems. Still, the Air Force decided the planes were safe to return to the sky. "We have not identified a specific engineering fault," Schwartz said in a speech sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, "but a number of ways that we can assure that adequate oxygen, in a very high-performance airplane that operates over a very extensive altitude band, protects the operators and maintains their physiological capacity to rock and roll." Since the jets returned to service in mid-September, the Air Force said, there have been nine incidents in which F-22 pilots during flight reported symptoms of hypoxia - a condition that can bring on nausea, headaches, fatigue or blackouts when the body is deprived of oxygen. Four occurred last month. According to the Air Force, each of the sleek, diamond-winged aircraft cost $143 million. Counting upgrades, research and development costs, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that each F-22 cost U.S. taxpayers $412 million. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-f22-fighter-jet-20120320,0,2086707.story Back to Top Back to Top Air France revamps flight safety analysis procedures Air France is amending its flight-safety analysis procedures, introducing a new position to quicken its response and assessment of incidents. The carrier undertook an in-depth examination of its operations and decision-making processes in the wake of the mid-Atlantic crash of flight AF447 in June 2009. Investigators have yet to release a final report into the accident but have attributed the loss of the Airbus A330 to a failed stall recovery after an encounter with in-flight icing. Air France says the creation of a new "gatekeeper" role follows recommendations from external specialists who reviewed the carrier's safety procedures. In the event of an incident or other flight occurrence, the gatekeeper would contact the captain, first officers and other crew to "rapidly obtain additional information" which the carrier believes would be "essential" to understand any anomalous situation. Air France has signed an agreement for the new process with its main cockpit union, SNPL, adding that it wants to "increase reactivity" and reduce the time needed to analyse abnormal flight data. Under the plan, the gatekeepers will provide pilots with appropriate solutions - including training, tools and advice - to enable its crews to cope with specific situations. Air France will also convene a commission every two months to put forward improvements in operational procedures, training and other relevant areas. Air France executive vice-president of flight operations Eric Schramm describes the change as a "major advance in flight safety" for the carrier. The AF447 accident and the investigation's initial findings remain a controversial issue within SNPL, and the union issued a white paper in February in which it presses for greater examination of the role of icing on the aircraft's behaviour. SNPL says it is "surprised" the investigators issued several recommendations on flight recorders but not on in-flight icing conditions - although it acknowledges the final report into AF447 will not be released until May. "We strongly hope that the [inquiry] in its final report proposes recommendations to help pilots manage these adverse weather phenomena, whose consequences can be disastrous," it states. SNPL also reiterates its concerns over the stall warning logic on board the A330, and whether system design hampered the AF447 pilots' ability to recognise and deal with the stall. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/air-france-revamps-flight-safety-analysis- procedures-369608/ Back to Top HK government approves 3rd runway for airport HONG KONG - Hong Kong's government gave conditional approval on Tuesday to a third runway for the city's airport that will require massive land reclamation. Transport Secretary Eva Cheng said government policy advisers approved an expansion plan for Chek Lap Kok airport that involves reclaiming 650 hectares (1,600 acres) of land from the sea. The project is expected to cost $11 billion, including $5 billion for the land reclamation. The airport says the third runway is needed because by 2020 the two existing ones won't be able to accommodate an increased number of flights. Annual passenger numbers are expected to nearly double to 97 million by 2030 from 53.9 million in 2011 while air cargo is expected to more than double to 8.9 million metric tons from 4 million metric tons in the same time frame. Environmentalists worry about the project's impact on air quality and on endangered Chinese white dolphins found in the waters surrounding the airport on Lantau Island. The airport will now start planning work, including an environmental assessment. The Hong Kong Airport Authority said time needed to carry out the assessment as well as complete the design and arrange financing means it will be about three years before the government can give final approval and construction can start. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57400564/hk-government-approves-3rd- runway-for-airport/ Back to Top U.S. to support search for Amelia Earhart's plane Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce today that the U.S. government will help a privately funded effort to search for the lost plane of aviation legend Amelia Earhart who went down in the Pacific in 1937, The Wall Street Journal reports. The search will center on the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro in the Pacific nation of Kiribati. The U.S. government's role in the search was not immediately clear. The Journal and Discovery News report that a recently discovered photo taken around the time of Earhart's disappearance may show part of the landing gear from her twin- engine Lockheed aircraft. The Journal quotes a senior State Department official as saying that after a "very intense photo analysis" by government and outside experts, "the judgment is that it's worth exploring." The official adds that "a very healthy dose of skepticism has to be in play." Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan left New Guinea on July 2, 1936 en route to Howland Island in the South Pacific but never arrived. Discovery News reports that the search team will sail from Hawaii on the 75th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance and use multi-beam sonar to survey the area where the plane may have gone down. "Targets will be identified using high resolution, side scan sonar mounted on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle," says Ric Gillespie, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. "Finally, we will investigate suspicious looking targets using a Remote Operated Vehicle with dual manipulators and color video camera system and lights." http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/03/us-to-support-new- search-for-amelia-earharts-plane/1 Back to Top Invitation to The Asia-Pacific Regional Runway Safety Seminar - Bali Date: 21 - 24 May, 2012 Venue: Kartika Discovery Hotel, Bali, Indonesia The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in partnership with the DGAC Indonesia, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) and the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), invites its Member States, participants, sponsors and exhibitors to the Asian Pacific Runway Safety Seminar - Bali. ICAO and its Runway Safety Partners are committed to presenting Regional Runway Safety Seminars (RRSSs) across the globe over the next two years to promote the establishment of Runway Safety Teams (RSTs) as a means of addressing runway safety issues. Be part of an important regional event that will bring together experts from diverse professional domains to promote a multidisciplinary approach to improving runway safety outcomes in Asia-Pacific. Learn about: * the benefits of establishing Runway Safety Teams (RSTs) and how they work * identification of runway safety hazards * different mitigation strategies available * regionally relevant issues and how they have been or could be addressed * regional support for RSTs Aviation professionals who should attend include: * Regulators * Aircraft operators and pilots * Air navigation service providers and ATCs * Aerodrome operators Registration is free! Participants may choose to attend the full four-day programme or to attend the first two days only. RUNWAY SAFETY PROGRAMME PARTNERS Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC