Flight Safety Information 
July 3, 2015  -  No. 130

In This Issue 
Could searchers' sonars have missed wreckage of Flight 370? 
Bangkok-bound flight from China makes emergency landing; minor injuries 
reported 
European Officials Seek Spectrum to Enable Satellite Aircraft Tracking 
Aviation: certifying third country operators to cut red tape and boost air safety 
Government regrets flight delays due to minister, staff (India) 
Deadly Osprey crash spurred safety changes 
Malaysia wants international tribunal for MH17 crash 
Phoenix Police arrest suspect who pointed green laser at pilots 
Three hurt by Air New Zealand jet blast in Rarotonga 
FAA expands safety reporting program for workers 
Reno airport TSA gets most complaints in U.S. 
PROS 2015 TRAINING 
Southwest Jet buys big hangar space at Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport 
Duluth pushes forward with new Cirrus Aircraft facility 
Airplane Coatings Help Recoup Fuel Efficiency Lost To Bug Splatter 
People in Aviation: July 2015 
One Aviation Introduces Eclipse Special Edition 
TEEX - Infrastructure And Safety Summits...McAllen, Texas...July 20 - 24, 2015 
Upcoming Events 
JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) 



Could searchers' sonars have missed wreckage of Flight 370? 
  
In this March 22, 2014 file photo, flight officer Rayan Gharazeddine on board a Royal 
Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, searches for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 
in southern Indian Ocean, Australia. Amid mounting frustrations over the expensive, so-
far failed search for vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, questions by experts about the 
competence of the company leading the search are growing, including whether crews 
may have passed over the sunken wreckage without even noticing. (Rob Griffith, 
File/Associated Press) 
 
CANBERRA, Australia - Amid rising frustrations over the expensive, so-far fruitless 
search for vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, experts are questioning the competence 
of the company in charge, including whether crews may have passed over the sunken 
wreckage without even noticing. 
 
Such carping in a small, fiercely competitive and highly specialized industry isn't unusual 
- and some of the strongest comments have come from a company whose bid for the 
lucrative job failed. But others have also criticized what they suspect is shoddy work, 
inappropriate equipment use and a focus on speed over thoroughness by the Dutch 
underwater survey company hired by Australia to find the plane that vanished in the 
Indian Ocean on March 8 last year with 239 people aboard. 
 
There are also calls for the government to release the growing mountain of sonar data 
collected so far, which skeptics say could show whether searchers have overlooked holes 
in the dragnet big enough to conceal a fragmented Boeing 777. 
 
Australian authorities say they are confident in the efforts by the company leading the 
search, Fugro Survey Pty. Ltd. But the second-guessing has grown as time goes by with 
still no physical trace of the plane. 
 
"It strikes me as odd that you're hiring a company that doesn't have the assets, doesn't 
have the track record," said Steven Saint Amour, an aircraft recovery expert based in 
Annapolis, Maryland. 
 
Fugro has gotten some confidence from the discovery of an uncharted wreck of a 19th 
century merchant ship 3,900 meters (12,800 feet) underwater. This bodes well because 
pieces from the plane would be roughly 10 times as big as the bits of debris searchers 
found from the wrecked ship, Fugro search director Paul Kennedy said. 
 
Kennedy, who has two decades' experience in deep-sea sonar towing, dismisses much of 
the criticism as commercial rivalry and frustration at missing out on a major contract. He 
also defends his company's equipment and methods. 
 
"I don't really buy into those arguments with the other people. We just get on with our 
work," he said. 
 
Some critics argue that Fugro could have easily missed the plane because they say its 
search ships are misusing 75 kHz side-scan sonar devises called "towfish" that are 
dragged above a ragged seabed that averages a depth of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). 
 
The towfish were used to declare a corridor 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) wide clear of 
wreckage. But some argue that that distance is too far to use such an acoustic system 
because the sonar image gets worse the farther the signal travels. 
 
The image is said not to degrade with more modern equipment called Synthetic Aperture 
Sonar, or SAS. 
 
 
There have been calls to use SAS, but Kennedy calls it a developing technology with 
some questions about its reliability. Because the search is in such a remote region, Fugro 
opted for established technology with ready supplies of spare parts. 
 
Australian safety officials say the corridor isn't too wide, and the equipment was tested 
thoroughly during sea trials. 
 
Many experts want the raw sonar data released now, or at least reviewed by an outside 
party to ensure nothing has been overlooked. 
 
Officials have refused, saying that doing the huge amount of work needed to review and 
analyze the data so it could be understood by the public would be an unwarranted 
distraction from search duties. 
 
If nothing is found, the search will end next year after a withering 120,000 square 
kilometers (46,000 square miles) of remote ocean floor up to 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) 
deep have been combed with sonar and video. 
 
But finding any mistakes after the search ends could be too late, said Mike Williamson, 
president of Williamson & Associates, which has searched for shipwrecks, aircraft, 
missiles and Apollo 11 rocket engines. The U.S.-based company lost out to Fugro on the 
bid to find the ship. 
 
"If they find that they haven't gotten 100 percent coverage, that means that everything 
they've done for the last 14 months is worthless. It would have to be redone," 
Williamson said. 
 
Some experts believe that all areas should have been searched twice before being 
declared clear of wreckage. 
 
Australian officials would not disclose the minimum area that Fugro had to cover each 
month. But they have expressed satisfaction with the progress and said Fugro was 
balancing the needs for speed and quality. The limited degree of overlap of the corridors 
being searched means only 18 percent of the targeted sea bed will be searched twice. 
 
Critics also argue that sonar images released by Australian officials show shadows - 
areas where sonar has not penetrated because of a mountain or some other obstacle - 
large enough to conceal a debris field as big as that left by Air France 447, which 
crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. 
 
Until Malaysia Air Flight 370, the Air France search was the most challenging deep sea 
hunt for aircraft attempted in modern times. 
 
David Gallo, who played a leading role in finding Flight 447, recalls the mounting 
pressure from critics, families and officials. "It's horribly demoralizing," said Gallo, who 
works at the not-for-profit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. 
"Self-doubt sets in." 
 
Already the search has cost Australia and Malaysia $45 million. Australia expects it will 
cost another $80 million in the fiscal year that started Wednesday, and hopes Malaysia 
will again pay half. 
 
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, or ATSB, which chose Fugro for the job, 
concedes that the area already searched contains "data gaps due to shadows caused by 
geological features." But these shadows have been catalogued and will be searched 
later, officials said. More difficult terrain will be searched by an autonomous underwater 
vehicle, rather than the less maneuverable towfish. 
 
An international team of investigators that analyzed transmissions between the airliner 
and a satellite calculated that Flight 370 most likely crashed somewhere within 60,000 
square kilometers (23,000 square miles) of seabed. It takes search ships a week to even 
reach that search area from the Australian west coast port of Fremantle. 
 
ATSB announced in April that that search area had been doubled in size, even though 
the first priority area has still not been completely searched. 
 
If Fugro ends up empty-handed, it will most likely be because the plane didn't crash 
where officials thought, said Geoff Dell, a former Australian Airlines air safety 
investigator and current head of accident investigation at Central Queensland University. 
 
But it's still possible, he said, that searchers "may have driven over the top of it and 
didn't see it." 
 
Danica Weeks, a New Zealander whose husband Paul was aboard Flight 370, has been 
aboard a Fugro search ship and trusts that the company knows what it is doing. But she 
also wants the data reviewed in case a crucial clue was missed. 
 
She added: "I'm losing faith. I think any human being in this situation would." 
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/could-searchers-sonars-have-
missed-wreckage-of-flight-370/2015/07/03/52f94724-2163-11e5-a135-
935065bc30d0_story.html 
 

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Bangkok-bound flight from China makes emergency landing; minor injuries 
reported 
  
BEIJING - A Bangkok-bound flight operated by a Chinese airline made an emergency 
landing Friday afternoon after an engine fire warning lit up, China Southern Airlines 
said. 
 
Crew members later found no fire or smoke in the engines, and no major injuries were 
reported, the airline said in a statement. 
 
Flight 3081 took off from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and made the 
emergency landing in Sanya, a city in Hainan province, the airline said. 
 
As the passengers were evacuated down slides, 14 passengers had minor scrapes, and 
two others received ankle injuries. All were treated, the airline said. 
 
The airline said it sent a plane to Sanya later Friday to fly the passengers to Bangkok. 
 
http://www.startribune.com/bangkok-bound-flight-from-china-makes-emergency-
landing/311556281/ 
 
******************* 
 
Date:
03-JUL-2015
Time:
14:10
Type:
 
Boeing 737-83N (WL)
Owner/operator:
China Southern Airlines
Registration:
B-5122
C/n / msn:
32610/1110
Fatalities:
Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 139
Other fatalities:
0
Airplane damage:
None
Location:
Sanya Airport (SYX/ZGSY) -    China
Phase:
En route
Nature:
International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN/ZGGG)
Destination airport:
Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK/VTBS)
Narrative: 
China Southern Airlines flight CZ3081 from Guangzhou, China to Bangkok, Thailand performed an emergency landing at Sanya 
Airport, China. The aircraft landed safely but ten people were injured in the evacuation.  
 
The emergency diversion was caused by a fire alarm on board the airplane. 
 
www.aviation-safety.net 
 

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European Officials Seek Spectrum to Enable Satellite Aircraft Tracking 
 
During a symposium at the European Parliament, "Disappeared Aircraft in a Connected 
World: Urgent Call to Action," members of the European Parliament (MEPs) called for 
action by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). European Union (EU) 
stakeholders were asked during the symposium to remove regulatory barriers to the 
deployment of satellite-based flight tracking to help improve safety and surveillance of 
flight operations in remote areas. 
  
Concept of operations of a control tower using space-based ADS-B. Photo: Aireon 
 
While recalling the disappearance from radar of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which 
shifted the aviation industry's focus toward expanding aircraft tracking, MEPs discussed 
an issue that the industry will be focused on in November at the 2015 World 
Radiocommunication Conference. According to a statement released by the European 
Parliament, that issue is the guarantee to aviation of radio spectrum to support satellite-
based flight tracking. At the conference in November, the 191 member states of the ITU 
will review global allocations of radio spectrum, including the 1090 MHz frequency band 
that the aviation industry would need in order to facilitate the type of satellite-based 
aircraft tracking capability discussed during the Parliament's symposium on June 30.
 
At the symposium, MEP and parliament's rapporteur of the Single European Sky II+, 
Marian-Jean Marinescu, alongside several colleagues, released a draft text of a resolution 
to the European Parliament, urging member states of the European Union to support the 
required ITU "treaty modification" necessary to allocate spectrum, protecting the 
satellite-based tracking network from interference. In resolution's draft text, the 
European Parliament calls on the European Commission and Council to "ensure the 
European Union and its member states support the required treaty modification in 
November 2015," as a result of officials "observing that ground-based solutions cover 
less than 30 percent of the globe, and a planned satellite-based solution will enable 
global coverage."
 
Eamonn Brennan, chief executive of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), told symposium 
attendees that satellite-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) 
technology would "greatly assist airlines, aviation authorities, Air Navigation Service 
Providers (ANSPs) and search-and-rescue agencies during emergency situations."
 
In February, Brennan's IAA signed an agreement with Aireon to manage their global 
emergency air tracking service, Aircraft Locating and Emergency Response Tracking 
(ALERT), which will be provided as a public service to ANSPs across the globe beginning 
in 2017 when Aireon's space-based ADS-B network becomes operational. Aireon CEO 
Don Thoma told Avionics Magazine he was encouraged to hear European officials pushing 
to support the type of capability Aireon is looking to provide when its space-based ADS-B 
network becomes available in 2017.
 
"The specific issue were working here is that the 1090 MHz frequency band is already 
allocated a special priority that is associated with providing safety of life services," said 
Thoma.
 
"1090 is used for a number of different things, including secondary radar for ADS-B on 
the ground basis and when those allocations were made many years ago, they were 
never anticipating a space-based system being put in place. The allocations as they were 
made within the International Telecommunications Union spectrum tables protects it for 
aircraft to ground communications, transmission of signals from aircraft to the ground, 
from the ground to the aircraft and between two aircraft. It was never, at the time, 
anticipated to have a space-based system so they never protected it or put the 
allocations in for it," Thoma added
 
"One of the key actions under way between the aviation communication and radio 
spectrum community has been to extend that protection from the current allocation to 
space. And considering that space-based ADS-B is a receive-only system, it's a minor 
issue, there's really no technical concerns on that," he said. 
While the radio spectrum issue will ultimately be voted on in November, during the last 
World Radiocommunication Conference in 2012, the International Air Transportation 
Association (IATA) released a position paper that effectively supported exactly what the 
members of the European Parliament expressed support for during the symposium 
yesterday.
 
"Airspace is becoming more complex and the demand for frequency assignments and 
hence spectrum allocations is increasing. Whilst some of this demand can be met 
through the improved spectral efficiency of new radio systems, it is inevitable that 
existing allocations may need to be broadened or additional aviation spectrum allocations 
sought to meet this demand," IATA stated in its 2012 position paper. 
ITU sets the agenda for the World Radiocommunication Conference three years in 
advance however, and as Thoma mentioned, during the previous conference the 
member states had not anticipated the availability of a space-based ADS-B system. 
 
http://www.aviationtoday.com/categories/military/European-Officials-Seek-Spectrum-to-
Enable-Satellite-Aircraft-Tracking_85463.html#.VZZ7tPlVhBc
 
 
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Aviation: certifying third country operators to cut red tape and boost air safety 
  
Today, the Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued the first 
single air safety authorisations to 22 third country operators. These certifications will be 
valid throughout the EU. 
By 2016, all non-EU airlines wishing to fly to the EU will be required to hold such 
authorisation certifying their compliance with international safety standards. The 
objective of this new scheme is twofold: cutting red-tape by replacing today's maze of 
national authorisations with a single document and maintaining high level of aviation 
safety in Europe. EASA will be the "one-stop shop", delivering the authorisation to 
airlines. 
EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said, "The new safety authorisation scheme 
has a clear European added value. It will take the safety of Europeans one step further 
by ensuring that third country operators flying to Europe match the highest safety 
standards, comparable to those the EU requires from European carriers. The "one-stop-
shop" approach means cutting red-tape and reducing administrative costs for airlines."
 
EASA's Executive Director Patrick Ky added, "Today, I am honoured to deliver the first 
single safety authorisations to 22 airlines originating from all over the world and covering 
different business segments. This new system further increases the safety standards that 
passengers expect. A total of 700 foreign air carriers from more than 100 countries have 
already applied to be authorised to fly in the European Union." 
These 22 authorisations were signed by Mr Patrick Ky during a ceremony held today at 
Brussels airport, in the presence of Commissioner Violeta Bulc. By November 2016, all 
third country operators, regardless of whether they already fly to the EU, will be required 
to hold such authorisation. This new system complements the two existing EU-wide tools 
to prevent unsafe airlines from operating in the EU: the air safety list, which was 
updated on 25 June 2015, and the system for aircraft ramp inspections SAFA (Safety 
Assessment of Foreign Aircraft).
 
The new authorisation system does not apply to EU airlines, which are still subject to 
safety oversight and certification by National Aviation Authorities. 
 
Next steps. Additional authorisations will be signed in the coming months. All will be 
published on EASA's website. 
 
Background 
The Third Country Operators (TCO) authorisation is provided by the European Aviation 
Safety Agency (EASA) and confirms EU-wide compliance with international safety 
standards. The authorisation is therefore valid throughout the EU.
 
TCO safety authorisations are provided by EASA under the mandate of a European 
Commission Regulation known as PART TCO adopted by the Commission on 29 April 
2014. This marked the beginning a of a formal single EU-wide safety assessment process 
for foreign airlines that wish to fly to the EU. EASA manages the assessment process on 
behalf of the European Commission.
 
Obtaining such an EU-wide safety authorisation will become a prerequisite for obtaining 
an operating permit in each Member State. EASA is perfectly well placed to carry out the 
required safety assessment and subsequent monitoring of TCOs.
 
PART TCO complements the existing EU Air Safety List Regulation as well as the SAFA 
Programme (Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft).
 
For Airlines registered in the EU certification and safety oversight is conducted by the 
National Aviation Authorities on the basis of EASA standards. In addition EU wide safety 
inspections are conducted under the Safety Assessment of Community Aircraft (SACA) 
programme. 
 
For More information:
 
EASA website: http://easa.europa.eu/TCO

 
List of foreign airlines receiving TCO authorisations today: 
 
AEROFLOT RUSSIAN AIRLINES JSC 
 
AEROVIAS DE MEXICOS S.A. 
 
AIR NEW ZEALAND Ltd. 
 
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS, LTD 
 
DELTA AIRLINES, INC. 
 
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES LTD 
 
EMIRATES AIRLINE 
 
ETIHAD AIRWAYS P.J.S.C 
 
GUNES EKSPRES HAVACILIK (SUN EXPRESS) 
 
JAPAN AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD. 
 
KOREAN AIRLINES CO., LTD 
 
MNG HAVAYOLLARI VE TASIMACILIK A.S. 
 
NIPPON CARGO AIRLINES CO.,LTD 
 
OMAN AIR (S.A.O.C.) 
 
ORENBURG AIRLINES 
 
PEGASUS HAVA TASIMACILIGI A.S. 
 
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED 
 
QATAR AIRWAYS (Q.C.S.C.) 
 
SINGAPORE AIRLINES LTD. 
 
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS SOC LTD. 
 
TAM LINHAS AEREAS S.A. 
 
UNITED AIRLINES, INC. 
 
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5298_en.htm
 

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Government regrets flight delays due to minister, staff (India) 
  
New Delhi: Following a central minister and a state official recently causing flight delays 
and inconvenience to air passengers and the Prime Minister's Office seeking a report on 
it, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju on Thursday expressed regrets and 
assured that such episodes would not recur.
 
At a press conference here, Raju said he has called for an investigation into the matter 
pertaining to the central minister and was awaiting for the first reports to come in before 
initiating action. He did not spell out what action was contemplated.
 
"I've called in for information. But since people have been inconvenienced, I as the civil 
aviation minister of this country offer my apologies. Let the first reports come in. Let us 
know the truth and I will do my duty," Raju added. At the same time, the minister 
sought to brush aside the matter. 
 
Representational pic 
"These things routinely happen with all the airlines, not just Air India. In fact, they have 
been operating on time and serving the Indian skies well," he said, adding that his 
colleagues were actually complaining that they were missing flights due to Air India's on-
time performance. The minister's reaction came after the Prime Minister's Office asked 
the civil aviation ministry for a report on the delay in two Air India flights on account of 
VIP travels.
 
"PMOIndia asks Ministry of Civil Aviation for a report on delay in #AirIndia flights on 
account of VIP travels in the recent past," Press Information Bureau chief Frank Noronha 
tweeted. The civil aviation minister said it was in public knowledge that the PMO had 
inquired about the recent flight delays. "But we have not yet received any formal inquiry 
from them. But it is expected soon."
 
The controversy was triggered after three passengers were reportedly taken off an Air 
India flight at Leh in order to accommodate union Minister of State for Home Affairs 
Kiren Rijiju and an aide last week. On Thursday, Rijiju clarified that he was unaware that 
an Air India flight was allegedly delayed and three passengers made to de-board to 
accommodate him and an aide at the last minute.
 
"Usually, I am informed about all my travel arrangements while I am on an official 
assignment," Rijiju told IANS from Darjeeling, where he has gone to check the damage 
caused by landslides in the hill district of West Bengal. "But I can't be blamed for the 
happening as the Leh administration didn't inform me on what basis they were making 
the changes to accommodate me on the Air India flight," the minister added. 
Earlier this week, an Air India flight from Mumbai to New York, with Maharashtra Chief 
Minister Devendra Fadnavis on board, was reportedly delayed by nearly an hour. This 
was allegedly done to accommodate a member of his entourage. While Fadnavis denied 
any such hold-up, Air India confirmed the delay, albeit for different reasons.
 
"The flight AI-191 of 29th of June 15 was delayed by total 57 minutes. The delay was 
partly due to technical/operational reasons and also due to ATC (air traffic control)," an 
airline official said in a statement. Senior Air India official told IANS that the government 
has given clear instructions not to give any undue privileges or advantages to any 
individual, even government servants or ministers.
 
"There were many erstwhile practices and protocols that have been stopped. Now no 
price concession or preference based seats are allotted to anyone. Nor any changes done 
in the boarding or de-boarding procedures even for VIP travellers," a senior Air India 
official told IANS here.
 
"However, some safety practices are still maintained which are mandatory. But the latest 
incidents have nothing to do with them." Meanwhile, the opposition Congress criticised 
the government and demanded an apology from the minister who caused inconvenience 
to passengers. The opposition termed the occurrences as "misdeeds" of the ruling party.
 
"Just because the prime minister is keeping mum, these issues are not going to be kept 
under carpet. We demand that the ministers who misused their authority and put 
ordinary passengers to difficulty and to great hardship should apologize openly," senior 
Congress leader P.C. Chako told the media here.
 
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/government-regrets-flight-delays-due-to-minister-
staff/16341154#sthash.LpV5mliw.dpuf
 

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Deadly Osprey crash spurred safety changes
 
Bravery of crew, tragic end of Marine who drowned also detailed in investigation report 
 
  
An MV-22 Osprey crashes into the Arabian Sea on Oct. 1, 2014 during a deadly mishap 
that inspired safety changes. (U.S. Marine Corps photo/released.) 
 
The V-22 Osprey that crashed into the Arabian Sea last year was doomed on take-off 
because it was accidentally started in maintenance mode, Marine Corps investigators 
concluded. Despite a routine hover initially over ship deck, the errant mission system 
selection and a design flaw in the tiltrotor aircraft, since corrected, deprived the engines 
of enough flight power. 
 
Cpl. Jordan Spears, a crew chief who bailed out and was lost at sea after the Osprey hit 
the water on Oct. 1, 2014, was the first American killed in action during Operation 
Inherent Resolve, the campaign against the Islamic State group of militants in Iraq and 
Syria. 
 
During more than 10 minutes struggling at the controls as the Osprey dipped in and out 
of the water, the pilots dumped most of their fuel. They were able to fly the disabled 
aircraft back to the amphibious assault ship Makin Island for a safe landing. But the MV-
22B, which was submerged about four feet at one point in corrosive saltwater, required 
replacement engines and other parts costing more than $1.5 million. 
 
The Marine command investigation also cited the pilots and crew for not strictly following 
start-up procedures that could have prevented the deadly mishap, a lack of warning to 
them about newly discovered hazards of flying the Osprey in maintenance mode, and the 
potential fatigue of the sergeant who unintentionally initiated the wrong system setting, 
according to the report obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune through a Freedom of 
Information Act request. 
 
In its most heartrending passages, the 183-page document details the bravery of the 
Osprey pilots who refused to abandon their ailing airship, the tragic last moments before 
Spears sank under the weight of his bullet-proof armor, a life preserver that wouldn't 
inflate, and the fruitless search for his body. 
 
CRASH 
 
The aircraft from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163, an Osprey unit based at 
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, was third in a group of five sent to reinforce the U.S. 
embassy in Iraq. 
 
The senior crew chief assigned to "Choctaw 3" (names are redacted from the public 
report) woke that afternoon feeling very excited about the mission. The sergeant was 
also a new father - his wife had given birth to their third child two weeks earlier. After 
five weeks on the night shift he wasn't as rejuvenated as usual after the required 
amount of crew rest, but his anticipation for the important flight masked any fatigue. 
 
As he had done countless times before, the sergeant referred to a pocket checklist from 
the flight manual to start the aircraft, using his peripheral vision to punch in the mission 
system setting. 
 
Unbeknownst to him and the rest of the Osprey crew, the Marine Corps had discovered a 
dangerous anomaly earlier that year in the relatively new hybrid aircraft, which was 
fielded in 2007 after a total redesign sparked by two crashes that killed 23 Marines. 
Since then, the Corps has touted its safety record among rotor aircraft. 
 
The MV-22 tiltrotor made by Bell/Boeing takes off like a helicopter and flies like an 
airplane, after its huge wingtip nacelles and prop-rotors tilt forward. 
 
When started in maintenance mode, the exhaust deflector that protects the avionics 
from overheating remained on, reducing engine power by about 20 percent. 
 
Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 at Marine Corps headquarters issued a hazard report about 
the issue in April 2014. But the crew of the Osprey that crashed in October had not been 
briefed on it by their squadron or Naval Air Systems Command. The aircraft controls 
didn't warn them they were about to take off in maintenance mode, nor did their flight 
manuals explain the dangers. 
 
After starting the engines, the pilots thought it odd that both hung up for about 15 
seconds before spooling normally. They also discussed the fact that the exhaust deflector 
was set to ON instead of AUTO as usual. But the aircraft seemed fine otherwise, so they 
assumed a harmless software update was to blame. 
 
Just before 5 p.m. local time, the co-pilot lifted the aircraft into a 15-foot hover. As the 
Osprey slid left over the edge of the deck, it plunged toward the sea. "Power! Power! 
Power!" the senior crew chief cried, joining calls from the flight commander sitting in the 
right pilot seat and the ship's control tower. 
 
"It's all in!" the co-pilot replied. He adjusted the nacelles and nose to level the Osprey 
and steer it away from the ship as they descended. "Brace for impact," he announced. 
 
The 70-foot drop from deck-level slammed Cpl. Spears flat. "We are ingesting saltwater 
and we will continue to lose power to salt incrustation," the sergeant onboard advised. 
 
"I think we need to leave this aircraft," the flight commander said. The crew chiefs were 
ordered to ditch. They slipped into the water out the back ramp without employing the 
life raft. They didn't have time before the aircraft sank, the sergeant thought. 
 
The pilots remained at the controls in whiteout conditions, downwash whipping the sea 
around them. Instead of blowing the cockpit doors and bailing out themselves, they 
fought to pull the Osprey out of the water. 
 
"The engines were still somewhat working and I wasn't ready to give the aircraft up yet. 
We had ensured the safety of the aircrew but I wanted to see if we could still save it," 
the major flying the Osprey recalled. 
 
After a suggestion from a Marine captain in the ship tower, the Osprey crew dumped 
several thousand pounds of fuel to lighten its load. It immediately began to lift out of the 
water, but still couldn't take flight. 
 
After settling back into the water five times, the co-pilot used a "max gross takeoff" 
adjustment lowering the nacelles. On the sixth attempt, they flew into the air. 
 
Against suggestions to switch to airplane mode and head for land 20-minutes away, the 
Osprey returned straight to the ship, with the flight commander at the controls since the 
co-pilot couldn't see through his salted windscreen. 
 
The MV-22 settled on deck while dumping more fuel. After an emergency engine shut-
down before hot exhaust could ignite the fuel they sprayed on deck, the pilots quickly 
exited the aircraft as a crash fire crew "anxiously" approached. 
 
One crew chief had been rescued from the water, they were told. The other was missing. 
 
DROWNING 
 
Cpl. Spears had flashed him a thumb's up before the sergeant slid into the water. 
 
It wasn't like training in the pool. The weight of his body armor immediately dragged him 
under. After five attempts, the sergeant finally inflated one lobe of his life preserver. 
 
Spears, meanwhile, was struggling to keep his head above the water slicked with fuel. 
The sergeant swam to him and pulled up on a strap on Spears' vest. "I got you, buddy," 
he said, but the sergeant was unable to hold his head free of the water. 
 
Spears kept yanking his inflator beads, but nothing happened. The sergeant handed over 
his breathing canister, since Spears was mostly underwater. By then they were both 
exhausted. 
 
Spears pushed away from the sergeant and attempted to manually inflate the life 
preserver. Each time he tried, he dipped below the surface, then reemerged gulping for 
air. The third time, he didn't come up. 
 
The sergeant swam over and dug his head into the water. "Spears!" he yelled. 
 
"I saw more bubbles surface a couple feet in front of where I was. I started to panic and 
looked around as if someone was going to magically save the day," he recalled. 
 
After floating for what seemed like forever with fuel-soaked waves hitting him, an H-60 
helicopter circled overhead. 
 
When the sergeant saw the snorkel of a rescue swimmer, he knew it would be alright. 
"Are you injured?" she asked, before helping him into the cable hoist. As they ascended 
into the helicopter, he felt faint. 
 
"The other crew chief was Jordan Spears. Jordan Spears went under ... He's my 
corporal," he repeatedly told the search crew. 
 
The rescue swimmer gave him water and juice to wash the fuel from his mouth. "I sat 
looking out the window, looking at the water for my friend as we circled the area," he 
said. 
 
Despite an "extensive search and rescue effort and tremendous team effort," with 
contributions from Fifth Fleet, Combined Task Force 51 and several ships and aircraft 
using sophisticated equipment to hunt for Spears and the locator beacon he was 
wearing, the lost Marine could not be found. 
 
They searched all night and the next day before Spears was declared dead. Navy divers 
continued looking for his body for two more weeks, to no avail. 
 
CHANGES 
 
As recommended by the commanding officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit to 
which they were assigned, the Osprey crew was subjected to administrative action, said 
Capt. Craig Thomas, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, declining to 
provide details. 
 
"While I do not believe that the crew was willfully negligent in executing their duties 
leading up to this mishap, I do believe strict adherence to (naval operating) procedures 
and checklists could have prevented this mishap," the 11th MEU commanding officer 
wrote, in response to the command investigation findings. 
 
He also targeted the design of the aircraft made by a Bell and Boeing joint-project, and 
oversights by naval air safety officials, saying: "It is inexplicable that an aircraft systems 
design would allow a crew to take an aircraft flying with a potential degradation in 
engine power of 20 percent without providing a caution or warning alerting them of the 
situation. This poor design, and the fact there is no documentation to warn the crew of 
this design in (naval operating procedures) is a contributing factor to this mishap." 
 
Bell and Boeing each declined to comment and referred questions to the military. 
 
The Marine Corps and Naval Air Systems Command took swift action to adjust the 
aircraft and its flight manuals. 
 
A week after the crash, an order to revise the manuals in pen and ink was issued. Within 
two weeks, a naval message warned the entire MV-22 community about operating the 
aircraft in maintenance mode. 
 
In January, a fleet-wide MV-22 software update was implemented. "With this update, full 
power is available in the event an aircraft takes off when in (maintenance) 
configuration," said Col. Dan Robinson, V-22 Program Manager. 
 
SPEARS 
 
Spears died at age 21 on his first deployment. He had talked about becoming a Marine 
since he was a boy of eight, though none had served in his family. 
 
Fellow Marines held a memorial for their fallen comrade while still deployed at sea, and a 
celebration of his life after their return. 
 
"It was a tragedy for us to lose Cpl. Spears and we took the time to grieve the loss of 
our Marine, (to) remember the Marine and man he was, while concurrently ensuring we 
had the right mindset to meet our responsibilities in theater," Col. Matthew Trollinger, 
11th MEU commanding officer, said in a statement after his death. 
 
They carried on, he said, as professionals determined to accomplish their mission, in the 
belief that their comrade "was not lost, but still with them in spirit." 
 
A tombstone marks the empty grave where relatives pay their respects. Thanks to 
donations collected nationwide, a black granite memorial is also being erected to Spears 
and other post-9/11 War on Terror veterans in a park near his high school alma mater in 
Sellersburg, Indiana. 
 
Spears' parents say they are grateful that Osprey safety improved so quickly after his 
death, so that other families will not have to endure their loss. "The commanding officer 
said he had never seen it happen so fast," said Greg Spears, the father. 
 
"The Marine Corps has been very, very supportive of us in our time of tragedy," he 
added. "We are just overwhelmed by the way they really do take care of their own." 
 
Condolence letters sent from strangers across the country were another comfort. Cosette 
Spears, Jordan's mother, had to buy a filing cabinet to store them all. She wrote more 
than 100 response cards. 
 
"Every day is hard. It's still hard. Some days you don't think you're going to get through 
it and you go to the mailbox and get those cards of encouragement and appreciation for 
what your son did, people saying they are thinking and praying for you, it makes a great 
difference," she said. 
 
  
The MV-22 Osprey shortly before it hit the water Oct. 1, 2014 in the Arabian Sea, during 
a deadly mishap that inspired safety changes. 
 
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/jun/30/osprey-crash-at-sea-
command-investigation/ 


 

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Malaysia wants international tribunal for MH17 crash
 
Controversy continues over who shot down the Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014 
which killed all 298 people on board

  
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on 
board Photo: AP 
By AP9:53AM BST 03 Jul 2015
 
Malaysia told the UN Security Council on Thursday that it plans to submit a resolution 
soon that would establish an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for 
shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine last year.
 
Diplomats said Malaysia's UN ambassador Ramlan Bin Ibrahim informed council 
members that the resolution is being prepared by the five countries investigating the 
crash and will be under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which can be enforced militarily.
 
New Zealand's UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, the current council president, told 
reporters after Malaysia's closed-door briefing that the five countries - Malaysia, Ukraine, 
Netherlands, Australia and Belgium - are seeking "criminal accountability" for the 
downing of the aircraft.
 
The flight heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed July 17, 2014 over eastern 
Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
 
Controversy continues over who downed the plane.
 
Ukraine and the West suspect it was destroyed by a Russian surface-to-air missile fired 
by Russian soldiers or Russia-backed separatist rebels fighting in the area. Moscow 
denies that and Russian officials and state media have alleged the plane was shot down 
by a Ukrainian missile or a warplane. 
Diplomats said Russia, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, holds the key to 
adoption of a resolution. 
 
Malaysian diplomat Johan Ariff Abdul Razak said after Thursday's council discussions that 
"our sense was that all council members including Russia were open to further consider 
the matter". 
According to diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations 
were closed, Mr Ibrahim said that in the coming days he hopes to circulate the proposed 
text of a resolution with the draft statute to establish the tribunal in an annex. The 
ambassador said he would like to see its adoption by the end of July, the diplomats said. 
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/11715188/Malaysia-wants-
international-tribunal-for-MH17-crash.html

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Phoenix Police arrest suspect who pointed green laser at pilots 
  
Phoenix Police have arrested a suspect who allegedly pointed a green laser at aircraft 
landing at Deer Valley Airport. 
 
Police got the call Wednesday night from two pilots who said they were hit by the laser.  
 
A Phoenix Police helicopter approached the airport and was also hit by a laser.  
 
They tracked the suspect, 26-year-old Scott Hines who was at his apartment in a 
complex on 19th Avenue. 
 
Ground units arrived and saw Hines pointing a laser at the helicopter flying overhead. 
 
Hines was arrested and booked into jail on four counts of endangerment.  
 
http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/29466249/2015/07/02/phoenix-police-arrest-
suspect-who-pointed-green-laser-at-pilots
 

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Three hurt by Air New Zealand jet blast in Rarotonga 
  
The blast from an Air New Zealand jet put three people in hospital in Rarotonga. 
 
Three tourists were taken to hospital after they were blown over by a jet blast while 
watching an Air New Zealand Boeing 777 take off in Rarotonga (Cook Islands). 
 
A public road runs by the end of the runway at Rarotonga International Airport, and 
standing in the blast zone has become a draw for thrill seekers. 
 
Witnesses told the the CI News site in the Cook Islands that the blast from the take-off 
was so strong that it threw the tourists to the ground, knocking one unconscious. 
 
All three have since been released from hospital. 
 
The incident, last Thursday, prompted Airport Authority chief executive Joe Ngamata to 
warn people to be careful. 
 
"We don't have any control over people going on public roads, but the signs are all there 
in red," he told the Cook Islands News. 
 
Ngamata is quoted as saying some tourists didn't realise the danger involved. 
 
"People just need to be careful when a jet is taking off, and it would be better for them 
not to cross at all until the blast has gone." 
 
Island resident Larry Price told CI News warning signs in the area weren't clear enough. 
 
"I don't believe there is adequate protection for the public on the Nikao side of the 
runway." 
 
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the flight operated according to standard 
operating procedures in place at Rarotonga Airport. 
 
She understood there were warning signs on the airport perimeter. 
 
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/69957620/three-hurt-by-air-new-zealand-
jet-blast-in-rarotonga
 

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FAA expands safety reporting program for workers 
 
Washington - The Federal Aviation Administration, in partnership with the National Air 
Traffic Controllers Association, has established a program intended to allow certain 
agency workers to raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation.
 
The Safety Review Process allows the more than 700 workers inFAA's Aircraft 
Certification Service represented by NATCA to report safety issues in a "voluntary, 
cooperative, non-punitive environment," according to a June 25 press release.
 
Most safety issues will likely continue to be settled "at the local level," FAA states. Yet, 
the program gives additional employees the chance to voluntarily report safety concerns, 
FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta said in the release.
 
After an 18-month pilot period, the program will be reviewed to determine if it will be 
permanent. It is similar to one implemented last year for FAA's Office of Airports.
 
Through the process, a worker files an online confidential report about a safety issue. A 
board with two FAA managers and two NATCA representatives determines whether the 
issue meets safety criteria. A panel then investigates and provides recommendations.
 

http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/12585-faa-expands-safety-reporting-
program-for-workers

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Reno airport TSA gets most complaints in U.S. 
  
From damaged belongings to missing money, Reno-Tahoe International Airport leads the 
nation in travelers filing claims with and getting paid by the federal Transportation 
Security Administration. 
 
An analysis of data from 2010-14 by USA TODAY Media Network on the 100 biggest U.S. 
airports ranks Reno-Tahoe International highest based on the number of claims filed and 
claims paid per 1 million passengers. Claims ranged from missing or damaged 
electronics to clothing to cash to sports equipment. 
 
Why Reno - with its estimated 8.8 million passenger count a fraction of many other 
airports' - is No. 1 remains largely unanswered. 
 
Created after the September 2001 terrorist attacks and charged with operating luggage 
screening and security checkpoints at U.S. airports, the TSA is reticent to provide details 
on its specific operations. 
 
But the agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, told USA TODAY it has 
ramped up efforts in recent years to train its staff and better monitor their activity with 
undercover operations. 
 
Additionally, of the 2.5 million pieces of baggage screened daily nationwide, "less than 
one-half of 1 percent result in a lost or damaged baggage claim" and "very few are found 
to be the result of misconduct," the TSA said in a statement to the Reno Gazette-
Journal. 
 
But to the question of staffing and other factors at the local level, including Reno-Tahoe 
International, the TSA, which operates independent of local airport oversight, is largely 
tight-lipped. 
 
"We don't disclose staffing levels for security reasons. They depend on the situation and 
the threat," TSA spokesman Bruce Anderson told USA TODAY. 
 
That's not good enough, said Reno-Tahoe Airport CEO Marily Mora. 
 
"The TSA tends to look at this from a national perspective. The TSA told us they don't 
see anything alarming about the numbers here in Reno," she said. "I'm not satisfied." 
 
She said the TSA employed a customer service person at Reno until a year ago when the 
agency consolidated the position with its operations at McCarran International Airport in 
Las Vegas. 
 
"He was very proactive in getting (travelers) to file a complaint. A good amount of 
customer service was being handled here. That function is now in Las Vegas," she said. 
 
Mora said the TSA claims data are not mechanical-related at Reno-Tahoe International 
Airport, where tens of millions of dollars in improvements in the past decade included a 
new in-line baggage check-in system and a consolidated and enlarged passenger 
checkpoint area. 
 
"It's not about equipment. They've (TSA) given us reassurances there," Mora said. 
 
Even so, given Reno's rankings in the report, "They (TSA) might not be alarmed, but we 
are. At the end of the day, there was someone using this airport who was impacted." 
 
A rec-related influence? 
 
Over the five-year period at Reno-Tahoe International, 256 claims were filed with the 
TSA by outbound passengers, figures show. Of those, 120 were paid by the TSA, the 
highest rate per-capita nationwide, according to USA TODAY's calculations using TSA 
data. Most - about 81 percent - involved damaged or lost possessions in checked 
baggage. 
 
At Reno and elsewhere, TSA officials, working out of sight of travelers but with cameras 
watching, scan all checked bags and, if they see fit, can open any they believe need 
further inspection. A form is then left inside the bag informing the owner that it was 
opened and providing an online address for filing a claim. 
 
"They pull out items and when they put them back, most likely they don't pack it as 
safely as the traveler has," Mora said. 
 
The USA TODAY report's itemized list for Reno shows claims on checked baggage ranged 
from as low as $3 approved in full for "travel accessories" to $2,974 "settled" in a 2010 
claim for damaged "sporting equipment and supplies." 
 
One security checkpoint claim filed in 2012 for $500 in lost currency was approved in 
full. 
 
The $2,974 claim involved the TSA unpacking a bike that had been put through checked 
baggage, Mora said, adding, "They did not put the bike back in its packing very well." 
 
Interestingly, among the top dozen airports for TSA paid claims, Reno-Tahoe 
International was bigger in total passengers than just two others, Omaha, Neb., and 
Washington Dulles. 
 
Directly behind Reno's paid claims rate of 13.6 per 1 million passengers were Palm 
Springs, Calif., International Airport at 12.3 claims and Santa Barbara, Calif., at 11.7 
claims. 
 
That struck Mora's eye in theorizing why. 
 
"We have some commonality with Palm Springs as a recreational destination," she said. 
"A lot of sporting equipment comes through here. We have more oversized baggage 
statistically than other airports. People are carrying more stuff." 
 
The USA TODAY report showed at least seven claims at Reno-Tahoe International for 
"sporting equipment and supplies." 
 
Mora said TSA officials did not disclose to her specific figures on hand-searched bags at 
Reno's airport. 
 
But, she said, "We believe the range is about 10-12 percent of total checked bags here 
get hand searched by the TSA. While we do not have the statistic overall for TSA, we 
believe that there is a higher percentage of hand searches in Reno due to the types of 
sports equipment, etc., that come through the checked baggage system." 
 
Wanted: more answers 
 
Mora said she meets periodically with TSA officials at Reno-Tahoe International Airport 
and the issue of claims has never arisen. 
 
"I'm very surprised at the numbers," she said of USA TODAY's findings. "We've not 
received any complaints from the public." 
 
She said Reno's security checkpoint and baggage inspection areas are "heavily populated 
with cameras," and the airport's periodic customer service surveys show "strong 
satisfaction" with the TSA. 
 
Still, she said of the USA TODAY report's Reno data, "I'm not satisfied. We've asked 
questions and I'm not satisfied we have enough information. They simply work at this 
from a national perspective. But I want more answers. The airport and traveling public 
deserve it." 
 
"We are a community that relies heavily on a good customer experience at the airport," 
she said. "What we'll do is work with the TSA to get answers why there's a high rate of 
claims per client here. Whatever the case may be, we're going to be working very closely 
with them for more information." 
 
The TSA is a federally funded agency and the report's findings on Reno will be reviewed 
by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said his spokesman, Neal Patel. 
 
"The TSA has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of all passengers before 
they step on their plane," Patel said in a statement to the Reno Gazette-Journal. 
"However, this does not got give the TSA the right to disregard or damage passengers' 
property. Sen. Heller knows the TSA needs to reform the way it does business, and that 
must start in Reno." 
 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 
 
TSA claims at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, 2010-14: 
 
2010: 71 
 
2011: 54 
 
2012: 44 
 
2013: 55 
 
2014: 32 
 
Total: 256 
 
Unresolved: 32 
 
Approved: 99 
 
Denied: 104 
 
Settled: 21 
 
Total paid: 120 
 
Total dollars paid: $20,998 
 
Top 10 airports with most paid claims per 1 million passengers among 100 biggest U.S. 
airports with TSA security: 
 
Reno-Tahoe International: 13.6 
 
Palm Springs, Calif.: 12.3 
 
Santa Barbara, Calif.: 11.7 
 
Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss.: 11.7 
 
Allentown, Pa.: 10.8 
 
Eugene, Ore.: 9.1 
 
Omaha, Neb.: 8.3 
 
Spokane, Wash.: 8.3 
 
Fairbanks, Alaska: 7.9 
 
Washington Dulles: 7.6 
 
Others: 
 
Phoenix: 5.5 
 
Salt Lake City: 5.1 
 
San Jose: 5.0 
 
Sacramento: 4.9 
 
Boise: 3.6 
 
Las Vegas: 2.7 
 
Biggest claims in Reno: 
 
$2,974: In 2010, checked baggage, property damage, sporting equipment/supplies. 
Settled. 
 
$1,964: In 2010, checked baggage, property damage, tools/home improvement 
supplies. Approved in full. 
 
$1,328: In 2011, security checkpoint, personal injury. Settled. 
 
$1,088: In 2012, security checkpoint, property damage, computer/accessories. Settled. 
 
$873: In 2014, checked baggage. property loss. Approved in full. 
 
$719: In 2014, checked baggage, property damage, computer/accessories. Settled. 
 
$560: In 2011, checked baggage, property damage, personal accessories. Approved in 
full. 
 
$502: In 2014, checked baggage, property loss, clothing. Settled. 
 
$500: In 2012, security checkpoint, property loss, currency. Approved in full. 
 
$500: In 2010, checked baggage, property loss, sporting equipment/supplies. Approved 
in full. 
 
Smallest claims in Reno: 
 
$3: In 2014, checked baggage, property loss, travel accessories. Approved in full. 
 
$4: In 2013, checked baggage, property loss. Approved in full. 
 
$8: In 2013, checked baggage, property loss, travel accessories. Approved in full. 
 
$9: In 2014, checked baggage, property loss, travel accessories. Approved in full. 
 
$10: In 2012, checked baggage, property loss, cosmetics/grooming. Approved in full. 
 
Source: USA TODAY Media Network 
 
HOW TO FILE A CLAIM 
 
ONLINE: Travelers who want to file a claim with the Transportation Security 
Administration must complete a specific form. It is available at: 
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/claim-forms. 
 
OTHER: Claims can be submitted by fax or by email. They could also be mailed. If a 
passenger doesn't have access to the Internet, a TSA officer at the security checkpoint 
can direct them to a resource where a hard copy of a claim form could be obtained. 
 
http://www.rgj.com/story/money/business/2015/07/02/reno-airport-tsa-claims-top-
nation/29608603/

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Southwest Jet buys big hangar space at Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport 
  
 
Southwest Jet's acquisition in the East Valley 
 
The owner of the largest private hangar at Scottsdale Airport has purchased a 73,800-
square-foot property and 5.6 acres at Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport.
 
Southwest Jet Center paid GE Capital $7 million for the Gatewa hangar. 
 
"At 73,826 square feet, this is one of the largest hangar facilities on the West Coast," 
said JLL Managing Director Bill Honsaker. JLL represented GE Capital in the deal. Cresa 
Phoenix represented Southwest Jet. 
The property, called The Hangars at 5616, include office and hangar space has direct 
runway access. 
It currently is vacant.
 
The property includes 22,900 square feet of high-end office space flanked by two 
hangars. 
Other brokers involved in the sale include JLL's Steve Larsen, Riley Gilbert, Tom Turley 
and Jordan Kissel and Cresa's Chris Walton, Gary Gregg, Eric Walker, and Ryan Burkett.
 
"This below market acquisition offers the buyer a unique addition to their portfolio and 
provides potential for long term rent growth with the stability of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway 
Airport," Walton said. 
 
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2015/07/02/southwest-jet-buys-big-hangar-
space-at-phoenix.html
 

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Duluth pushes forward with new Cirrus Aircraft facility 
  
DULUTH, Minn. -- The city of Duluth is rushing ahead with plans to build a new facility 
for Cirrus Aircraft in order to meet the needs of the fast-growing company and cash in on 
its pledge to bring at least another 150 jobs to town on top of the 600-or-so people it 
already employs locally. 
 
So eager are city officials to land those jobs that they have agreed to open Duluth's 
wallet even before a development agreement for the project has been inked. 
 
To develop drawings, Duluth has hired the architectural and engineering firm of Burns & 
McDonnell at a cost not to exceed $456,500. 
 
Bill King, Cirrus' vice president of business administration, said Cirrus is eager to expand 
into the proposed 60,000-square-foot facility as the company prepares to launch 
production of its first jet, the Vision SF50. 
 
Chris Eng, Duluth's director of business and economic development, said he hopes 
construction of the building will begin by October. He expects the structure, made of 
precast concrete panels, will go up quickly and be ready for occupancy by April or May. 
 
Mechanics of the deal 
 
All told, the city expects to spend $8 million on a new finishing facility for Cirrus. 
 
It will receive $4 million in support from the Minnesota Investment Fund. 
 
The city's match of $4 million will come from tax-increment financing -- a form of 
subsidy that uses new taxes generated by a project to cover certain development costs. 
 
For its part, Cirrus expects to invest more than $2.5 million to equip and fit out the new 
plant. 
 
The building would be owned by the city, but Cirrus is expected to sign a long-term lease 
that would be used to pay off tax-increment financing bonds issued to finance the 
project. 
 
Assuming Cirrus gets its new facility, it won't be the first time it has received help 
growing operations in Duluth. In 2002, it moved into a 63,000-square-foot "aviation 
incubator" building constructed with the help of $3.5 million from the federal Economic 
Development Administration, $3.1 million from the city of Duluth and $2 million from the 
Duluth Economic Development Authority. 
 
Long-term commitment 
 
Cirrus is now owned by an entity called China Aviation Industry General Aircraft, and 4th 
District City Councilor Howie Hanson asked whether there was a danger of the company 
moving production to its owner's home nation in time. 
 
King said such fears are unfounded. 
 
"They did not buy us to move us. If they were going to do that, they would have 3½ to 4 
years ago before they invested over $100 million in additional new funds to bring a jet to 
market in the U.S.," he said. "This is the single biggest market in the world, and there's 
no threat of us trying to take these jobs and move them to China." 
 
However, he didn't rule out the idea of Cirrus one day opening Chinese manufacturing 
operations. 
 
"We don't doubt we'll produce airplanes in China someday. I hope we do," King said. 
"But the air space isn't open there, and there's no one to sell them to if there's no air 
space open." 
 
https://ui.constantcontact.com/rnavmap/emcf/email/create?copyUid=1121539566295
 

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Airplane Coatings Help Recoup Fuel Efficiency Lost To Bug Splatter
 
NASA's insect-shedding surfaces reduce drag by keeping plane wings cleaner in flight 
 
 
 
 
BUG SPRAY 
Watch how NASA tested its new coatings designed to prevent bug splatters from sticking 
to planes. 
Credit: NASA/C&EN
 
 When bugs explode against the wings of oncoming airplanes, they create a sticky 
problem for aerospace engineers.
 
"A bug doesn't know that it's been catastrophically destroyed," says Emilie J. (Mia) 
Siochi, a materials scientist with the National Aeronautics & Space Administration. "Its 
blood starts to thicken as if it's healing any other injury."
 
This bug blood, or hemolymph, clings to an airplane's wings, disrupting the smooth 
airflow over them and sapping the aircraft's fuel efficiency.
 
  
SPLAT 
Bug remnants on a plane's wing increase drag and hurt fuel economy. 
Credit: David C. Bowman/NASA Langley
 NASA scientists are now developing coatings that help aircraft shed or repel bug guts 
during flight. After screening nearly 200 different coating formulations, the NASA 
researchers recently flight-tested a handful of promising candidates on a Boeing 
ecoDemonstrator 757 aircraft in Shreveport, La. The team explored different 
combinations of polymer chemistry and surface structure and reports that it has created 
a coating that could reduce the amount of insect insides stuck to the wings by up to 
40%.
 
With further optimization, such coatings could allow planes to use 5% less fuel, Siochi 
says. Although that may not sound like much, it adds up. "That could be millions of 
dollars in fuel savings," Siochi explains. The bump in fuel efficiency would also curb the 
amount of greenhouse gases emitted by planes, she says. 
These coating studies are part of NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project, 
which launched in 2009 to study new technologies to make flying more eco-friendly. But 
researchers have been trying to reliably debug planes in flight since the middle of the 
20th century, Siochi says. Her own interest in the problem goes back to her master's 
degree work on splatter-resistant coatings in the 1980s.
 
NASA's more recent studies started with an examination of commercially available 
products covering a range of chemistries, including polyvinyl alcohol, polysiloxanes, and 
fluorinated polymers.
 
To test these materials in the lab, researchers developed a pneumatic launcher to fire 
living bugs at a sample coating. They first used crickets as ammunition, but a physicist 
colleague urged them to switch to fruit flies, which would be more representative of what 
planes hit during takeoff and landing.
 
Of the off-the-shelf coatings, Siochi says, the most promising was a commercial 
fluorocarbon that's usually used to prevent printed electronic circuits from getting 
gunked up-though presumably not by eviscerating insects at 150 mph. Despite its 
promise, the fluorocarbon simply couldn't slough off enough bug juice to maintain 
optimum airflow over plane wings.
 
  
STICKY SITUATION 
NASA has tested various chemistries to repel bug residue. The average splatter radius is 
about 3 cm in these photos. 
Credit: Prog. Org. Coat.
 So the NASA team crafted its own coatings to solve the problem, which is a rather 
daunting one considering the diversity of bug gut chemistry. When insects collide with an 
aluminum plane wing, a bug's exoskeleton cracks open and bounces off. "You're basically 
left with sugars, fats, and proteins" on the wing, says Lynn S. Kimsey, an entomologist 
at the University of California, Davis, who helped support NASA's flight tests this spring. 
"Sugars are easy to get off. Fats and proteins are a different story." 
Once a bug's hemolymph is "activated" by an impact, its lipid-encased hemocyte cells 
and phenoloxidase enzymes become tacky and adhere to plane wings. But wing coatings 
also have to contend with other hangers-on: pigments from red-eyed hoverflies, clear 
goop from honeybee stomachs, and yellow yolks from the eggs of female insects.
 
Developing a coating that can deal with all of that and more is a challenge, but NASA has 
the polymer chemists who can do it, Siochi says. Right now, the agency isn't disclosing 
the precise composition of the coatings it tested in Shreveport, but a 2013 publication 
gives some ideas as to what researchers have investigated previously (Prog. Org. Coat. 
2013, DOI: 10.1016/j.porgcoat.2012.08.009).
 
For example, the team looked at glycol-modified surfaces to try and minimize protein 
adhesion, as well as a hydroxyl-functionalized methacrylate that frustrates hemocyte 
accumulation. NASA is patenting its newly tested coatings and has announced that more 
information is forthcoming.
 
But polymer chemistry isn't the only factor that contributes to a coating's nonstickiness. 
By incorporating structures such as silica nanoparticles into the coatings, the NASA 
researchers worked to give the wings rough surfaces like those found on many 
superhydrophobic materials. The trick is to make a surface with protrusions large enough 
to block bugs' guts from sticking but small enough that they themselves don't disrupt 
airflow, Siochi says.
 
The team appears to have found a balance, but it is still unclear whether the coatings 
will be a viable solution to the bug problem. The leading edge of an airplane wing is a 
harsh environment. Dust and rain can erode the surface coatings during flight, Siochi 
says. It remains to be seen how much a coating's upkeep offsets the fuel savings it 
affords.
 
Still, the ramifications of this work are broad: Bug guts stick to a lot of things other than 
plane wings, points out Kimsey of UC Davis. "Think about all the people who whine about 
cleaning bugs off their radiator grilles."  
 
http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i26/Airplane-Coatings-Help-Recoup-Fuel.html
 
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People in Aviation: July 2015 
 
Bombardier appointed David Coleal to replace Eric Martel as president of Bombardier 
Business Aircraft. Martel spent 13 years at the OEM and was promoted to lead the 
business jet division in late 2013. Coleal had served as president and general manager 
for Bombardier's Learjet division but left in 2011 to become executive v-p and general 
manager at Spirit Aerosystems. Bombardier also named former Pratt & Whitney 
executive Jim Vounassis vice president of operations strategy. 
 
Gulfstream Aerospace named Derek Zimmerman to succeed Mark Burns as president of 
the product support organization. On July 1, Burns will take the helm of the company as 
president, stepping in as Larry Flynn retires. In addition, Gulfstream promoted L.D. 
Buerger to vice president of flight test. Zimmerman joined the company in 2011 as vice 
president of product support material. Buerger joined Gulfstream in 2007 as a 
G450/G550 completions team manager after serving in the U.S. Air Force. 
 
Safran is turning over the leadership team at headquarters, along with leadership at its 
Snecma, Turbomeca, Aircelle and Sagem divisions. Olivier Andriès was appointed CEO of 
Snecma, Bruno Even becomes CEO of Turbomeca, Jean-Paul Alary CEO of Aircelle and 
Martin Sion CEO of Sagem. At Safran, Stéphane Abrial takes the new role of senior 
executive v-p of international and public affairs. Assisting Abrial in that role is Bruno 
Cotté, formerly executive v-p of European and international relations, and Jean-Pierre 
Cojan. Pierre Fabre becomes senior executive v-p of R&T and innovation, and Alex Fain 
was named corporate secretary. Also, Eric Dalbiès is executive v-p of strategy and M&A; 
Jean-Jacques Orsini executive v-p of performance and competitiveness; and Bruno Pasini 
deputy executive v-p of human resources. 
 
The Aerospace Industries Association named former Exelis CEO and retired three-star 
general David Melcher its new president and CEO, effective June 8. He succeeds Marion 
Blakey, who stepped down earlier this year to become president and CEO of Rolls-Royce 
North America. 
 
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University named John Watret interim president following the 
recent retirement announcement from president and CEO John Johnson. Watret, who 
joined Embry-Riddle in 1989, most recently served as senior v-p and COO. 
 
Blackhawk Modifications named Bob Kromer senior v-p of business development and 
dealer relations, and Edwin Black senior v-p of sales and marketing. Kromer was most 
recently senior v-p of sales, marketing and customer support, while Black was formerly 
vice president of domestic sales. 
 
The Westchester Aviation Association selected Brittany Davies as executive director. 
Davies has a 15-year background in business aviation, serving as a founding member of 
the Colorado Aviation Business Association and running her own aviation marketing and 
strategic planning firm, Windshift Consulting. 
 
FlightSafety International appointed Kyle Davis executive director of marketing for 
business and commercial aviation training activities. Davis, who first joined FlightSafety 
in 1997, rejoined the company in 2012 as a product director after serving with EE 
International, Global Connections and LL Johns & Associates. 
 
FlightSafety International appointed Gerry McRae executive director of business 
development; Robert McGahan director of business development, government training 
and simulation; and Patrick Coulter director of business development, commercial 
training and simulation. McRae has served with FlightSafety since 1996 and most 
recently was director of project management. McGahan joined FlightSafety in 1999 as a 
visual systems program manager for military programs and most recently was manager 
of military business development, visual systems. Coulter, who has been with 
FlightSafety since 1998, most recently was manager of FlightSafety's Learning Centers in 
Toronto and Tokyo. The training organization also promoted Brian Moore to manager of 
its Wichita East training center. He succeeds Debbie Jones, who has retired from the 
company after 26 years. Moore joined the company in 1990 as an instructor for the 
Bonanza, Baron and Premier and most recently served as assistant manager of 
FlightSafety's Wichita Cessna facility. 
 
Cutter Aviation appointed Heather Wahl director of human resources. The company also 
appointed Daniel Kearns to a regional aircraft management sales position. Kearns has 15 
years of sales experience, seven of them in aviation. 
 
Ametek Singapore appointed Brian Hunter to the newly created position of vice president 
of sales and marketing. Hunter brings a 25-year background in aerospace maintenance, 
repair and overhaul, including engineering, business development and operations. 
 
Rana Das has joined Ametek MRO as divisional vice president and general manager. Das 
was previously president for aviation repair and service provider Turbopower. 
 
The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) named Mark Millam vice president technical and 
Christopher Rochette senior manager of events and marketing. Millam has 30 years of 
airline operations and safety experience, most recently as managing director of safety 
for Airlines for America. Rochette has 19 years of experience with non-profits. In 
addition, the FSF promoted Greg Marshall to vice president for global programs, Frank 
Jackman to vice president of communications and Susan Lausch to vice president of 
business operations.  
 
ABS Jets named Lenka Nahlovska supervisor of the charter and brokerage department. 
Nahlovska, who recently rejoined the company, was formerly its chief operations 
dispatcher. 
 
Eveline Bisson joined Metro Aviation as director of transport business services. Most 
recently Bisson was the director for Metro Aviation's Northwest MedStar program. 
 
Derek Donahue was appointed regional director for Satcom Direct. Donahue moves to 
Satcom's office in Dubai, UAE, after working as the company's business development 
director for Europe. 
 
Circor Aerospace & Defense appointed Tony Najjar group vice president of sales and 
marketing. Najjar has spent more than 25 years in aerospace and engineering roles, 
including stints with Rockwell Collins and Kaiser Aerospace. 
 
West Star Aviation appointed Andy Waynick director of interiors at its Columbia, S.C. 
location. Waynick has more than 20 years of experience working on projects ranging 
from upholstery to design and management. 
 
Tim Reynolds was named finance manager at Bangor International Airport (BGR) in 
Maine. Previously Reynolds was assistant treasurer and controller with The Bangor Daily 
News. 
 
Santiago Crespo joined Columbia Helicopters as vice president of business development 
and marketing. Crespo previously served as vice president and general manager of oil 
and gas aviation at Erickson. 
 
Phillips 66 Aviation appointed Kimberly Ruth director of programs development for 
general aviation and promoted Kent Holman to senior supply coordinator for general 
aviation marketing. Ruth has held a range of positions in the aviation industry, including 
alliance program director of global aviation for Chevron. A 26-year company veteran, 
Holman has held roles of increasing responsibility within Conoco, ConocoPhillips and 
Phillips 66. Most recently he served as director of closing and control for commercial 
product financial services. 
 
Edward Vesely was appointed senior director of sales for Welsch Aviation. Vesely, who 
heads the company's Houston location, has been a pilot for more than 40 years. 
 
Ana Fontes was named executive v-p and general manager for Superior AvConsulting 
Services. Previously Fontes was the Brazilian sales and marketing representative for 
Superior Air Parts, part of Superior Aviation Group. 
 
Bruce Yolken was appointed quality assurance manager for Pasternack Enterprises. 
Yolken joins Pasternack with more than 30 years of quality assurance experience in the 
aerospace and defense sectors, including stints with McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. 
 
Farsound Aviation appointed Dianne Jones to the newly created position of vice president 
Americas. Jones has 20 years of aerospace industry experience, and previously worked 
with Farsound as a supplier. 
 
Women In Aviation International elected three new board members: Deborah Hecker is a 
737-800 first officer for American Airlines; Marci Veronie, vice president of sales and 
marketing at Avemco Insurance; and Abingdon Welch, founder and CEO of The Abingdon 
Co. 
 
Rockwell Collins appointed Steve Nieuwsma vice president of corporate strategy. Most 
recently he was vice president of commercial systems engineering for the company. 
Succeeding Nieuwsma in that role is Leigh Parker, who previously served as senior 
director of commercial systems engineering avionics programs for the company. 
 
Executive Jet Management Europe (EJME) named Janus Kamradt regional sales vice 
president. Kamradt joins EJME with more than eight years of experience in the private 
aviation market and a background in aircraft management and charter. 
 
Gama Aviation announced a series of senior executive changes and additions following 
the completion of its merger with Hangar 8 and IJC earlier this year. Warren Gravell was 
promoted to managing director of Europe. Clive Prentice joins the company as managing 
director of European ground operations from Jets (UK) and Hawker Beechcraft. Ian 
Spreadbury joins Gama from Jet Aviation to lead the European sales team. Martin 
Ringrose joins from the UK's Ministry of Defence to become managing director for the 
Middle East and Asia (ME&A). Richard Lineveldt will support Ringrose as general 
manager of ME&A air operations. 
 
Gulfstream Aerospace appointed Stan Dixon to the newly created position of vice 
president of G650 continuous improvement. Dixon, who joined Gulfstream in 1999, was 
previously vice president of government and sustaining programs. The company also 
appointed Cobi Lane general manager of its service center in Las Vegas. Lane, who 
joined Gulfstream in 1999 as a technician, spent the past two years as a senior 
operations manager at the Gulfstream Savannah Service Center. 
 
Paul Woodard has joined Executive AirShare as senior sales director. Woodard has more 
than 30 years of business aviation experience, having held senior sales and marketing 
positions with Air 7, Wheels Up, Avantair, Piaggio and Raytheon Aircraft. Airbus 
Helicopters named Terry Eichman to lead the Customer Training Center. Eichman, who 
joined Airbus Helicopters last year and has 26 years of industry experience, was 
previously sales manager for training and services. 
 
James Walker was named vice president and general manager of Professional Aviation 
Associates. Previously Walker was founder and president of parts distribution company 
Worthington Aviation. 
 
AWARDS & HONORS 
 
The organizers of the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) 
honored four people who helped launch the annual business aviation event in Geneva. 
Honored were former National Business Aviation Association officials Kathleen Blouin and 
Jack Olcott, along with European Business Aviation Association executives Fernand 
Francois and Brian Humphries. Blouin joined NBAA in 1992 as senior manager of 
convention services and retired from her role as senior v-p of conventions and forums in 
2014. Francois had served as CEO of EBAA from 1993-2004. Humphries became 
president of EBAA in 2007, but previously had served as its chair from 1996-2004 and its 
CEO from 2004-2007. Olcott was named NBAA's president in 1992 and served in that 
role for 11 years.  
 
The Ninety-Nines announced that Cecile Hatfield is this year's recipient of the Aviation 
Industry Woman Of Excellence Award given by the International Aviation Women's 
Association (IAWA). Hatfield has served as general counsel to the Ninety-Nines for more 
than 20 years. She was the first woman to chair the American Bar Association Aviation 
And Space Law Committee and is the program chair of the annual Embry-Riddle Aviation 
Law and Insurance Symposium. She obtained her pilot certificate in 1963 and her 
instructor credentials soon after. o 
 
FINAL FLIGHT 
 
Ken Colthorpe, who spent nearly 30 years as a pilot and manager with Champion Spark 
Plug, died April 13 in Toledo, Ohio, at the age of 93. He had nearly 50 years of aviation 
experience, serving as a civilian flight instructor for the AAF during World War II and 
then delivering hundreds of aircraft to the U.S. and Africa for the Air Transport 
Command Ferrying Service. After the war Colthorpe joined China National Aviation, 
returning to China as the youngest airline captain and instructor flying DC-4s. By 1950 
he had returned to the U.S. as co-owner and manager of the former Metcalf Flight 
Services before joining Champion as chief pilot two years later. During his 30-year 
career with Champion, he earned a number of jet type ratings, the Falcon 20 and 
Grumman Gulfstream II among them. He logged north of 21,000 hours and six million 
miles on five continents.  
 
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-07-02/people-aviation-
july-2015
 
 
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One Aviation Introduces Eclipse Special Edition 
  
The $2.195 million Eclipse SE, which replaces the Total Eclipse, comes with a three-year 
factory warranty and Eclipse Advantage maintenance program that covers all required 
scheduled inspections. (Photo: One Aviation)
 
One Aviation is now offering the Eclipse Special Edition, a factory-refurbished Eclipse 500 
that has been upgraded with nearly all the features introduced on the Eclipse 550. These 
include a dual Avio integrated flight management system, anti-skid brake system, newly 
designed pilot-side standby display unit, PPG glass windshields, new interior and two-
tone paint scheme. 
 
The $2.195 million Eclipse SE, which replaces the Total Eclipse series, comes with a 
three-year factory warranty and Eclipse Advantage maintenance program that covers all 
required scheduled inspections. It is delivered with all mandatory and recommended 
Service Bulletins completed and a P&WC Gold ESP engine plan paid through the date of 
delivery. Also included in the aircraft cost is one initial type rating and access to all 
Eclipse 500 optional features, such as autothrottles and Taws. 
 
"The Eclipse SE is much more than an upgraded Eclipse 500; it is a factory-supported, 
like-new aircraft for a very reasonable price," said One Aviation CEO Alan Klapmeier. He 
said the inclusion of the maintenance plan and warranty "further demonstrates our goal 
of simplifying aircraft ownership and providing...peace of mind for our customers who 
own and operate an Eclipse twinjet." 
 
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-07-02/one-aviation-
introduces-eclipse-special-edition
 
 
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Infrastructure And Safety Summits
McAllen, Texas
July 20 - 24, 2015
 
Summits offer you a variety of training opportunities across multiple disciplines.  To save 
you time and 
money, we offer nearly 400 hours of training during approximately 20 classes, all offered 
at one location.
We understand today's economic challenges and know that continuing education is 
essential for field
experts, managers, supervisors, and technicians.  We continuously work to ensure our 
training and
curriculum are current and relevant to meet your training needs.  We are able to provide 
these training
summits across the state at a reduced cost per class through general revenue received 
through the state
of Texas.
 
 
 
 
 

McAllen Infrastructure and Safety Summit Brochure



Register at TEEX.org/itsi
 
 
  
 
 
 
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Upcoming Events:
 
Fundamentals of IS-BAO
July 7, 2015
Alexandria, VA  USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659131 
 
IS-BAO Auditing
July 8, 2015
Alexandria, VA  USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659136 
 
EAA AirVenture Schedule
July 19-26, 2015
Oshkosh, WI
http://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/eaa-airventure-schedule-of-events
 
Infrastructure and Safety Summit 
Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service 
July 20-24, 2015 
McAllen, Texas 
http://TEEX.org/itsi
 
Fundamentals of IS-BAO
July 21, 2015
Orlando, FL  USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659145
 
IS-BAO Auditing
July 22, 2015
Orlando, FL  USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659149
 
Fundamentals of IS-BAO
August 19, 2015
Madrid, Spain 
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659089
 
IS-BAO Auditing
August 20, 2015
Madrid, Spain
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659096
 
Safety Management Systems Training & Workshop 
Course offered by ATC Vantage Inc.
Tampa, FL
August 6-7, 2015
www.atcvantage.com/training
 
Aircraft Fire Hazards, Protection & Investigation Course
9-11 Sept. 2015
Hotel Ibis Nanterre La Defense (near Paris) France
http://blazetech.com/resources/pro_services/FireCourse-France_2015.pdf 
 
Regulatory Affairs Training Course 
September 15 & 16 
Fort Worth, TX 
http://jdasolutions.aero/services/regulatory-affairs.php
 
Suspected Unapproved Parts (SUPS) Training Course 
September 15 & 16 
Fort Worth, TX 
http://jdasolutions.aero/
 
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JOBS AVAILABLE:
 
 Internal Evaluations Program Auditor 
Allegiant Airlines 
http://www.allegiantair.com/careers
 
Air Safety Investigator  
Textron Systems  
http://www.textron.com/careers/
 
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Curt Lewis