Safety News In Brief

Air Safety Week, June 11, 2007

The UK House of Lords are requesting evidence from anybody who has information relating to Air Travel and Health; the last time they did the same public survey was in 2000 and they are now aware that there more facts which need to be considered. Their previous (Fifth) Report is still available online at tinyurl.com/2n58rh (Deadline for your input to their Lordships is Monday 18 June)

Date: 7-Jun
Incident: The Air Transport Assn (ATA) will be holding its 50th annual Non-
Destructive Testing (NDT) Forum in Orlando on 27-30 Aug at the Hyatt Regency
Hotel, Orlando International Airport. For details and registration see
tinyurl.com/2ys8et

Date: 6-Jun
Incident: Flight Safety Foundation President and CEO William R. Voss testified
on Capitol Hill before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure's subcommittee on aviation. His topic was
proactive safety management culture in an SMS (Safety Management Systems)
Environment. See speech at  www.flightsafety.org

Date: 6-Jun
Incident: National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker today told
Congress that he was disappointed at the number of recommendations to the
Federal Aviation Administration on the Board's Most Wanted List that are in an
unacceptable action status. Rosenker noted that, of the six items before the FAA
from the Board's Most Wanted List, five of them have now been color-coded Red,
for Unacceptable Response. See the list at tinyurl.com/2d568g

Date: 6-Jun
Incident: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) International President
Patricia Friend testified in front of Congress on Wednesday, June 6, about the
need for the NTSB to include flight attendant fatigue concerns in their "most
wanted" recommendation regarding reducing accidents and incidents caused by
human fatigue. In 2006 a Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) report
concluded that "flight attendants' fatigue and tiredness is a salient issue
warranting evaluation."

Date: 4-Jun
Incident: Despite their Advisory Circular which clearly seemed to say otherwise,
the FAA has now advised that pilots may continue to use their IFR-approved GPS
units for instrument approaches, at least for now. See ASW 04 Jun 07 Safety
Brief for details

Date: 1-Jun
Incident: The TB stricken Happy Wanderer, who easily evaded the CDC's weak
efforts for restraint, was Andrew Speaker (an attorney) [See ASW coverage at
tinyurl.com/2d8rkc]?his  father-in-law is a microbiologist specializing in TB
infection. Dr Wiliam Schaffner Vanderbilt Univ School of Medicine. The XDR-TB
sufferer was told (but not ordered) not to air travel and ought not to have
traveled. CDC would've had to go to a judge and ask for a restraining order.
Takes a long time for TB sensitivity tests to come through. Senators consider
that what he did was unconscionable (in doing a risky end-run around the
system). A Congressman remarked that "the CDC's budget cut is therefore D.U.M.
dumb".

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