Safety & Technology Trends

Air Safety Week, July 14, 2008

Aerobahn Service for Continental

Sensis'Aerobahn Service is now operational at Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The web-based service provides Continental with the information needed to reduce taxi times at one of its key hubs. Sensis Aerobahn integrates flight schedule and operational data with Sensis Multistatic Dependent Surveillance ground surveillance for a real-time, highly accurate picture of ground traffic. TaxiView provides real-time situational view of taxiing aircraft., while OpsView Delivers robust real-time and historical information for analysis and reporting. QuickView, on the other hand, provides a quick and accurate assessment of airfield operations with real-time status of arriving and departing flights.

US, Europe Aviation Safety Pact

FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell and European Commission VP- Transport Antonio Tajani have signed a safety agreement that "broadens and deepens the regulatory collaboration between the FAA and its European counterparts in EASA and national authorities." The accord provides for "reciprocal acceptance" of safety findings in aircraft design, airworthiness and repair station oversight. The pact additionally "promotes safety and harmonization by providing for regulatory cooperation, particularly in rulemaking, and safety data exchange." It establishes a bilateral oversight board to manage implementation of joint safety initiatives.

Boeing Australia Now FAA Repair Station

Boeing Australia Limited has become the company's first certified U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) repair station outside the United States. The FAA Type 145 repair certificate authorizes Boeing facilities at Amberley and Eagle Farm in Queensland to perform maintenance and airframe/engine repairs on Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft and the model's military derivatives. The FAA uses the Type 145 certification process to determine if a repair station has the equipment, personnel, manufacturers' maintenance instructions and inspection systems to ensure aircraft repairs are completed to U.S. aviation standards.

No Lip Service

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) suspended the operations of Cairns-based airline Lip Air on June 27. Lip Air, which trades as Aero Tropics, was suspended because CASA believes there are serious and imminent risks to the safety of passengers traveling on the airline. CASA will now make an application to the Federal Court to extend the suspension of their air operators certificate for up to 40 days. If the extension is granted CASA will complete investigations into safety deficiencies within Lip Air and may seek to cancel the airline's air operators certificate. The airline and key personnel have been subject to a number of actions by CASA, taken to achieve improvements in safety performance. However, in recent days CASA has discovered further evidence that safety standards within Lip Air have not in improved and in fact have deteriorated. CASA believes the deficiencies are indicative of a total failure of the airline's management structure, creating an unacceptable risk to aviation safety. CASA's safety concerns center on pilot training. Aero Tropics Air Services has operated to regional destinations using one 11-seater Beachcraft King Air B200, two Cessna Grand Caravans, four Aerocommander AC-500s and six Britten Norman Islanders.

Indonesia Grounds Five Regionals

Indonesia has grounded five airlines, giving them three months to improve safety standards or face a ban. A safety audit found Helizona, SMAC, Asco Nusa Air, Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service failed to meet minimum standards in all safety categories, transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told AFP. The airlines have been moved into the transport ministry's bottom safety ranking and have had their Air Operator's Certificates (AOC) suspended. "If after three months they don't take any action, their AOCs will be revoked," the spokesman said.

18 Lost in CASA 212 Crash

An Indonesian military CASA C-212 twin-engine turboprop went down in dense jungle on the side of a mountain in Indonesia on June 26. Officials said the aircraft had departed Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta on a mission to test a digital mapping camera system. According to AFP, wreckage was spotted on Salak Mountain, a rugged, steep slope 25 miles south of the capital city of Jakarta in the town of Bogor. Rescuers recovered the bodies of all 18 persons aboard the aircraft. "People living in the area saw a plane flying and then they heard sounds of an explosion," one police officer said. Among the passengers were six civilians including three foreigners employed by the Singapore-based company Credent Technology, specializing in high-resolution satellite imagery and laser scanning for mapping.

Middle East Air Nav Meeting Held

The General Civil Aviation Authority of UAE (GCAA) hosted the first meeting of MIDANPIRG Steering group on July 1-3, 2008, in Dubai. The meeting was organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Middle East Regional Office. It is comprised of eight member states (Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. The attendees addressed the global, inter and intra regional activities related to aviation infrastructure and implementation of the new navigation concept called Performance Based Navigation (PBN).