Safety & Technology Trends

Air Safety Week, August 18, 2008

ALPA Condemns Criminalization of Concorde Accident

Captain John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, deplores the decision by French prosecutors to pursue a criminal investigation of the 2000 Concorde crash in Paris. "France's archaic approach to this tragic event represents a step backwards for global aviation safety. As we have continued to refine and improve our aviation safety systems to create the safest mode of transportation ever developed, we have learned that the criminalization of aircraft accident investigation can never produce positive results.

We in the aviation safety community call upon our colleagues throughout the world to join us in pointing out to French authorities that their action will not improve aviation safety, rather it will inevitably lead to hazards going undetected. The threat of criminal prosecution will always result in suppressing the authorities' ability to obtain valuable safety information before tragedy strikes. To be sure, if someone commits an act with intent to do harm, that person should be prosecuted, but nothing suggests that any airline or its personnel performed any such deliberate act that resulted in the loss of the Concorde," said the pilot's union leader.

Airline Pilots Back RSL

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) favors the Federal Aviation Administration's recently announced initiatives to improve runway safety at busy U.S. airports.

Capt. John Prater, ALPA president, said "runway status lights (RSL) at 20 airports will help, but there are dozens more airports that need this technology as well." ALPA has advocated a comprehensive list of runway safety improvements over the span of the last decade, calling on Congress and other government agencies to develop, fund, and implement technologies that would transform the National Airspace System. "The U.S. must adequately prepare for increases in air traffic, airport operations, and runway incursion risks. That means proper funding and implementation of real solutions sooner rather than later," Prater added. ALPA-backed runway safety technologies include: cockpit moving map displays that show aircraft position relative to runways and taxiways; the integration of ADS-B to enable pilots and controllers to track all aircraft and vehicles on the surface and up to 1,000 feet above ground level; automatic runway occupancy alerting; and, digital data-linked clearances that are then displayed on the moving map.

MDA to Provide Info Solution to FAA

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has signed a contract with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide an information solution to store and manage airport, runway and navigational aid information. This award is part of the larger FAA Instrument Flight Procedures Automation (IFPA) initiative to modernize flight path design and maintenance processes, which MDA has been supporting since September 2005. The contract is for development of the AirNav 2.0 system that will provide the FAA with a web-enabled solution for managing the safety-critical aeronautical data upon which flight paths are designed and validated. David Hargreaves, a vice president within MDA's Information Systems group said, "this contract broadens and deepens our already strong relationship with the FAA on its IFPA initiative. We are very pleased with the FAA's continued confidence in MDA's ability to deliver information solutions essential to their business."

New Navaids for Liverpool Airport

Thales UK will install a Cat III 420 Instrument Landing System (ILS)1 and 415 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)2 at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The airport is replacing its existing ILS/DME installation. Thales' latest generation equipment will provide a CATIII landing capability. Keith Carr, director of Thales UK's Chessington facility, which will be providing the systems, says: "Thales is extremely pleased to be able to provide the CAT III landing system upgrade which will enhance flight safety into Liverpool John Lennon Airport." Chris Kelly, head of air traffic services for the Peel Airports Group said "Liverpool John Lennon Airport is pleased to have selected Thales UK to supply and install a new CATIII ILS/DME system that will replace the current CATII ILS on runway 27. This upgrade continues the airport's investment in improvements in its airfield infrastructure." Thales UK now has orders for more than 25 Thales 420 ILS systems to be supplied to the Ministry of Defence and Regional Airports in the UK.

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