Defense Daily :: Weekly coverage of air safety trends, policy and regulation

Time Running Out for AF Flight 447 Investigators

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is probing two recent incidents involving Airbus A330 commercial transports that appear to have suffered similar failures reported on Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1...

Regional Airline Summit Yields Action Plan

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The nation's top-level federal aviation safety regulators have taken immediate steps to monitor the regional airline industry's pilot training and reduce the threat of fatigue on the flight deck. The voluntary measures emerged from the June 15 "call to...

DHS IG Sees Minimal Threat To Security From General Aviation

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

By Calvin Biesecker General aviation aircraft represent "limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security" and steps that have been taken by airports to improve security related to general aviation "are positive and effective," says a...

AF Flight 447 Casts Shadow Over Paris

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The Paris Air Show got underway this week with the fatal crash of Air France Flight 447 into the South Atlantic likely casting a shadow over the premier aviation event. The Paris Air Show gives the aviation industry a venue to promote the latest innovations...

Mystery Remains on Fatal Air France Crash

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The loss of Air France Flight 447, which disappeared over the South Atlantic on June 1 during a nasty lightning storm, taking 228 lives, will continue to baffle aviation safety investigators until the Airbus A330's flight data and cockpit voice recorders are...

Battle Brewing Over Loran

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

U.S. lawmakers and industry experts are critical of President Obama's plan to shut down a decades-old navigation system that could serve as a backup to the Global Positioning System (GPS), the backbone of the Federal Aviation Administration's Next Generation...

Lawmakers Order Safety Probe of Regional Carriers

Mon, 25 May 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Four senior U.S. senators, including the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee's aviation subcommittee, have petitioned the Department of Transportation's Inspector General to investigate safety enforcement of the nation's regional airlines. The lawmakers...

Colgan Air Crash Raises Many Safety Issues

Mon, 18 May 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Three days of testimony before the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) last week about pilot fatigue, failed flying tests and cockpit warning systems placed a harsh spotlight on regional airline operations, pointing to numerous safety issues. On...

FAA Drafts Rule for Part 135 CRM Training

Mon, 11 May 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a proposed rule that would require all certificate holders conducting operations under Part 135 to include in their flight training programs crew resource management (CRM) for crewmembers, including pilots...

Emirates A340 Tail Scrape Explained

Mon, 4 May 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Incorrect weight data on an in-flight computer caused the tail of an Emirates Airbus A340 (A6-ERG) to scrape the runway during takeoff March 20, 2009 from the Melbourne Airport, according to Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) officials. The Dubai-bound...

Government Secrecy for the Birds

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaFrance ordered the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make its entire bird strike database available to the public. "Public disclosure is our job," LaHood wrote on his official blog. "The sea change in...

IATA/CIS Team to Improve Aviation Safety

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) have agreed to improve aviation safety throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The expanded pact adds specific points to IATA's existing...

EU Adds to Airline Safety Blacklist

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The European Commission (EC) has banned all eight airlines operating from the West African nation of Benin from flying to Europe because of their poor safety record. The EC also added six carriers from Kazakhstan and one each from Thailand (One Two Go...

Air Charters: Deadliest Year Since 2000

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The National Transportation Safety Board late last week released its preliminary aviation accident statistics for 2008, showing improvements in some industry sectors but increased accident rates in others. Fatalities among on-demand operations rose as did the...

Update on Fatal Buffalo Crash

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Analysis of flight data points away from severe aircraft icing as a key factor in the Feb. 12 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo, NY in which 49 people onboard the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 and one person on the ground perished. The data...

Lawmakers Concerned over NextGen Risks

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ability to successfully implement its revolutionary satellite-based Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is threatened by the lack of a detailed plan and measurable goals, the air carrier's reluctance...

NTSB Urges Trent 800 Engine Mod

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Following two engine thrust rollbacks on Boeing 777s powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 powerplants, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued an urgent safety recommendation calling for redesign of an engine component---work that is...

Boeing Issues Warning to 737 Operators

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Following disclosure that a faulty altimeter played a critical role in the Turkish Airlines B-737-800 (TC-JGE) crash at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Feb. 25, Boeing is advising 737 pilots to carefully monitor cockpit instruments during critical phases of...

Crash of Flight 1951 Mars Improved Airline Fatality Rate

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 0:00:00 EST

A Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 (TC-JGE) crashed short of landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Feb. 25, killing nine of the 135 people aboard (128 passenger and seven crew) and injuring more than 50 others. The accident, which happened in good...

FAA/NTSB Remain at Odds over Turboprop Icing Needs

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 0:00:00 EST

Ever since 1994 when an American Eagle flight en route to Chicago in freezing rain went into a high-speed dive and crashed near Roselawn, Indiana, killing all 68 people aboard, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation...