Aviation Security Daily

Car Bomb Suspect Worked at Aviation Company

2007-07-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

Kafeel Ahmed, the engineer identified by the police as one of two main suspects in the British car bomb plot, worked for much of last year as an aeronautical engineer for an Indian outsourcing company that designs aircraft parts for companies like Boeing and Airbus.

Mr. Ahmed worked in the Bangalore office of the company, Infotech Enterprises, between December 2005 and July 2006, K. S. Susindar, a company spokesman, said in a telephone interview on Monday. Mr. Susindar offered that information after checking an employee database that listed Mr. Ahmed as having degrees from universities in India and Northern Ireland; he had a master’s in aeronautical engineering. The company did not say exactly which aviation projects Mr. Ahmed, one of 5,500 employees, worked on.

Mr. Ahmed is one of the two men described by the police as principal suspects in the failed attacks in Britain. The police have said he was the driver of the Jeep Cherokee that, loaded with gasoline canisters, was driven into the terminal of Glasgow International Airport on June 30.

Burns cover 90 percent of his body, the police say, and he remains in critical condition. He has not been charged, and his condition has prevented the police from questioning him.

In an interview on Sunday, Gopal Hosur, a deputy police chief of Bangalore, where Mr. Ahmed grew up, said his friends had told the police that Mr. Ahmed returned to India from Britain as something of a radical in 2005, the year he began work at Infotech. He had been known to be pious and goodhearted, but he surprised friends when he returned home with a traditional Muslim beard in place of his goatee, brimming with notions about fighting for Islam, Mr. Hosur said.

There has been no suggestion that Mr. Ahmed did anything untoward while at Infotech. Mr. Susindar said that Mr. Ahmed resigned from the company voluntarily and that the company had no problem with him.

Infotech’s clients have included some of the biggest names in aviation, according to its filings to investors: the Boeing Company and Airbus SAS, each of which has set up dedicated engineering teams at Infotech; Bombardier, the Canadian maker of corporate jets; and Pratt & Whitney, the aircraft engine maker. A spokeswoman for Boeing, Lizum Mishra, said the company would not be able to comment on the subject on short notice. An Airbus spokeswoman, Barbara Kracht, when told of Mr. Ahmed’s work at Infotech, said, “I’m absolutely not aware of this.”

Another client of Infotech is the Home Office of the British government, which is responsible for domestic security and is leading the investigation into the car bomb plot. Infotech helped the Home Office build a searchable computer database of criminal activity in Cornwall and Devon Counties.

Infotech also offers outsourced engineering in other industries, including for Alstom, the French maker of rail equipment and power systems.

Mr. Susindar said that Mr. Ahmed, an aviation specialist, was unlikely to have worked on projects outside his domain.

“He was sincere at work,” Mr. Susindar said in the interview after speaking to an Infotech employee who knew Mr. Ahmed. “And he was very much to himself. There were no friends or anything.”

Infotech Enterprises, based in Hyderabad, India, recorded $120 million in sales last year. It belongs to a wave of Indian outsourcing firms that are taking on high-end projects from Western companies.

“If the planes are designed in the West, the Indian designers are helping to make the planes a reality,” said Samad Masood, a technology analyst at Ovum, a research and advisory firm in London. The Indian engineers, he added, are “designing or helping to design pretty serious components that go into airplanes.”

Further evidence emerged Monday connecting Mr. Ahmed to a passenger in the Jeep, Dr. Bilal Abdulla, a British-born Iraqi doctor who is the only person to have been charged in the failed bomb attacks. Associates of the two men have told journalists that they got to know each other in Cambridge, England.

On Monday, an Indian official showed a reporter a printout of a document that he said came from a high-capacity computer hard drive seized from Mr. Ahmed’s family home in Bangalore, where the police say he lived for six months before the failed attacks. The document was a certificate from Mr. Abdulla’s medical school in Baghdad, listing his grades in a variety of subjects. On the top right of the document, a color photograph of Mr. Abdulla was attached. It was not clear when the document arrived in Mr. Ahmed’s computer.

New York Times

Four convicted in failed 2005 bombing in London

2007-07-10T10:33:00.001+01:00

Four men were convicted Monday in a failed attack on the city’s transit system on July 21, 2005, that mirrored lethal suicide bombings two weeks earlier, on July 7.

The convictions came days after yet another attempted terrorist strike. The failed car bombings in London and Glasgow in June illuminated Britain’s continuing battle with terrorism with suspected links to Islamic militancy that has consumed British police and prosecutors.

More than 100 people await trial on charges arising from several suspected conspiracies since four suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 other people in the attack on the London transportation system on July 7, 2005.

Two weeks later, a group of men carried explosives in backpacks onto three subway trains and a double-decker bus. But the makeshift bombs failed to detonate.

The defendants argued during the trial that they had merely intended to frighten people in a protest against the Iraq war when they carried homemade bombs in backpacks onto three London subway trains and a bus.

But prosecutors argued that only poor bombmaking skills, hot weather or “good fortune” prevented the bombs, made of hydrogen peroxide and Indian chapatti flour, from exploding and causing death and injury on the scale of the July 7 attack.

In a London criminal court on Monday, the men – Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29; Hussain Osman, 28; Yassin Omar, 26; and Ramzi Mohamed, 25; all immigrants from the Horn of Africa – were found guilty of conspiracy to murder. No date has been set for sentencing.

One of them, Ibrahim, described by prosecutors as the leader of the group, traveled to Sudan in 2003 and Pakistan in 2004 to train in terrorist camps, prosecutors said. He was in Pakistan at the same time as two of the July 7 bombers, but it is not known whether the three men ever met, British security officials said.

A jury of nine women and three men is still considering its verdict on two other men accused of involvement in the conspiracy, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 34, and Adel Yahya, 24.

It is not clear why the explosives failed to detonate, the prosecution said during the six-month trial. The bombs contained chapati flour, and hydrogen peroxide in plastic tubs with pieces of metal taped to the outside.

June Plot Suspect worked in aviation

Kafeel Ahmed, the engineer identified by the police as one of two main suspects in last month’s British car bomb plot, worked for much of last year as an aeronautical engineer for an Indian outsourcing company that designs aircraft parts for companies like Boeing and Airbus.

Ahmed worked in the Bangalore office of the company, Infotech Enterprises, between December 2005 and July 2006, a company spokesman said in a telephone interview on Monday. The company did not say exactly which aviation projects Ahmed, one of 5,500 employees, worked on.

Ahmed is one of two men described by police as principal suspects in the failed attacks. Police said he drove a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gasoline canisters into the terminal of Glasgow International Airport on June 30.

Burns cover 90 percent of his body, the police say, and he remains in critical condition.

The New York Times

Art taking off at airports, including gallery western N.C.Art taking off at airports, including gallery western N.C.

2007-07-06T11:26:00.000+01:00

A mesmerizing amoeba-like glass sculpture titled "Swell" that looks like an ocean wave. Colorful images of pelicans, crabs and other waterlife. Strands of light-reflecting glass suspended from a cable that creates a rainbow effect.

A visit to the art museum? Nope. Just a stroll through the airport.

A growing number of airports, including a western North Carolina airport that features the "Swell" sculpture, are using art to boost tourism, polish the image of their host community and soothe passengers in what can be a stressful environment.

"You've got a captive audience," said Greg Mamary, producer of special projects for the American Association of Airport Executives. "It's just become a very trendy thing."

The Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina opened an art gallery June 1 featuring 47 paintings and sculptures from local artists, including the ocean-like "Swell."

There already are plans to expand the gallery, which gives local artists a stage and provides a benefit to passengers as they wait for flights.

"It gives them something to do and exposes passengers who are coming or going to that western North Carolina culture," said airport spokeswoman Patti Michel.

Dayton International Airport in Ohio will begin hanging paintings, displaying sculptures and possibly staging musical performances this fall.

The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, damaged by Hurricane Katrina, will begin displaying art when renovations are completed in September. Pottery, paintings and wall-wrap art of pelicans and other local waterfowl are on tap.

"For us, it's huge because we lost so much identity and culture due to the hurricane," said Jeremiah Gerald, air service development manager of the Mississippi airport.

Smaller airports are jumping on a bandwagon that many larger airports have been riding for years.

About 300 pieces of art can be seen at Atlanta's airport, including a large display of stone sculptures from Zimbabwe. In the baggage area, giant lifelike ants appear to emerge from a hole in the ceiling and crawl over the ductwork - a metaphor for the anthill-like flurry of airport activity.

The Phoenix airport boasts 500 pieces of art in 24 areas, a collection that has been steadily growing. The rental-car area boasts the strands-of-light-reflecting-glass artwork.

Lennee Eller, program manager of the Phoenix Airport Museum, said many airports are just launching art programs. She calls it the "artport" phenomenon.

"We're at the verge of really developing an industry. We've convinced the powers that be that we're cool," Eller said. "I have 42 million passengers a year. There is no other museum in Arizona that has that kind of audience."

Indianapolis' new airport, scheduled to open in 2008, will boast $3.9 million worth of art, a far cry from the few pieces of art in the existing airport.

The new airport will feature hand-blown glass murals etched with the poetry of local artists, an aviation-theme sculpture with more than 100 pieces of perforated metal and silver beaded chains, and bronzed vintage luggage that will serve as chairs and tables in the baggage area.

Ann Markusen, an economist at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute who studies the effect of art on the economy, said some communities fail to use their airports to promote themselves. Teeming pools of travelers of all ages and origins often have to spend considerable time at the airports, she said.

"And there is incredible wasted space at airports - wall space and other kinds of space," Markusen said.

Karen Kuhn, 60, of Fairfield, Ohio, likes art in airports because it enhances the sensation of traveling.

"The paintings and the sculptures are usually of local interest; that reinforces the destination feeling," she said. "Airports should do more of it."

Mamary said the terrorist attacks of 9/11 that led to tighter airport security, checkpoint lines and requirements that passengers arrive early for their flights helped spur additional interest in airport art to help create a calming environment.

"I often hear that they truly enjoy the relaxing benefits," Eller said. "It lessens stress."

Art can also pump additional life into an airport and even be a moneymaker.

Passengers picking up their bags at Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio now see a splashy montage of artistically arranged color photos showing off city attractions. Advertising messages will scroll among the photos.

Rob Evans, a marketing director at NCR Corp. in Dayton who flies 50 to 60 times a year, has seen art in numerous airports.

"If it's done well, it really does give you a nice sense of transition from place to place," he said. "It's a good idea so long as you don't get so interested in it that you miss a flight."

ARTFULLY DONE: More airports are displaying paintings, photos, sculptures and other artwork inside the terminals. The Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina opened an art gallery June 1 featuring 47 paintings and sculptures from local artists.

WHY ART THOU?: Officials say the art enhances the airport environment, eases stress, promotes the community and offers an outlet for local artists. Art also could boost tourism and soothe passengers in what can be a stressful environment.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Asheville airport has plans to expand its gallery, which already features a mesmerizing amoeba-like glass sculpture titled "Swell" that looks like an ocean wave.

The Associated Press

Long lines at airport greet summer travelers

2007-07-03T13:17:00.000+01:00

If you're catching a flight this summer, allow yourself some extra time.

Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were expecting huge crowds this week as the summer travel season kicked into high gear, but they weren't counting on weather problems that contributed to unusually long security lines Wednesday morning.

By 4.30 p.m., the lines at the security checkpoint had eased to about 25 minutes, said Hershel Grangent, spokesman for the airport. That kind of delay is expected during the summer months when travel picks up, Grangent said.

This morning, it was a lot more hectic.

At 8 a.m., the airport reported wait times of an hour at the main security checkpoint and 30 to 40 minutes at the "T-gate" security area.

The line at the main checkpoint snaked through the South Terminal baggage carrousels to the MARTA station at the end of the terminal, said Hershel Grangent, spokesman for the airport.

At 8:30, the line had grown to the point it stretched well outside the terminal.

Numerous regular flyers, as well as at least one Delta Air Lines customer service representative, said they had never seen the line so long.

Grangent said the long lines could be attributed to increased summer volume at the world's busiest airport and overnight storms elsewhere that delayed flights bound for airports in the Northeast.

He said air traffic controllers in the Northeast ordered a "ground stoppage."

"Basically, all outgoing flights to the Northeast were halted for a time," Grangent said. By 8:30 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration reported no delays on flights bound for the Northeast.

The crush of travelers had eased by late morning, with wait times of less than 10 minutes reported at both security checkpoints.

Airport officials had estimated that 370,000 passengers per day would pass through Hartsfield this week. About 250,000 passengers use the airport on an average day.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gordon votes to beef up border security

2007-07-03T13:16:00.000+01:00

U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon voted for legislation that strengthens efforts to secure the borders and improve homeland security.

“This legislation makes border security a top priority and gives first responders the tools and resources they need to do their jobs,” said Gordon.U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon voted for legislation that strengthens efforts to secure the borders and improve homeland security.

“This legislation makes border security a top priority and gives first responders the tools and resources they need to do their jobs,” said Gordon.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security today. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The bill would provide funding for border fencing and the hiring of 3,000 additional Border Patrol agents.

“Our borders aren’t as secure as they should be,” said Gordon. “It’s time to get a handle on our broken borders rather than look the other way and allow illegal crossings to continue.”

Gordon voted for an amendment that would further improve border security by boosting Customs and Border Patrol’s fencing, infrastructure and technology efforts. He voted for another amendment that would increase funding for a program that allows state and local law enforcement to receive training and support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help bridge gaps in enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Both amendments were approved by the House and included in the bill.

In addition to the border security improvements, the bill would:

• Increase funding to protect critical port facilities and infrastructure.

• Improve aviation security by providing funding for new explosive detection systems at airports and funding to double the amount of cargo screened on passenger aircraft.

• Expand support for local law enforcement personnel, firefighters and other first responders.

• Eliminate no-bid contracts to ensure responsible spending by the Homeland Security Department.

“This bill helps to ensure that funds are invested in efforts to secure our nation’s borders and improve homeland security efforts rather than wasted on no-bid contracts,” said Gordon. “The accountability measures in the bill will ensure we protect our communities rather than squander taxpayers’ dollars.”

midsouthnews.com

Ten-year-old temporarily grounded

2007-07-03T13:11:00.000+01:00

Saskatoon's Alistair Butt laughs when asked if he's a security threat to Canada's airline industry.

"A 10-year-old a terrorist? What?" said an incredulous Butt, who learned he was on a "no-fly" list when he tried to fly from Ottawa to Toronto earlier this month.
Alistair, his brother and mom had joined dad on a business trip to Ottawa, flying with no difficulty on June 6. But when the foursome checked in at the Air Canada counter in Ottawa for a flight to Toronto on June 8, they were told there was a security issue with 10-year-old Alistair. He was on a list, labelled as a person of interest, says Alistair's dad, Usne Butt.

"Initially it was humorous. We teased him a bit about having evil tendencies, but subsequently it became a little tedious," he said.
"He's never been to Afghanistan. He's a very sweet boy -- very polite and well-mannered."

It's not clear what list Alistair is on. Air Canada personnel didn't provide that information. And Transport Canada's "no-fly" list, identifying individuals with terrorist connections or those believed to be a threat to aviation security, did not take effect until June 18 -- 10 days after the Butts were delayed at the Ottawa airport.

At the check-in counter, the Air Canada agent entered Alistair's birthdate and middle names in an attempt to get clearance for Alistair to fly. She made a telephone call. Nothing worked. After about 20 minutes, the agent issued a boarding pass.
"They just made the decision that the kid was 10 and it was apparent to the agent that he wasn't a person of interest and they let him board. But they warned us that it would happen again," said Usne Butt.

And it did happen again, in Toronto two days later when the family attempted to fly home to Saskatoon via Calgary. After another delay, Alistair was issued a boarding pass.

In neither case did the Butts miss their flight, but they are concerned about future travel plans.

"I'm thinking about going on a trip with my grandparents somewhere far away, to Egypt or something, maybe this year, maybe next year. If I do, I'll need my name off the list," said Alistair, a home-school student who just completed Grade 4.
Dad agrees.

"Certainly, I would hate to have some issue come up when he was out travelling overseas," said Usne, who agrees, in principle, with a "no-fly" list.
"But there's a line between reasonable and absurd and in this situation, it's crossed over to the absurd."

The question remains: what list is Alistair on? Everyone in the family is Canadian -- born and raised here.

Transport Canada spokesperson Julia Ukrintz would not comment on the case, but she reiterated the point that Canada's "no-fly" list was not in effect until after the family travelled. And she said a traveler is flagged only when the name, birthdate and gender are identical to those on the Canadian list.

"The U.S. no-fly list has been applied to Canadian flights that were not flying to the U.S., but were domestic flights by some of the air carriers. That's not the decision of the government of Canada. That's up to the individual carriers who determine they want to expand upon and use the U.S. no-fly list," Ukrintz said from Ottawa.

Angela Mah, Air Canada's spokesperson, would not confirm if the airline is using the U.S. list, nor will the company tell the Butts who compiled the list that includes Alistair's name.

"We cannot provide information about the list or names on the list because that breaches security," Mah said in an interview from Vancouver.
The possibility that their son is on the American no-fly list is even more troubling for the family.

"The only people who are going to be punished by this is the innocent because every time Alistair goes to an airport, he's guilty until proven innocent," said his mom, Trisha Layton.

CanWest News Service

Airborne cell service for Europe has strong implications for US

2007-06-27T16:02:00.001+01:00

An announcement by Airbus that European passengers will soon be able to use cellphones and Blackberry devices in flight may give business travelers flying on aircraft built by the Toulouse-based manufacturer a major boost in productivity, and a marketing advantage to carriers that offer the service.

According to a statement issued by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives` (ACTE), enhanced in-flight communication services are coming and it`s time to start shaping them now, while they are in the developmental stage.

"Two years ago, ACTE President Greeley Koch testified before Congress that in-flight cell phone service -- and internet access -- would be introduced to the traveling public in the near future," said Susan Gurley, the association`s Executive Director. "Opposition to In-flight cell phone service in the United States cited every conceivable objection to the program, including increased cabin noise and disruption, security concerns, and possible interference with navigational instruments. Apparently, Airbus and European authorities are confident they can introduce an enhanced in-flight communication package without compromising passenger comfort, safety or security."

Airbus stated that passengers will be able to make and take calls, as well as send and receive text or e-mail messages using its global system for mobile communications (GSM), which has received the backing of the European Aviation Safety Agency. Yet as an added option to preserve quiet in the cabin, crews will have the ability to switch off the "voice" mode permitting only text messaging and e-mail services. OnAir, a joint venture of Airbus and industry information-technology body SITA, will be the service provider for a range of connectivity services.

"An ACTE poll on in-flight cell phone service indicated our US membership was divided on the subject, with a slight majority, 52 percent, in favor of the service. Yet that figure jumped to 97 percent when presented with the option of internet access through Blackberries or laptops. Clearly there is the possibility here to establish a more acceptable `type don`t talk` cabin communications policy," said Gurley.

ACTE`s Executive Director disagrees with some industry experts who feel there is an insufficient market for an enhanced airborne communications package. "Just five years ago, hotels were debating the wisdom of investing in WiFi. Now high-speed internet access is regarded as essential as running water in a hotel room. And properties that charge for it earn a bit of resentment," said Gurley. "Eventually the same will be true for in-flight cell service and internet access. Ignoring the subject not only deprives travelers of an option, but it wastes critical product development time."

The decision to make in-flight cell service a reality rests with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States. The FCC ended a three-year proceeding to lift the cell ban in March of 2007, based on the determination that there was insufficient information as to whether the use of wireless devices on aircraft would disrupt wireless installations on the ground. At present, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also bans the in-flight use of wireless devices because of potential interference with avionics.

The FCC has approved rules that allow in-flight voice and data services using dedicated air-to-ground frequencies, such as those previously used for seat-back telephones.

"In addition to providing a needed service for the traveler, there is a potential source of revenue for the airlines as well," said Gurley. "One could easily see travel managers negotiating the cost of an enhanced in-flight communications program into the price of a ticket. And this could eventually become the kind of useful perk for travelers when the price of fuel makes frequent flyer benefits too steep."

Association of Corporate Travel Executives

Reminder: Fireworks prohibited from planes

2007-06-27T16:00:00.001+01:00

As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, airline passengers are being reminded that it's against the law to pack fireworks in luggage.

The Federal Aviation Administration reports more than a-third of all fireworks found in airline luggage last year involved flights to or from Hawaii.

The Transportation Security Administration is warning its Hawaii employees to be watchful for fireworks.

And airport screeners have been reminded to look for all types of fireworks, from sparklers to firecrackers.

Associated Press

Namibia: Upgrading of Airports

2007-06-27T15:58:00.000+01:00

It is the responsibility of the government to provide good transport infrastructure in Namibia, whether for road, rail, sea or air. Without a proper transport infrastructure the economy of the country will not grow, develop and expand. It is for this reason that the maintenance of the infrastructure requires a huge amount of finances from the state revenue fund.

It is against this background that the governments of the Republic of Namibia and the Kingdom of Spain signed a cooperation agreement for the upgrading and rehabilitation of airports and civil aviation infrastructure, amongst others.

This contract for the rehabilitation and upgrading of airports and civil aviation infrastructure in Namibia was launched by His Excellency, Dr Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma, former President of the Republic of Namibia on November 10, 2004 at Walvis Bay.

Under these agreements, the government through the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication and a Spanish group of companies, consisting of Defex, Page and Ineco, referred to as Inepade, agreed to work together to complete this project within a time frame of 24 months. Two Spanish financial institutions and the Government of the Republic of Namibia are funding this important project, worth approximately Euros 32,268 million.

The project consists of three components, being civil works, aeronautical and airport equipment and fire-fighting and crash rescue vehicles.

The civil works component consists of:

- The design and construction for the lengthening and widening of the existing runway, a new taxiway and a new apron, a new access road and security fencing for Walvis Bay airport.

- Investigations into the water supply at Walvis Bay airport and preparation of the design for the upgrading of the existing water supply network.

- Investigations into the fuel hydrant system at Hosea Kutako international airport and the preparation of a design for the upgrading and repairs to the existing system.

- The preparation of a basic design for a new terminal building at Walvis Bay airport.

The Aeronautical and Airport Equipment Will Consist Of:

- Air traffic control communications equipment, which will be provided at Walvis Bay airport, Hosea Kutako international airport, Eros airport, Lüderitz airport and at the area control centre at Eros airport. The new area control centre and control tower at Eros airport will be fully furnished and equipped with modern state-of-the-art equipment.

- A new control tower will be constructed at Lüderitz while the control towers at Hosea Kutako international airport and at Walvis Bay airport will be renovated.

- Remote radio stations at Oshakati, Opuwo, Outjo, Rehoboth and Keetmanshoop will be provided with new communication equipment and five new stations, at Maroelaboom, Rössing Mountain, Omaere (east of Gobabis), Stampriet and Lüderitz will be established to provide a more optimum coverage of the country providing better air traffic services.

- Runway and approach lights will be provided at Walvis Bay and Lüderitz airports while the runway lights at Hosea Kutako international airport will be provided with a remote control system. The runway and approach lighting at Walvis Bay will meet the International Civil aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations for the new generation of large aircraft.

- A control air traffic three (3) instrument landing system will be installed at Walvis Bay airport. Walvis Bay airport will therefore be able to handle intercontinental wide bodied aircraft under all weather conditions, day and night.

- The Hosea Kutako international, Eros, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz airports will receive meteorological equipment fully integrated into the aviation systems. An automated terminal information service system will be supplied providing pilots with direct radio access to meteorological information.

- The terminal building and other areas at Hosea Kutako international airport will be provided with new security and access control systems including surveillance cameras, access control at doors, a security control room equipped with monitor screens, and a new entry/exit control system for the public parking area.

Fire Fighting and Crash Rescue Vehicles

Seven fire fighting and crash rescue vehicles will be provided. These vehicles will be stationed at Hosea Kutako international, Walvis Bay and at Ondangwa airport. The supply of these vehicles will enable the Namibia Airports Company to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation's fire fighting and crash rescue requirements. Finally, we as Namibians would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all stakeholders and the Spanish consortium engineers who are hard at work to make this project a success. Furthermore, we thank the consultants on this project and all other role-players for their hard work and dedication.

I am confident that after the completion of the project, Namibia will not only be a leading country in the SADC region, but on the African continent with regard to the aviation infrastructure.

New Era

Philippine airport to implement new rules for hand-carried LAGs in August

2007-06-27T15:53:00.000+01:00

Unsealed liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) exceeding 100 milliliters will no longer be allowed at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) and other regional airports starting August.

DMIA officials said the measure is based on the new guidelines set by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

The DOTC Office for Transportation Security laid out the new rules for all airport authorities, airport managers, and industry stakeholders in a bid to improve security at the country’s main gateway and regional airports.

The new measures downgraded the total ban on LAGs implemented in August last year after British Intelligence Service unearthed an alleged terrorist plot to bomb US-bound planes by using liquid explosives.

The Philippines is one of the few countries that immediately implemented a total ban on LAGs on the luggage of international and domestic passengers.

DMIA general manager Bienvenido O. Manga said the security measures apply to all departing international and domestic passengers that are transiting through Philippine airports.

“We wanted to ensure the safety of travelers that is why we are complying with the new directives,” Manga said.

Under the new rules on LAGs, international and domestic passengers can only carry 100 milliliter of each item in containers.

The DOTC specifically noted that containers should not be more than specified volume otherwise the LAGs will be confiscated.

Manga added that the containers with LAGs should be placed in a transparent and resealable plastic bag measuring 20 by 20 centimeters and not bigger than one liter in size.

The new measures were approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and DOTC and adopted during consultations with the Office of Transportation Security in Manila.

Flyers, leaflets, and website posting will be made available to travelers at DMIA, according to Airport Security Officers Marcelino Ibanez Jr. and Ronald Aquino.

Signage regarding the new rules will also be placed within DMIA premises for better understanding of the public.

sunstar

‘There’s a bomb inside my bag’

2007-06-27T15:51:00.000+01:00

A BUSINESSMAN was arrested and charged before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office for joking that he had a bomb inside his bag while the aircraft he was in was about to take off for Iloilo City yesterday morning.

Supt. Elias Abad Jr. of the Philippine Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) 7 said that Marcelo Galang, a businessman from Quezon City, told the cabin crew of Cebu Pacific that his clutch bag contained a bomb.

Crew member Diane Magtulis immediately reported the matter to the pilot, who at that time was taxiing moments before the 8 a.m. flight to Iloilo.

Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Danilo Augusto Francia said they learned through their own inquiry that Galang’s joke alarmed the pilot and the crew.

As part of procedure, the aircraft crew aborted the flight.

All passengers had to go back to the airport terminal while the aircraft and cargoes were inspected by security personnel and trained dogs, Francia said.

The aircraft was finally allowed to leave for Iloilo City at 10 a.m., leaving Galang behind.

Mandaue City Vice Mayor-Elect Carlo Pontico Fortuna was scheduled to leave Iloilo for Cebu at 9 a.m. yesterday, on board the same aircraft. But because of the delay, he was only able to board at 11:00 a.m. and arrived in Mactan at 11:45 a.m.

“It was a bad joke and a hard lesson for him,” said Fortuna, who was apprehensive that he would miss the 2 p.m. council session yesterday.

Abad said that Galang was escorted to the City Prosecutor’s Office yesterday afternoon and was charged with violation of Presidential Decree 1727.

PCAS and Cebu Pacific jointly filed the complaint.

Abad said that if found guilty, Galang could be jailed for five years or fined P40,000 or both, at the discretion of the court.

Abad said, though, that he believes that Galang was simply joking and was unaware that he already committed a crime.

“I think it was a lapse... on Galang’s part,” he said.

Because of the incident, Abad said they will put up notices in strategic areas of the airport such as the boarding gates, informing the public that joking about bomb threats is a crime.

On March 2, 2005, the pilot of a Manila-bound Cebu Pacific flight from Davao City made an emergency landing at the Mactan Airport after the airline office received a text message that a bomb was stuffed inside a lechon.

No explosive was found inside the lechon, but the incident alarmed the 78 passengers and crewmembers on board the aircraft.

A Cebu Pacific flight bound for Manila was also delayed for hours last Jan. 23, 2003, after a Cebu City resident joked that his bag contained a bomb.

sunstar

Africa gets continental airspace authority

2007-06-27T15:44:00.000+01:00

Africa's skies are set to become safer with the inauguration on Thursday of the African Civil Aviation Agency (ACAA), a continental body to standardise and oversee licensing, training and inspection of aviation staff and equipment.

"Like the rest of the world, Africa is trying to standardise and have a uniform, liberalised airspace, and you can't do that with 54 different civil aviation authorities," ACAA CEO Mwangi wa Kamau said on Wednesday.

The ACAA is to be based in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. Five regional bodies, based in Libya (North Africa), Ethiopia (East Africa), Cameroon (Central Africa), Nigeria (West Africa) and South Africa (Southern Africa) will serve as networking agencies under its auspices.

Together with Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Kenya, the five countries that will host the regional bodies account for over 80% of air traffic in Africa.

With staff drawn from and paid for by governments affiliated to the ACAA, the body hopes to bring down the rate of fatal aviation accidents in Africa.

Accounting for a mere 3% of global air traffic, Africa has a disproportionately large share of accidents.

"At the moment we stand at 17%, or just under one in five of all fatal aircraft accidents in the world," wa Kamau said.

He attributed the dramatic rise in accidents over the past few years to the increase in air traffic across the continent and the increase in the reporting of accidents, but also to a lack of responsibility on the part of pilots.

A "culture of patronage" reigns among pilots, who often feel more beholden to their employers than to their passengers, he noted.

"What we're trying to do is develop a culture of responsibility, with or without the long arm of the law looking over your shoulder."

This, he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, will not only help bring down accident rates but also ensure that better-trained staff are not siphoned off to other parts of the world.

"If the ACAA can ensure that aviators are certified and paid according to international standards, they will be able to help ensure air travel in Africa is deemed safe."

Pilots will be able to move freely across the continent and take up new positions without being subjected to lengthy national approval procedures.

Industry experts predict growth of 5,4% for Africa's commercial air transport sector over the next 20 years, driven, according to Airbus's latest global market forecast, by solid economic and tourism growth and inter-African traffic.

Worldwide growth in the sector is predicted at 4,8%.

Africa's fleet of commercial aircraft is also predicted to more than double by 2025, to about 1 000.

Currently, most Africa airlines are in state hands and, despite a basic agreement on the liberalisation of African air traffic, operate in a heavily regulated market.

mg.co.za

Security system at Suvarnabhumi airport must be upgraded: ICAO

2007-06-27T15:42:00.000+01:00

After inspecting Bangkok's world-class Suvarnabhumi international airport for 10 days, officials of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have recommended that the security system at the airport opened last year to great fanfare should be upgraded.

Chaisak Angkasuwan, director-general of Thailand's Aviation Department, said ICAO officials arrived in Thailand on June 17 and inspected security systems at Suvarnabhumi airport as well as at other airports in Thailand.

The ICAO officials recommended that the security system provided at Suvarnabhumi airport is scattered and should be centralised. Airports of Thailand (AoT) officials must also be strict on checking identification cards of people entering or leaving the airport, according to Mr. Chaisak.

Also, ICAO officials proposed that officials of the Aviation Department be empowered to both close areas inside any airport and suspend flights which they consider might cause danger to passengers, he said.

They also advised that the status of the Aviation Department be upgraded to function as the 'Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand' as an independent agency to tackle the brain drain of the country's human resource pool which might otherwise be available, said Mr. Chaisak, adding that his department may hire the ICAO to conduct a feasibility study on restructuring the agency.

ICAO inspectors will report their findings to their headquarters in Montreal, Canada, within 20 days and will dispatch an official report to Thailand in the next 60 days. Thailand then has 90 days to submit questions, if any, on security system and must prepare plans to improve the system within 120 days thereafter.

ICAO and McGill University in Montreal will host a Worldwide Conference on Aviation Safety, Security and the Environment focusing on "The Way Forward" to be held in September.

ETNA

Airline pilots flying while fatigued poses risk to safety

2007-06-27T15:35:00.000+01:00

A BBC News investigation has revealed growing concerns among airline pilots that fatigue is leading to potentially dangerous incidents in the air. The BBC has heard from 32 pilots who say they have flown while unfit due to fatigue.

The BBC can reveal that an incident – with the first officer sleeping and captain "resting" – required a "quick reaction to avert disaster" as an airliner began turning into the path of another plane.

In another serious incident, investigated by the AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Branch), a fatigued pilot nearly stalled an aircraft in mid–air shortly after take off.

The BBC can also reveal the results of a survey for the pilots union BALPA (British Airline Pilot's Association) which suggests a majority of air crews who responded are affected by fatigue – and that pilots believe passengers should be concerned.

BALPA found that 81% of pilots who responded said that their performance had been affected by fatigue. Pilots the BBC has spoken to blame the growing intensity of the aviation industry – and some say their managers are ignoring their concerns.

One pilot, 'Andy', told the BBC: "I have fallen asleep unintentionally in the air – where you close your eyes for a second and realise that ten minutes have passed."

BALPA commissioned the survey, of over 500 of members, following inquiries by the BBC.

Aviation consultant Dr Ian Perry has treated dozens of fatigued pilots: "You might miss a radio call when you're thinking about 'is my altitude right?' That's chronic fatigue. I think in the last five years it has doubled. So if I see one or two people a fortnight, I'm now seeing four or five people a fortnight, something like that."

Dr Perry added: "... We've been skating on fairly thin ice for some years and have got away with it. For us to have a true fatigue accident I say it could happen at any time now. And then people will turn around and say 'well, why didn't you do something about it?'"

There are limits to how many hours pilots can fly and there's no evidence these are being breached. Most airlines told the BBC that their average hours had barely changed in recent years. But two thirds of pilots surveyed by BALPA said they were flying more than five years ago.

Some short haul crews now do six flights – six landings and take-offs a day – without leaving the cockpit. These require the most concentration and are regarded as the critical periods in the flight.

A pilot working in the low cost sector has told the BBC of an incident when an aircraft, with dozens of passengers onboard, began to turn putting it on a collision course with another passenger plane. Air Traffic Control (ATC) radioed an urgent warning but there was no response.

The aircraft bound for Europe had been on autopilot, while the captain rested. This had been agreed between the two men, and left the first officer in charge. However, on realising there was no response to the ATC warning the captain told the BBC: "So I looked across, and saw he was asleep."

However, in the official report to his airline the captain didn't mention that his co–pilot had been asleep. "I didn't want to get him into trouble. There's no two ways about it. I knew that he would probably be pulled in and be treated fairly harshly ... effectively its gross negligence."

However, many pilots and experts told the BBC that admitting their fatigue to managers is a taboo. Pilot 'Andy' said: "I was genuinely fatigued and whenever I reported that I was completely exhausted the operator says 'are you refusing to do the duty?'. He should not have been asking me, let alone bullying me into doing it."

The pilot added that this "routinely goes on."

This view was reflected in the BALPA poll which found that a third of pilots believed they'd risk disciplinary action if they reported their fatigue. More than one in ten (12%) would carry on flying, without reporting it. Forty percent said they would report fatigue.

The chairman of BALPA, Mervyn Granshaw, claims that fatigue is "the single biggest issue facing aviation today. At the moment we are not seeing it appear as accidents or incidents but we're getting closer to that point."

Another fatigue-related incident published in an AAIB bulletin took place at Birmingham Airport in 2004 (but not reported until April 2006) involving a passenger jet, with 85 passengers on board.

Shortly after leaving the ground the crew raised the plane's wing flaps instead of the landing gear. That created the danger the aircraft could stall – and potentially fall from the sky.

The captain had to lose altitude to increase speed – he recovered at less than 700 feet above the ground. An official investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Board concluded that fatigue was a key factor.

Captain David Chapman, head of flight operations at the UK's air regulator, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) maintains the system is working: "We have the finest flight time limitations system in the world. I have no problems at all in saying that I don't believe we have a major fatigue issue."

In a written statement responding to concerns about pilot fatigue, John Hanlon, Secretary General of the ELFAA (European Low Fares Airline Association) said:

"Aircrew flying duties are strictly regulated by the CAA and the IAA in the UK and Ireland which ensures that no pilot can fly more than 900 hours per annum (average 17 hours per week). These safety limits are met by all airlines and are subject to regular audit.

"Europe's low fare airlines have an exemplary safety record and this has been delivered by making safety the number one priority at all times. ELFAA member airlines operate a Just Culture system, whereby all pilots are free to report any issues, which they feel impinge on safety, without having to divulge their identity."

Roger Wiltshire of BATA (The British Air Transport Association) said: "We don’t feel there is a fatigue issue in the industry. Pilots are flying well within the regulated flying hour limits, and in the UK we have some of the most regulated pilot flying hours and duty hours in the world. And although short haul pilots are flying more hours than they were that's because the schedules are more efficient."

BBC News

CIAL inducts Army-trained dogs into bomb squad

2007-06-27T10:13:00.000+01:00

Cochin International Airport (CIAL) has become the first greenfield airport in the country to induct two sniffer dogs into its bomb detection and disposal squad.

CIAL managing director S Bharath told reporters on Tuesday that the services of specially-trained sniffer dogs would play a crucial role in maintaining aviation security in the fast-growing airport. The dogs are trained to identify all varieties of explosives including RDX, sheet explosive, plastic and liquid explosives.

The dogs will be pressed into service during bomb-threat calls. They will check all suspicious baggage and unattended cargo and also ensure VVIP security, CISF commandant Rajeev Pant said.

The three-year-old Labrador’ females named Rambhi and Paro, costing Rs 1.25 lakh each, have the best ‘academic background.’

CIAL MD S Bharath and senior manager (security) Muraleedharan Nair, had requested the Army Headquarters to provide sniffer dogs trained by Army personnel. The sustained requests from the CIAL proved fruitful when the Army Headquarters finally agreed to hand over the sniffer dogs. The decision of the Army Headquarters to sell sniffer dogs which were trained in internationally acclaimed US standard to an outside agency is a unique one.

A selection committee consisting of SPG veterinary surgeon Dr Popli, CISF Deputy commandant D V Yadav and CIAL senior manager (security) Muraleedharan Nair short-listed 15 dogs from 250 trained dogs at Remount Veterinary College (RVC), Meerut which is rated as the best dogtraining college in Asia.

Dogs Rambhi and Paro were chosen when they got cent per cent pass in all the tests. A team comprising CISF constables Solaman Raja, S S Bhagath and inspector P S Baburaj were given training at RVC, Meerut to handle the dogs, Airport director A C K Nair said.

The dogs were brought to Kochi Airport by an Air Sahara flight from Meerut. CIAL has also purchased two pups which are being trained by Indo- Tibetan Boarder Police (ITBP) at Haryana, as part of augmenting the strength of the dog squad and ensuring maximum security to the passengers.

The dogs will join the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad within six months. Two CISF personnel are also undergoing training in Haryana to handle the new dogs, Bharath said.

A state-of-the-art air-conditioned kennel, spending Rs 20 lakh, was constructed at the airport to accommodate the dogs. Bomb detection and disposal squad with ultra-modern equipments, Quick Reaction Team, Anti- hijacking Squad are already functioning at the airport.

With the induction of sniffer dogs, Kochi airport would be a well-secured airport in the country, A C K Nair added.

newindpress

Southwest, art and music in Dayton airport's future?

2007-06-26T16:07:00.000+01:00

Coming to the Dayton International Airport's terminal by the end of this year: art and photographic displays and live music from solo singers or choruses, the city's aviation director said Monday.

Iftikhar Ahmad said it is part of his plan to make the airport a more appealing entry point for visitors to the Dayton region. Other airports have begun bringing in art displays and live music, so Dayton needs to get in on it, he said during an interview with the Dayton Daily News' editorial board.

Ahmad also said he has met twice this year with Southwest Airlines to discuss the possibility of service to Dayton. He believes there is a chance that the Dallas-based airline would consider serving Dayton at some point.

"Is there a chance? Yes. Have they promised anything? No," Ahmad said.

Southwest is unhappy about the recent startup in Columbus of Skybus, a competing low-fare carrier, he said.

Southwest serves Columbus, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Louisville in this region. Southwest's representatives have talked informally with Dayton and other airports this year in continuing research of cities it doesn't already serve, but Southwest doesn't anticipate adding any other cities in 2007 other than its announced intention to begin serving San Francisco on Aug. 26, Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said.

Ahmad, who oversaw operation of the Houston and Nashville airports in his last two jobs before becoming Dayton's aviation director last fall, said he also is working on these projects:

•Exchanging information with parties that might be interested in buying or leasing and operating the Dayton airport's 151-room hotel. Ahmad said it is part of his effort to increase revenues from airport operations to help lower the airlines' cost of operating there, which could make it easier to attract new air service to Dayton.

•Talking with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration about possibly relocating baggage screening equipment behind airline service counters, to create more space on the terminal floor for lines of passengers waiting to board planes.

•Preparing to ask the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to use 400 acres of the airport's 4,556 acres for non-aviation purposes, specifically for lease to businesses as a way of increasing the airport's revenues.

In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration could break ground in September for a new control tower at Dayton. The shift to that facility from the current tower could occur within a year or two after that, Ahmad said.

SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Nigeria: Strike - Military Withdraws From Lagos Airport

2007-06-26T16:06:00.000+01:00

Armed military personnel drafted to the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, last week, were yesterday withdrawn, following return of airline operators to normal business. The military personnel were drafted alongside policemen to beef up security at the terminal, and allow airlines willing to operate to do so without molestation.

The Nigerian Air Force personnel were withdrawn from the entrance of the terminal yesterday, leaving Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)'s security personnel to take their positions.

At the terminal, passenger traffic remained light early yesterday, in spite of the presence of airline officials at their counters, a situation which led to many airline officials scouting for passengers.

"We have flights as you can see, but there are few passengers," one of the airline officials, who spoke under anonymity, said and expressed the hope that the situation might get better later in the day.

The domestic air travel was almost grounded during the strike, as only few airlines managed to operate though the airspace remained open.

Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Captain Ado Sanusi, said Air Traffic Controllers(ATCs) had to be on duty during the strike, because the aviation industry was a global one and the nation could not afford to be cut off. He said the ATCs could not desert their duty posts in the interest of safe skies.

allafrica

Freight 'a huge gap' in aviation security, inquiry hears

2007-06-26T16:04:00.001+01:00

Terrorists could still get a bomb aboard a commercial plane through cargo, which is virtually unscreened, the Air India inquiry heard yesterday.
Kathleen Sweet, a lawyer, author and retired U.S. air force lieutenant-colonel, said air freight, and the workers who load it, are "a huge gap" in aviation security.

She said the gap must be closed before another terrorist strike like the June 23, 1985 Air India bombing, which killed 329 people.

"We have to do it. There is just too much access to the cargo hold," testified Ms. Sweet, who heads a company called Risk Management Security Group. "My unfortunate theory is unless we get on this quickly, a plane's going to go down, it's going to be in the cargo hold and everybody's going to be fighting the next war."

Very little has been done to secure cargo even though passenger-screening techniques have improved dramatically in recent years, Ms. Sweet said.

She told the Ottawa inquiry that airlines and courier companies do not want to pay to screen freight.

But both Singapore Air and Lufthansa screen all cargo and are "very profitable," Ms. Sweet told commissioner John Major.

She identified other weaknesses in airport security, including the simple task of cleaning planes.

"I flew in on Air Canada yesterday and the plane was filthy, just filthy," Ms. Sweet said. "The fact [is] that the garbage was piled up so significantly between the seats that something could be hidden in there."

Trash could be masking knives or liquid explosives that could be used in a terrorist attack.

"You better clean that airplane and make sure that anything that could be dangerous is removed. Check the toilets, for heaven's sake. Check the overhead bins. You have to do the whole thing. You can't just run a sweeper down the main aisle and say, Oh, the airplane is clean.' That's silly. That is dangerous."

Aviation security expert Rodney Wallis also testified yesterday about the garbage problem, noting that a Korean Airlines plane was blown up in 1987 when terrorists left on board liquid explosives hidden in a liquor bottle from the duty free store.

Mr. Wallis, who has testified extensively since the inquiry began looking at aviation security issues last week, said he agreed with much of what Ms. Sweet said.

Both are opposed to armed air marshals because of the danger posed by guns aboard planes. Both said "no-fly lists" like the one Canada is implementing on June 16 are ineffective. Both said cargo security must be improved and both said there are often low-tech and cost-effective solutions to improving security that are not used.

Ms. Sweet said explosives-sniffing dogs could be used to check cargo. She also agreed with testimony from Senator Colin Kenny last week that all workers with access to the planes should be screened.

Cargo could be tampered with at the factory where the product is manufactured, Ms. Sweet said.

Shippers can drive right up to planes across North America, she said.

Ms. Sweet said another key issue in airport security is that the experts are always focusing on the last act of terrorism and not turning their minds to what could be coming next.

"We have to start thinking like the bad guys. They are not going to do the same thing over again ... we shouldn't be fighting the same war over again. We should be thinking about what they are thinking. We know what they think. We have read their manuals. They want to kill Westerners."

She said she worries about the possible use by terrorists of chemical, nuclear and biological agents on planes.

"I think they are going to do things that not only hurt people but scare them to death," Ms. Sweet said. "Just because nothing has happened since 9/11 doesn't mean that it isn't going to happen."

Mr. Wallis completed his testimony yesterday by saying that even in 1985, the series of events that led to a bomb-laden suitcase from Vancouver getting on Air India Flight 182 out of Toronto should have raised red flags.

Fly South Aviation News Africa

Aviation board looks for sewer reimbursements

2007-06-26T16:02:00.000+01:00

The Board of Aviation Commissioners wants to recover some of the cost of installing an 8-inch sewer from the DeKalb County Airport terminal to a lift station at the corner of C.R. 60 and C.R. 427 in 2004.

The board discussed the issue at its monthly meeting Friday afternoon.

Board treasurer Brad Stump said the airport had a larger, more expensive sewer line built because the DeKalb County Health Department urged the board to install a line that would allow houses on the north side of C.R. 60 to connect to it.

Initial estimates for the project were around $250,000, but it ended up costing twice that amount — roughly a half-million dollars — because of the type of sewer needed to allow people to tap in.

Stump said the board got the impression from the county health department that installing the more-expensive sewer was a matter of public health, and that homes along C.R. 60 would be required to tap in and reimburse the airport.

“If it was there for a public safety purpose ... we’d like to see someone follow up on it,” Stump said.

Board vice-president Jeff Turner said he feels the board has a responsibility to investigate the issue because public money was used for the project.

Airport manager Russ Couchman also wants to make sure that any money owed to the airport is recouped.

“If we were forced into spending this money, we’d like to get it back,” he said.

According to board attorney Jim McCanna, environmental health specialist Bernie Sukala was not aware of the problem until recently. The Board of Aviation Commissioners expects the issue to be discussed at the next DeKalb County Board of Health meeting, July 9 at 7:30 p.m.

In other business:

• The board continued to discuss plans to build a wildlife security fence around the airport perimeter. The airport’s rental home at 6202 C.R. 27 will have to be torn down for the fence, Couchman said. The board discussed allowing emergency response teams and firefighters to use the house for practice before it is demolished.

“We try to get as much public use out of it as we can,” Stump said.

Revised plans for the fence also call for Couchman’s home to be located inside the fence. Because Couchman is an airport employee, the FAA does not have a problem with the plan, board member Paul Shaffer said. Enclosing the house would save money by reducing the length of fence by approximately 500 feet.

• Shaffer and Couchman told the board about a plan for improved electronic gate controllers. Shaffer said that the airport’s consulting engineer, Butler Fairman & Seufert, will be working with a security firm on the plan. Shaffer and Couchman hope to have wireless keypads that will connected to a main computer through a wireless connection. Couchman would be able to control the gates from a central location. The board also discussed the possibility of using proximity cards to access airport property and hangars. The system would allow the airport to be locked down if an incident occurred.

The airport would have to pay for a main computer, but if a grant comes through for the fence, the rest of the system would be paid for.

• The board decided to secure an additional bid for a sewer lateral project. So far, one bid of $23,954 has been secured. Stump and Couchman were authorized by the board to take the lowest, best bid.

fwdailynews

Further restrictions may follow five years of tough measures

2006-08-28T14:00:00.000+01:00

Security in the air has changed beyond recognition over the last five years and airlines on both sides of the Atlantic were struggling yesterday to come to terms with the prospect of yet more restrictions.

Since the September 11 atrocities, airlines entering US airspace have been required to fit bullet-proof, lockable cockpit doors which can only be opened with the permission of the pilot. Metal cutlery has been replaced with plastic. BAA has recruited more than 1,000 extra security officers to staff checkpoints at its seven airports. During periods of heightened alert, as many as 25% of people are subject to body searches and staff monitoring x-ray machines are tested with a computer-generated image of a weapon at least once per shift. Some passengers are searched again at departure gates.

In America, all passengers are required to take off their shoes after the attempt by the so-called "shoe bomber", Richard Reid, to detonate a bomb in his trainers. Some airlines forbid queuing for on-board lavatories on the grounds that people may be gathering to plot an attack.

Terry Trippler, American author of the Airline Rules Guide, said: "If we'd have told people that travelling by air was going to entail what it does today, they'd have said 'no way'. But people have adjusted - we've matured as a travelling public and we accept that this is now the typical way."

At airports, concrete barriers have been erected around buildings. Scissors, tweezers and even knitting needles are banned on flights. BAA confiscates 6m items annually, most of which are sold for scrap. BAA has struggled to manage the disruption - it was fined £1.1m by the Civil Aviation Authority this year for keeping passengers waiting too long at checkpoints.

One issue of contention is the use of passenger profiling to determine who should come under greater scrutiny. Human rights groups have criticised methods which use gender, age, ethnicity and appearance to pick out high-risk passengers. But Sir Rod Eddington, the former head of British Airways, has argued strongly for profiling, asking whether it is really logical for a "75-year-old grandmother" to face the same scrutiny as a 25-year-old male who bought his ticket in cash at the last moment.

El-Al's strict security model

Airport security in Israel - reputedly the strictest in the world - may give an indication of what is in store for passengers elsewhere after yesterday's foiled attacks.

At a checkpoint before Ben Gurion airport vehicles come under scrutiny. Passengers may be picked out for passport checks. There is another spot check and a metal detector as they enter the terminal. Then they join the queue for questioning.

"What was the purpose of your visit to Israel? What did you do here? Who did you meet? Which cities did you visit? Is this your only passport? How many times have you been to Israel? Do you speak Arabic? Have you any knives?"

The questions come thick and fast. Officials are not interested in these details. They are looking for inconsistencies that suggest someone is hiding something.

"What time do you normally arrive at work? What's the first thing you do when you get there?" The same question may be asked two or three times.

Bags may be searched and checked for traces of explosives. Mobiles and purses may be scanned and items including laptops taken away for examination.

With luck, passengers will then reach the check-in desk. If not, they may be asked to accompany staff to a small room.

On receiving a boarding pass they then queue up for the security checks standard in most airports: metal detectors and x-ray scans of hand luggage.

The Guardian

Egypt applies new US-UK security measures

2006-08-28T13:59:00.000+01:00

EgyptAir has put into effect new security measures adopted by the civil aviation authorities in the United States and Britain after the latter foiled an alleged plot to blow up New York-bound flights in mid-air.

The extra security measures are applied only to flights to New York and London.

Under the measures, passengers are not allowed to carry hand bags, cellular phones, laptops and video games.

Powdered milk and necessary medicine like insulin for diabetics are excluded from the ban.

Egypt SIS

Finland Moves To Tighten EU Aviation Security

2006-08-28T13:58:00.000+01:00

Current EU president Finland said on Aug. 18 it was taking steps to speed up improvements to EU-wide aviation security after the discovery of an alleged plot to bomb airliners flying from Britain to the United States.

The Finnish transport ministry said it wanted a meeting of an EU expert committee on aviation security to be brought forward to Aug. 30, and had called for a working party to meet in early September to press ahead with an amendment already in the pipeline to an EU aviation security regulation.

Finland wants the amendment to be approved as soon as possible following Britain’s discovery of an alleged plot to blow up a number of airliners over the Atlantic, the ministry said in a statement.

Britain raised its terrorist threat alert to the highest level and drastically tightened airport security last week after arresting two dozen people suspected of plotting to smuggle onto aircraft liquid explosives disguised as drinks.

EU members are discussing harmonizing security checks across the bloc to prevent such attacks originating in other member states.

EU transport ministers will review the impact on aviation security of the alleged plot being investigated in Britain when they meet on Oct. 12, the Finnish ministry said.

Airport authorities in some EU countries followed Britain last week in banning liquids from hand baggage on planes, and EU experts meeting in early September will discuss whether such a ban should be extended across the bloc, an EU Commission spokesman said on Aug. 16.

REUTERS

Strict flight rules for West-bound travellers

2006-08-28T13:57:00.000+01:00

Air travelers face tighter security with new airport rules in the United States of America and United Kingdom after a plot to blow up airliners bound for the US was uncovered recently.

With the new measures civil aviation security will prevent criminal activity on aircraft and in airports which would include the possibilities of hijacking (air piracy), damaging or destroying aircraft and nearby areas with bombs, and assaulting passengers and aviation employees.

According to local airline sources, the new rules ban almost all liquids, creams and gels from being carried aboard on flights.

"That means you should not pack sunscreen, lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, hair gel or beverages to accompany. Those items must be put in your checked bags. If you are in doubt about an item, pack it in a checked bag or leave it home. Despite some rumours there are no new restrictions on laptops, cellphones or other electronics on any flight originating in the USA. However, it is advisable to pack it in a checked bag unless you intend to use it onboard," the source said.

"If you're on a flight leaving the UK, there are more restrictions where you must check your entire luggage where no carry-ons whatsoever will be allowed. Then every passenger will be hand-searched at security checkpoints. Only a few personal items, such as pocket-size wallets and purses, glasses excluding its case, medications, diapers and female sanitary items without wrapper, and essential travel documents are permitted. A bag used to carry those items must be plastic and should be transparent, the source added.

Despite these tightened security measures air travelers are allowed to bring baby formula, breast milk or juice when travelling with a child. Prescribed drugs are also allowed and all bottles should contain the patients name on the top.

Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL) President Nihal Perera told The Island Financial Review that airlines should educate their passengers with dos and don't in avoiding unnecessary problems for air travellers.

"This is a major hassle for business and leisure travelers heading towards UK and USA. Only available option at the moment is to purchase all necessary liquids at the destination. We hope that this ban will be taken off soon once things are cleared," he said.

The Korea Herald

Officials Seek Broader Access to Airline Data

2006-08-28T13:55:00.000+01:00

United States and European authorities, looking for more tools to detect terrorist plots, want to expand the screening of international airline passengers by digging deep into a vast repository of airline itineraries, personal information and payment data.

A proposal by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff would allow the United States government not only to look for known terrorists on watch lists, but also to search broadly through the passenger itinerary data to identify people who may be linked to terrorists, he said in a recent interview.

Similarly, European leaders are considering seeking access to this same database, which contains not only names and addresses of travelers, but often their credit card information, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and related hotel or car reservations.

“It forms part of an arsenal of tools which should be at least at the disposal of law enforcement authorities,” Friso Roscam Abbing, a spokesman for Franco Frattini, vice president of the European Commission and the European commissioner responsible for justice and security, said Monday.

The proposals, prompted by the recent British bomb-plot allegations, have inspired a new round of protests from civil libertarians and privacy experts, who had objected to earlier efforts to plumb those repositories for clues.

“This is a confirmation of our warnings that once you let the camel’s nose under the tent, it takes 10 minutes for them to want to start expanding these programs in all different directions,” said Jay Stanley, a privacy expert at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The United States already has rules in place, and European states will have rules by this fall, allowing them to obtain basic passenger information commonly found in a passport, like name, nationality and date of birth. American officials are pressing to get this information, from a database called the Advance Passenger Information System, transmitted to them even before a plane takes off for the United States.

But a second, more comprehensive database known as the Passenger Name Record is created by global travel reservation services like Sabre, Galileo and Amadeus, companies that handle reservations for most airlines as well as for Internet sites like Travelocity.

Each time someone makes a reservation, a file is created, including the name of the person who reserved the flight and any others traveling in the party. The electronic file often also contains details on rental cars or hotels, credit card information relating to travel, contact information for the passenger and next of kin, and at times even personal preferences, like a request for a king-size bed in a hotel.

European authorities currently have no system in place to routinely gain access to this Passenger Name Record data. Mr. Frattini, his spokesman said, intends to propose that governments across Europe establish policies that allow them to tap into this data so they can quickly check the background of individuals boarding flights to Europe.

“It is not going to solve all our problems,” Mr. Abbing said. “It is not going to stop terrorism. But you need a very comprehensive policy.”

American authorities, under an agreement reached with European authorities in 2004, are already allowed to pull most of this information from the reservation company databases for flights to the United States to help look for people on watch lists.

Members of the European Parliament successfully challenged the legality of this agreement, resulting in a ruling in May by Europe’s highest court prohibiting the use of the data after Sept. 30, unless the accord is renegotiated. European and American officials expect to reach a new agreement by the end of September.

But Mr. Chertoff said that in addition to simply reinstating the existing agreement, he would like to see it eventually revised so American law enforcement officials had greater ability to search the data for links to terrorists.

Under the current agreement, for example, the United States government can maintain Passenger Name Record data on European flights for three and a half years. But it is limited in its ability to give the data to law enforcement agencies to conduct computerized searches. Those searches could include comparing the passenger data to addresses, telephone numbers or credit card records on file for known or suspected terrorists, Mr. Chertoff said.

“Ideally, I would like to know, did Mohamed Atta get his ticket paid on the same credit card,” Mr. Chertoff said, citing the lead hijacker of the 2001 plots. “That would be a huge thing. And I really would like to know that in advance, because that would allow us to identify an unknown terrorist.”

Paul Rosenzweig, a senior policy adviser at the Homeland Security department, said the use of the passenger data would be negotiated with European authorities.

“We are handcuffed in what we can do with it now,” he said. “It would be a big step forward if we could identify ways in which we can use this information to enhance our ability to detect and prevent terrorism while at the same time remaining respectful and responsive to European concerns regarding privacy.”

But the proposals to expand access to this data will be likely to spur objections.

Graham Watson, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group in the European Parliament, said that given the previous opposition to the American use of the passenger record data, he expects the plan by Mr. Frattini will draw protests.

“I think that is unlikely to fly,” he said in an interview on Monday.

The problem, Mr. Watson said, is not a lack of information, but the unwillingness of individual European states to share with other countries data on possible terrorists so that it can be effectively used to block their movement internationally.

Mr. Stanley of the civil liberties union said that if Mr. Chertoff and Mr. Frattini continued in the direction they are headed, the government would soon be maintaining and routinely searching giant databases loaded with personal information on tens of millions of law-abiding Americans and foreigners.

But Stephen A. Luckey, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot and aviation security consultant, said those efforts were an essential ingredient in a robust aviation security system.

“Even with the best technology in the world, we will never be able to separate the individual from the tools he needs to attack us,” said Mr. Luckey, who helped airlines in the United States develop a screening system for domestic passengers. “You are not going to find them all. You have to look for the person with hostile intent.”

Gadsden Times

UK cleared of aiding Israeli 'terrorism'

2006-08-28T13:51:00.000+01:00

A high court judge today dismissed a legal bid by a Muslim group to block the use of UK airports by American planes to supply weapons to Israel as "hopeless" and "misconceived".

A judge in London rejected a plea by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) for permission to seek judicial review and an injunction against the government, based on the argument that it was knowingly assisting "acts of terrorism" by Israel in its campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Mr Justice Ouseley had been urged to rule that the UK was guilty of aiding and abetting breaches of international law by allowing US aircraft carrying bombs and detonators to Israel to stop over at UK airports.

But the judge said at the start of his judgment that the IHRC had failed to establish an arguable case "by a very long way".

The IHRC had sought permission to bring proceedings against the Civil Aviation Authority, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and defence secretary Des Browne to stop "grave and serious violations" of international humanitarian law and crimes against the Geneva conventions.

Peter Carter QC, for the IHRC, told the judge that Britain was assisting in "disproportionate military attacks" which killed and caused terror to people not directly involved in the conflict. The government knew that the arms shipments would encourage Israel to continue its attacks, in the knowledge that supplies would be replenished by the US.

The Israeli attacks, sometimes indiscriminate, were killing people, causing great suffering, forcing families to leave their homes and causing extensive destruction of property, he said. They were "not justified by military necessity".

Citing the Terrorism Act, Mr Carter said Israel's aim of removing Hezbollah from southern Lebanon amounted to "action or the threat of action involving violence or the threat of violence whose purpose is part of a political or ideological cause".

The IHRC said it brought the case "following many complaints that we have received from British citizens whose family members are in Lebanon and facing grave danger as well as acts of terror". The judge said the IHRC's case was "hopeless", "wholly untenable" and "misconceived".

The IHRC had not identified any individual who had committed or was intending to commit or assist acts of terrorism in the UK, a prerequisite of establishing a case.

Its allegation was brought indiscriminately against ministers, officials and administrators without any consideration or analysis of their knowledge of what had been done or what was proposed in the future.

The judge said it was "wholly inappropriate" to bring such proceedings in the hope of discovering individuals who might then be accused of having committed an offence.

In any event, the court had been shown no evidence that the state of Israel was guilty of terror crimes, or that the UK government considered it might be guilty of such offences.

Ordering the IHRC to pay £10,000 costs, the judge said it had pursued its claim despite the obvious hopelessness of its case and despite the current ceasefire in Lebanon, which should have given it time to reconsider.

He said the proceedings involved an element of "making a political point".

But the IHRC did not have substantial resources and he limited the costs order to £10,000, considerably less than the full costs incurred by the government departments and the CAA in contesting the case.

Guardian Unlimited

Skydiver dies after accident; FAA joins investigation

2006-07-25T12:17:00.000+01:00

The Greene County sheriff's office has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to join the investigation of a skydiving accident Sunday that ended with a Centerville man hitting the ground at about 40 mph, according to reports.

Theodore Nelson, 29, of Centerville died Monday morning at Miami Valley Hospital, a spokeswoman said — almost a day after the skydiving accident at 1:36 p.m. Sunday at Skydive Greene County, 177 S. Monroe-Siding Road in Xenia Twp., according to reports.
"Something like this, you have to look at all the different aspects," Chief Deputy Mark Berry said.

The National Transportation Safety Board will also join local authorities in the investigation, FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said.

FAA would review only the plane, pilot, route and parachute packing, Molinaro said, while NTSB would conduct a broader review.

Officials from Skydive Greene County, which advertises itself as the "Oldest Drop Zone in the Midwest," could not be reached immediately.

Nelson, of 7226 Green Ash Court in Centerville, had made more than 500 jumps. He sustained serious head injuries after hitting the ground at 40 mph, Sgt. Charles Barrett of the Greene County sheriff's office said.

DaytonDailyNews.com

TSA Issues Updated Airport Security Design Guidelines

2006-07-25T11:28:00.000+01:00

After 18 months of collaboration with the private sector, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued revised Recommended Security Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design and Construction (pdf format: 6.3MB) to the airport industry, providing guidance on subjects encompassing airport layout, security screening, emergency response, access control and communications.

The team that produced the revised edition comprises 10 government agencies and approximately 135 private sector experts in a wide variety of security, aviation and architectural disciplines. All experts contributed their time and talent free of charge through the Airport Security Design Guidelines Working Group of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC).

“Since the September 11 attacks, many lessons have been learned concerning aviation and airport security,” said John Sammon, TSA Assistant Administrator for Transportation Sector Network Management and ASAC Chairman. “New procedures have been adopted, new technologies have been identified and are emerging, and new agencies have been created to protect the United States against future terrorist attacks. This document reflects the importance and success of public-private partnership, as well as the integral role security plays in future airport design plans.”

TSA will continue to coordinate with the airport industry to periodically update the guidelines, and has established an email address, asdg-comment@dhs.gov, to receive comments and suggestions from experts and the public.

The previous edition of the Recommended Security Guidelines document was developed under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Civil Aviation Security, Policy and Planning, and the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center and issued in June 2001, just three months before the September 11 attacks.

TSA, created on Nov. 19, 2001, has the responsibility and authority to oversee the implementation, and ensure the adequacy, of security measures at airports and other transportation facilities. Congress has directed TSA, in consultation with air carriers, airport authorities and others, to develop guidelines for airport design and construction to allow for maximum security enhancement. TSA asked ASAC to host this working group to facilitate consultation with knowledgeable and experienced experts in the fields of airport design, airport construction, and airport security to assist TSA in updating the Airport Security Design Guidelines. The working group was authorized by ASAC in September 2004, first met in December 2004, and returned its final product to ASAC in May 2006.

TSA

Marshals: Innocent People Placed On 'Watch List' To Meet Quota

2006-07-25T11:19:00.000+01:00

Marshals Say They Must File One Surveillance Detection Report, Or SDR, Per Month

You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.

The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.

"Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons, acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft ... and they did nothing wrong," said one federal air marshal.

These unknowing passengers who are doing nothing wrong are landing in a secret government document called a Surveillance Detection Report, or SDR. Air marshals told 7NEWS that managers in Las Vegas created and continue to maintain this potentially dangerous quota system.

"Do these reports have real life impacts on the people who are identified as potential terrorists?" Investigator Tony Kovaleski asked.

"Absolutely," a federal air marshal replied.

7NEWS obtained an internal Homeland Security document defining an SDR as a report designed to identify terrorist surveillance activity.

"When you see a decision like this, for these reports, who loses here?" Kovaleski asked.

"The people we're supposed to protect -- the American public," an air marshal said.
What kind of impact would it have for a flying individual to be named in an SDR?

"That could have serious impact ... They could be placed on a watch list. They could wind up on databases that identify them as potential terrorists or a threat to an aircraft. It could be very serious," said Don Strange, a former agent in charge of air marshals in Atlanta. He lost his job attempting to change policies inside the agency.

That's why several air marshals object to a July 2004 memo from top management in the Las Vegas office, a memo that reminded air marshals of the SDR requirement.

The body of the memo said, "Each federal air marshal is now expected to generate at least one SDR per month."

"Does that memo read to you that Federal Air Marshal headquarters has set a quota on these reports?" Kovaleski asked.

"Absolutely, no doubt," an air marshal replied.

A second management memo, also dated July 2004, said, "There may come an occasion when you just don't see anything out of the ordinary for a month at a time, but I'm sure that if you are looking for it, you'll see something."

Another federal air marshal said that not only is there a quota in Las Vegas for SDRs, but that "it directly reflects on (their) performance evaluations" and on how much money they make.

The director of the Air Marshal Service, Dana Brown, declined request for an interview on the quota system. But the agency points to a memo from August 2004 that said there is not a quota for submitting SDRs and which goes on to say, "I do not expect reports that are inaccurate or frivolous."

But, Las Vegas-based air marshals say the quota system remains in force, now more than two years after managers sent the original memos, and that it's a mandate from management that impacts annual raises, bonuses, awards and special assignments.

"To meet this quota, to get their raises, do you think federal air marshals in Las Vegas are making some of this stuff up?" Kovaleski asked.

"I know they are. It's a joke," an air marshal replied.

"Have marshals in the Las Vegas office, I don't want to say fabricated, but 'created' reports?" Kovaleski asked.

"Creative writing -- stretching a long ways the truth, yes," an air marshal replied.
One example, according to air marshals, occurred on one flight leaving Las Vegas, when an unknowing passenger, most likely a tourist, was identified in an SDR for doing nothing more than taking a photo of the Las Vegas skyline as his plane rolled down the runway.

"You're saying that was not an accurate portrayal of a potential terrorist activity?" Kovaleski asked.

"No, it was not," an air marshal said.

"It was a marshal trying to meet a quota ..." Kovaleski said.

"Yes, he was," the air marshal replied.

Strange said he didn't have a quota in the Atlanta office when he was in charge.
"I would never have done that ... You are going to have people reporting every suspicious looking activity they come across, whether they in their heart feel like it's a threat, just to meet the quota," Strange said.

Strange and other air marshals said the quota allows the government to fill a database with bad information.

A Las Vegas air marshal said he didn't write an SDR every month for exactly that reason.

"Well, it's intelligence information, and like any system, if you put garbage in, you get garbage out," the air marshal said.

"I would like to see an investigation -- a real investigation conducted into the ways things are done here," the air marshal in Las Vegas said.

Although the agency strongly denies any presence of a quota system, Las Vegas-based air marshals have produced documents that show their performance review is directly linked to producing SDRs.

Earlier, the head of a group of Federal Air Marshals said the service is badly broken and that he faced retaliation for bringing up security issues.

We have heard from Marshalls who have made similar complaints.

7NEWS

Man Allowed to Board Aircraft With Apparent Bomb Components

2006-07-25T11:17:00.000+01:00

Houston police and the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) disagree over who is responsible for allowing a man with what appeared to be bomb components board an aircraft at Hobby Airport last week.

Although the FBI eventually cleared the man of wrongdoing, police officials have transferred the officer involved and are investigating the incident while insisting that the TSA, not police, has the authority to keep a suspicious person from boarding a flight.

TSA passenger screening is not always foolproof. Frequently, banned items like lighters, knives and other sharp instruments are missed during the screening process. After returning home from a recent trip I discovered that a lighter I'd mistakenly ledt in a carry-on bag hadn't been detected. I've also gotten past the walk through metal detectors without it detecting a belt buckle, which undoubtedly meant the detector was set to less sensitive detection level.

Earlier this year, federal investigators were able to carry materials needed to make a homemade bomb through security screening at 21 airports.

In all 21 airports tested, no machine, no swab, no screener anywhere stopped the bomb materials from getting through. Even when investigators deliberately triggered extra screening of bags, no one discovered the materials.

It’s unclear whether any of the chemicals which were allowed through by screeners are substances which sophisticated explosives detection “sniffing” machines deployed at some airports are capable of detecting.

Explosives detection portals like those made by GE are highly sensitive to detecting a variety of materials used in explosives. It’s not known, though, whether any of these sniffers were in use at the airports that were tested. If they were, then it would mean these and other detection machines would need to be outfitted to also detect the substances used in the testing.

As for the human screeners who allowed through substances that could be combined to make explosives, they may need to be better trained in explosives detection and educated about the kinds of substances that can be used to construct an explosive. Adequate training rather than sloppiness and lax screening is as much to blame for why these substances were allowed through security.

TSA screeners at airports from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. said during interviews that they were having to work longer hours and extra shifts because of understaffing. Some said they'd even been called to work on days off because of the lack of manpower to meet workloads.

Houston Chronicle

Security Breach at John Wayne Airport in CA

2006-07-25T11:15:00.000+01:00

Both terminals at John Wayne Airport were temporarily evacuated Sunday evening and passengers were taken off airplanes after a female passenger made it past a security checkpoint without being screened, authorities said.

Hundreds of travelers - even those aboard airplanes - were required to undergo a second security check, said Nico Melendez of the Transportation Security Administration.

Six outgoing flights were delayed as passengers were re-screened and put back on the planes, Melendez said. Authorities did not provide details Sunday night about who slipped past security or how she managed to do so.

An alarm sounded shortly after 5:30 p.m. and Orange County Sheriff's deputies and airport security began evacuating the terminals. Lines snaked out the doors as travelers lined up again in front of checkpoints.

Passengers erupted in cheers when the checkpoints reopened for screening at 7:20 p.m, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Hayward Miller. Many passengers missed their flights and were forced to rebook on later flights.

Many sat on their suitcases or on the ground, fanning themselves to cool off in the sweltering airport as they waited to be re-screened.

Robin Lavengood, 43, was one of hundreds of passengers waiting to begin re-screening. He had just walked in the door of the airport when the evacuation began.

He was trying to get on a 7 p.m. flight to Portland. "I don't think it's gonna happen now," he said, surveying the throng of people.

The airport, 35 miles south of Los Angeles, served more than 9.6 million passengers last year and hosts flights from Southwest, Delta, United and American, among others.

The Associated Press

Virtual Cockpit View Promises Safer Air Travel

2006-07-25T11:14:00.000+01:00

Nail-biting blind landings in foul weather may soon be a lot less perilous, thanks to a new corporate jet technology that could also find its way into airliner cockpits.

At the Farnborough Airshow this week, Gulfstream became the first executive plane maker to offer the system, which displays a computer-generated view of the terrain ahead - even in heavy fog or cloud, when the ground can be invisible to the most advanced infra-red sensors.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. claimed that the so-called Synthetic Vision System, or SVS, will result in "more accurate tactical flight decisions by pilots and ultimately increased safety."

The Honeywell equipment chosen by Gulfstream is a highly detailed, three-dimensional satellite navigation display for planes. Without SVS, satellite navigation already enables pilots to pinpoint their position and avoid some hazards - but not to carry out landing approaches or other precision maneuvers in low visibility.

Instead of the traditional blue-over-brown artificial horizon, a pilot using the new display sees an ever-changing virtual view from the cockpit - overlaid with the familiar altitude, attitude, speed and heading indicators.

Despite appearances, it is nothing like a video game, Honeywell Vice President Robert Smith said in an interview. "This is not Microsoft Flight Simulator."

The software draws on an extensive global database of runways and obstacles, superimposed on global terrain mapping data gathered by the space shuttle Endeavor in a February 2000 radar survey of Earth's surface.

Like in-car systems, it can also incorporate real-time traffic information from other sources, flashing up collision-avoidance warnings when planes are nearby or when the runway ahead is already in use.

Gulfstream expects to get the required certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in 2007. Spokesman Robert Baugniet declined to give any information on the pricing of the system - to be sold as an optional upgrade to the company's G350, G450, G500 and G550 business jets.

The FAA initially had reservations about the safety of SVS displays, but has come to see the benefits, officials say.

"They could potentially reduce accidents of the type that often happen in bad weather, at night or in limited visibility," FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said.

Bad weather is often a factor in the loss-of-control incidents that were responsible for 91 percent of fatal air accidents in 2005, according to the administration's figures.

Nevertheless, there are still concerns that in some situations, pilots could be lulled into a false sense of security by the SVS - which does not itself detect potential obstacles in a plane's path, such as other aircraft or runway obstructions.

"Synthetic Vision may be so compelling that pilots try to use it beyond the intended function," the FAA cautioned in December 2005 guidelines.

But experts predict the technology will save lives, particularly during low-visibility landings at smaller airports without state-of-the-art instrument landing systems - or those where mountains or other obstacles force pilots to follow difficult approach paths.

"It enables you to fly very much more accurately for the sector of the approach on which most aircraft are lost during non-precision landings," said David Learmount, operations and safety editor with London-based Flight International.

"It's absolutely brilliant for business jets - the whole idea of a business jet is to be able to fly safely to any airfield you like, including small regional airports."

The airports served by airlines typically already have sophisticated instrument landing systems that guide passenger jets in to land at night and in low visibility.

Nevertheless, Honeywell and its competitors were hoping SVS will eventually catch on with commercial carriers.

Advocates say the technology could help avoid accidents such as the 1997 crash in Guam, when a Korean Air 747 plowed into a rocky hillside while attempting to land in rain, killing 228 people. A report concluded that problems with the airport's low-altitude warning device may have been a factor.

"We've talked to virtually everyone," Honeywell's Smith said. "They're certainly looking at these systems."

SVS could appear in airliners around 2012-2014, he said, declining to elaborate on discussions with other aircraft makers and airlines.

Rockwell Collins Inc., another U.S. avionics maker, is developing its own SVS displays and also expects demand from airlines and from another of its regular customers - the U.S. Air Force.

"We also see military applications," company spokesman Nancy Welsh said. "Imagine you're flying in a brown-out (thick dust cloud) in Iraq. Synthetic vision might be quite useful."

AP

Three More Charged in Airline Ticket Scheme

2006-07-25T11:13:00.000+01:00

Federal authorities have charged three more people, including two Bexar County sheriff's deputies, in a case involving thousands of tickets officials say were taken illegally from Southwest Airlines.

Deputy Mark Edward Kedrowski, 35, court bailiff Pedro Martinez Jr., 44, and Mattie Laverne Epperson, 52, a retired SBC employee, are named in an indictment a federal grand jury returned Wednesday.

The three are accused of participating in a conspiracy in which free tickets meant for inconvenienced customers were taken from Southwest and were distributed for profit at the Bexar County Courthouse and Epperson's former workplace, the indictment alleges.

All three turned themselves in Thursday and were released later on unsecured bonds after initial hearings. Kedrowski and Martinez entered not-guilty pleas. Epperson's lawyer said she will plead not guilty later.

The three are accused in the indictment of selling the tickets or giving them to friends and associates. More coverage June 10: Ticket scandal suspect was a public face for airline June 9: Ex-Bexar bailiff, 5 others charged in air ticket scam

Epperson's cousin, ex-bailiff James Jackson, 41, and his wife, Althea Holden Jackson, 34, are accused of distributing more than 5,600 tickets that allegedly were taken fraudulently by Althea Jackson. She was an administrative assistant for Southwest from January 2001 through September 2005.

The indictment replaces one filed last month, bringing to 10 the total number of suspects charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, which carries a penalty of up to five years in federal prison.

Besides conspiracy, the Jacksons also face a count of access device fraud and have pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors said the so-called "Non Revenue Must Ride" tickets, set aside by the airline for inconvenienced customers, are the "devices" that allowed holders to access round-trip air travel.

James Jackson is a former Bexar County sheriff's deputy and bailiff who resigned Dec. 14 amid a probe by a task force that includes federal, state and local law officers. Althea Jackson's duties at Southwest included dispensing the tickets to inconvenienced customers.

The indictment alleges Althea Jackson took the tickets under false pretenses, and that the Jacksons created an informal distribution network through friends and relatives at SBC and the courthouse.

The indictment said the Jacksons sold the tickets for $100 to $200 -- far less than the price Southwest Airlines could get in the marketplace. The indictment pegs the loss at $1.8 million.

The tickets state "Not for resale" but allow travel on short notice anywhere the airline flies.

Some of the tickets made it into the hands of public figures, including judges, the district attorney and district clerk, who told the San Antonio Express-News they assumed the tickets were obtained legitimately.

Bexar County Deputy Chief Charles Benson said Martinez has been with his agency since 1989, most recently as a bailiff assigned to various courtrooms. Kedrowski has been a deputy since 1992 and was assigned to the court's mental health unit, Benson said. Both were placed on unpaid administrative leave pending further review, Benson said.

Epperson's lawyer, Alex Scharff, said he expects his client to be exonerated.

"I think the government's really over-reaching as to Mattie," Scharff said. "They know she didn't profit from (the tickets). She believed everything was legitimate and on the up and up."

Nico LaHood, one of Martinez's lawyers, said he would work on clearing Martinez's name.

Kedrowski's lawyer, Pat Moran, said Kedrowski bought tickets from James Jackson for other people, but made no profit.

"They paid him exactly what he paid Jackson. He made not one single red cent," Moran said. "If you're a ticket scalper, you're the worst ticket scalper in the universe if you don't make money off it."

The San Antonio Express-News

Public attitudes, perceptions and behaviours toward cabin safety communications

2006-07-25T11:08:00.000+01:00

The ATSB released the findings of a study that provided an overview of aircraft cabin safety communications in Australia, in terms of effectiveness, passenger attitudes to such communications and opportunities that exist for improvement. Most passengers agreed that paying attention to cabin safety communications is important. However, results revealed that behaviours do not always match this perception. Perceived relevance of safety information and frequency of travel were found to be significant factors affecting passenger attitudes and behaviours. High levels of message recognition, combined with excessive levels of confidence in personal ability to perform safety actions may be key drivers of reduced perceptions of relevance. Passenger attention levels to safety communications were found to be generally low. Of all communication types tested, the safety briefing was most prone to perceptions of reduced relevance through repeated exposure, while very low attention levels and perceptions of content establish safety cards as being generally ineffective. Analysis identified that low levels of passenger attention to safety communications results from overconfidence, superficial familiarity with messages, issues relating to the way safety content is presented, perceptions of substitutability between the card and briefing and social norms present in the aircraft cabin. A framework for cognitive processing of cabin safety communications is presented. The framework identifies that passenger behaviours may be negatively influenced by perceptions that it is socially undesirable to pay attention to safety information. Changing normative and attitudinal beliefs represents the greatest opportunity to improve communication effectiveness. Key opportunities are identified to improve cabin safety through enhancement of communications. These recommendations include tailoring communications to the needs of specific passenger profiles, providing additional information to passengers, improved design guidelines, regular content variation and use of communications specialists in safety media design.

ATSB

FAA grounds American Flight Group and Fines Medway Air Ambulance

2006-07-25T11:06:00.000+01:00

The FAA has revoked the air carrier certificate of American Flight Group, Inc. (AFG). In a related case, the FAA and Medway Air Ambulance have reached a settlement agreement that calls for Medway to pay a civil penalty of $1,000,000, for operating as an air carrier without an air carrier certificate, in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. In an Emergency Order of Revocation issued to AFG on May 19, 2006, the FAA determined that AFG allowed other companies that did not hold air carrier certificates or did not have sufficient authority under their own certificates to operate flights for hire under the AFG certificate. The FAA found that AFG permitted these other companies to list their aircraft on AFG`s operations specifications for a fixed monthly fee. These other companies, not AFG, then exercised operational control over the flights and the flight crewmembers, in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Although AFG appealed the revocation order to the National Transportation Safety Board, AFG withdrew that appeal, which means that the order issued by the FAA is final. The settlement with Medway was reached after the FAA issued an Emergency Cease and Desist Order requiring the company to cease its illegal operations. The FAA determined that Medway entered into agreements with AFG that allowed Medway's aircraft to operate under AFG's certificate for a monthly fee. However, Medway, not AFG, was exercising operational control over those flights.

FAA

LAPD and Airport Police Reach Accord

2006-06-29T11:53:00.000+01:00

A dispute over who should be in charge of policing at Los Angeles International Airport was settled — at least for now — with an agreement reached Tuesday between the LAPD and the airports agency police over sharing responsibilities.

The settlement resulted in the airport police union agreeing to a temporary delay in proposed state legislation that would boost the power of the airport officers, and which had been opposed by LAPD Chief William J. Bratton. The chief said it would have created confusion about who is in charge.

The new memorandum of understanding was announced by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who said it delineates the role each police force will play in keeping LAX safe and sets higher employment and training standards for the airport police.

"This agreement also puts to rest any concerns raised publicly about possible confusion in the chain of command in the event of an emergency at L.A. International Airport," Villaraigosa said. "It puts the safety and security of the traveling public first and foremost."

The city airports agency, Los Angeles World Airports, maintains a police force of 400 officers. In addition, the Los Angeles Police Department deploys about 50 officers to LAX every day, with others assigned as needed.

The agreement designates the airport police as first responders to most calls: making arrests, conducting preliminary investigations and writing crime reports. But the LAPD will be responsible for carrying out most follow-up investigations of crimes at the airport.

In death investigations, crimes involving weapons, terrorist incidents and hostage situations, the airport police will immediately notify the LAPD, which will be responsible for the preliminary and follow-up investigations unless and until relieved by federal law enforcement, which plays a key role in major incidents at airports.

The pact, similar to one approved in 1988, adds requirements for the LAPD to notify the airport police about its operations on airport property.

The agreement also calls for new airport police officers to go through the rigorous training provided to LAPD recruits, to the extent possible, and for both agencies to go through some joint training on airport issues.

The airport police agency also "agrees to use the same hiring and selection standards for its sworn officers as are used by the LAPD," including undergoing a polygraph test before a background check.

Bratton, who failed to persuade voters last year to approve a takeover of the airport police by the LAPD, said the improved hiring standards and training would allow the two agencies to work better together.

In response to the agreement, the airport police persuaded Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) to delay action Tuesday on a bill that would have given them the same level of authority as the LAPD to respond to bomb threats, run criminal background checks and manage crowds at the airport.

But union officials said that authority was still needed, so they will have the bill reintroduced after the Legislature's July recess, which could reignite the LAX policing controversy.

Los Angeles Times

Police shoot man at Las Vegas airport

2006-06-29T11:52:00.000+01:00

LAS VEGAS - Police shot and wounded a man at the city's international airport Tuesday after he grabbed a 3-year-old boy at knifepoint and ran through a security area, authorities said.

The child was unharmed and returned to his mother, who was at the airport, said Elaine Sanchez, spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport. The man was taken to a hospital.

"The system worked," Sanchez said. "As soon as the breach occurred, the police were in place and the system worked."

After the 25-year-old man grabbed the boy, he ran through an exit lane intended for passengers leaving the gates, officials said.

Three officers confronted him at the other side of the checkpoint, police said. One used a Taser gun to stun the man, police said.

He dropped the child and charged at the officers, said police spokesman Jose Montoya. Two officers each fired once.

The checkpoint was shut down for about 10 minutes, but there were no delays or interruptions of service at the airport, one of the nation's busiest, Sanchez said.

Associated Press

Flight returns to Ky.; smoke in cockpit

2006-06-29T11:51:00.000+01:00

A Delta Connection flight made an emergency landing at the Louisville airport shortly after takeoff Tuesday after a flight attendant saw smoke inside the plane and smoke detector went off in a lavatory, officials said.

There were no reported injuries aboard the flight, which had 49 passengers plus crew, said Trish Burke, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Regional Airport Authority.

"It immediately returned to the field, landed safely, the passengers were safely evacuated," Burke said.

The flight, operated by Chautauqua Airlines for Delta Airlines, was headed to Cincinnati, Chautauqua spokesman Warren Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson said a flight attendant smelled smoke and noticed a small amount of smoke in the cabin when the aircraft reached about 500 feet. Then a lavatory smoke detector went off, he said.

"Whenever we have a situation like this, we err on the side of safety," Wilkinson said.

A maintenance crew was examining the aircraft in Louisville to find out what caused the smoke, Wilkinson said. He said it may have been from oil getting into the air conditioner.

Associated Press

Security Consultants

2006-06-20T19:44:00.000+01:00

For the past 25 years, Security consultants have made major contributions to the design of aviation environments that resulted in new or revitalized airports and new construction, expansion and/or renovation projects. The specialized security role continues to be important to a design team, but it has changed dramatically recently because of 9/11 and emerging technologies.

No one questions the importance of airport security these days, especially airport operators, planners, and design teams who recognize the crucial role security consultants play in the development of airports. There are still questions with regard to security consultants—What is their real role? When do we bring security consultants on to the design team? What will they do?

Prior to 9/11, I received a telephone call from a frantic, prospective client (airport operator) who wanted to know if our company could provide security consulting and engineering services for a terminal building expansion project. The airport operator was concerned that the design team did not have the kind of information that would support the airport’s need to ensure compliance with security-related regulatory requirements and design standards. He also wanted to know if we could provide contract documents within a week. I told him it was impossible to meet that schedule, but we could begin working immediately. The client accepted our offer. I contacted the project manager who was surprised to learn that security should be integral to a design team and that there would be interface and coordination requirements during the entire process. The project manager did not inform the design team disciplines that security consultants would be on board and working with the team’s various consultants. The individual disciplines were “doing their own thing” and not coordinating information from a security standpoint. The prospects of unraveling what had been done and coordinating security related information was a serious challenge.

Improving the Process

The following information illustrates how security professionals need to assist with airport projects as they apply to future capital development requirements and new facilities and/or the renovation and expansion of existing facilities:

Planning Consultants: Need to include security during master planning efforts to ensure that decisions regarding the airport and/or buildings take into consideration that the basic placement of future facilities are appropriate in the context of the TSA security considerations and any future infrastructure.
Architectural Consultants: Need to coordinate all horizontal and vertical circulation patterns with security to ensure that requirements are not compromised and that portals providing access across defined security demarcations are minimized. This will ensure that appropriate program areas are provided with the necessary security provisions to support operations and related support locations and comply with regulatory requirements and applicable design standards.
Civil Engineering Consultants: Need to include a security consultant for reviewing drawings as they relate to perimeter issues (i.e. fencing, gates and roadway networks) and structures (i.e. culverts, tunnels and manholes) that provide access across secured demarcations from less restricted and public access areas.
Landscaping Consultants: Should use security consultants to review drawings that show the placement of vegetation along fences, walls and other types of barriers. The intent is to identify vegetation areas where intruders could hide or where people could climb over the barriers into secure areas. These reviews need to include lighting provisions to ensure that light levels sufficiently illuminate all landscaped areas to prevent and/or detect persons.
Lighting Consultants: Should ensure that all interior and exterior areas are illuminated and that the light levels efficiently support the use of video surveillance cameras.
Electrical Engineers: Should coordinate power and conduit requirements needed to support electronic security systems. This is a two-way street because the electrical engineers want to know the primary and secondary power loads for all security systems.
Mechanical Engineers: Need to identify HVAC and cooling requirements for security equipment. Engineers need to have guidance in designing systems that will consider security and hinder access into buildings and operationally sensitive areas through the air handling ductwork.
Elevator Consultants: Need to coordinate access control card reader locations, interfaces and installations with security consultants as they pertain to operating the elevators. Video surveillance may require coordinating camera installations inside the elevator cabs and the cabling of card reader devices and video cameras with the elevator traveler cables.
Telecommunications Consultants: Need to ensure that there are sufficient indoor and outdoor cable plant provisions to support security infrastructure and to ensure that telecommunications rooms are sized and equipped to accommodate security equipment. The coordination process also involves the integration of security and information technology (IT). Many commonly known security systems and provisions are making a move toward the standardization of communicating with their host systems and integrating these with other systems via the TCP/IP 802.11x common communications protocol.
Baggage Conveyor Consultants: Need to coordinate the installation of card reader devices to control operation and activation of baggage conveying systems overhead doors.
Door Hardware Consultants: Need to specify locking and egress hardware that interfaces with electronic access control systems. Other requirements include cutouts for intrusion detection devices and electronic locking mechanisms.
Signage Consultants: Need to ensure that direct line-of-sight camera requirements are not obstructed by signs that are mounted and/or suspended throughout the buildings and security related static signage is properly conveyed at specific locations.
Fire Alarm Consultants: Need to ensure that electronic security door lock mechanisms, installed on emergency egress doors, release when fire alarms are annunciated.

Conclusion

Security consultants need to be involved in the planning and needs assessment phase of airport development projects. Their participation should continue through programming, design engineering, bid selection, construction administration, systems commissioning and acceptance phases. Having a security consultant on the design teams means crucial security considerations will be taken into account from the onset and the project will less likely have last minute costly and time consuming revisions and change orders.

EC to continue sharing passenger data with US

2006-06-20T19:43:00.000+01:00

Two weeks after Europe's highest court overturned an EU (European Union) agreement to share passenger data with American authorities, the EC (European Commission) has proposed a law that does much the same as the one that was annulled.

The EC, the EU's executive body, agreed yesterday to propose a law that uses different legal grounds to have the same effect: it will allow European airlines to share personal information about their passengers flying to the US with US customs and security officials.

Normally it would be illegal under Europe-wide data protection laws for a company to share European citizens' personal data with a country with weaker data protection laws, such as the US. However, after the attacks of 11 September 2001, which involved commercial airline flights, American authorities demanded the information.

Airlines would be fined or, worse, denied landing slots by American aviation authorities if they failed to provide the information, which includes details such as name, address and credit-card information. But they would be sued in Europe for breaking data protection law if they did provide the Americans with the information.

To avoid havoc in the airline industry and a potential disruption of transatlantic flights, the EC and the 25 national governments passed a law allowing the handover of most of the information the US demanded.

However, the European Parliament objected on data protection and procedural grounds and appealed to the Court of Justice, Europe's top court. The Court supported the Parliament's appeal on procedural grounds and annulled the law but it didn't uphold the appeal concerning the substance of the law.

The new procedure excludes the European Parliament from the decision-making process. It only requires approval by the 25 member state governments to become law. Sidelining the Parliament wasn't the plan, said Johannes Laitenberger, the EC's top spokesman.

"The fact that this moves out of the co-decision procedure is not a result of any option of the EC, it’s a consequence of the Court decision," he said, adding that the EC "remains committed to cooperating with the European Parliament".

At the end of last month the Court gave the existing law until 30 September before it would cease to be legally binding. Laitenberger said that elements of the new law could be introduced immediately after the current law expires on a provisional basis if the new law isn't passed in time.

The EC has promised to consult with the European Parliament in the drafting of the new law, but the Parliament will have no formal role to play in the decision-making.

Feds launch X-ray project at SFO

2006-06-20T19:34:00.000+01:00

Air cargo to undergo closer inspection and screening efforts.

It's almost five years since the Sept. 11 hijackings and 22 years since a bomb hidden amongst cargo downed a U.S. airliner.

But with undiminished fanfare Monday, authorities of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the city of San Francisco signed an agreement for experiments to X-ray more air cargo and sniff it for explosives.

San Francisco International airport chief John Martin called it a "historic project," with the airport chosen as first in the nation for an attempt at giving air cargo the same high level of screening as checked luggage, while producing a six-fold increase in the volume of cargo flowing on time.

What scientists learn at SFO is expected to be adopted by the nation's other major airports that fall under federal security rules and handle the $4 billion a year in air-cargo business. Federal officials said they selectedSFO because the airport had high levels of passenger and cargo traffic yet was well run, and because the project had the backing of the mayor and California's lawmakers in Congress.

Airline passengers have removed their shoes and offered themselves and their belongings for weapons checks, but Mayor Gavin Newsom said federal aviation security so far has neglected the tons of cargo stowed in the belly of the planes.

"To me it's important and fundamental: What lies beneath is what we should be worried about," Newsom said. "I'm excited we're reconciling a huge gap, the one that every time I get on a plane worries me the most."

About 530,000 tons of air cargo flow through a dozen passenger and cargo airlines at SFO a year, about one-twelfth of the 6 billion tons moving nationally. Shippers, handlers and the airlines are responsible for examining that cargo at multiple levels, but many of the checks amount to inspecting the exterior of packages for leaking substances, wires or other indicators according to rules established by the private companies themselves.

Authorities at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration won't say exactly how much of the contents of air cargo is examined, either by hand or machine. They say most individual packages placed into passenger airliners are screened by machines with spot checking by bomb-sniffing dogs. But a large amount of air cargo is packed in pallets or large containers that are too large for airport X-ray machines to handle.

Congress last year set aside $30 million for a pilot screening program for air cargo and ordered the Transportation Security Administration to start it at three airports. The experiments at SFO, the first and largest airport chosen, will take about half of the money.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, aided by colleagues at Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest labs, have been studying the screening system used by SFO's airlines and in October will replace it.

A team of subcontractors will replace the two to four cargo screeners at each airline and start running more, and larger, cargo through huge X-ray machines and swap-type explosive detectors, with spot and backup checking by bomb dogs, according to Howard Hall, a Livermore lab chemist and leader of the air cargo explosives detection pilot program.

"Hopefully what we're doing will be no slower than what the airlines already do," Hall said. "It really comes down to how much you are willing to spend for technology and work force, and how much delay you are willing to tolerate. We're going to get hard answers to those questions."

Besides the difficulty of X-raying large air-cargo containers, federal homeland security officials moved slower on air cargo than with passengers and checked baggage partly because of a competing proposal to harden the cargo holds and partly because of a theory that al Qaida was not really interested in blowing up airplanes, according to Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow and homeland-security expert at the Brookings Institution.

"There's been an assumption all along that this branch of al Qaida wants to do dramatic things, at least as dramatic as they have in the past. So to bomb an airplane is not as dramatic as what they want to do in the future," O'Hanlon said. "To the extent this assumption might be prevalent, I think it might be wrong and dangerous."

The Bush administration also has been hesitant to impose rules on dealings between corporations, O'Hanlon said, and so has held back from imposing security regulations on shippers and airlines in the air cargo trade, unlike between individual passengers and the airlines.

Inside Bay Area

EU: Commission updates its aviation blacklist for the first time

2006-06-20T19:32:00.000+01:00

The European Commission today issued the first quarterly update of the list of airlines banned in the European Union drawn up in March this year[1]. The new list replaces the previous one and is now available on the Commission’s website.

In updating the list, as it is required to do on a regular basis, the Commission again consulted all airlines and national civil aviation authorities that might be affected. The Commission was assisted by the Aviation Safety Committee of Member State experts, which unanimously approved the list.

The main changes made to the initial list adopted on 22 March of this year (Commission Regulation (EC) No 474/2006) are:

* three companies have been added because of national measures notified by the Member States: Blue Wing, based in Surinam (notified by France), and Sky Gate International (licensed in Kyrgyzstan and notified by the UK) are now subject to a total ban (listed in Annex A) and Air West, based in Sudan (notified by Germany), is subject to operating restrictions (listed in Annex B);
* one company, Star Jet, based in Kyrgyzstan, has been banned on the initiative of the Commission. It was found to be the same company as Star Air, licensed in Sierra Leone and already banned within the European Union;
* the lists of companies licensed in the five countries now subject to a total ban have been updated on the basis of the latest register published by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (13 more for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 26 for Equatorial Guinea, 19 for Liberia, 13 for Sierra Leone and 10 for Swaziland);
* one company, Buraq Air, based in Libya, previously subject to operational restrictions on its cargo activities (and therefore listed in Annex B) has been withdrawn from the list, as it no longer carries out this type of activity;
* a European inspection visit established that companies based in Mauritania need not be subject to a ban on operations. Finally, not all the conditions for lifting the ban on GST Aero, based in Kazakhstan, have been fulfilled.

As well as imposing bans on airlines and providing useful information to passengers wishing to travel outside Europe, the list has proved to be an effective incentive, with a number of countries and companies that had taken either no action or only inadequate action in response to national bans agreeing to cooperate with the Commission in correcting the security problems identified.

The Commission has succeeded in making additional resources available to increase the technical assistance provided to countries whose levels of safety are judged to be inadequate (for the Democratic Republic of the Congo for example). Other international donors, in particular the World Bank, have announced similar measures.

Several European aviation bodies have launched initiatives in support of the system introduced by the Commission: the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) has proposed extending it to all European countries outside the Union. Eurocontrol, the air traffic control agency, has established a warning system that allows the immediate detection of flight plans registered for companies subject to a ban.

Outside Europe, the United Nations aviation agency, ICAO, has taken up the idea of a blacklist and is now publishing a list of countries that refuse to cooperate fully in safety audits. IATA, the international association of the main airlines, has announced its intention of cooperating with the Commission, in particular by informing it of the findings of its own checks. Several non-member countries have also proposed exchanging information on aviation safety with the Commission.

European Union

Pilots Warned About Ill. Runway Conditions

2006-06-20T19:29:00.000+01:00

Two Southwest Airlines pilots received conflicting reports on runway conditions as they approached Chicago's Midway airport, where their jet skidded off the runway and killed a 6-year-old boy, according to the cockpit voice recording transcript released Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking into procedures for landing at short or slippery runways as a result of the Dec. 8 accident, in which the jet landing in snowy conditions crashed through a fence into the street, killing Joshua Woods of Leroy, Ind., who was riding in a car.

As the pilots prepared to land, the snow got worse and they were told at various points on their way to Chicago that the runway conditions were good, fair and poor.

They knew they couldn't land safely if the conditions were poor because there was an 8-knot tailwind, and they calculated the distance they needed to land assuming poor conditions.

The pilot's eagerness to land, though, may have affected their decision making, according to the transcript.

``If it's poor, we don't want to hear it,'' said co-pilot Steven Oliver.

During the hearing, safety officials were told that there is no single, reliable way to measure a runway's slickness in bad weather, making it hard for pilots to figure out how much room they need to land.

The transcript of the cockpit voice recorder revealed the unfolding drama in the cockpit as the plane skidded toward a fence.

``Son of a (expletive),'' captain Bruce Sutherland said.

``Jump on the brakes, are ya?'' Oliver said.

Pilots then struggled to slow the airplane, then told each other to ``hang on'' just seconds before the airplane crashed through a fence.

During the flight, the pilots wrestled with the question of how they would land in bad weather at Midway, even considering other airports, according to the recording.

The Midway runway, like about 300 others at commercial airports in the United States, did not have a 1,000-foot buffer zone at the end for airplanes that overshoot their landings.

And the pilots of the Boeing 737 relied on a flawed landing technique that should be banned, according to the NTSB.

The safety board will try to determine the best procedures for landing on wet runways and investigate what to do about runways that lack buffer zones. Industry, airline and federal and municipal officials were to testify.

Since the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration has proposed stricter standards for landings by passenger jets.

The proposal would require pilots to add 15 percent to the length of runway they think they need to land safely. The agency had found that half of all U.S. airlines don't have procedures for assessing dangerous runway conditions that develop after takeoff.

The FAA has also given a $15 million grant to Midway to build soft concrete beds that can slow airplanes that overshoot runways.

The Associated Press

Canadian Prime Minister Tightens Air Security

2006-06-19T20:16:00.001+01:00

Air travellers will have their baggage more thoroughly screened and security at marine ports will be tightened up as part of a $250-million package of transit security improvements unveiled yesterday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The money, part of the $1.4-billion for security announced in last month's federal budget, will serve to ensure Canadian travellers are better protected from the perils of terrorism, Harper told a news conference at a Toronto airport cargo bay.

"This is how the fight against terrorism will be won . . .plugging the holes, filling the gaps," he said.

The money will be spent on improved cargo and passenger screening, as well as on security measures for commuter train and city transit systems, said Harper.

Security measures will continue to be revised to ensure systems and protocols are modern and effective, he added.

Harper also said the government is considering the possibility of requiring air marshals on selected flights, much like the United States did in the wake of 9-11.

Terrorism has been front and centre on the minds of Canadians following the arrest of 17 suspected terrorists in Toronto earlier this month.

Harper admitted it was no accident that yesterday's news conference took place in Toronto, which has been living with a heightened sense of concern ever since the arrests occurred two weeks ago.

"We're giving (the measures) more attention, and they're obviously more newsworthy for the average person because of the recent arrests," he said.

Ross called security at the country's marine ports "nominal" at best, saying a large number of cargo containers from large vessels are going unchecked, as are items headed aboard passenger ferries and cruise ships.

"We're wide open," said Ross, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University who specializes in national security issues.

"It's a disaster waiting to happen. If a small truck gets on the bottom level of the ferry with a load of fertilizer explosive in it, it'll blow a huge hole in the boat and that's that."

Steve Shaw, vice-president corporate affairs at the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, was more positive, pointing to constantly evolving technology.

"Security is something that you keep working at," he said. "Always there's ways to improve . . . (and) money is important."

The Canadian Press

Northwest Plane Lands Safely in Japan After Engine Trouble

2006-06-19T20:16:00.000+01:00

A Northwest Airlines passenger jet from Taiwan landed safely at an airport in western Japan after developing engine trouble, an airport official said Sunday. There were no injuries.

The Boeing 747-400 developed trouble in one of its four engines after leaving Taipei for Osaka's international airport, according to airport official Hiroshi Yasuragi. It was not immediately clear what was wrong with the engine.

The pilot requested an emergency landing at the airport, which was the plane's destination, and landed safely Sunday morning, the official said.

None of the 346 passengers and crew members on board were injured, he said.

Kansai International Airport is near Osaka, about 410 kilometers (260 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

The Associated Press

Zimbabwean Charged with Attempting to Hijack Plane

2006-06-19T20:11:00.000+01:00

A 21-year-old Zimbabwean student appeared in a Cape Town court Monday on charges of attempting to hijack a South African Airways flight over the weekend.

The incident happened about half an hour after takeoff Saturday morning on flight SA322 from Cape Town to Johannesburg.

Tinashe Rioga, who was traveling in economy class, allegedly grabbed a flight attendant and held a syringe to her neck, demanding the flight be rerouted to the Mozambique capital, Maputo.

An off-duty pilot overpowered the man with the help of other passengers, and the plane landed safely in Cape Town, airline officials said at the time.

The motive for the attempted hijacking was not immediately clear. Passengers were shaken but otherwise unharmed after the ordeal, according to SAA spokeswoman Jacqui O'Sullivan.

Rioga, a third-year information technology student at the University of Cape Town, faces charges of contravening aviation regulations and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, the South African Press Association reported.

He was not asked to plead during his appearance Monday at the Bellville Magistrate's Court and was remanded in custody pending a bail hearing on June 26.

The Associated Press

Libya still on her terror list

2006-06-19T20:09:00.000+01:00

Victoria Cummock's husband died on Pan Am 103, blown up by a Libyan agent 17 years ago. She asks: Why forgive Libya?

It was shortly before Christmas 1988, and John Cummock was eager to get home to his family in South Florida.

Cummock, a marketing executive with Bacardi liquors, had finished his work in London so he caught a flight a day earlier than expected. Not long after takeoff, he, 258 other passengers and 11 people on the ground were dead - the plane blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, by an agent of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Now, 17 years later, the tragedy of Pan Am 103 is only a vague memory for most Americans. Gadhafi agreed to scrap his weapons program in 2003, and last month the United States removed Libya from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. At least six American companies have resumed exploring Libya's vast oil reserves.

Victoria Cummock is appalled.

"What kind of war on terror is this? You're sending a very strong message to rogue states that the U.S. government is willing to sell out its citizens and national security for commercial interests."

Widowed with three small children, Cummock became an advocate for disaster victims. She went to Oklahoma City and the ValueJet crash near her Miami home. She pressed for a federal law that authorizes the American Red Cross to assist victims of airline disasters. In May, she was elected to the organization's board of governors.

For her efforts, Cummock has been called a "media monkey" and worse. Former Secretary of State James Baker accused her and other Pan Am families of being on a witch hunt. Similar jabs are now directed at Sept. 11 widows, whom conservative commentator Anne Coulter blasts as "witches and harpies" using their husbands' deaths for political gain.

Cummock, 53, shrugs off such criticism.

"I pray to God that she would never have to walk in any of our shoes. There's a lot of work that needs to be done for the good of the American people, and for these families to be doing that is very commendable. I wish our government would be more responsible in terms of protecting its citizens. That's why this whole issue of Libya isn't over with even though it's been 17 years."

***

It was late on the night of Dec. 21, 1988, that John Cummock's boss knocked on the door, looking terrible and asking whether Victoria had heard about a plane crash.

"I was incredulous - I couldn't believe no one was calling us officially telling us anything," she says.

As reporters and photographers arrived, she repeatedly phoned Pan Am, only to be bounced from person to person. It was hours before an airline vice president called back to let her know there had been a John Cummock on Flight 103 and he was thought to have perished.

"The State Department abdicated their role to Pan Am, and Pan Am didn't want to talk to us because they were going to get sued," Cummock says. "There was no crisis management."

Increasing the torment were long delays in returning the bodies from Scotland. Some families were told to pick up a "parcel" at the airport, only to find body bags with notes warning the remains were too badly mangled to view. One doctor, whose daughter was among 35 Syracuse University students killed, decided to look - and discovered the body wasn't hers. Other bodies also had been misidentified.

Death certificates were slow in coming, too, creating financial hardships for families that needed them to probate wills. Although she had her own interior decorating business, Cummock struggled with a sharp drop in income when she lost her husband's salary. Some widows faced eviction.

As she commiserated with other families, Cummock got a Republican fundraising letter seeking contributions for earthquake victims in Armenia. Cummock's children attended the same school as Jeb Bush's kids, so she called him.

"I said, 'It's a wonderful humanitarian service you've done, but I think charity begins at home. Do you understand what's going on with Pan Am 103?' "

That led to a meeting with then-President George Bush and appointment to a White House commission. Some, but not all, of the panel's suggestions were incorporated into the 1990 Aviation Security Improvement Act.

Cummock grew even more frustrated when she served on another commission, this time under Vice President Al Gore.

The group made numerous recommendations for improving airplane safety, the professionalism of security personnel and the screening of passengers and cargo. But the final report was so watered down that Cummock refused to sign it. Critics accused Gore of selling out to the airlines in exchange for more than $600,000 in campaign contributions.

As she watched the World Trade Center burn a few years later, Cummock was heartbroken but not surprised.

"Based on all the briefings I'd gotten at the White House, I knew only minimal changes had been done and that the writing was on the wall. When the first plane crashed, I said, 'We're being attacked. It's terrorists.' "

That's why she's had a hard time accepting the about-face on Libya, a country with a history of terrorism.

During Gadhafi's 37-year rule, Libya has provided assistance to Palestinian militants. The country remains the primary suspect in a 1986 Berlin disco bombing that killed two U.S. soldiers and in the 1989 bombing of a French jetliner that killed 170 passengers. As recently as two years ago, it was accused of plotting to assassinate the ruler of Saudi Arabia.

Gadhafi long refused to cooperate in the Pan Am investigation, but in 1999 finally handed over two agents suspected of planting the bomb. A Scottish court sitting in The Hague, Netherlands, convicted one of the men and freed the other.

In 2003, under a deal that ended 11 years of U.N. sanctions, Libya agreed to take responsibility for the "actions of its officials" while not admitting to any government involvement. It also agreed to pay $2.7-billion in compensation to the Pan Am 103 families.

Cummock refuses to accept the money.

"There has been no accountability for the murder of these Americans, and without accountability there is no justice and there is no deterrence. Why should our country force us into a no-fault settlement - how insulting!"

The United States resumed some economic and cultural ties with Libya when Gadhafi - afraid his country would be the next U.S. target after Iraq - revealed his secret weapons program. On May 15, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Libya for its "excellent cooperation" in the war on terrorism and said full diplomatic relations would be restored.

One expert called the move "good news" at a time when the United States needs as many friends in the Arab world as it can get. But, he added, it also shows the U.S. government has essentially abandoned efforts to determine who really ordered the Pan Am bombing.

"We have not gotten to the end of the line on Pan Am 103, and it looks like we won't," Daniel Benjamin, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the New York Times. "That seems to me a regrettable fact, but on the other hand, this is probably useful to our broader interests."

Cummock has no doubt that restoring diplomatic relations is useful for Libya, a country long isolated and impoverished by years of sanctions and the policies of its eccentric leader.

On a recent visit to Washington, she met some Libyan diplomats. They told her their country was raking in so much money from U.S. oil contracts that it would more than cover the billions in compensation paid to families of those killed on Pan Am 103.

"It's appalling," Cummock says. "We've opened our door to the same terrorist regime we've kept out of this country for 30 years. What's next - are we going to forgive Osama bin Laden and forget all about 9/11?"

St. Petersburg Times

Aviation takes back seat to space flight at NASA

2006-06-19T20:01:00.000+01:00

By reaching for the moon and Mars, NASA is letting go of aviation research that was the foundation for the nation's journey into space.
Some contend that cuts to aeronautics research — long one of the agency's cornerstones — will endanger the country's lead in aviation.

NASA's role in the industry goes largely unseen by the public, but is experienced by nearly anyone who boards an airplane. Its contributions include deicing technology and engine research that has led to safer, quieter and more fuel efficient airplanes.

The agency's aeronautics program is being restructured to meet President Bush's focus on the human exploration of space. The president's 2007 budget proposal for NASA would cut 18% from aeronautics research, leaving it $724 million, down from more than $1 billion in 2004.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin compared aeronautics' fate to that of slide rule makers in the United States.

"The last slide rule maker went out of business I think in 1975," he said June 5 when announcing work for several centers on a space vehicle. "We simply are not doing all of the things that all of our centers once did."

While programs in aviation security — which NASA says duplicated efforts by the Homeland Security Department — and unmanned aerial vehicles have been phased out, the major decisions regarding the future of aeronautics research will be made in the coming months.

Although to many NASA likely is nearly synonymous with space, the origin of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is in airplane engineering.

Griffin said the aeronautics heritage at Cleveland-based NASA Glenn Research Center, Langley Research Center in Virginia and Ames and Dryden Flight research centers in California "just doesn't fit" with NASA's new goals.

However, a NASA-sponsored study by the National Academies' National Research Council recommended that the agency prioritize its aeronautics research, partnering with public and private institutions to help expand the capacity of the nation's air transportation system and decrease accidents as the number of flights increase.

The council was not asked to provide budget recommendations but warned that the nation's status as aviation leader could erode if funding is cut further.

Alex Roland, a professor of technology history at Duke University in Durham, N.C., agreed that aeronautics is vulnerable because NASA doesn't have enough money to fulfill its commitments of flying the space shuttle through 2010, completing the international space station and having a new space vehicle ready for flight in 2014.

"Its budget is just going to suffer horrendously. I don't know if it will disappear," said Roland, who worked for NASA as a historian from 1973 to 1981. "I wouldn't want to depend on NASA anytime soon for aeronautics research."

The aviation industry and universities are feeling the cutbacks.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., counts NASA among its top three funders. The school partnered with NASA on a project that examined the feasibility of a Jetsons-like future in which people use small aircraft the same way they use cars.

"It's certainly a concern because who's going to pick up the gap," said Christina Frederick-Recascino, the university's associate provost.

NASA research helped General Electric design a new engine being used on the Boeing 787, said Rick Kennedy, spokesman for the company's Cincinnati-based aircraft engine division. GE tested composite material at NASA Glenn's wind tunnels that was used to make the engine's fan blades and casing lighter.

GE spends its own money on research but NASA helped explore some far-out possibilities while lending its facilities and expertise, thereby minimizing the company's risk, Kennedy said.

"The funding is not what it used to be," he said.

Lisa Porter, NASA's associate administrator for aeronautics, said the agency is returning to long-term, cutting-edge research that will benefit the nation. It will focus on areas such as air traffic control systems and safety and mastering the science of subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic flight.

The restructuring appeals to professor John Hansman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hansman thinks NASA employees were spending too much time managing contracts with outside agencies rather than doing research themselves.

But Hansman, a former member of NASA's aeronautics research advisory committee, added that there's not enough funding and that the cuts to aeronautics research have created uncertainty for universities.

"I'm not picking up any new students because of the uncertainty in funding," said Hansman, who has projects funded by NASA. "I have many colleagues that are in the same situation."

Some NASA centers are facing job losses, and employees say morale has been damaged. Many young workers are looking for employment elsewhere, said Lee Stone, a life scientist at Ames Research Center.

"Most of the programs that have supported us in the past are disappearing," Stone said. "There's total chaos going on as far as funding."

NASA Glenn has received a lead role in the development of the crew exploration vehicle that is expected to take astronauts to the moon. While it was an economic boost for the center, it doesn't provide job security for all 1,648 civil service employees.

Griffin promised Ames and other aeronautics-heavy centers a significant role in the space mission.

"I know it's very difficult for you when you're out at field centers wondering, 'what are those idiots at headquarters doing?'" he joked. "Hang in there with us."

NASA's largest union, though, fears pursuit of the moon and Mars will eventually render NASA unable to do aeronautics research, said Matthew Biggs, legislative director of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.

"What's going to be left?" Biggs said. "Are we going to be a taxi service to and from space?"

The Associated Press

Peter Loverso Named Acting Federal Security Director

2006-06-19T19:59:00.000+01:00

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Friday (June 16) that Peter Loverso has been named Acting Federal Security Director (FSD) at Charleston International Airport in Charleston, S.C. In his role, Loverso will oversee all TSA security operations at the airport.
“Peter will be our representative at Charleston International, ensuring the safety of our skies and carrying out TSA’s mission in the war on terrorism,” said Maggie Rhodes, TSA East Coast Area Director. “He is a skilled and experienced professional with a proven track record in front-line transportation and homeland security.”

Peter J. Loverso joined the Transportation Security Administration in July of 2004 as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer. In supporting the Chief Operating Officer, he was responsible for the daily oversight of transportation operational issues. After the reorganization of TSA, Loverso was appointed the Acting General Manager for Mass Transit and Passenger Rail.

He started his career in the transportation sector in 1973 for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) as a police officer and served as Chief of Patrol of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Police Department after the merger of LIRR and Metro North police departments. In January of 2002, he accepted the position of Commanding Officer of the Amtrak police department, New York division.

Loverso is a graduate of the New York City Transit Police Academy and Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy (Class 167). He received his Bachelor of Science from the New York Institute of Technology.

The position of federal security director was created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act signed by President Bush on November 19, 2001.

TSA

ATI, SITA look at BtoB messaging

2006-06-19T19:57:00.000+01:00

ARINC Incorporated and SITA have announced the formation of an Industry technical work group to define the next generation of business to business messaging for the Air Transport Industry (ATI).

The work group will formalize standards to complement industry Type B messaging with a new approach using XML technology and Service Oriented Architecture for communications.
The work group membership has already grown to include Northwest Airlines, British Airways, Worldspan, Amadeus, Lufthansa Systems, Sabre, Galileo and Mercator – reflecting strong industry support for the initiative by both airlines and application providers.

The ATI is one of the most highly integrated industries in the world, requiring millions of messages per day for reservations, passenger processing, and general operations – even the equivalent of “email” to airplanes. An estimated 40 million Type B messages per day are processed by ARINC and SITA and delivered across vast extranets to a wide variety of industry participants. Today the industry uses a broad range of modern and legacy protocols – a heritage that dates back to teletype. The move to define an XML based approach addresses the growing demand to enable secure and robust communications using what has become the technology of choice for modern applications.

Standardizing on an approach is particularly challenging in the ATI due to the substantial population of legacy applications and the high levels of reliability and security demanded for mission critical and highly automated operational applications. The work group will address issues of backward compatibility for legacy applications, interoperability, reliability, and security – all of which pose unique challenges for the current XML based communications frameworks.

The work group will also grapple with competing frameworks such as Web Services and ebXML, drawing from standards being guided by Internet standards groups such as W3C and OASIS. By focusing on communications infrastructure for operational messaging, the Type X work group will complement efforts in the industry underway through the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) and IATA’s XML Task Force (XMLTF).

“We see a tremendous benefit to the industry of migrating to XML technology and Internet based communications” said Ruth Hough, Vice President of ARINC Network Solutions. “Adoption will lower the cost of business for the airlines and application providers, and increase flexibility. Most airlines already use the technology internally, so removing the legacy layer and using a framework like Web Services for business to business communications is a natural next step.”

“SITA and ARINC are in a unique position in the aviation industry to sustain support of business critical communications through development of XML-based standards”, stated Brijdeep Sahi, Vice President of Marketing for SITA SC. “

As with past technology transitions, industry specific standards and communications technology expertise are needed to guide the industry through the complex transition to a Service Oriented Architecture and take full advantage of the benefits of XML.”

The TypeX work group has rapidly moved to formalize industry messaging requirements and is well into analyzing the competing frameworks against these requirements to identify gaps.

By the end of second quarter 2006, the work group plans to have established specifications and execute targeted live demonstration projects by the end of next year.

Internet Travel News

ACSA explains why syringes are allowed on planes

2006-06-18T19:32:00.000+01:00

Deidre Hendricks, an Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) spokesperson, says syringes are allowed on board South African flights due to health reasons. Hendricks was responding to the question of the day: how did the botched hijacking suspect get through security with a life threatening object?

Hendricks says that in general, objects considered as weapons would not be permitted on aircrafts. These include scissors, pen knives and nail clippers – an amendment made after the aircraft hijackings in New York on September 11 2001.

The 21-year-old suspect, believed to be a University of Cape Town student, will appear in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate's Court tomorrow. He will face charges of attempted hi-jacking of an aircraft and for assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The suspect is alleged to have threatened a flight attendant with a syringe, demanding entry into the cockpit. Three passengers tackled and knocked him out before cuffing him to a seat.

Dangerous syringe contents
David Klatzow, a Cape Town forensic expert, says that the contents of the syringe used by the suspect could have possibly been extremely dangerous.

“One can carry various materials in a syringe and those can range from materials which are very lethal. They are organophosphate and they have toxins ... It can have almost a spontaneous effect on people into which it is injected,” said Klatzow.

William Booth, a Cape Town criminal law attorney, says the suspect could be prosecuted according to the Aviation Act.

“Obviously, the final decision with regards to the charges rests with the police, in conjunction with the prosecuting authorities. So we have to wait and see what exactly they're going to be … it's certainly a severe situation and he could expect direct imprisonment,” Booth said.

SABC News

Terminal troubles: 'Your passport has expired'

2006-06-18T19:25:00.000+01:00

We embarked on what would become a three-day adventure spent entirely on airplanes and in airports. We traveled from Gettysburg to Washington's Reagan National Airport, and took a connecting flight to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

We arrived on time, about 7 p.m., at Terminal 8. Signs told us to go to Gate 7 in Terminal 9 to board our 10:10 p.m. flight to Buenos Aires. Terminal 8 to Terminal 9. It sounded easy. But our march would become a trek through a rabbit warren on steroids.

The course would cover nearly a mile, not counting two moving sidewalks that didn't move, through what looked like a series of permanently unfinished rooms, some the size of ballrooms.

Inadequate or misleading signs led us on. The trek finally took us to what we thought was the right concourse, but the security employee who greeted us said, "No, I think flight 955 departs from Gate 24" in Terminal 8.

We schlepped our luggage back through the rabbit warren until we finally found a monitor listing all American departures. Gate 7 was indeed the proper gate. We returned, sweating. The security employee apologized and sent us on.

The end of the concourse was littered with bodies, some of whom were fortunate and found seats. The crowd was divided into people waiting for a flight to Paris and those waiting for our overdue flight to Buenos Aires.

All but one of the vendors had closed. He distributed $2 cups of bad coffee and doughy, stale $9 sandwiches filled with some combination of thin meat and thinner cheese.

About the time our plane originally was to have taken off, a loudspeaker informed us that the gate had changed. Back to Gate 24, Terminal 8. The posted new time was 11:15 p.m. The plane left about 11:45 p.m.

The highlight of the trip was provided by the couple behind us, who spent all night being loud and obnoxious in English, French and Spanish.

Now we come to my second stupid mistake. Delighted that we had landed safely after an 11-hour flight, we queued up to get our passports checked. Susan got through easily. Then the man in the booth checked my passport. He was about to return it when he stopped and said, "Do you have another passport? This one has expired." It had died two months earlier.

Officials escorted me into their office complex and invited me to sit in a straight chair in the middle of a large room. After about 15 minutes of mumbling among themselves and pecking repeatedly at computer keyboards, they asked me why I allowed my passport to expire.

I explained that I was as surprised as they, and was quick to point out that my passport had been accepted without question at JFK.

That was the airline's fault, they said, not Immigration Argentina's. Now they would send me back on the next flight to New York.

I asked if I could contact the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires, so the officials supplied phone numbers that I could use if I spent $50 for a day pass at American Airlines' Admirals Club. But I was not allowed to leave the airport to go to the embassy.

After wading through a series of telephone answering tapes and prodding real, live embassy personnel, I was connected with the vice consul in charge of citizen services, Kimberly Atkinson.

"If you can get here, we would be happy to clear this all up for you," she told me. "But it's entirely up to Argentine immigration to decide if they will let you come here. We cannot order them to let you go."

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

"You can tell them that you had this conversation with me and we agreed to straighten out your problem if they let you come here," she said.

Back to the Admirals Club phone. Now I was able to speak with a Senor Moreno, who apparently had some authority, but his English turned out to be almost as bad as my Spanish. Through an interpreter, Moreno told me that all I needed to do was persuade the U.S. embassy to send him a written request for a temporary disembarkation.

"Oh, no, we don't do that," Atkinson replied when I asked her. She then uttered words I thought had become a movie cliche: "That's our policy."

"Why?" I meekly asked.

"Because we have no way of knowing that the person is really you," she said. "And they know that if I sent such a request, they would turn it down anyway. It's the airline's fault, and they are going to get fined $3,000 by the FAA [Federal Aviation Authority] for letting you get through JFK. If they had caught the mistake there, you could have paid a couple of hundred dollars and it would have been taken care of in a couple of hours."

Maybe I could ask the FAA to give me the $3,000 instead, I thought--but didn't say. That's what we had already paid for this trip.

"Look, I have had this conversation so many times. They never let anybody come to the embassy," Atkinson said. "If I came there to the airport, the process would take about 2 1/2 hours, and I can't set that precedent."

Then she paused. "You know, yesterday they actually did let someone get here. I almost fell out of my chair."

But that someone wasn't me. By now, assisted by my host family and their friends in Buenos Aires, people at Gettysburg College had hit the phones on my behalf. They reached our congressman, and his staff contacted the State Department in Washington. About 4:30 p.m., I got through to Moreno.

"Oh, yes, we heard from them," he said. "I am just now waiting for the embassy to send me a request for a temporary disembarkation."

When I again called the embassy, I talked with an after-hours security guard who said he looked for Ms. Atkinson, but she must have left for the day.

My time was up. I wished I could find a priest to administer last rites.

"That's happening more and more all over the world," a knowledgeable American told us on the plane returning to New York. "Other countries are getting upset with us because we have placed such restrictions on visitors to our country. In Brazil, it takes months for an American to get an entry visa. Why? Because it takes months for a Brazilian to get an entry visa to the United States."

We returned to JFK after three days of catnapping in upright seats, no showers, bad airport food and nice airline people--most of them--who couldn't do a thing for us. Three days, $3,000, no vacation, no steaks, no tango, no gauchos on the Pampas. No travel stories.

My wife is still going to kill me.

Postscript: Or maybe not. American Airlines decided to reimburse us for the snafu flight--and we will be returning to Argentina in late October with my new, valid passport.

Chicago Tribune

Jetsgo Problems Ignored by Transport Canada

2006-06-17T17:38:00.000+01:00

Transport Canada stood by while thousands of Canadians boarded Jetsgo planes amid a growing list of safety problems at the discount airline.

More than a year after the death of Jetsgo, Transport Canada insists it did the right thing in keeping the doomed airline flying and has not changed its procedures in light of the Jetsgo experience.

Jetsgo, which offered tickets as low as $1, had repeated mechanical breakdowns, shoddy maintenance practices, inexperienced pilots and midair mishaps.

Transport Canada, which is mandated to keep Canada's skies safe, knew of the problems, but for 2 1/2 years dismissed the troubles as the growing pains of a start-up operator.

Only after a near-crash in Calgary in January 2005 did it take tough action, but even after a special inspection the next month revealed serious trouble, the regulator continued to publicly tout the airline as "safe."

Today, Transport Canada is convinced it handled Jetsgo appropriately. "We followed our process and it worked," said spokesperson Lucie Vignola.

Interviews with former employees, incident reports filed with Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board, and internal government documents paint a picture of an airline so badly run that some considered a major accident inevitable.

The Jetsgo experience underscores some of the major findings that are part of an ongoing investigation into aviation safety by the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator and The Record of Waterloo Region. The probe has found a system struggling to keep up with the demands of higher passenger traffic and a disturbing number of mechanical problems.

Jetsgo was the brainchild of Quebec entrepreneur Michel Leblanc, who had run other carriers, including Royal Aviation and Quebec regional airline Intair. It started flying in June 2002 and was welcomed by Ottawa as proof airline competition was thriving in the wake of 9/11 and Air Canada's earlier takeover of Canadian Airlines. Jetsgo had 29 planes when it shut down for financial reasons.

Today, Leblanc still defends the airline. "This is highly regulated by Transport Canada and our system was approved by Transport Canada and was monitored by Transport Canada very closely, like every major airline that flies a lot of people, and rightfully so," he said.

Problems emerged early. Three months after the launch of the discount airline, sloppy maintenance forced an emergency landing in Toronto. The pilots noticed they were losing the hydraulic fluid that helps run aircraft systems, according to an incident report. Mechanics had installed a temporary hydraulic line with the wrong pressure rating, and it failed within two flights.

The airline fixed its procedures for hydraulic lines, but starting in the fall of 2003 failures became more frequent.

Two days in a row in mid-January 2004, leaking hydraulic fluid was again blamed as smoke and fumes poured into the cabin of a Jetsgo plane. It was the same plane that had the faulty hydraulic line installed in 2002.

Jetsgo also had repeated engine failures. In April 2004, a clogged engine oil filter forced an emergency landing in Winnipeg. The engine had been left in storage and didn't get a proper check when it was installed, according to a Transportation Safety Board report.

Then, four days before Christmas 2004, an engine on a Jetsgo plane that had just left Toronto for Mexico started to vibrate with flames coming out of it. The plane returned to Toronto.

Yet another plane had two emergency landings within three months caused by dropping oil pressure in the left engine. Cracked lines were blamed in both instances. After the second incident in March 2005, flight attendants were seen crying.

"I did feel by the end of it that at any moment we were going to have an evacuation or something," said Stefania Urbisci, a Jetsgo flight attendant. "It shouldn't be like that every day."

Dean Mandos, in charge of the company's operations at Pearson airport, admits "certain individual aircraft were problematic." And because the airline had no spare aircraft, there was pressure to keep them in the air. Mechanical faults were allowed to accumulate for repair later.

Leblanc argues it was the normal way to run an airline. "It's industry practice to defer aircraft defects and there's a way of doing it properly, legally, conservatively," Leblanc said. "If you did not have any single defect on an airplane, all the airplanes would be grounded tomorrow."

Mandos remembered pilots disagreeing over the safety of planes, with one refusing to take a flight, but another saying it was okay to fly.

Jetsgo's problems compounded as it expanded, adding planes and routes so quickly that it couldn't keep up with hiring and training.

"For some part of the hiring process, we had people without any jet experience at all that were occupying flying seats," said one senior Jetsgo pilot involved in pilot training.

Leblanc bristled when asked about inexperienced pilots. Before hanging up the phone, he said: "To ask the question is irresponsible. Which airline would dispatch an airplane with pilots that are not properly qualified?"

The incident that left other pilots shaking their heads and finally forced action on Jetsgo happened in January 2005. A plane landing in poor weather in Calgary slid off the runway, ran along the snow-covered grass and hit a runway sign before taking off again.

Transport Canada launched a "special inspection" of the airline over two weeks in mid-February 2005. What it found was so alarming that restrictions were slapped on Jetsgo even before the inspection was completed.

Jetsgo needed "a management organization capable of exercising operational control," the inspectors wrote. On March 8, 2005, a transport official told Leblanc that Jetsgo's operating certificate would be suspended April 9 unless problems were fixed. Among the grounds for the suspension were that "Jetsgo failed to maintain an adequate organizational structure" and "an adequate flight safety program."

Still, as far as Transport Canada was concerned, the public was not to be discouraged from flying Jetsgo. On March 10, 2005, just hours before Jetsgo shut itself down, Transport Canada's assistant deputy minister for safety and security, Marc Gregoire, recommended a response to an inquiring reporter. "Given the sensitivity of this now in the media, I would suggest we answer the question about safety more directly: 'Yes, it is safe to fly with Jetsgo now.'"

Vignola said Gregoire was merely reiterating a message she had already been sending out for some days. "Had there been something serious or something that was an immediate safety threat, then we simply would have suspended their operating certificate."

After the airline stopped flying, Transport Canada examined the company's maintenance practices.

Among 15 problems found:

A key maintenance document was more than a decade out of date, still reflecting practices when American Airlines operated the planes.

There were no engineering orders to demonstrate three safety orders relating to engines had been complied with.

There was no evidence that a quality assurance audit due in the latter half of 2004 was ever completed.

The review also uncovered a 2004 internal Jetsgo audit that found numerous examples of missing or inappropriate entries on maintenance release forms, the documents that allow a plane back into the air.

According to the newspapers' research, there were plenty of warnings that things weren't right at Jetsgo. An audit done by Transport Canada inspectors in November 2002 had found 23 "non-conformance items" that foreshadowed the chaos that would engulf the airline later. "Many of the findings seem to point to systemic deficiencies within Jetsgo's internal processes brought about by high demand on very limited management resources during start-up and growth."

But officials took the findings in stride, as nothing "significant ... for a start-up carrier," according to a Transport Canada document.

Looking back, Leblanc acknowledges Jetsgo wasn't perfect, but says nothing is. "We've had issues. Every airline has had issues."

But some of his 1,350 former employees say it was more than just a few issues. They feared a crash would happen.

"Thank God nothing happened," Urbisci now says. "It was a miracle."

The Toronto Star

Raid at Dulles Rounds Up 55 Alien Workers

2006-06-17T17:37:00.000+01:00

Federal immigration agents arrested 55 illegal alien construction workers early yesterday morning in a raid at Washington Dulles International Airport, part of Operation Tarmac, an ongoing crackdown that has netted thousands of illegals who have access to commercial airports.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stopped a large bus carrying the illegal aliens as it approached an airport checkpoint before 5 a.m.

Although reports circulated that several suspects fled into a nearby wooded area, officials said it was unlikely since yesterday's operation targeted only the bus and all those aboard were taken into custody.

There was no indication that any of the illegals were involved in any terrorist activity.

"They were intercepted by ICE agents, who began to examine their work and immigration documents," said spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs.

The arrests capped a several-weeks-long investigation by ICE, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA).

Officials spent the day yesterday processing the detainees, who are from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Bolivia. Most were scheduled to be flown to an ICE detention facility in Texas for removal proceedings.

The two privately owned construction companies that employed the illegals had been busing the workers to the airport each morning for several weeks.

ICE did not release the names of the firms or say whether they were locally based. The firms may face charges if an investigation reveals they knowingly hired illegal aliens. Rob Yingling, an MWAA spokesman, said at least 35 companies with more than 2,000 contractors are working on the $4 billion construction project at Dulles, which includes new runways, a subway system and concourse expansion.

The illegal alien workers were escorted at all times and did not have access to aircraft or other sensitive equipment, Jonathan Gaffney, another MWAA official, said. They worked in a secure, fenced area of the airport.

"The security gate where they did their [work] is far removed from runways, at least a mile away," Mr. Gaffney said.

Construction workers do not wear badges and are not subject to identification screenings or background checks, Mr. Gaffney said

It is strictly the construction firms' responsibility to hire, screen and escort employees through the airport to their fenced-off work site - a policy he said does not pose a terror risk.

"The construction company knows who their employees are [and] we don't really need to know who they are," he said. "Those who do have access to the airport [such as baggage workers, tarmac workers and flight attendants] have badges and go through a whole different screening process."

ICE officials, however, say one of the illegal workers had an airport security badge that allows unrestricted access to the tarmac - a situation that Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, who heads ICE, said poses a "serious" threat to homeland security.

Mr. Yingling said the badge requires individuals to submit extensive paperwork, at least one government-issued identification card, fingerprints which are given to the FBI, and must undergo a criminal background check.

The roster of persons holding badges are regularly filed with the TSA, he said, and ICE is investigating whether the illegal alien obtained the badge fraudulently.

Some travelers seemed surprised when informed of the arrests.

"I think it's very disturbing," said Samantha Morton, 36, who arrived from her home in Houston.

She expressed sympathy for illegal aliens, but said that "not only do airports need to be secure, but people need to feel secure in them."

In April, ICE agents arrested eight Mexican illegals at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport for possible connection with a human-smuggling operation.

The Washington Times

Jazz Airline Aggressive On Safety

2006-06-17T17:35:00.000+01:00

I feel compelled to respond to what is now a train of articles on aviation safety in Canada in order to bring some balance and objectivity to the reporting that has been offered to date by the Toronto Star. Having worked for Air Canada Jazz in the past, partly during the period that was referred to by some of its current maintenance staff, I can speak with first-hand knowledge.

Several of the examples being cited in the article are not only extremely dated, they are not factual. Having been the director responsible for maintenance quality and engineering at the time, I was heavily involved in the follow-up to the leading edge incident. The writers also characterize the results of a Transport Canada audit completely erroneously. The fact is that the audit results reflected only minor deficiencies that were mostly administrative in nature. I also find it telling that the maintenance staff quoted in the article actually admit they knowingly released aircraft they considered to be unsafe or out-of-limits.

Jazz was one of the first and most aggressive airlines in Canada and North America to begin implementing several safety-related innovations, such as human factors training and non-punitive safety reporting. These things are hallmarks of a healthy safety culture. The airline also treated safety with prominence within the senior ranks of the organization and formalized the monitoring and reporting of safety issues in many ways.

Of course, there are always improvements that must be pursued in any organization, but it should be acknowledged that Jazz has always been ahead of the regulatory curve by implementing safety-related policies and processes well before they were mandatory. Jazz has also been a true partner with Transport Canada, which has itself been very innovative and proactive in regard to industry safety.

Even other aviation jurisdictions across the world recognize that Canada's approach to aviation safety ranks among the best, along with countries like Australia and the United Kingdom.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this reporting is that it soils the reputation of perhaps the highest calibre aviation maintenance workforce in the country (coast-to-coast). Aviation maintenance professionals have fought very hard for many years to be seen as what they are - highly trained, motivated, critically important and conscientious professionals. The pilot, in-flight, and other staff who work at Jazz are the same, true professionals who put safety first. The individuals who offered this misleading information have done a great disservice to their colleagues who have a lot to be proud of. I, for one, would put the safety of my family and friends in the hands of Air Canada Jazz any time and I am proud to have been associated with it.

The Toronto Star

Air Canada Workers Want Whistle-Blowers Protected

2006-06-17T17:34:00.000+01:00

Public safety on airlines is often compromised by intense pressure to keep planes in the air and on time, airline workers from across the industry are telling The Hamilton Spectator.

But they say they can't come forward to share those concerns with Canadians.

On Monday, Air Canada Jazz suspended four mechanics for speaking out publicly about being pressured to cut corners and release planes into service with potentially serious defects. Their comments were part of an ongoing series of stories probing aviation safety by The Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and The Record of Waterloo Region.

Air Canada Jazz officials dismiss allegations, saying safety is their top priority.

Since the suspensions, more than two dozen mechanics, pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers have contacted the Star with safety concerns, saying the industry's code of silence is too powerful to break.

Without sufficient whistleblower legislation, a protection that has helped airline employees in the U.S. come forward with important safety revelations, speaking out in Canada can come at the cost of jobs and livelihoods, they say.

"I applaud these (Jazz mechanics) for having the courage to come out with it. It has been long hidden and I can understand why it is difficult to come forward," said a veteran Air Canada mechanic.

"You go to work, you want to feed your family ... and you don't want to have blood on your hands because the airline wants to make a few more bucks. For them to be punished for having a concern for the public's safety is wrong. ... Corners are being cut and all of us would like to sing like canaries about what is happening, but (we) keep it mostly amongst ourselves."

The claims by the Jazz mechanics include the following:

* They say avoiding costly delays can take priority over proper maintenance of planes.

* They say their attempts to keep planes on the ground by refusing to release them for service have been undermined by supervisors who find other mechanics to sign them out, or do it themselves.

* They say the scrutiny and training in the airline's mechanical operation is poor.

In an internal e-mail sent to staff Tuesday, Air Canada officials wrote: "The allegations reported in the (Spectator) article are unfounded, unsubstantiated, misleading, and in no way reflect the integrity of the Jazz Maintenance Department. Jazz has an excellent safety record which we are proud to stand behind. We have a staff of dedicated and professional aircraft maintenance engineers that ensure that our fleet is safe to operate."

Jazz officials say the mechanics were suspended pending an investigation into their claims and their decision to speak publicly.

It's no surprise, says Duff Conacher, co-ordinator of Democracy Watch, an Ottawa-based non-profit advocacy group that focuses on government accountability and corporate responsibility.

"These (mechanics) are very brave to do this. Given the state of corporate responsibility in Canada, it's not unusual that the corporation would act this way because they can."

Canada is decades behind the U.S. when it comes to protecting employees who go public with important information, says Conacher.

"(Strong whistle-blower protection) is one of the most effective government accountability and corporate responsibility enforcement measures because it turns every employee into a front-line inspector on the job all the time."

Canada currently offers little protection for employees who speak out about wrongdoing or threats to public safety. Bill C-2, under debate in Parliament, promises protections for government employees who expose wrongdoing. If the bill becomes law, provisions would include an independent office that would receive and investigate whistle-blower complaints and penalties for those who discriminate against whistle-blowers for stepping forward.

But it will not cover employees of private companies such as airlines. A proposed NDP amendment to expand protection to some private industry employees was defeated Tuesday.

"(The Jazz case) is one of the most graphic illustrations in recent history of why protection of whistle-blowers is important and necessary," said NDP MP Pat Martin.

"It's atrocious that some courageous whistle-blowers come forward in the public interest and get punished. It's just so fundamentally wrong."

The story is different in the U.S. where federal and state laws foster open reporting and protection from retaliation for both government and private employees who come forward with information of importance to the public.

Most U.S. states have some form of whistle-blower protection and there are several federal laws specific to industries such as aviation, trucking, energy and mining.

The so-called Air21 legislation directed at the airline industry prohibits employers from retaliating against employees involved in "raising concerns or reporting violations of airline safety rules and regulations."

Airline workers who are suspended, harassed, demoted, blacklisted or disciplined as a result of speaking out can be rewarded with everything from job reinstatement to costs associated with filing their complaint.

"The laws give us the ability to right a wrong," says O.V. Delle-Femine, national director of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association in the U.S.

"It's common throughout the industry that anyone who talks out is ostracized by management. But we've had significant successes."

Canadian airline mechanics say they'd be more than happy to share what they know if they had U.S.-style legal protections.

Many say they dearly wish they could speak out about important concerns Canadians have never heard but deserve to know.

For the past seven months reporters from The Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and The Record of Waterloo Region have been asking questions about air safety. What they found is a flight safety system straining at the seams.

How safe are our skies?

For the past seven months reporters from The Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and The Record of Waterloo Region have been asking questions about air safety. What they found is a flight safety system straining at the seams.

The Hamilton Spectator

LAX Terminal Briefly Evacuated

2006-06-17T17:32:00.000+01:00

A Los Angeles International Airport terminal was evacuated for about 40 minutes Wednesday after an unattended bag was found, but a police bomb squad found no suspicious item inside, authorities said.

The bag was found near an escalator to a food court at the busy Tom Bradley International Terminal, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles.

When the bomb squad arrived, they set up a 300-foot perimeter around the bag, forcing people in the ticketing area to move outside, Castles said.

There were no immediate reports of flight delays, Castles said.

The Associated Press

Coastal Airport Sites Vulnerable

2006-06-17T16:53:00.000+01:00

If a major earthquake strikes off the Oregon coast, don't count on coastal airports to be of use in rescue efforts, says Oregon State University earthquake expert Chris Goldfinger.

"Most of the airports in Western Oregon are at sea level so they are going to be underwater or damaged by the earthquake or both," said Goldfinger, who studied 14 airports from Astoria to Brookings.

The U.S. Coast Guard stations in Astoria and North Bend are at sea level and would probably be underwater. "Each of those facilities has the only life-saving air assets on the coast," he said.

Goldfinger, an associate professor of marine geology who is also a pilot, said he decided to do the study after attending a legislative subcommittee meeting on emergency preparedness and realizing that many state officials don't understand how inaccessible the coast might be.

At 10 to 15 feet elevation, Astoria's runways might survive a tsunami, but the material underneath the runways is so soft that it probably would liquefy, putting the airport out of commission. In North Bend, the airport, which is the only one on the coast with commercial flights, is right on the bay front, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquake and tsunami damage. Seaside's airport sits just a short distance from a salt water inlet.

Not all the coastal airports are so vulnerable. Newport's, for example, is built on a bluff so tsunami damage isn't an issue, and Goldfinger said he expects the rock formation it sits on to be fairly earthquake-resistant.

"It would be a good one to consider as a central point (for rescue efforts)," he said. "It has reasonably good survivability and already has a global positioning system. It's got a head start over the others."

Goldfinger would like to see other airports install GPS equipment, which would allow pilots to land if ground navigation aids were damaged in the earthquake. Strengthening the Coast Guard hangars to better withstand quakes might also offer some protection, he said.

But short of moving the airports, protecting the runways from tsunamis is nearly impossible, though raised pads could allow helicopters to land even when runways are unusable, he said.

The Oregonian

AA Pilot Charged With Reporting For Flight Drunk

2006-06-17T16:49:00.000+01:00

An American Airlines pilot was charged Wednesday with being drunk when he reported for duty to fly a jet to the United States.

James Yates, of Ohio, a first officer, was arrested at Manchester Airport on Feb. 11. He has been free on bail since then, but was scheduled to attend a court hearing in Manchester Thursday.

Yates, who was arrested shortly before his flight to Chicago was due to take off, was charged with being unfit for duty under transportation safety laws. There were 209 passengers aboard the Boeing 767 jet.

The Associated Press

EU Lawmakers Approve Stricter Rules for Air Marshals

2006-06-17T16:47:00.000+01:00

The European Parliament on Thursday toughened restrictions on allowing armed air marshals on flights across the 25-nation bloc, permitting them to carry weapons only under strict conditions.

Air marshals must get permission from the country granting the airline's operating license, the country where the flight departs from and each nation along its flight path if they want to carry weapons on board, according to a bill on safety rules on European aircraft approved by the EU lawmakers.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States demanded that European nations agree to place armed air marshals on selected U.S.-bound flights, but most European airlines are opposed to the idea.

The bill is part of a package of security rules put forward last year by the European Commission, the EU's executive office. Under the changes voted through by the parliament, no EU member nation would be obliged to accept air marshals.

The cost of security measures will be met by passengers and member nations, according to the bill, which goes to the EU member states for another round of legislative review before it becomes binding.

Under current rules, it is up to the individual EU governments to decide if airlines from their country can have armed marshals on board.

The Associated Press

TSA Underpaid for Airline Security Fees

2006-06-17T16:44:00.000+01:00

The $2.50 fee collected from airline passengers for each leg of their flights may not be ending up where it's supposed to - at the government agency in charge of airline security.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general reported Wednesday airlines are underpaying the Transportation Security Administration an estimated $14.5 million every year in passenger security fees.

Click here to view the entire story.

The underpayment by airlines for security comes as logjams at airport security checkpoints loom as the federal government strains to keep screener jobs filled. The usual violent summer storms are expected to send the air traffic control system into chaos at times, with flight delays and cancellations cascading across the country.

Planes are expected to be packed fuller than at anytime since World War II, when the airlines helped transport troops. Fares are rising. Service frills are disappearing.

Read the DHS IG's report here.

Flying? Hurry up and wait

2006-06-17T14:49:00.000+01:00

Flying? Hurry up and wait With full flights, fewer airline workers and limited parking, Charlotte airport tells passengers to arrive 2 hours early These are systemwide recommendations from airlines on how early you should arrive to check in for a domestic flight. For international flights, the airlines advise arriving even earlier.

Seasoned travelers like Frank Spencer say the recommendation to arrive two hours early for flights from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport is overkill.

As chief executive of Charlotte-based Cogdell + Spencer Advisors, Spencer makes five to eight business flights a month and has learned a few tricks.

He prints out his boarding pass on the Internet, gets dropped off at the terminal an hour before his flight and doesn't check bags.

"The two hours seem unreasonable when that is certainly not the case at other airports," Spencer said. " ... If you're running a service with that kind of delay -- and it's not the case at airports across the country -- that says something is wrong."

Charlotte's airport has been known as passenger-friendly, with generally short lines and short walks to gates compared with many of the nation's other hubs.

But airport officials now are advising travelers to get to the airport two hours before their flight time -- 30 to 60 minutes earlier than the recommendation at some of those bigger, busier hubs. And US Airways, by far Charlotte's biggest carrier, says it's following the airport's guideline by passing that advice on to passengers.

Charlotte aviation director Jerry Orr said the new recommendation is due to heavy summer travel, fuller planes and the airport losing more than 700 long-term parking spaces to construction.

"If you come at a peak time like 8 o'clock in the morning, then you really do need to be there two hours ahead of time because the airport's jammed," Orr said. But at 10:30 a.m., he said, travelers sometimes can breeze right through.

More airline employees could help ease the long lines, he said, but with airlines losing money, it won't happen any time soon.

Other experts offer a variety of reasons why it has come to this at Charlotte/Douglas:

• This summer flying season is expected to be the busiest ever.

• Many leisure travelers fly just once or twice a year and are unfamiliar with the check-in kiosks airlines now use, slowing lines in the terminal.

• Flights are fuller, so more people are checking in at peak times.

• Fewer airline employees are helping passengers check in and resolve problems. Employment at major airlines is down 7 percent from last summer and 28 percent from early 2002. US Airways has cut more than half of its employees in the past four years.

• The Transportation Security Administration has reduced the number of screeners nationwide by almost one-fourth since 2002, though traffic is up.

• There's a parking crunch at Charlotte/Douglas. Some long-term spaces are unavailable while the airport builds a 3,000-space deck. Almost all of the airport's 20,000 long-term spaces are usually full midweek.

Those factors, plus bad weather, caused many Charlotte travelers to miss flights Sunday.

Systemwide, US Airways -- which has its biggest hub in Charlotte -- recommends domestic fliers arrive at airports an hour in advance.

Getting to the airport two hours early is on its way to being "the new norm" for many years to come, said Darryl Jenkins, an airline consultant.

"Get used to it," he says. "Over time, you will see airlines probably more likely to reduce the number of planes in the air than to expand them." Airlines will reduce staff accordingly.

"Now the airlines believe that your time belongs to them," said Joe Brancatelli, editor and publisher of business travel site JoeSentMe.com. "You have nothing better to do than show up two hours before a one-hour flight."

US Airways tries to deal with busy days by adjusting its staffing at Charlotte based on expected passenger traffic, said Mike Bryant, US Airways' director of operations and planning at the Charlotte airport.

The airline recently hired 300 employees in Charlotte, primarily to handle baggage to help with the summer traffic. Bryant said many are training and have not yet started work.

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said his organization began telling fliers to get to the airport earlier when planes started getting more crowded this spring. He says 90 minutes for domestic flights is plenty, but travelers can't go wrong arriving earlier.

"There are lines in the parking lot," he said. "There are lines at the ticket counter. There are lines at the security gate. There are lines even sometimes at the Starbucks. You have to wait in line at the gate."

What the Airlines Say

These are systemwide recommendations from airlines on how early you should arrive to check in for a domestic flight. For international flights, the airlines advise arriving even earlier. • CONTINENTAL AIRLINES recommends arriving two hours early if your flight leaves during what the airline calls "peak traffic hours": 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Charlotte is not on that list, but Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta are. The airline recommends 2.5 hours for domestic travelers from Newark on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

• AMERICAN AIRLINES lists 11 airports where passengers should arrive more than 90 minutes before flight time, including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Miami, but not Charlotte.

• NORTHWEST AIRLINES advises 75 minutes.

• UNITED says 90 minutes if you're checking a bag, 60 minutes if you're not.

Family

Sonja Hibshman and son Alex, 13, of Columbia were through check-in and security in 30 minutes. They were going to San Diego to say goodbye to Hibshman's other son, who is being deployed to Iraq. She was frustrated that it took her more than 15 minutes to park.

Young travelers

Kim Loftin was sending her two children, 8 and 11, and her cousin, 8, to visit their grandmother, and said flying was still better than driving to Michigan. They arrived an hour and 15 minutes before their Northwest flight.

Business traveler

Kevin Jennings, 51, of Spartanburg says the two-hour advisory is "ridiculous." He arrived one hour before his Northwest flight with his e-ticket already printed out and no bags to check.

Travelers' Tales

Passengers starting trips at Charlotte/Douglas are coping with longer-than-expected lines and waits to get to their gates during peak periods. Here's what some of them had to say Thursday morning.

Homeland Security Expert and Former Security Chief of El Al Airlines, Isaac Yeffet, Joins HiEnergy Technologies' Business Advisory Board

2006-06-17T14:47:00.000+01:00

HiEnergy Technologies, Inc., the homeland security industry leader in neutron-based diagnostic technology, announced today that Isaac Yeffet, the former Director of Global Security at El Al Israel Airlines and a leading expert in aviation and homeland security, will serve as a member of its Business Advisory Board.

HiEnergy Technologies' Business Advisory Board was created to bring together a team of experts from within the homeland security industry and other global business and legal leaders, to help executive management through the exchange of ideas related to business opportunities, current industry challenges, and best practices, to create more efficient and effective business development strategies and systems and enhance shareholder value.

"Isaac Yeffet is not just any expert in aviation security, but a respected and recognized pioneer in counter-terrorism who brings to our team unparalleled experience and results," stated Roger Spillmann, HiEnergy Technologies' President and CEO. "As part of our Business Advisory Board, Mr. Yeffet will contribute significantly to our business objectives, including helping us define and deliver the most complete and relevant security solutions to the marketplace, as well as establish closer cooperative ties with both private industry and government."

"I am pleased to be able to work with HiEnergy Technologies, their business and scientific staff, in growing industry awareness and acceptance of its unique technologies and products, which more than ever appear vital to international security," said Isaac Yeffet. "I believe that what HiEnergy Technologies has to offer has yet to be sufficiently understood, and that with better cooperation with private and governmental entities, we will not only be able to fully exploit the business opportunities before it, but also help resolve the deficiencies currently evident in homeland security, which pose as much of a threat as the terrorists themselves."

Currently, Isaac Yeffet is President of Yeffet Security Consultants Inc., a New Jersey-based firm that specializes in airline security. During his distinguished career, Mr. Yeffet has served as the former Director of Global Security for El Al Israel Airlines, whose record on security and passenger screening is unsurpassed. While at El Al, he was responsible for formulating El Al's total security program which included, among other things, the development of a passenger profiling program, passenger and baggage screening and inspection, the development of security envelopes for all physical plants and terminals used by the airline, as well as the training of security personnel.

Prior to El Al, Isaac Yeffet served as Deputy Director of Security Operations for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, during which time he established the security standards for all of the Israeli Embassies, Consulates, etc. throughout the world to prevent terrorist incursions. He has also served with the Israeli Secret Service with a focus on counter-terrorism, including the investigation of terrorist activities and penetrating the operations of these terrorists, culminating in the arrest or termination of dozen of terrorists.

Mr. Yeffet is widely recognized as a leading expert in security policy and security solutions for the aviation industry. His opinions on the security challenges faced by the airline industry with international terrorism, theft, and fraudulent activities have been widely published and distributed throughout America and Europe and are shared with national and international audiences with his frequent appearances on television.

HiEnergy Technologies, Inc.

Strengthening civil aviation security

2006-06-17T14:45:00.000+01:00

Security personnel at Bhutan's international airport in Paro lack training and motivation and their pay does not justify their 'round the clock' job.

These were some of the deficiencies found after a recent security audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Universal Security Audit Programme.
Phala Dorji, the director of the civil aviation department told Kuensel that the security personnel were trained but 'inadequately'.

“As a civil aviation security personnel, one needs to be trained frequently but we cannot do that due to the lack of funds,” he said.

However, the director said that immediately after the report the civil aviation department requested the government for an increased incentive for the security personnel whose grades were then subsequently increased from 16 to 13.

The monthly salary had also been raised to motivate the department's 48 security personnel.

Apart from the deficiencies the audit report revealed that the Paro airport in general had a 'very good security system'. And with the ICAO's Cooperative Aviation Security Programme- Asia Pacific (CASP-AP) mandate to strengthen airport security in the region, aviation security in Bhutan is expected to grow stronger.

CASP took birth after the 9/11 tragedy, to help address the training of security personnel, develop national and airport security plans, share resources and relevant information among its 18 member nations of which Bhutan is one.

According to Phala Dorji, who is also the present Chairman for the CASP-AP, the programme created its funds from contributions made by its member countries. Bhutan contributed US$ 5,000.

The fund was then utilised for conducting various activities like its annual steering committee meetings and for hiring airport security consultants and other security related activities among member nations.

Meanwhile, the third steering committee meeting of the CASP-AP was conducted at Hotel Zhiwaling in Paro from June 20 to 21.

The meet reviewed its past meetings, update on latest aviation security practices and discuss the programme's budget and work plan.

According to Wolfgang H.O. Sander-Fischer, the acting chief of ICAO's Asia and Pacific Programme, the CASP-AP's main objective was to assist its member states and provide a forum for regional aviation security.

In his inaugural speech on June 20 the minister for information and communication, Lyonpo Leki Dorji, said that the aviation security was an important and pressing global issue. “Given our small size and population, we do not have the economic strength to absorb losses that would arise from a major aviation disaster so it is critical that we develop and strengthen our security and safety mechanisms to prevent disasters,” he said.

About 50 delegates from 11 member states of the CASP-AP attended the meet while Japan, Myanmar, India and Pakistan attended as observers.

The Japanese delegation announced that they would join the programme while the Myanmar delegation said that their candidature as a member was being processed with their government.

Kuenselonline

Atlantic City airport gets expansion funds

2006-06-17T14:44:00.000+01:00

The House of Representatives has approved $1 million in funding for the Atlantic City International Airport.

The allocation, part of a fiscal year 2007 Transportation Appropriations bill, will expand the existing apron and improve drainage, taxiway lighting and pavement markings to enhance safety and capacity at the airport.

"With more than a million people traveling to and from Atlantic City via air travel last year alone, this federal support is critical to expanding the operations and facilities while improving safety and security at the airport," said U.S. Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo, R-Ventnor.

CourierPostOnline.com

Flights chaos as 737 alert closes runway

2006-06-17T14:42:00.000+01:00

Around 200 flights were delayed or cancelled at Birmingham International Airport after an emergency landing closed the runway for ten hours.

The TNT Boeing 737 cargo plane had been travelling from Liege Airport in Belgium to Stansted when it was diverted to Nottingham East Midlands Airport due to bad weather.

But the pilot was forced to make the emergency landing at BIA after the undercarriage of the plane was damaged.

The aircraft landed safely just after 6am, with the two crew uninjured, but the runway was closed after foam was sprayed as a precaution.

Although some smaller flights were allowed to take off during the afternoon, the runway was not opened fully until after 4pm.

Passengers were told to check-in as usual for departing flights, although some delays were expected.

John Morris, head of corporate affairs at BIA, said if the airport had an extended runway, flights may have resumed earlier.

"If we already had the runway extension we plan to have by 2012, I think it would have made a difference," he said, "It would have allowed the larger plans to take off earlier."

Mr Morris added that the airport's emergency plans had been put in place and he praised the actions of the emergency crews.

Stranded passengers included hundreds of England fans heading for Germany.

Supporters heading to the game in Nuremberg, some of whom had paid hundreds of pounds for flights and tickets for the match, were forced to watch England play Trinidad and Tobago in the UK after being told their flights had been cancelled, along with those of thousands of holiday makers.

Twenty-two flights were due to depart to Germany yesterday but most of the passengers were bused to other airports in the afternoon following the closure.

Peter Stubbins, aged 30, from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, paid £180 for match tickets and £200 for flights to Nuremberg via Amsterdam along with 11 friends.

The insurance worker said: "We are all absolutely gutted. Not only are we not going to be there for the game but we have all lost a lot of money.

"We have been planning this for months and I can't believe this has happened now.

"We even tried to hire a jet with the £5,000 insurance money we'd get from the cancelled flight but it would have cost at least £9,000. It's a shambles really.

"We have got a flight booked from Gatwick to Amsterdam later and from there we are then splitting up - some heading to Munich, others to Nuremberg - and fingers crossed we will be there by

Friday evening to catch some of the other matches. We are now racing to London to watch the match on TV ready for the flight but knowing our luck we'll get stuck in traffic."

His friend Danny Gilmore, aged 29, said: "It's totally disorganised down here. We phoned the airline as we had been waiting for so long to be told what was happening and we were told to just stay in the queue."

TNT confirmed that aviation experts had flown in from Liege to assist air accident investigators. The Air Accident Investigation Board is investigating at Birmingham and East Midlands.

icBirmingham

Provo officials pushing for radar at airport

2006-06-17T14:18:00.000+01:00

Armed with new evidence, Provo officials are making a big push for a radar system at Provo Municipal Airport.

First, though, the city and airport leaders will have to convince the Federal Aviation Administration the radar system is a much-needed improvement.

While it's unclear whether the requested radar system could have prevented last week's plane crash that claimed the lives of three Utah County men, the urgency for the system had been building long before the accident.

Airport Manager Steve Gleason, who has been one of the loudest voices in the effort to gain the system, declined to talk this week about the issue.

"Pending the FAA's investigation, it would be very inappropriate for me to comment on that," Gleason said.

However, Gleason addressed the subject at a meeting of the Utah Air Travel Commission last Wednesday, one day prior to the fatal crash.

At that meeting, Gleason said the Provo area is in a "radar shadow" that impacts operations not only at Provo Municipal but also at Salt Lake International. And as the airport continues its rapid growth, with a projected 175,000 operations for the year ending June 30, up from an estimated 147,000 during the year before, the problem is only going to grow.

According to an FAA Web site, that shadow prevents any object below 8,000 feet in the Provo area from being seen on radar systems in Salt Lake County, limiting the service Provo Municipal can provide.

"As our jet traffic continues to increase, as it has been ... there are going to be delays (in service)," Gleason said last week.

The installation of a radar system at Provo Municipal Airport has been ongoing battle. In 2001, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, pushed for a temporary radar system, which was used at Provo Municipal during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, to be left there until a permanent radar facility was installed.

The campaign to keep the radar in Provo after the Games was unsuccessful.

In 2002, committee members of the FAA's National Airspace Redesign initiative suggested a radar system be installed at Provo Municipal to improve coverage for aircraft approaching Salt Lake International Airport from the southwest and also as a benefit for the host airport.

Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said the problem with getting a radar system for Provo is one of making sure decision-makers have the proper information.

"I think the main problem is the FAA feels like they have higher priorities, and that concerns us, because we believe if they were working with the same data that we are, if they recognized the same data that we recognize, then they would see us scoring higher," Billings said. "There is still a belief in Washington and some of the FAA statisticians' minds that our activity here is much lower than it is."

Billings said he hopes that indisputable data gathered by the airport's control tower will help Provo's case.

The tower, completed in fall of 2004, was not manned until July 1 last year because of bureaucratic confusion over how to fund the workers' salaries. But at the end of this month, when the tower has collected a full year of solid data, Billings said city and airport officials will have more ammunition in their fight for radar.

"It's a process of trying to create awareness, making the data that we do have very substantial and being able to assure (the FAA) that we're not just saying stuff, but that it's solid," he said.

Billings will be in Washington, D.C., next month. While there he said he plans to meet with high-level FAA officials.

"They're very professional and they're very cordial, but again, they have a lot of people that are after them for funding," Billings said.

A spokesman for the FAA said in an e-mail that he was unaware of any initiative within the FAA to put a radar system in Provo but was looking into the issue. No further information was available as of Thursday.

Provo Municipal does have an automated weather observation system that monitors weather conditions and reports them to pilots in the area. Officials at Provo Municipal and the FAA said this week that the system has had some problems in recent months but was working at the time of last week's crash.

Airport workers have already had some experiences that would back their claims for needing a radar system. At last week's UATC meeting, Gleason said the temporary radar used for the 2002 Winter Games "opened a lot of eyes."

"We got a lot of calls because no one really knew (before) how much traffic really was in the area," he said.

He also related an experience that happened in January of this year, in which six Delta Airlines flights were diverted to Provo because of inclement weather conditions at Salt Lake International, and then were grounded for several hours because the radar shadow made it difficult to get them back in the air.

Associated Press

Kelly says FAA is putting Stewart passengers at risk over radar issue

2006-06-17T14:11:00.000+01:00

Congresswoman Sue Kelly Friday blasted the Federal Aviation Administration for prohibiting Stewart International Airport officials and controllers from transferring the current radar control system from the old air traffic control tower to the new tower until a new radar system becomes available later this year.

The new air traffic control tower was scheduled to come online at Stewart Friday. But due to software glitches, the FAA has told Stewart that a new radar system will not be forthcoming until at least August, perhaps longer.

While the current tower maintains a radar control system - Terminal Automated Radar Display and Information System (TARDIS) - that could be installed and used in the new tower on an interim basis, the FAA has thus far refused to allow airport officials or controllers permission to transfer the equipment, said Kelly.

Airport spokeswoman Tanya Vanasse said they are hopeful the FAA will move the equipment.

“We don’t feel that we have all the equipment that we need,” she said. “It seems, from what we can understand, and see and hear, that it’s really just a matter of moving the equipment from one location to another. So we’re hoping that the FAA will see clear to doing that for us.”

It’s not like the airport would be completely without radar if the TARDIS system is not switched over. Stewart has been operating, since it opened for commercial service in 1990, with the ASR-9 radar system.

In 1999, Kelly and other elected officials got the FAA to install the current TARDIS system at Stewart. "Now, over 6 years and a brand new tower later, Stewart officials and controllers are faced with the same bureaucratic obstacles to the installation of vital security equipment," Kelly said.

Mid-Hudson News Network

FAA told to hurry on runway safety

2006-06-15T12:04:00.000+01:00

Congress is prodding the Federal Aviation Administration to install technology quickly that would improve runway safety and reduce congestion at O'Hare International Airport, officials said Wednesday.

The House Appropriations Committee, critical of the FAA's slow pace toward deploying the system at O'Hare and other major airports, proposes to increase funding for the program by $10 million nationwide in fiscal 2007, bringing total spending to $73.6 million.

FAA officials said they plan to install the technology at Midway Airport too, although the agency has not released a timetable for either Chicago airport.

The technology, called Airport Surface Detection Equipment-X, is designed to give pilots and air-traffic controllers immediate alerts of probable collisions on the airfield. It tracks planes by collecting data from multiple sources, including radar equipment and airplane transponders, to create a real-time map of all airplanes and other vehicles operating on an airfield, according to the FAA.

The extra money from Congress is intended to allow the FAA to install the system "earlier than currently planned," the committee said in a report that mentioned O'Hare as the airport where the FAA must focus the most to speed up deployment.

The lawmakers' push for the FAA to act expeditiously follows two runway incidents at O'Hare in a two-day period in March, including one in which two planes came within 100 feet of colliding during takeoff on intersecting runways. A third incident that is still being investigated as a possible runway incursion followed a few days later, the FAA said.

Existing runway-safety equipment at O'Hare sends such runway-incursion warnings only to controllers, and it often provides less than 10 seconds' warning before an impending accident for the controller to pass along the information to pilots.

The current system, called Airport Movement Area Safety System, has limited capabilities at night or when visibility is poor. Even flocks of birds can interfere with the current technology, which also is unable to provide any warning when planes are operating on intersecting runways, officials said.

The more sophisticated aircraft-detection system would also help air-traffic controllers manage planes on the ground more efficiently, providing a temporary tool to increase the airport's hourly capacity for takeoffs and landings until new runways are built.

The National Transportation Safety Board and other aviation watchdog groups have advocated since 1990 that the FAA develop technologies to prevent runway incursions and ground collisions, which are the leading safety risk at airports.

The FAA announced in November that it planned to deploy the new runway-safety system at 14 airports, beginning in January at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Other airports that now have the system include Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee; Green State Airport in Providence, R.I.; Orlando International Airport; Houston Hobby Airport; and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, according to the FAA.

The FAA has invested about $250 million in the system and expects to spend a total of $505 million to complete the program, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.

The House committee's proposed funding increase for the system in fiscal 2007 requires approval by the full Congress. It is contained in legislation that would speed up the rollout of runway safety and satellite navigation tools.

In addition, the committee is calling on the FAA to accelerate the modernization of air traffic-control systems at radar facilities in Chicago and eight other cities.

Chicago Tribune

Air Marshals Warn Their Bullets Are Too Powerful

2006-06-15T09:52:00.000+01:00

Federal air marshals say their guns are loaded with bullets capable of running through more than one person, metal doors and thick glass - too much firepower for an airplane.

"Not only is the person getting shot in danger, but everyone on the plane is because of the distance it travels," said one air marshal who testified in a recently completed House Judiciary Committee investigation of policies marshals deemed dangerous.

Several marshals say their bullets can penetrate most of the material in planes, leaving pilots and the plane's hydraulics and flight-control system vulnerable if a weapon is discharged. Cockpit doors have been hardened with steel, but the walls on either side of the door have not.

Another marshal told the House committee agents should be issued ammunition loaded with frangible bullets, which break into smaller pieces on impact and thus have limited power to exit the target and continue.

"An aircraft is made up of composites, plastics, and aluminum. If a round were to penetrate through the front plastic/composite windshield of the aircraft, the results would be catastrophic at 500 miles per hour. We should be using frangible ammunition. It's a no-brainer," the Nov. 27 memo said.

The House Judiciary report, released last week, included the committee's concerns about the ammunition, but the Transportation Security Administration's response was redacted from the report.

Federal Air Marshal Service Director Dana Brown is reviewing the agency's use of a .357-caliber handgun and Speer Gold Dot .357 SIG round, nonfrangible ammunition, said FAMS spokesman Conan Bruce.

Mr. Bruce said air marshals used to use frangible ammunition but switched weapons and ammunition after researching testing by outside groups. The change was approved by former FAMS Director Thomas Quinn, a former Secret Service agent.

Massad Ayoob, a ballistics authority and director of the Lethal Force Institute, calls the ammunition "an excellent load" that the Secret Service uses to protect the president. The bullet is designed to expand in the body to cause greater physical harm.

"If you get a peripheral hit in the arm, it has enough power to keep going and kill whoever it hits," said Mr. Ayoob, who explained that the bullet moves 1,350 feet per second.

"It's no trick to change the ammunition load they are using now to 1,500 feet per second to get a 10-inch, very substantial wound, and it would minimize the likelihood of an exit," Mr. Ayoob said. "That would reduce penetration by a few inches and widen the wound, which brings about a faster cessation of the action."

Federal air marshals have tough shooting requirements and "are among the best shooters in law enforcement," Mr. Ayoob says.

Don Strange, former special agent in charge of the FAMS Atlanta field office, said the ammunition FAMS agents use is good for the Secret Service and other law enforcement but not in the "tube of an airplane."

"It would penetrate at least the first body, but it can also penetrate a second and possibly third body," Mr. Strange said.

Mr. Strange has more than 30 years of federal law-enforcement experience but says he was fired from FAMS by Mr. Quinn for criticizing the agency's choice of ammunition, dress code and other policies.

When Mr. Strange informed officials at FAMS headquarters of his concern about the weapon's load, "I told them I hoped the reason we were using it was not because Quinn wants us to, and they said that is the reason."

Philip Van Cleave, a former deputy sheriff and president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said he was surprised to learn the marshals are not using frangible firepower.

"It's ironic that the very people who are carrying the guns are complaining, that tells you something there - they don't want to be underarmed, but they want to be able to protect passengers," Mr. Van Cleave said.

Several thousand pilots are trained to carry guns to protect the cockpit, however David Mackett, president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance, declined to say what kind of weapons or ammunition are used by federal flight-deck officers.

"The federal air marshals are competent and experienced law enforcement, and I would take any recommendations they would make very seriously," Mr. Mackett said.

The House investigation said in its report released last week that policies dictating dress and boarding procedures in sight of passengers undermine the marshals' anonymity and suggested that any marshal who initiated changes fell victim to retaliation.

In its response to the committee, the Transportation Security Administration, which manages FAMS, said the policies have been changed. Air marshals who spoke to panel lawyers disagreed with the TSA's claims in interviews with The Washington Times.

The Washington Times

AA Pilot Charged With Reporting For Flight Drunk

2006-06-15T09:51:00.000+01:00

Air France-KLM chief warns of danger to air pact

2006-06-15T09:46:00.000+01:00

The head of Air France-KLM on Wednesday warned that European Union governments were likely to turn down a US proposal on airline ownership and control, endangering plans for a new transatlantic aviation pact.

Jean-Cyril Spinetta, chairman and chief executive of the world's largest airline by revenues, also said he could help Continental Airlines secure slots at London's congested Heathrow airport. Continental, which has an alliance with the European carrier, has been the most vociferous opponent of the so-called open-skies deal.

Mr Spinetta said in a speech in New York that the failure to secure open skies after three attempts would be "a disaster" for the industry, and was likely to trigger action by the European Commission to unwind existing deals between member states and the US. These have been deemed illegal by the European Court of Justice in 2002, but would have been superceded by a new agreement which the tow sides hope to implement next year.

Mr Spinetta's comments offered a stark warning to US officials that their attempts to deal with domestic opposition to proposed changes in the role of foreign investors in US carriers had backfired.

The EU and the US reached a tentative deal on a new aviation treaty last November, but this hinges on the US transportation department coming up with a change in the control rules deemed "acceptable" by European transport ministers.

The proposed changes unleashed a storm of criticism from US unions and Continental, which claimed they threatened jobs and posed a threat to national security as foreign investors may be more reluctant to transport US troops on their aircraft.

He said the administration had taken "a step in the wrong direction" by refining the planned rule change last month. "I doubt the language in the supplemental proposal will be acceptable to the European side in its present form," said Mr Spinetta.

The DoT hopes to finalise its plan by the end of the summer, in time to present to EU transport ministers in October. However, the administration still has to overcome some domestic hurdles, notably lingering opposition in Congress.

Continental Airlines, which is a member of the SkyTeam alliance alongside Air France-KLM, Northwest and Delta, has been the key driver of opposition on Capitol Hill, and Mr Spinetta's speech was watched by Larry Kellner, Continental's chairman and CEO.

Mr Spinetta told the FT afterwards that its partner's position had not created tension in the alliance, but said it could help dilute Continental's key concern over its lack of access to slots at Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.

An open-skies deal would not guarantee carriers suitable access to Heathrow unless they bought the slots on a grey market. Air France has already made an informal offer to help Delta access the airport, and Mr Spinetta said this could be extended to Continental. "Why not? We could consider it," he told the FT.

Financial Times

Civil Aviation Authority to embark on skills-training drive

2006-06-15T09:41:00.000+01:00

AVIATION safety body, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said yesterday that it would spend about R20m over the next two years on improving the skills of its safety inspectors and acquiring new data-capturing equipment.

The CAA’s newly appointed CE, Zakes Myeza, said the planned skills-training programme would improve the company’s efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out its aviation safety regulatory activities.

“We want to raise the bar on safety and security in the aviation industry,” said Myeza.

“Internally, we will not tolerate incompetence of staff, and externally we will not tolerate noncompliance (by aircraft owners).”

He said the rise in the number of registered aircraft in SA had prompted the CAA to recruit more staff, and in some cases it would bring back retired inspectors to fill the gap. SA currently has 9314 registered aircraft and 13891 active pilots.

The CAA said there were 152 civil aircraft accidents last year, in which 33 people died.

The previous year saw 149 accidents and 34 related deaths.

All accidents involved light aircraft used mostly for recreational or private purposes.

The causes of the accidents included engine failures, poor weather conditions, lack of airworthiness and negligence by pilots and flight crew.

SA was recently commended by United Nation’s civil aviation safety agency the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the global airlines lobby group the International Air Transport Association (Iata) for having a relatively good safety record among African countries.

Last week Iata lambasted the governments of Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Swaziland and Equatorial Guinea for not taking safety seriously.

Business Day

Safety audit condition for membership governments respond positively

2006-06-07T13:41:00.000+01:00

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) honoured two governments —Chile and Egypt— for their leadership in promoting safety by incorporating the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) into their safety oversight programmes. Moreover, the association`s 261 members, representing 94% of scheduled international traffic, commended the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC) for the resolution passed at its recent General Assembly urging its sixteen member states to require IOSA registration for any carrier based in their territories or using their airports.

The IATA Annual General Meeting also formally approved a resolution requiring that all IATA members be IOSA registered. All new members of the association will be required to pass IOSA before they join. And all existing members must contract for an IOSA audit by the end of 2006 and complete an audit by the end of 2007 to retain membership.

"We are serious about safety," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA`s Director General and CEO. "IATA is a quality association and we have set the bar high to ensure that our membership represents best practice in safety. At the same time we are encouraged that governments not only understand the benefits of IOSA, but also are using it. I encourage more governments to use this great tool."

IOSA was launched in 2003 as the industry`s first global standard for airline safety management. Fully 189 member airlines and 57 non-members are now in the IOSA process, representing over 80% of scheduled international traffic. IOSA registration lasts for two years, at which time a recurrent audit is required to ensure ongoing compliance with IATA standards.

IOSA standards are based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and industry best practice and are freely available to any commercial airline as part of IATA`s commitment to safety. For airlines with limited resources, IATA`s Partnership for Safety programme is helping to bridge the gap. The scope of Partnership for Safety expanded from Africa to include Latin America. In both regions, the number of accidents is disproportionately large when compared with traffic volumes.

"Safety is our number one priority. Last year was the air transport industry`s best year ever with an accident rate of 0.76 per million sectors—one accident for every 1.3 million flights. IATA members did considerably better at 0.35 per million sectors - one accident for every 2.9 million flights. Governments increasingly accept the IOSA standard. And we will do our utmost to ensure that all IATA members are on board by the deadlines. But after the deadline, we cannot accept any exceptions. Safety is just too important," said Bisignani.

TravelDailyNews

Boeing plays a recurring role in U.S. diplomacy

2006-06-07T13:38:00.000+01:00

Food and fighter jets have long been part of American diplomacy. Now you can add airplane parts.

A package of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to curb its nuclear program reportedly includes spare parts from Chicago-based Boeing Co. It's nothing trivial for Iran.

Its aging fleet of civilian and military aircraft has suffered several deadly crashes in recent years, a miserable safety record Iranian officials blame on U.S. trade sanctions that prevent the country from buying spare aircraft parts to do basic maintenance. Boeing has been barred from inspecting Iran's aircraft inventory, which includes 747 jumbo jets.

For Boeing, the potential sales to Iran have high symbolic value but offer little in the way of business promise. The U.S. isn't expected to lift trade sanctions to allow sales of new planes to Iran. But Boeing is a willing to be a bargaining chip in the diplomatic efforts to resolve a nuclear standoff with Iran.

"They want to be a team player with the U.S. government," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant at the Teal Group in Virginia. "After all, the U.S. has been known to extend its influence to help Boeing."

Defense and aerospace companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. long have been standard pieces of the U.S. diplomatic tool kit. Diplomacy almost always involves opening up sales of technologies or goods that the U.S. has in abundance.

Boeing jets were key to the opening of relations with China in the 1970s under President Nixon after years of isolation from the Communist regime there. Since then, China has become one of the company's biggest buyers as its travel market explodes.

As Boeing expanded its defense business in the 1990s, its clout in U.S. foreign policy has grown. It has sold F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets to Kuwait, Apache attack helicopters to Israel and airborne warning and control systems to Saudi Arabia.

"Defense sales are a common way of cementing ties between allies," said Michael Levi, a fellow on science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It also creates the possibility of joint operations if you have compatible equipment."

The gesture toward Iran, though, has nothing to do with solidifying a wonderful relationship. The U.S. government placed sanctions against Iran in 1979 after Iranians mobbed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 90 hostages. As a result, U.S. companies have been prevented from doing business there.

The U.S. has worked to isolate the Tehran government, accusing Iran of sponsoring terrorism, seeking to build a nuclear arsenal and undermining the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Iran says the trade ban has undermined its aviation safety. The last new Boeing plane it purchased was in 1978. Since then it has bought used planes on the secondary market.

Iran operates four narrow-body 727s and six 747s, according to Boeing. It also operates 17 Airbus airplanes. The sanctions cover not only American-made planes and parts, but also European planes like Airbus when they use parts made in the U.S.

Chicago Tribune

Chinese passenger jet slides off runway in nation's second aviation mishap this week

2006-06-07T13:33:00.000+01:00

A passenger jet slid off a rain-slick runway in eastern China, causing no deaths or injuries, in the country's second aviation mishap this week.

The China Eastern Airways Boeing-737 apparently failed to brake properly upon landing in the city of Wuyishan in the eastern province of Fujian where it had arrived after a brief flight from the airline's hub in Shanghai.

Photographs showed the plane mired in mud by the side of the runway, with stairs extended to its rear exit.

The accident was under investigation, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Calls to airline spokesmen rang unanswered on Wednesday.

The accident comes days after a military plane crashed amid mountains in eastern China on Sunday, killing all 40 people on board.

China has released little information about that crash. Beijing-backed newspapers in Hong Kong said the plane was a surveillance jet under development and called it China's worst-ever military aviation disaster.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has ordered a top general to lead an investigation into the crash.

AP

IATA requires safety audit for all member airlines

2006-06-07T08:35:00.001+01:00

The IATA Annual General Meeting formally approved a resolution requiring that all IATA member airlines be IOSA [IATA Operational Safety Audit] registered. All new members of the association will be required to pass IOSA before they join. And all existing members must contract for an IOSA audit by the end of 2006 and complete an audit by the end of 2007 to retain membership. Also, IATA honoured two governments—Chile and Egypt—for promoting safety by incorporating the IOSA into their safety oversight programmes.

press release

Bomb scare fails to stop flight

2006-06-07T08:35:00.000+01:00

A Kolkata-bound Air Deccan flight was allowed to take off from Port Blair with 130 passengers on Tuesday morning despite an anonymous call claiming a bomb was present on the plane.

Though the call was received at NSCBI fire station at 9.30 am, air traffic controllers failed to alert the captain of flight DN 698.

The plane, which was in the bay at the time, received clearance for takeoff procedure and was airborne at 9.58 am, nearly half-an-hour after the call.

"By the time the Port Blair ATC was notified, the plane had already taken off,"said Airports Authority of India's regional executive director SPS Bakshi, acknowledging the inordinate delay in relaying a message of utmost urgency.

Even more intriguing, the aircraft did not return to Port Blair. Instead, the pilot felt it prudent to make the two-hour journey over Bay of Bengal, putting 136 lives, including his own, at risk.

Safety protocol requires a bomb scare to be treated seriously at all times. A grounded aircraft has to be thoroughly checked by the bomb detection squad.

The flight can take off only after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the DGCA clear it. If the plane is airborne at the time of the scare call, the pilot has to land at the earliest possible opportunity to minimise the risk.

On Tuesday, all rules were flouted. The plane took off after the scare call. And continued to fly for two hours. "The sequence of events is incomprehensible.

If the bomb scare was at 9.30 pm, Port Blair should have been alerted immediately and takeoff suspended. Even if the plane was airborne by the time the alert was sounded, the plane should have returned there,"said former Indian captain S L Bagchi.

The only way the pilot's action could be justified, Bagchi reasoned, was if he had learnt of the bomb scare midway through.

Bakshi, though, admitted that there were several anomalies and ordered a probe in the evening. "BCAS and AAI's security officials are going through the tape transcripts. Perhaps, the bomb scare call was too fuzzy and took a while to decipher,"he told TOI.

For the record, the call turned out to be a hoax. NSCBI was put on emergency mode and the plane allowed priority landing on arrival.

THE TIMES OF INDIA

Pilot Questioned in DC Airspace Violation

2006-06-06T22:17:00.000+01:00

A small plane was intercepted by two F-16 jets after it flew into restricted Washington, D.C., airspace Monday evening, authorities said.

The single-engine Cessna-182 was intercepted 22 miles northeast of Reagan National Airport and was escorted to the airport in Gaithersburg, Md., the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The breach was accidental, the Secret Service said after interviewing the pilot.

The plane had been headed from Philadelphia to Charlottesville, Va., said a spokesman from the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The plane stayed outside a tightly restricted zone closer to the center of Washington but was within another ring of restricted space farther out.

The F-16s were sent from Andrews Air Force Base.

The Associated Press

Security Operations At New Thailand Airport Not Yet Ready

2006-06-06T22:16:00.000+01:00

The government has taken the correct decision to base an anti-terrorist operations centre at the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

But the sudden announcement of such a centre, combined with what seems to be an apparent lack of planning, open up a raft of questions. The success of the showpiece anti-terrorist exercise at the airport was clear. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seemed to react to the practice session by deciding suddenly to base an anti-terror centre at Suvarnabhumi. Without far better preparations and a strong explanation, there is a chance the plan will fail and regional cooperation against a common threat could actually be set back. Indeed, the plan for an airport anti-terrorism unit seems to have begun on Tuesday, when Mr Thaksin went to the airport with an entourage of ministers, officials, foreign diplomats and their military attaches. Right on schedule, a pretend-band of terrorists attempted to seize the Suvarnabhumi passenger terminal. In a late addition to their plans, the force playing the terrorists also tried to use a lethal toxic gas. Some 1,200 police, troops and elite paramilitary forces defeated the attackers, rescued the civilians and put a final end to both the plans and careers of the pretend-terrorists. The spectators, all of them, seemed impressed, although none so much as Mr Thaksin.

The next day, the prime minister let it be known he was taking a direct hand in the security of the airport, and the units in the exercise would form the core of a permanent anti-terrorist detachment. He promised new equipment, full funding for both a headquarters and weapons. Mr Thaksin even promised to call the top police and military officers to a single meeting, where they would agree to the premier's anti-terrorism plan. It was almost vintage Thaksin: A man, a plan, every part in its place, and final success.

In fact, the plan for an airport anti-terrorism centre is appropriate. Terrorists worldwide, in our region and inside Thailand all have frequently aimed attacks at airports and travellers. On April 3 last year, in a rare attack outside the three southern provinces, Thai terrorists bombed Hat Yai Airport, killing two and wounding 60 innocent people. Philippines-based followers of al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah have bombed airports in that country several times. The airport security check has become part of life around the world because terrorists constantly, and continuously, threaten airports and air travel.

Earlier this week, Malaysian authorities broke up a splinter terrorist group. It was based in Sabah state, loyal to the extremist mentality of Jemaah Islamiyah, and had recruits from three countries. The 12 arrested members of Darul Islam Sabah had weapons, bombs and terrorist manuals obtained from the internet. Its members had already helped the 2002 Bali bombers. Malaysian police arrested the group because members were about to travel to ''neighbouring countries'' to turn their planned violence into action.

Thailand always has been on the map of international terrorism. The first major assault on this country was in 1972, when Black September seized the Israeli embassy. Passenger planes have been hijacked both to and from Thailand. In 1981 a group called Commando Jihad hijacked a Garuda Indonesia flight to Bangkok. After three days, Indonesian commandos successfully stormed and retook the plane, killing the hijackers.

Mr Thaksin, however, must make a far better case for an airport anti-terrorist group than the apparently spur of the moment decision he has offered.

Most important are the details of where exactly such a force will be based, and how high its profile will be. Constant armed patrols of elite military forces is not the face the new airport must present to visitors. Commando-type units are a necessary part of prudent airport security. But the government must not lose sight of the fact that the purpose of the airport is to welcome visitors and business travellers, not to create an armed fortress.

NewsEdge

Maryland Deploying Explosive Detecting Ticket Vending Machines

2006-06-06T22:15:00.000+01:00

In an industry first, transit officials in Baltimore will be able to stop someone from riding its subway who has recently handled explosives or fired a gun — at the push of a button.

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) will employ the same technology used to prevent explosive materials from being loaded onto an airplane to keep explosives off its trains.

On Thursday, June 8, in Baltimore, Cubic will put its new transit ticket vending machine with an integrated explosives detection system into operation.

Incorporating GE Security’s explosive detection technology now used in airport screening devices, the new ticket vending machines will test everyone using the machine to buy a ticket at the Johns Hopkins Hospital station on MTA’s Metro subway system. Without disclosing the exact number of vending machines that will be installed, Cubic said some, but not all, of the machines will be the new ones.

Cubic has crafted the machines to resemble their current ticket sellers with one exception — a new “start” button must be pushed to begin the transaction. This button uses the GE Itemize FX technology to collect a particulate sample from the finger, which will then be analyzed.

“The average ticket sale takes 23 to 37 seconds to complete. The test results will be obtained before the transaction is completed,” said Jon Macklin, a product manager for Cubic, at a security seminar in Baltimore on Monday, June 5, sponsored by the International Air Rail Organization.

The vending machine represents the first layer in a multi-layer detection system. Future work includes programming entry gates to detect explosive particulates on smart cards and equipping those vending machines that sell smart cards with similar detection devices. The multi-layer approach to security is particularly needed for those transit operations that have open access to the trains or buses as well as those who have a large number of smart card users.

The single-sale vending machines were the first to be adapted because in any past attack on any transit system, Macklin said, the terrorist purchased single-use tickets with cash to avoid detection. If the sensor detects an explosive compound, the ticket vending machines can be programmed stop the suspected individual or at minimum call for help. Macklin said the system will summon the nearest police officers or prevent the ticket purchaser from passing through the turnstile.

Macklin would not disclose how the Baltimore system has been programmed.

If the transit system’s entry turnstiles are programmed, the suspect’s ticket can be coded to prevent entry. Instead, the person will be directed to the station master’s office. Macklin said since the detection system operates in the background, the ticket holder would not know why his ticket is not working.

In addition, a built-in camera will record each sales transaction. If a ticket buyer is flagged, the system will transmit five photos to nearby transit police officers equipped with a wireless PDA. Macklin said the police should be able to stop the individual before they move deeper into the transit system.

Officials with the MTA and its transit police could not be reached for comment as to how they will react or process any individual flagged by the sensor.

The sensors will detect gunpowder from a recently fire weapon. Macklin said the system can be programmed to not flag police officers traveling the transit system.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires that the air and particulate detection machines made by GE and others that are now in use at airports produce no more than 2 percent false positives, said Will Hargett, of GE Infrastructure Security. It is hoped, Hargett said, that these Cubic machines will reduce the false positives to less than 1 percent.

The Johns Hopkins station was specifically selected by Maryland transit officials for the prototypes to enable GE and Cubic to fine-tune the detection sensors. Because of a wide variety of chemicals and compounds used in the hospital’s medical treatment and research labs, Macklin said the ticket vending machines could be confronted with individuals with particulates that might trigger the sensors. However, these particulates may not be an indicator of someone who recently handled explosive materials.

While the routine of buying a transit ticket from the vending machine provides enough time to run the particulates test, Macklin said the challenge will be detecting any explosive particulates on someone using a smart card at a turnstile. On average, he said, Cubic has been required by contract to clear a card for entry within 1.7 to 3 milliseconds. On average, 36 to 60 people pass through a turnstile every minute.

AirportBusiness

Augusta pilot wins safety award at 80

2006-06-06T22:05:00.000+01:00

Maurice Clifford “Bill” Calkins, who has flown planes for 64 years, turned 80 this year, and he’s certainly been a safe, careful pilot.

On May 20, he was one of only 12 pilots in Michigan history who have been presented with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, according to the Web site of the Federal Aviation Administration, www.faa.gov.

To be nominated for the award, a pilot must have flown more than 50 consecutive years without an accident or infraction.

Calkins said he is proud of his Wright Brothers award, but he seems to be equally pleased about joining the United Flying Octogenarians, or “UFO.”

“You’ve got to be 80 to belong — and you have to be still flying. I had to mail them proof of my license, my medical records, my flight check I have to take every two years — so this is a serious organization. I’m just glad I’ve lived long enough to join.”

the Enquirer

West Africa: Airport Safety to Give Wings to Suppliers

2006-06-06T21:58:00.000+01:00

A $33,5m project to enhance airport safety and security in four West African countries will provide a spread of export opportunities to suppliers into the air transport sector over the months to come.

To be implemented at a national level within the four participating countries -- Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Cameroon -- the West and Central Africa Air Transport Safety and Security Project will seek to improve civil aviation authorities' compliance with safety and security standards as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The project is largely motivated by the Yamoussoukro Declaration -- an agreement signed in 1999 which aims to create a conducive environment for the development of intra-African and international air services. The declaration requires civil aviation and airport authorities to collectively attain ICAO standards.

Air services in Africa, and especially in West and Central Africa, are widely regarded as inefficient, unreliable and overpriced. Airfares in West and Central Africa are considered up to 50% higher than world averages, while airport landing fees and air navigation charges in the region are significantly more expensive than elsewhere.

According to a World Bank report, less than six countries out of 23 in West and Central Africa are considered to have the required level of civil aviation administration capacities. The report says the current situation has resulted in the presence of "junk companies", whose operations distort the air transport market, prevent access to the world market for local African airlines and contribute to high accident rates.

ICAO statistics reveal that the air transport accident rate within the West and Central Africa region is about 30 times higher than that of the US.

Of the $33,57m to be invested in the project, $23,2m will be spent on improvements in airport security and safety standards. This will involve establishing appropriate aviation security legislation, devising security programmes for both airports and airlines, installing modern security equipment such as screening equipment for passengers, luggage and cargo at international airports, replacing navigational aids and beefing up capacity within institutions charged with the management and control of airport assets.

Consulting firms will be invited to bid for various assignments within the four countries, including:

Technical studies and works supervision for the construction of crisis centres in both Burkina Faso and Cameroon;
An airport runway and apron rehabilitation study for Douala International Airport in Cameroon;
Studies for airport fence rehabilitation, including works supervision in Cameroon; and
Technical studies for navigational aids improvement in Guinea.

The value of air transport in the region is estimated at between $4bn and $5bn, of which 60% is for traffic to and from Europe.

It is hoped that implementation of the project will increase inter-state and domestic traffic, which represents about 15% and 8% respectively, and bring about the emergence of new carriers that may operate smaller aircraft, and offer higher frequencies and schedules better suited to demand.

Business Day

Flights resume at Ben Gurion Airport

2006-06-06T21:50:00.000+01:00

Flights out of Ben Gurion Airport resumed on Tuesday evening only two hours after its workers' union announced a strike in solidarity with striking Eilat Airport workers.

The decision to end the strikes, both in Ben Gurion and Eilat Airport, was reached after the Histadrut Labor Federation asked the unions to try and reach a compromise by way of negotiations with the Israel Aviation Authority (IAA). Both sides are expected to meet on Wednesday.

The strike in Eilat was called after the airport decided to employ subcontractors in security positions.

According to the workers, IAA management violated contracts it had signed with its union. The authority harshly criticized the decision to strike, saying it would not give in to the extortion by the workers' union.

The management of the IAA asked the Histadrut chairman to intervene. It had also threatened that it would ask the court to issue restraining orders, thereby forcing the workers to return to work.

The Jerusalem Post

FAA releases $15 million for Midway runway safety projects

2006-06-06T21:47:00.000+01:00

Officials say a $15 million dollar federal grant went to Midway International Airport on Tuesday for construction to help prevent planes from overshooting their landings.

Federal Aviation Administration Spokesman Tony Molinaro says soft concrete beds will be placed at the ends of two of Midway's four runways.

In April, the city submitted to the FAA a $40 million proposal for the beds. They're lightweight bricks are designed to collapse under the weight of an aircraft and safely slow planes' acceleration.

Molinaro says the money will pay for about half the total project.

The grant comes nearly six months after a Southwest Airlines flight skidded off a runway at Midway and into traffic. The accident killed six-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Indiana, who was riding in a nearby car.

Associated Press

Kenya urges African airlines to merge to survive

2006-06-06T21:46:00.000+01:00

Kenya urged African airlines to merge or increase cooperation to cope with losses due to high fuel price and increased competition if they are to survive in the competitive industry.

Kenya`s Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere Monday said the African airlines must consolidate and increase efficiency to cope with myriad challenges facing the industry.

"African governments must be prepared to operate joint ventures aimed at forging mergers or increasing cooperation between airlines to survive the ever-increasing competition," Mwakwere told a regional aviation meeting in Nairobi.

The minister said plans to merge or cooperate are underway among the three East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

"Africa`s civil aviation industry is faced with many challenges and therefore is unable to cooperate with the expected efficiency associated with the industry," he said.

State-run South African Airways is the continent`s biggest carrier while other airlines serving the region include Air Mauritius, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya`s flag carrier, Kenya Airways.

European carriers Air France and British Airways also have a big presence, usually linking the continent with Europe.

The International Association of Transport Association (IATA) had forecast airline losses in 2005 of 7.4 billion U.S. dollars as soaring fuel costs outstrip measures by airlines to cut costs.

"In order for civil aviation to survive the dynamics that characterize the industry and which to a large extent are dictated by technological advancement far beyond the regulatory frameworks of governments, adoption of cost cutting measures and innovative ideals is inevitable," the minister said.

"This has also necessitated the introduction of structural adjustment, which at times is a threat to the job security for those working in the industry. It is incumbent upon managers in the industry to ensure that workers are made aware of such challenges in order to avoid industrial unrests."

Mwakwere said the maintenance of safety and security standards in the civil aviation was prerequisite to the growth of the industry.

"This requires strict adherence to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety and security requirements by airline operators as well as through monitoring of the same by the relevant governments bodies," the minister said.

He warned that safety and security should not be compromised for commercial considerations.

Aviation authorities say safety concerns have led some countries to ban suspect airlines from landing at their airports, with some African airlines included on the list.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
The world aviation body, IATA said recently it was working with its members in Africa to increase efficiency in their system and was negotiating with airports to lower their user charges.

A key measure is helping airlines in Africa to switch from paper tickets to electronic ticketing ahead of the association`s targeted deadline of 2007.

So far Africa has achieved 40 percent usage of electronic ticketing. But the figure is misleading because only airlines in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe have made progress.

Africast

NAIA official gunned down at airport

2006-06-06T21:38:00.000+01:00

A long standing feud between an airport official and an aviation police officer ended in a bloody and fatal confrontation at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) departure area late Monday night.

Shot dead was Eduardo Tiotioen, 39, head of the airport’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and concurrent action officer of NAIA.

He suffered two bullet wounds in the chest and in the neck.

The alleged assailant was identified as Maj. Cenon Tenorio, officer-in- charge, night shift, 1st PCAS (Police Center for Aviation Security) of the PNP-Aviation Security Group.

Tiotioen was gunned down in full view of passengers and airport employees outside the Windows of the World Restaurant at the departure level entrance of the airport Terminal 1.

Suspect Tenorio surrendered to Chief Supt. Andres Caro II, director of the PNP-ASG, shortly after the incident.

Caro opted to keep mum about the motive and circumstances surrounding the killing to allow the National Bureau of Investigation authorities to conduct an impartial probe of the incident.

Tiotioen was among the handful of "trusted" people brought in from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) by Cusi who issued a statement strongly denouncing the ruthless killing of Tiotioen.

""I’ve known Ed to be someone who is truly committed to his job. My work relationship with him dates back to my stint as general manager of the Philippine Port Authority. He was very much involved in PPA’s community development projects specially in the Baseco area,’’ Cusi said.

"I have asked the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) through Atty. Angelito Magno to help us with the case. We have eyewitnesses who are now in the custody of the NBI for questioning,’’ Cusi added.

Robert Uy, executive assistant of Cusi, however assured the public that the incident does not involve any lapses in the security set-up at the NAIA but was "just an internal matter" between two feuding airport and police officials.

An initial police report stated that at around 11:30 p.m., Tiotioen, who was the on-duty action officer, confronted Tenorio at the immigration arrival area over his alleged passenger escorting activities.

Tenorio was in the area to meet an arriving passenger aboarda Korean Airlines flight KE-623 from Seoul.

Tiotioen, who was known to accost airport and police personnel over meeting arriving passengers, allegedly fumed at the police officer and berated him about protocol lapses in facilitating passengers by NAIA personnel.

Tiotioen reportedly pointed out to Tenorio that instead of wearing his NAIA identification card, he should have requested and worn a stick-on pass because he was not on official duty.

This reportedly irked Tenorio. A verbal tussle ensued. The police officer then reportedly hied off to his van parked at the departure level.

But the altercation did not end there.

Witnesses said victim Tiotioen instructed Gregorio Garcia and Lito Azucena, NAIA porterage supervisors to monitor the whereabouts of Maj. Tenorio.

Witnesses said Tiotioen then sought out the police officer and ended up at the departure area where Tenorio was. They were then again locked in a fierce verbal exchange.

Witnesses said the two were grappling before four gun shots were heard.

Airport officials said this was not the first time the two officials engaged in an argument.

The first one happened a few months ago which caused Tenorio to lose his position as officer-incharge for the PNP-ASG at the airport terminal.

Tiotioen, accompanied by two airport police officers, then accosted Tenorio for allowing a friend to enter the airport premises using an official business pass. Tiotioen’s report had caused Tenorio to be in hot water with his superiors.

Manila Bulletin

No retreat from paperless airline ticketing

2006-06-06T10:39:00.000+01:00

The ambitious target set by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) of having no paper airline tickets by 2008 could be hampered by electricity shortages in some African countries, delegates to the World Air Transport Summit heard yesterday.

Iata, in terms of its strategy, wants all of its 261 member airlines, representing 94% of the world’s scheduled traffic, to be able to process their passenger tickets electronically by the end of next year.

The use of e-tickets will not only reduce the long queues at check-in counters but could also help reduce the costs of flying.

Iata director-general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said e-ticketing would result in a $3bn cut in the airline industry’s costs each year. Airlines could pass these savings on to passengers.

Bisignani said it cost $1 to process an e-ticket compared with $10 for paper. An additional $1,2bn a year would be saved with paperless cargo processing.

“The cargo business is drowning in paper. Every cargo shipment has up to 38 documents. Each year we could fill 39747 freighters with the paper wasted on this,” he said.

Airlines have until 2010 to process their cargo electronically. Iata said 39 airlines were now using e-ticketing in Africa. “But statistics can be misleading and a cause for concern. SAA is responsible for 70% of e-ticketing,” said Bisignani.

But concerns were raised that Iata’s deadline could be compromised by obstacles including electricity shortages in certain countries. Ethiopian Airline CEO Girma Wake said it was common for some cities such as Gabon’s Libreville to be without electricity for up to a week. This not only made it difficult for passengers to make their bookings but it also became a nightmare for airlines to verify the status of those who did.

Iata said it had set aside $10m to ensure all airlines gradually installed the new e-ticketing technology and that special attention would be paid to Africa, where resources were limited and the existing technology often outdated.

Bisignani said 21 of its member airlines had said they were not interested in e-ticketing and that a further 55 had no idea how to implement the technology.

He declined to mention the airlines that were reluctant to embrace e-ticketing. Noncomplying members, however, would find it impossible to enter into code-sharing deals with airlines that had complied, he said.

“There is no turning back on the implementation of e-ticketing. There is no Plan B,” said Iata outgoing chairman Robert Milton.

Iata said it was also concerned about Africa’s poor aviation safety record. Although the continent accounted for about 4% of the global air traffic, its accident rate, at 25%, was the highest.

Iata has named the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea and Swaziland as countries where governments “don’t take air safety seriously”.

Of the 39 African Iata member airlines, only SAA, Kenya Airways, EgyptAir and Air Maroc have completed International Civil Aviation Organisation safety audits.

Meanwhile, Iata said the airline industry was expected to spend $112bn on fuel this year.

“Oil prices are racing ahead of efficiency gains and robbing us of our profitability,” Bisignani said.

Business Day

Egyptian pleads guilty to fraud

2006-06-06T10:37:00.000+01:00

An Egyptian who authorities believed may have been planning an attack, but was not charged with terrorism, pleaded guilty Monday to fraud.

Mahmoud Maawad, 29, was ordered held without bond until sentencing July 14 and will be subject to deportation after any prison term. He has been in the United States illegally since 1999, when his visitor's visa expired, authorities said.

Maawad was arrested in September on suspicion of using a depleted bank account to make Internet purchases. He also was charged with using a fake Social Security number to enroll at the University of Memphis, where he was a student when arrested.

He pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining merchandise from a company that sells aviation-related training materials and equipment.

He drew authorities' attention when a search of his apartment turned up charts on the layout of the Memphis airport and DVDs on pilot training, including one titled "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act."

The federal public defender's office, which is representing Maawad, has refused to comment.

Investigators believed he may have been planning a terrorist act, court records show. No evidence of direct links to terrorism was presented in court.

Associated Press

Corporate espionage the elephant in the board room

2006-06-05T12:43:00.000+01:00

Corporate espionage may be running amok in North America, but nobody knows for certain how deep the problem goes because it's something businesses rarely report, experts say.

The issue was thrust into the public spotlight last week when WestJet Airlines settled a corporate espionage suit launched by Air Canada, now a unit of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., by pledging to pay $5.5 million to its rival for legal fees and donating $10 million to charity.

WestJet acknowledged its senior executives were involved in a cyber-scheme that used secret passwords belonging to a former Air Canada employee to access confidential information from its rival. WestJet apologized to Air Canada for the "unethical" and "unacceptable" practice.

Richard Powers, assistant dean for the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, said it's difficult to determine how often incidents of corporate espionage occur.

Most firms don't want to publicly admit they've been compromised, he said.
"If you admit something and go after somebody, first you admit you were vulnerable and secondly, you become a target for someone else to target and try to compromise your system, so by acknowledging that it's happened you in effect become a target," Powers said.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, electronic attacks result in billions of dollars in economic damage each year, and the problem continues to grow.

In the United States, the Computer Security Institute's 2005 Computer Crime and Security Survey found unauthorized access of information increased significantly last year.

Losses due to unauthorized access to information averaged $303,234 US per survey respondent in 2005, compared to $51,545 per respondent the previous year.
Theft of proprietary information also rose, with the average loss per respondent hitting $355,552 in 2005 compared to $168,529 in 2004.

The survey's loss numbers are on the rise, but Robert Richardson, the institute's editorial director, concurs there's no accurate picture of just how rampant corporate espionage is.

"A lot of companies are more interested in shutting down the leak than they are trying to go after whoever has perpetrated the crime, and in some cases it may be hard to prove the crime," Richardson said.

One of the survey questions asks respondents why they didn't report incidents of espionage to authorities.

"The winning answer, by far, is 'we thought the publicity would hurt us, and it would hurt us vis-a-vis our competitors,' " Richardson said.

Richardson said corporate espionage happens because companies are wary of what their competitors are going to do, especially with new products and new pricing structures.
The information targeted has to do with when the new product is going to launch, what kind of a price point it will have and how best to react to it.

Richard Austin, chief legal counsel for EDS Canada Inc., a global technology services firm, notes technology like iPods, camera phones and memory sticks has increased the potential and the ability to misappropriate large amounts of information. Businesses need to take safeguards, including iron-clad policy and procedures, he said.

"When we have the ability to photograph information in an office by pushing a button on your cellphone, do you have a policy saying, 'we don't allow camera phones in our office?'" he asked.

The Edmonton Journal

Could tourism be hit again?

2006-06-05T10:56:00.000+01:00

Airports may beef up security measures in the wake of the arrests of 17 terror suspects from the Greater Toronto area Friday, experts say, but it's difficult to say whether tourists will stay away because of safety worries.

Several airline industry consultants said airport authorities across the country may react to the arrests by increasing both passenger background checks and luggage searches at airport screening checkpoints. It's also possible that the arrests might spark the United States to expedite plans that would force Canadian travellers to the U.S. to have passports, instead of other forms of ID.

"I think you could see this affect the airlines if there's fire, not smoke," said McGill University professor Karl Moore, an expert in the airline industry. "But so far, of course, all we have are a number of people who have been charged."

Of course, passengers who have to clear customs at Canada already complain of long security line-ups — enough so that U.S. authorities have contemplated cutting out the searches for scissors and small knives and perhaps even installing television monitors for travelers while they stand in line.

Airline industry authorities have also explored other security technologies that could be introduced at airports, such as machines that would detect weapons or explosives hidden under clothing.
It's also possible that, as concerns mount, airlines might further explore plans to add more air marshals to flights or even equip planes with a system to defend against surface-to-air missiles.
The latter would be an expensive manoeuvre, however, especially as Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. continue to battle spiking jet fuel prices. The cost to retrofit planes with anti-missle technology could be as much as $1 million a plane, experts say. That would cost Air Canada alone more than $300 million, given its fleet of 329 planes.

"Many of Israel's planes are already equipped with this technology," said Clive Miskin, an aviation security consultant with Dallas-based International Security Defense Systems. "It costs less than a plane does."

But airline consultants say it's unlikely there will be more visible security, such as machine-gun armed officers with dogs roaming airports.

"That just doesn't seem Canadian, guns out in the open," Moore said.

Air Canada spokesperson Isabelle Arthur declined to comment on the carrier's security efforts other than to say the company acts in accordance with the government's security regulations.

Still, several airline industry experts said it's doubtful that travellers, especially those coming to Canada from overseas, would abandon their trips.

"Many Europeans have been living with terrorism for years," said Robert Kokonis, president of Toronto airline consultancy AirTrav Ltd. "They've had the attacks in London and Spain and elsewhere.

"So far, this (in Toronto) is merely a series of arrests."

Even so, Kokonis said that if subsequent events show homegrown terrorism to be widespread, "then you could have a problem."

In downtown Toronto yesterday, a few dozen tourists lingered in the sunshine by the CN Tower, taking photos and eating cotton candy.

Ludmilla Queiroz, 29, of Mississauga, who visited the Toronto landmark with her mother and sister, said she was surprised to hear about the arrests. "Canada's usually very peaceful."

She added that she was not worried about going up the tower. "I really believe in Canadian security."

A security guard at the Rogers Centre, who declined to give his name, said that no additional security measures had been put in place in response to the RCMP's investigation and the arrests.

"We've been going pretty much the same since 9/11," he said, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

Toronto's tourism industry suffered heavily in the months following the attacks in New York and Washington as the usual stream of visitors from the U.S. slowed to a trickle.

Drew Ogilvie, director of sales and marketing for Toronto Hippo Tours, remembers it as a very difficult time for the then-fledging company.

The SARS scare a few years back also hurt the tour operator, but business has been better since, with about 30,000 people taking a land-and-water excursion on its distinctive vehicles last spring and summer.

Ogilvie estimates that business is up about 30 per cent so far this year. He doesn't expect the arrests to have much of an impact.

"It's not something that is in the top three things that are going to affect tourism," Ogilvie said, adding that the high Canadian dollar, gasoline prices, and perceived border delays probably have more of a detrimental effect.
"I guess you could add it to the list."

Today, tourists from the U.S. account for about 80 per cent of the company's business, though May and June are typically dominated by British visitors.
"Of course the Brits are not really prone to stop their travelling because of security risks. I think they're renowned for travelling under any conditions," Ogilvie said.

Toronto Star

Potential cuts in federal airport money could slow growth at Burlington's airport

2006-06-05T10:53:00.000+01:00

Possible cuts in federal funding for airport construction projects could hinder growth at Burlington International Airport, airport director Brian Searles said.

The state's largest airport, which is in South Burlington, relies on money from the federal Airport Improvement Program to pay for 95 percent of most major building and maintenance projects, Searles said.

Critics of the cuts have predicted that smaller airports such as Burlington could see federal funds slashed by 50 percent. That's bad news for an airport that has seen record-setting numbers of passengers in recent years and has some $38 million in projects planned for the next eight years, Searles said.

"The aviation industry is very unhappy about this proposal," he said. "We have an industry here that is expanding. There are more and more people who want to fly, and airports are working hard to accommodate those people, and to cut funding by 20 percent with business increases doesn't make any sense to me."

The Bush administration has proposed cutting $950 million out of the $3.7 billion in Airport Improvement Program money that Congress included in the fiscal year 2007 budget. The federal fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

The cuts would allow work to continue on projects under way and keep the focus on reducing congestion in airports and making air travel safer, according to the Bush administration. The airport industry and House Democrats are trying to reverse the cuts as Congress writes the federal budget, a process that typically lasts into late September.

"I am not cynical enough to think that Congress will take care of this and I can go play tennis now. We have to make the case," said Greg Principato, president of Airports Council International-North America. "Taking a billion dollars of what's available for capital-improvement projects at a time when the system is adding passengers at a very fast clip just doesn't make sense."

Airport Council International estimates the country's airports require a total of $14 billion a year -- more than the grant program provides -- to make air travel safer and smoother for passengers.

Airports can use Airport Improvement Program money on most capital improvements related to safety, capacity, security and environmental concerns, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

A total of 3,364 airports receive improvement grants.

For its fiscal 2007, which starts July 1, the Burlington airport has $7.5 million in projects that would qualify for the funding, Searles said. This fiscal year, $9.9 million in projects were funded through the program.

The airport has a master plan that started in 2004 and runs through 2014 that includes $60 million in projects, $22 million of which has been spent, Searles said.

Darryl Jenkins, an aviation consultant, said airports in hundreds of small and medium-sized towns in rural America would be disproportionately hit if the money is cut because they rely more on the grants for capital projects compared with big airports such as New York's Kennedy International, Chicago's O'Hare or Atlanta's Hartsfield.

Burlington is considered a small hub, Searles said.

Smaller communities don't have a large number of airlines operating out of their airports. That means they don't get millions of dollars in fees, landing charges and rents that airlines pay metropolitan hubs, Jenkins said.

Smaller airports also don't have the assets to issue bonds and attract private investment as the big airports can.

In May, 47 House Democrats said in a letter to their colleagues who set federal spending levels that slashing a program that has provided airports, large and small, with billions of dollars since 1982 is shortsighted.

They said the Bush plan would change the formula the FAA uses to award yearly grants. Under the proposed revisions, the critics wrote, airports serving more than 10,000 passengers a year could see reductions of as much as 50 percent, and the country's 2,500 tiniest airports could lose the $150,000 each now receives.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey defended the cuts recently saying that many federal programs must be trimmed to pay for the Iraq war and rebuild the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Besides, Blakey said, 95 percent of the country's airfields are in fine shape, and airports can still receive federal funds through other grant programs. However, those programs do not guarantee a minimum yearly payment.

"There are probably going to be some rehabilitation projects that will have to be deferred, but that is not going to affect either the safety or capacity of our system. I think we are, in fact, exceeding our goal," Blakey said.

Since 2001, the Bush administration has provided "very robust funding" through the grant program, she said. "Some of the smaller airports have had what would be characterized as quite extensive funding."

Searles noted that much of the airport's master plan is focused on necessary maintenance of runways and facilities.

"This 10-year plan looks out into the future at planned rehabilitation or reconstruction of just about everything on the airfield," Searles said. Burlington doesn't have many options to replace the funding if it were cut, he said. The airport raises money from businesses such as car rental companies and from the airlines in the terminal.

"We work hard to remain competitive with other airports at a time when the airline industry is struggling to become profitable again. This would be not time to raise terminal rents," Searles said.

Burlingtonfreepress.com

Airlines On-Time Performance in April Better Than March But Slips from Previous Year

2006-06-05T09:19:00.000+01:00

The nation’s largest airlines recorded a rate of on-time flights this past April that was higher than March’s rate but down slightly from April 2005, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released Thursday (June 1) by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 20 carriers reporting on-time performance in April recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 78.4 percent for the month, down from April 2005’s 83.4 percent but an improvement over March 2006’s 76.1 percent.

The monthly report also includes data on flight cancellations and causes of flight delays, as well as information on reports of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report also includes information required to be filed by U.S. carriers of incidents involving pets traveling by air.

This report includes on-time and mishandled baggage data for Aloha Airlines, which voluntarily submitted reports starting in April. Aloha previously submitted voluntary on-time and mishandled baggage data from October 2000 through October 2001, but never has been required to file the reports.

Cancellations
The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In April, the carriers canceled 1.1 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, down from both the 1.3 percent cancellation rate of April 2005 and the 1.2 percent rate recorded in March 2006.

Causes of Flight Delays
The carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 6.99 percent of their April flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 7.86 percent in March 2006; 6.83 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 7.42 percent in March; 5.69 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 6.27 percent in March; 0.70 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.81 in March; and 0.08 percent for security reasons, the same percentage as March. Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.

Data collected by BTS also show the percentage of overall flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In April, 42.45 percent of flights were delayed by weather, down 0.72 percent from April 2005, when 42.76 percent of flights were delayed by weather, and down 8.39 percent from March when 46.34 percent of flights were delayed by weather.

Detailed information on flight delays and their causes is available on the BTS site on the World Wide Web at www.bts.gov.

Mishandled Baggage
The U.S. carriers reporting flight delay and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.27 reports per 1,000 passengers in April, down from both April 2005’s 5.28 rate and March 2006’s 5.81 mark.

Incidents Involving Pets
In April, carriers reported six incidents involving pets while traveling by air, compared to two reports in March. In April three pets died during air travel, two were injured and one was lost. Carriers first began reporting pet incidents in May 2005.

Complaints About Airline Service
In April, the Department received 705 complaints from consumers about airline service, up 8.6 percent from the 649 complaints received in April 2005 but 0.6 percent fewer than the 709 filed in March 2006.

Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in April against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 36 disability-related complaints in April, 2.7 percent fewer than the 37 received in April 2005 but 20 percent more than the 30 filed in March 2006.

Complaints About Discrimination
In April, the Department received eight complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or sex – compared to the totals of six complaints filed in April 2005 and 11 in March 2006.

Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, Room 4107, 400 7th St. SW, Washington, DC 20590; by e-mail at airconsumer@dot.gov; by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.

Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline ticket offices or their travel agents. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents.

The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s World Wide Web site at airconsumer.ost.dot.gov. It is available in “pdf” and Microsoft Word format.

Air Travel Consumer Report April 2006
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 20 Reporting Carriers

Overall
78.4 percent on-time arrivals

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian Airlines – 94.3 percent
2. Comair – 85.1 percent
3. Frontier Airlines – 83.6 percent

Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates
1. ATA Airlines – 65.2 percent
2. American Eagle Airlines – 72.2 percent
3. Continental Airlines – 72.7 percent

Most Frequently Delayed Flights
1. ATA Airlines flight 4234 from Houston to New York LaGuardia – late 100 percent of the time
2. ATA Airlines flight 4233 from New York LaGuardia to Houston – late 100 percent of the time
3. ATA Airlines flight 4232 from Houston to New York LaGuardia – late 96.55 percent of the time
4. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2669 from Newark, NJ to Kansas City, MO – late 96 percent of the time
5. SkyWest Airlines flight 6174 from Monterey, CA to San Francisco – late 89.66 percent of the time

Highest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Aloha Airlines – 10.8 percent
2. American Eagle Airlines – 2.7 percent
3. Mesa Airlines – 2.7 percent

Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. JetBlue Airways – 0.0 percent*
2. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.1 percent
3. Frontier Airlines – 0.1 percent
*JetBlue canceled two flights in April.

U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)

International defence equipment exhibition opens in Bulgaria

2006-06-05T09:16:00.000+01:00

The seventh Hemus International Defence Equipment Exhibition opened in Plovdiv on May 31.

Hemus 2006, being held at the International Fairground, brings to Bulgaria defence and aviation giants interested in Bulgaria’s military modernisation.

This year’s attendance is expected to top all previous records. The exhibition was opened by Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov. Under the patronage of President Georgi Purvanov, the forum continues until June 3. Organisers of the event are National Organising Committee, Foundation Hemus’95 and International Fair – Plovdiv.

For the first two days after its official opening on May 31, the exhibition was open only to specialists, traders and businessmen bearing invitations. For the remaining day, the event is open to the public from 10am to 5pm. For security reasons, people below 16 are not allowed into the exhibition, and carrying weapons within the exhibition is prohibited.

The first such exhibition was held in November 1994 at the Plovdiv fairgrounds and, since then, has been held during the last week of May every second year.

Its main purpose is to offer to Bulgarian and foreign participants and visitors an opportunity to establish and maintain close contacts between the country’s defence industry companies and leading manufacturers from NATO member countries with a view to joint production and design of modern armaments and overhaul of weapons and equipment.

The exhibition offers opportunities to discuss and share experiences and opinions about the latest issues related to research in the interest of defence, the defence industry, integration of production and modernisation and development of armament and combat equipment and their operational and technical compatibility.

The Hemus exhibition is intended for all Bulgarian and legal residents and entities and non-profit organisations that carry out research and development activities, manufacturing or trade in the field of defence equipment.

The subject sections are as follows: land forces; air forces; navy; antiterrorist equipment; and equipment and technologies of general use in military support activities.

Accompanying the event is the third International Conference on Euro-Atlantic Integration in Defence Research and Technology – Guaranteeing Future Capabilities, held June 1-3. This conference offers opportunities to discuss and share experience and opinions about the latest issues related to research in the interest of defence, the defence industry, integration of production and modernisation and development of armament and combat equipment and their operational and technical compatibility.

Another activity will be a shooting demonstration. Demonstration shooting will take place at the Central Artillery Technical Test Range on June 1 from 5:30pm to 7:20pm. The organisers provide transport to the range by bus, which departs at 3pm on June 1 from the parking lot in front of Pavilion 12 of the International Fair – Plovdiv.

Company presentations and seminars will be held on June 1-3.

Together with domestic participants, the list of the countries taking part in the exhibition is considerably long. The highest number of participants comes from Germany (16 companies), followed by the US with 14 entrants, and Poland and Italy with 11 and nine participating companies, respectively.

Nine countries, including Austria, Denmark, China and Lithuania, are participating for the first time in the exhibition.

Other participants come from the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Luxembourg,the Netherlands, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Among the companies are Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The Sofia Echo

City must make crucial decision regarding airport

2006-06-05T09:14:00.000+01:00

As Macon's City Council starts to ponder the 2007 budget, it has to answer some fundamental questions about a number of departments. One is the management of the Middle Georgia Regional Airport. Interim Airports Director Mike Anthony is doing double duty (He's also the parks and recreation director). He met with council's Appropriations Committee Thursday to go over the airports' budget.

Since the firing of George Brown, the city has laid out almost $100,000 to bring the airport into compliance with Federal Aviation Administration standards and the Transportation Security Administration. The budget Anthony brought is $1.94 million, $200,000 more than last year.

The fundamental question council needs to answer can't be found going over the budget line-by-line. While the talents of council are many, running airports in the post 9/11 world is not one of them. There are rules and regulations that translate to extra costs. The airports' budget reflects two additional positions for operations coordinators that will handle safety. In this case safety translates to security.

While Anthony is better suited than most other department heads to handle the airport because of his military background, council has to decide if it can find a manager with all of the skills needed to run the airports, or would it be better served to privatize the operations. TBI Airport Management was hired to bring the airports into compliance after the real threat that the FAA and TSA would shut the Middle Georgia Regional Airport to commercial traffic.

The challenges at the airport will not go away. If anything, the security requirements will tighten. It will take money and professional management to make sure the systems keep pace. It won't matter to the FAA or TSA that the city is low on cash and can't purchase a required piece of equipment.

There are possibilities that the airport could receive additional services from more flights by ASA to a charter service that would fly passengers to the Washington-Baltimore area. Council has to take those possibilities with a grain of salt. More than one-year ago it was promised that a second airline would begin service. Instead, the lack of adequate security caused officials to downgrade the airport to a Class IV status. That meant airplanes with more than 60 seats were not permitted. Though security concerns were fixed, ASA cut its daily flights to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport from six to four.

The airport is an asset the city needs to keep up, not just for the general public, but for business interests that use it. It would be a shame after spending $6 million on its renovation that it would sit idle, but that's exactly what could happen if it falls slack in security areas again.

Macon Telegraph

Air Marshal Drops Bullets, Leaves Plane

2006-06-04T12:13:00.000+01:00

A U.S. air marshal removed himself from a Southwest Airlines flight Thursday after dropping a clip of bullets on the floor just before the plane was to take off, an airline spokeswoman said.

The marshal arrived at Midway International Airport on a flight from Philadelphia and was boarding a flight to Kansas City when the clip fell to the floor, scattering bullets, Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger told the Chicago Tribune for a story on its Web site.

"Since he was no longer traveling incognito, he decided not to continue on the flight," Eichinger said, adding that no extra screening of passengers was necessary because officials determined the bullets belonged to the air marshal. "He picked the bullets up immediately."

The flight to Kansas City was delayed 45 minutes because of the incident, she said.

The Federal Air Marshal Service declined to confirm the specifics of the mishap. But agency spokesman Dave Adams said an ammunition clip was located and turned over to the Transportation Security Administration.

The Associated Press

Are we safer now?

2006-06-04T12:07:00.000+01:00

Recent reports about the loss or theft of Transportation Security Administration badges, patches or uniforms from airports around the country, including Portland and SeaTac, highlight the continuing vulnerability of our commercial aviation system to attack or sabotage.

This should trouble anybody who remembers Sept. 11 and assumes the government has acted since then to close the gaps terrorists sauntered through on their way to causing carnage in New York and Washington.

In response to the events of that terrible day five years ago, the White House created -- and Congress approved -- creation of a sprawling bureaucracy called the Department of Homeland Security. It was a cobbled-together superstructure of 22 sub-agencies, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the U.S. Coast Guard, and it was plagued with infighting, recruiting problems and policy uncertainty.

As every air traveler knows, the new department, through the Transportation Security Administration, placed its greatest emphasis on improving airport security. Whether this was the wisest allocation of resources is debatable, but the result has been the hiring of an army of screeners, enforcement of strict new procedures for travelers and their luggage, establishment of a vast new database and other, less-visible changes.

But recent reports in the media and by the General Accounting Office suggest a disturbing lack of progress -- and outright bungling -- that should alarm the people the TSA is supposed to protect.

Most recently, a San Antonio television station used the Freedom of Information Act to get the TSA to acknowledge that its employees had lost track of 1,400 identification items, from badges to shirts, since 2003. Some of them, perhaps, are listed on eBay today.

In a withering report earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office told Congress that the TSA raced to install technologies for its Secure Flight program before it knew how or if they will work to identify suspicious passengers.

In response to that report, TSA director Edmund Hawley said in February he would "re-baseline" the program to make sure it used industry-best practices for implementation and management. This after four years and $130 million has been spent to launch the program.

The agency's screeners have a higher-than-government-average rate of turnover. This stretches the TSA's ability to adequately monitor passenger and cargo traffic at the nation's airports, while making it a constant challenge for the agency to vet, train and retain its workforce.

America's citizens and politicians seem quite willing to debate domestic security measures in the context of broad policy questions, such as illegal immigration and maritime port management. But real security questions are addressed every hour of the day in our airports, where there is disturbingly little sense of urgency.

The Oregonian

States Setting Up Own Homeland Security Panel

2006-06-03T12:42:00.000+01:00

Seeking a bigger say in homeland security decisions, the nation's governors are creating a new, 50-state panel to give the states a single voice on national plans to prepare for threats from terrorists and natural disasters.

The Homeland Security Advisors Council will aim to resolve problems between the federal and state governments that predate the 2002 creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, from intelligence to funding to sharing National Guard resources.

"If we speak with one unified voice, it'll help," said Michael Campion, Minnesota's public safety commissioner and the top aide to Gov. Tim Pawlenty on homeland security. "Absent that, we're not going to do anything. We're a voice in the wilderness."

The council will work through the National Governors Association, with each governor appointing a top security official, the governors' group expected to announce Thursday. The council plans to meet at least twice a year to share best practices and improve interstate communications.

The formation of the council comes a month after a survey of state homeland security directors found widespread dissatisfaction with the way the federal government works with states.

Among the top complaints: limited sharing of intelligence on possible terrorist threats; multiple burdens placed on National Guard troops; and, insufficient preparations for natural disasters and other emergencies.

The council will help inform governors, and will stress to the federal government that states want to be included in planning efforts, said Maj. Gen. Tim Lowenberg, head of the Washington National Guard and director of the state's emergency management division.

Currently, there's no consistent, in-depth communication between the federal DHS and its state counterparts, said Lowenberg, like Campion a member of the council.

"We do have periodic conference calls hosted by the Department of Homeland Security," he said. "Those conference calls rarely last more than 30, 45 minutes."

DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen said coordination with states has been improving, and that the agency has especially stepped up those efforts in advance of hurricane season.

The top challenges facing the states are the same ones that officials were talking about in 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks: improving communications so all agencies responding to a disaster can talk to each other; sharing intelligence information quickly and effectively; building medical capacity to respond to a mass catastrophe.

"People are still feeling their way through this," Campion said. "We don't have the same history as we do in fighting fires, or fighting organized crime. We've got decades of experience with that (while) we've only got five years of this whole terrorism, homeland security thing."

"There's some real challenge to this," he said. "That's why it's important to get these people together."

NewsEdge

Airport users say they are confident in facility's security

2006-06-03T12:33:00.000+01:00

Sometimes it looks as though nobody is home at the Greenwood-Leflore Airport but don't be fooled.

The airport employs a combination of high- and low-tech devices to keep its planes, hangars and runways safe from unauthorized personnel.

In addition to card-controlled gates and perimeter fencing the airport has some full-time residents who are always on the lookout for that out of place vehicle or person who doesn't quite fit in, said two men with ties to the airport.

"There's nobody coming through here that we do not know," said Bob Provine, president of Provine Helicopter Service Inc., which occupies a large hangar at the airport.

Provine credits the card security system - located at all but two of the airport's gates - with limiting access to the airport. The last two gates are secured by padlocks and chains, he said.

"The electronic locks work in areas where there's a lot of traffic," Provine said.

Provine's operation also entails the regular cycling of crews out of the airport. Those crews stay in quarters right on airport grounds. Those accommodations are referred to as the "Provine Motel," he said.

"As my crews come through, we might have as many as six people staying out here at any given time," Provine said.
He said the personnel are quick to notice things out of the ordinary, such as a vehicle or person that is seemingly out of place.

Bobby Meadows, who owns B&M Aircraft Services LLC, which is located in the old Provine hangar at the airport, also lives at the airport full-time, Provine said.

Another layer of security is furnished by P.C., a dog which claims the airport as part of his turf, Provine said.
"He came up here about five years ago. He guards his end of the airport very well," Provine said.

He said an added safeguard is that most of the airport's airplanes are housed inside secure hangars every night.
"When the sun goes down, there's probably not a half dozen airplanes outside. It's very secure," Provine said.

Provine said he has added to his own security plan with the installation of "kill switches" on his aircraft. The switches, subject to Federal Aviation Administration, are installed at various points on the aircraft.

If the switches are not shutoff, the airplane can't be started, he said.

Bob Swanzy, a general aviation fan who has a plane out at the airport, said security isn't something he gives a lot of thought to.

"I have no concern about it. I haven't had anybody to mention it to me," he said.

The card system seems to work pretty well given the amount of traffic out at the airport daily, Swanzy said.
Bardin Redditt, the airport's manager, said the card system is slowly being replaced by a radio transmitter system, similar to those used to open and close a garage door.

He said while the card-reading system is not as satisfactory as it could be, he has been gradually tightening the list of authorized users that have access to the airport.

"We started a year ago having a yearly changing of the code. That requires revalidating the cards each year," Redditt said.

The card-reading units, which cost $950 apiece, are vulnerable to lightning strikes and that has prompted the move to the radio transmitter system.

Still, the airport's security system relies on people who are out at the airport on a daily basis, he said.

"We've got people out there that know people. That helps a lot," Redditt said.

Greenwood Commonwealth

No more driving in circles at airports

2006-06-03T12:26:00.000+01:00

Chicago's airports soon will have free parking lots where drivers picking up passengers will be able to wait for a cell phone call before pulling up to the "arrivals" lanes.

The lots, located within five minutes of the terminals at O'Hare International and Midway Airports, open Monday, providing areas for motorists to wait without having to pay to park, waste precious gas or risk ticketing and towing.

The new so-called "cell phone lots" are opening as aviation officials are predicting what could be the busiest air travel season nationwide since 2000.

"It would sure beat circling the airport or getting tickets from the police," said traveler Mike Desmond of Oak Park, who encountered his first cell phone lot recently when he flew to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

More than 30 U.S. airports have similar lots, part of an effort to tighten security after the terrorist attacks in 2001, according to Airports Council International of North America.

Los Angeles International Airport was among the first, and General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee opened a cell phone lot last year.

Officials acknowledge it is long overdue in Chicago. At O'Hare, about 50,000 vehicles a day tie up traffic and belch emissions as they pass along the roadways outside the terminals, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

"This is something that is desperately needed at O'Hare and Midway to improve safety, reduce pollution caused by idling vehicles and deter drivers from circling numerous times around the terminal core or stopping on the shoulder of [Interstate Highway 190 at O'Hare] to wait for the call," said Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez.

From the dawn of the jet age until the 2001 terrorist attacks, people picking up family members or friends at the airport would often pay to park then walk to the terminal to meet their travelers at the gate with a kiss and a hug.

The custom ended when access to the concourses was restricted to ticketed passengers after the attacks.

Concerns about car-bombers outside terminals led to stepped-up enforcement of no-parking rules on the roadway outside baggage claim areas. That has led to runaround and confusion in the arrivals lanes.

The cell phone lot at O'Hare has 150 spaces carved out of economy parking Lot F, off Bessie Coleman Drive. Signs directing drivers to the lot are posted on Mannheim and Zemke Roads and on I-190.

Lot F, which was closed after the steep decline in air travel after 2001, is reopening to handle the surge in O'Hare travelers. The lot has about 3,000 spaces.

The 90-space cell phone lot at Midway is at 61st Street and Cicero Avenue, south of the main airport entrance. Signs were scheduled to be installed over the weekend on Cicero Avenue and the roadway outside the terminal, officials said.

Drivers waiting in the cell phone lots must remain in their vehicles, and parking in the lots is limited to one hour, officials said. Violators will be ticketed or towed.

A projected 3 percent increase in passengers going through O'Hare would put a squeeze on parking. Repairs to a major surface lot also will contribute to the parking crunch.

The 6,916-space economy Lot E, located next to the airport transit system, or People Mover, is being resurfaced in three phases, causing partial shutdowns of the lot, officials said.

Some 2,489 spaces in Lot E will be off-limits Monday through June 20; 1,862 spaces will be closed June 21 through July 6; and 1,649 spaces will be closed for resurfacing July 7 through July 22, according to the Aviation Department.

O'Hare has about 22,300 parking spaces.

Passenger traffic at Midway has increased almost 15 percent since last year, the department said. The trend is expected to continue due to more flights planned by Southwest Airlines and Air Tran Airlines.

A second parking garage opened in December at the Southwest Side airport. The 6,300-space garage, at 55th Street and Laramie Avenue, increases the total number of spaces to 13,000.

Travelers driving to O'Hare or Midway can sign up at www.flychicago.com to receive e-mails providing real-time updates on parking availability. The status of parking facilities also is posted on the Web site.

Chicago Tribune

Aviation Parkway Closed After Fatal Wreck

2006-06-02T14:40:00.000+01:00

MORRISVILLE, N.C. - Much of Aviation Parkway near Raleigh-Durham International Airport was closed Friday morning following a fatal accident, authorities said.
Southbound lanes were closed at National Guard Drive, and northbound traffic was limited to one lane, authorities said.

A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper stopped a Honda Accord with two men inside on Wade Avenue for speeding shortly before 5 a.m. As the trooper approached the car, the driver sped off, and a chase ensued, authorities said.

The driver exited Interstate 40 at Aviation heading the wrong way and slammed into a Waste Industries truck, authorities said. The unidentified driver was killed, and his passenger and the driver of the garbage truck, Renald Griffin, were injured, authorities said.

Officers said the force of the crash was so hard that the garbage truck overturned onto the car.

RDU officials urged motorists headed to the airport on I-40 to take the Airport Boulevard or Interstate 540 exits to Aviation Parkway.

NBC 17