AIR SAFETY WEEK :: FEBRUARY 11, 2008

NASA Unveils $17.6 Billion Budget
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seeks $17.6 billion for fiscal year 2009 to continue exploring the solar system and building the International Space Station, while also conducting aeronautics research. NASA says the increase for FY 2009 demonstrates President Bush's commitment to the...

DHS Plans 6.8 Percent Spending Increase in FY 2009 Budget
President Bush's Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) represents $50.5 billion in funding, an increase of nearly seven percent over the 2008 fiscal year level. "This is a strong and fiscally sound budget that funds vital areas of our mission, including border...

Clearinghouse Facilitates Aviation Worker Background Checks
The Transportation Security Clearinghouse (TSC), the largest civilian clearinghouse in the United States, recently surpassed the three million mark for facilitating biometrically based background checks for aviation workers. The TSC has also successfully handled more than 1.6 million biographical background...

NTSB Probing Smoke in Boeing Cockpits
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident that occurred on January 30 in which an American Airlines B757-200, Flight 1738, en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Philadelphia, diverted to West Palm Beach, FL, making an emergency landing after the cockpit filled with smoke. Of the...

Fatal Alaska Crash Remains a Mystery  
The Jan. 5 crash of a Servant Air charter flight in Kodiak, Alaska might have been precipitated by a forward luggage door that opened minutes after the twin-engine Piper PA-31- 350 (N509FN) took off. The fatal crash remains under investigation, but National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) records show two...

Criminalization of Pilots Again on Trial
The recent arrest of a Garuda Indonesia Airways captain on manslaughter charges has reignited industry protest against accident criminalization involving pilots and air traffic controllers. Indonesian authorities charged Capt. Marwoto Komar with criminal acts, saying the Boeing 737-400 pilot ignored repeated...

GAO to Assess NASA Aviation Safety Data
The U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology has asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to analyze massive amounts of data on U.S. air safety that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made public late last year. NASA acquired the data as part of the National Aviation...

VLJ Integration into European Airspace
Eurocontrol is developing a simulation to establish how Very Light Jets (VLJs) can be integrated into European airspace. According to research studies conducted by the agency, there are about 440 VLJs currently on order for operation in Europe, of which at least 230 will be delivered by the end of 2010...

Accidents & Incidents
Date Aircraft Type Narrative Death/Injury Remarks 29 Oct 1358L Santa Ana ( John Wayne Airport - SNA) California Raytheon Corporate Jets Hawker Reg: N800CC Upon the 3rd take-off attempt, using 3 mins and 9 mins elapsed intervals, the left maingear overheated and tire blew. Hydraulic line was severed when the...

Significant Regulatory Activity
The FAA, at American Airline's request, has extended the Aviation Safety Action Partnership program (ASAP) by 90 days. Temporary reprieve was granted as an expedient while airline executives and union officials continue to bicker over how to fairly administer the program. ASAP has been around since 1994. It...

Safety News in Brief
Conditional clearances, issued routinely by Dubai Ground (DXB) to a large disparate international group of pilots is not a good practice. "cleared to cross runway after landing traffic on final...." =trouble. " The above phraseology should never be heard from the mouth of any controller, nor...

Security Roundup
Date Incident 08 Feb Police say a Somali woman charged with trying to hijack Air New Zealand flight 2279 wanted to go to Australia. The 33-year-old allegedly threatened to blow up the 19-seat plane and stabbed two pilots in the cockpit - one in the hand and the other in the foot. Police say she claimed two...