Rosekind Nominated for NTSB

The White House has nominated Mark R. Rosekind, Ph.D., an expert on fatigue and its effects on productivity and safe flight operations, to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The nomination was announced on Sept. 30. Dr. Rosekind has gained international recognition for translating sleep and circadian (body clock) science into practical, effective strategies that enhance performance, safety and health. He currently serves as president and chief scientist of California-based Alertness Solutions. If confirmed, his term would expire Dec. 31, 2014. A former director of the NASA Fatigue Countermeasures Program, Dr. Rosekind has more than 25 years' experience in conducting aviation research. Rosekind previously served as chief of the Aviation Operations Branch (human factors activities) in the NASA Ames Flight Management and Human Factors Division. "We are pleased with Dr. Rosekind's nomination to the NTSB," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "His exhaustive research and acclaimed studies have provided proven strategies that have helped many companies address challenges related to pilot fatigue. Given the aviation community's renewed focus on fatigue in recent months, we believe Dr. Rosekind is the right addition to the Safety Board at the right time."

Lawsuit Filed in Hudson Mid-air Collision

The widow of a Piper PA32 pilot that collided with a Eurocopter AS350 on August 8 over the Hudson River has filed a lawsuit against the helicopter's owners, manufacturer and insurance companies. Pamela Altman, wife of Steven Altman, filed the suit in federal court alleging recklessness on the part of the helicopter operator. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the crash.

Technology to Improve Aviation Safety

ITT says new technology it is implementing will dramatically improve aviation safety and efficiency in the Gulf of Mexico while reducing passenger delays and greenhouse gas emissions. The company is planning to help bring the same technology to other areas across the United States in 2010, including New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles. The new technology -- called Automatic Dependent Surveillance -- Broadcast, or ADS-B -- will enable air traffic to be managed more efficiently, allowing airplanes to use more direct routes to save fuel and reduce flight times. ADS-B is the backbone of the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, the Federal Aviation Administration's effort to steadily transform the ground-based air traffic control system of today to a more efficient, satellite-based system of the future. Specific benefits ADS-B will include: greater safety, an ADS-B pilot program in Alaska coincided with a 47% decrease in accident rate; comprehensive tracking, GPS technology now allows the path of aircraft to be tracked anywhere -- on the ground or in the air; and shorter flight times due to more direct routes. ADS-B will also address challenges specific to airspace over the Gulf of Mexico, one of the most highly trafficked airspaces in the world with hundreds of commercial airline flights and more than 600 helicopters operating every day to service 9,000 offshore oil and gas platforms. Currently, radar coverage exists in a very limited area, requiring the application of inefficient air traffic control procedures.

Harris Researchers Address NextGen

Harris experts are developing technology solutions for the security and safety challenges associated with fielding of the NextGen Air Transportation System. For example, Mark Graham, Harris chief systems engineer and architect for FAA Next Generation air traffic management systems is working on new security challenges that are being created as the National Airspace System (NAS) evolves from a tactical-oriented system architecture used for controlling airspace to a network-centric enterprise architecture for managing airspace. On the other hand, Tom Hicks, principal investigator at Harris for NextGen Aviation Weather IR&D, is focused on how the new Harris Aviation Weather Avoidance Service (AWAS) tool addresses a core weather requirement of NextGen: the ability to identify where and when aircraft can or cannot safely fly. Hicks notes that trajectory-based operations are a foundational element of NextGen. AWAS utilizes a four dimensional trajectory (4DT) to continuously evaluate an aircraft's position in space and time to support better decision-making with regard to weather conditions and forecasts for thunderstorms, turbulence, icing, ceiling and visibility. Designed to interface with the NextGen 4D Weather Cube, AWAS was developed through a cooperative research agreement between Harris and the Army Research Laboratory.