Paying Tribute

The Flight Safety Foundation recognized aviation achievements around the world at its 62nd Annual International Air Safety Seminar in Beijing, China. Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer William R. Voss presented the awards at a ceremony in front of more than 300 hundred attendees.

The World Food Program's Aviation Safety Unit (ASU) was awarded an FSF President's Citation, which was accepted by Cesar Arroyo, chief of the ASU. The ASU has greatly improved the safety of these operations. It developed continuous data monitoring, enhanced training standards and information sharing as key parts of its effort to improve safety.

The Richard Teller Crane Founder's Award to recognize sustained corporate leadership in support of aviation safety was presented to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for raising international safety standards through its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program, the Partnership for Safety Program and safety workshops.

Hindsight, a product of EUROCONTROL, received the Cecil A. Brownlow Publication Award. This award is presented to journalists, publications or organzations for significant contributions in raising awareness of aviation safety issues.

The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award was presented to Nicholas Sabatini, formerly an associate administrator for aviation safety at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, for his strategic vision, leadership and advocacy of sharing aviation safety data and resources.

Forum to Explore Air Traffic Challenges

Top regional and international air traffic control leaders will explore challenges facing the skies at a conference in Abu Dhabi next month. Regional Air Traffic Control (ATC) and aviation growth and issues relating to capacity, plans and difficulties, will be debated at the ATC Global Middle East Conference to be held from December 14-16. The conference, presented by ATC Global Conference & Exhibition, will be hosted by the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The issues that will be in the spotlight are: managing the rapid increase in air traffic and filling in the holes in radar and infrastructure coverage, the need for a strategic coordinating body and the lack of regional coordination. Organizers say the conference will provide a platform for a discussion and debate of these issues that will lead to solutions essential for ensuring the sustainability and safety of the Middle East's ambitious aviation development strategies. Keynote speakers include Dr Majdi Sabri, regional vice president of Middle East and North Africa, IATA; Mohammed Khonji, regional director of ICAO; and Baumgartner.

MIA Gets ASDE-X

Miami International Airport is now operating with the Sensis Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), an advanced ground surveillance system that provides air traffic controllers with increased situational awareness of surface operations and runway incursion detection and alerting. Miami is the 20th airport to receive ASDE-X through the FAA's ASDE-X program that will bring the technology to 35 airports. ASDE-X combines surface movement radar, multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS- B) surveillance information to provide air traffic controllers with highly accurate, real-time position and identification information of all aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface. By integrating multiple surveillance technologies, the system delivers a comprehensive picture of ground operations, increasing controller situational awareness and improving airport safety in all weather conditions. The system also features advanced runway conflict detection and alerting technology, Safety Logic, which uses complex algorithms to alert controllers of potential aircraft and/or vehicle incursions. ASDE-X is compatible with NextGen systems such as ADS-B.

Omniflight on Alert

Omniflight Helicopters has committed to adding Appareo Systems' Aircraft Logging and Event Recording for Training and Safety (ALERTS FDM) system to a number of its aircraft. Under the agreement, Omniflight will begin equipping 35 of its aircraft with the ALERTS system, a hardware and software package that captures all aspects of each flight using an innovative, lightweight inertial measurement device designed specifically for light and legacy aircraft. ALERTS combines flight data recording, monitoring and three-dimensional flight recreation to help aircraft operators minimize risks to their fleets. The system helps pilots maintain safe flying practices by tracking each flight in detail, then automatically analyzing it to be sure that all aspects of the flight were within acceptable limits. Each of the 35 Omniflight aircraft will be outfitted with Appareo's GAU 2000 flight data monitoring device which collects and stores flight information on both a removable SD memory card and an internal crash-hardened flash memory unit. After each shift, flight crews remove the SD card and transfer the information to Appareo's servers using a specialized computer. This data is automatically parsed and compared against a set of standard operating procedures created by Omniflight. If any aspect of a flight falls outside of those criteria, a report is generated and sent to Omniflight's safety analysts. After receiving the report, the analyst can download and watch the flight in a rich 3-D format to determine if the matter warrants further attention.

FAA Awards $106M Contract to SAIC

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a prime contract by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide program management and technical services in support of the agency's NextGen transformation program efforts. The single-award, indefinite-delivery/requirements contract has a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options and total value of more than $106 million if all options are exercised.

Radar Systems for Saudi Arabia

Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) has been awarded a major contract by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for nationwide air traffic management surveillance based upon Cooperative Surveillance systems. The contract will enable the extension of radar surveillance for air traffic control throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will deliver both a substantial enhancement of flight safety for the rapidly growing domestic airline sector and also improve the efficiency of the Saudi Arabias air traffic management system. The program provides for the supply of radar systems, together with their supporting infrastructure, for en route services as well as for radar approach control at the Kingdoms major international airports. Additionally Raytheon will establish within Saudi Arabia a regional maintenance facility that will support not only systems being supplied to GACA, but also a significant number of systems already deployed in the region for other Air Navigation Service Providers.

Nigerian Airports Modernized

All Weather, Inc. (AWI) has been selected to outfit seven airfields throughout Nigeria with state-of-the-art Lightning Detection and Reporting Systems. Nigeria is a country with frequent and heavy lightning activity making uninformed air travel hazardous. With the installation of the AWI Lightning Detection and Reporting Systems, air travel to and among the destinations of Nigeria is greatly enhanced. "Nigeria is a great example of the benefits of Lightning Detection technology," said Steve Glander, international sales manager of AWI. "The airfields using the AWI Lightning Detection and Reporting System are scattered across the country of Nigeria. Using this system will help route air traffic out of harm's way making air travel both safer and more efficient." The Lightning Sensor, developed by AWI, is an FAA, ICAO & WMO compliant, unmanned system that provides up- to-the-minute lightning data to airport personnel, pilots, and meteorological offices.

AWI eFAST Deal with FAA

All Weather, Inc. (AWI) is participating in the Electronic FAA Accelerated and Simplified Tasks (eFAST) program. AWI has joint ventured with American Operations Corporation (AOC) to form AOC Aviation Services to pursue FAA contracts associated with the eFAST program. The eFAST program is a multi-year MOA program offering a unique avenue for Small Businesses to offer its services in a number of labor categories. The eFAST program will be the FAA's preferred acquisition vehicle for meeting the FAA's Small Business goals. Jason Hall, president of AWI said "the eFAST program will be a great way to show the contributions Small Businesses can make to further FAA program objectives and its overall mission". AWI develops high accuracy; high dependability weather information systems that help users minimize risks in an unpredictable world. The company provides AWOS aviation weather systems, air traffic control display systems, as well as a wide range of high accuracy meteorological sensors and systems, including laser ceilometers, runway visual range systems, lightning detection sensors, and a variety of other meteorological sensors.