FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0028.PDF
28 FLIGHT DC-7Cs of S.A.S.—one is seen here for the first time in house livery—have been used on the airline's transpolar routes since last Octo- ber. In the first two years of transpolar opera- tion S.A.S, achieved load factors of 73 per cent. CIVIL AVIATION ... IN SOUTH AFRICA BOEING 707 and Douglas DC-8 services to South Africa willpresent the Union with a sizeable runway problem. Jan Smuts, Johannesburg (5,559ft), is one of the highest major airportsin the world. But the challenge has been accepted, and advanced planning for the necessary operational, technical and administra-tive changes has already begun. Recently the South African Secretary for Transport, Mr. J. P. Gibson, met senior representa-tives of all the international airlines operating into South Africa; and he invited them to acquaint his department with the prepara-tion that will be required. The airline officials said that the coastal runways needed for thebig jets would have to be at least 7,000ft long, and at Johannesburg a runway up to 14,000ft long would have to be provided. Thepresent length of the main runway is 10,500ft. The Boeing 707, at a take-off weight of over 250,000 lb would, they estimate, need13,500ft at maximum temperature; and the runway thickness would have to be increased. Also considered to be of major im-portance by the airlines are improvements in the co-ordination of air traffic control; faster and more reliable communication systems;and a new appreciation of despatch procedures. More attention would also have to be devoted by meteorologists to hourly weatherforecasts. A shortage of pilots is another South African problem: fewerthan six qualified commercial pilots a year are being trained to replace those—mostly wartime-trained ex-Service pilots—who areleaving flying jobs. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots' Association is advocating governmental training schemes similar to thosewhich existed before the war. Another suggestion to alleviate this situation has been put forward by a charter company, whichproposes that the government should allow private firms to run subsidized feeder airlines in the Union to provide some prospectof employment for embryo pilots. DISCUSSING AIR SAFETY MUCH of the patient behind-the-scenes work of InternationalCivil Aviation Organization conferences is revealed only when the reports of individual organizations are published. Thenthe conflict of opinions and the painstaking process of proposal and amendment that leads to equitable solutions—or resolutionsfor further study—is made clear. From the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associa-tions came well documented reports of their work at the I.C.A.O. Third Air Navigation Conference in Montreal in September andOctober. Considerable variance of opinion is frequently expressed in the sub-committee and committee stage before agreement isfinally reached; and I.F.A.L.P.A., we learn, is careful to prepare for its delegates a comprehensive brief on the many subjects inwhich the Federation has a close interest. Typical of the discussions leading to an amendment of therelevant annex was the part of the conference dealing with the privileges of the aircraft maintenance engineer invested inapproved organizations—a concept with which I.F.A.L.P.A. strongly disagree (we summarized their reasons on p. 131 of Flightfor July 20). Another point of view is that, in any case, engineers' Hcences would have to be revised completely when the big jetsneared completion, and the Federation therefore concentrated upon obtaining acceptance of their principle that "where mattersof aircraft safety are concerned there should be no allocation of individual responsibility without proof of the professional com-petence of that individual. The assessment of ... competence should be made ... by the State." The opposite view was taken by a group headed by the Inter-national Air Transport Association, who suggested that the responsibilities could be left to the operator, as the State carried the final responsibility anyway. But by the end of the sub-committee stage the I.F.A.L.P.A. resolution had received some backing. Further discussion and consideration in the committeestage led to diminished support for I.F.A.L.P.A. policy, and the amendment to I.C.A.O. Annex 1 (Personnel Licensing) that waseventually hammered out from the proposals recommended that: "where the privileges of [the holder of an aircraft maintenanceengineer's licence] are vested in an approved organization, the contracting State shall ensure by the requirements it imposes forapproval of the organization that an equivalent level of com- petency is maintained. In such an approved organization, theContracting State shall ensure that the privilege of issuing a maintenance release is restricted to individuals who are not lessthan 21 years of age and who have knowledge and experience equivalent to that [required by the Annex]." Although this amendment (which has still to be approved bythe I.C.A.O. council) by no means completely endorses I.F.A.L.P.A.'s point of view, it serves as an excellent exampleof the contribution that the pilots' federation makes to the pre- paration and amendment of I.C.A.O.'s International Standardsand Recommended Practices. The Federation's agitation for the highest standard of air safetyextends to many phases of aircraft operation and design. No one is better qualified to pronounce on flying control "feel" than thepilots, and it is of particular interest to note the adoption—as an item for future work—of I.F.A.L.P.A.'s policy on flight controlsinto the I.C.A.O. report. For over two years the Federation have been pressing for special precautions to be taken where low stick-forces for a given response are encountered. The requirement of the I.C.A.O. report is now worded "If the control forces (includ-ing but not confined to stick-forces per unit normal acceleration) are unusually light or do not vary in the usual manner with speed,special precautions are taken to ensure that the risk of structural damage is not thereby increased." The I.C.A.O. member Stateshave been invited to exchange information on this item. Further discussion at subsequent conferences may then result in an "accept-able means of compliance" being formulated. GREAT CIRCLES OVER THE PACIFIC SUBJECT to approval by C.A.B. and President Eisenhower, PanAmerican World Airways have been granted permission to operate a Great Circle route across the Pacific to Tokyo. Theapproval-recommendation by a C.A.B. examiner, Mr. William Cusick, represents at least a partial victory for PanAm in theirlong campaign for Great Circle routes from the West Coast to the Orient. The airline at present operates to Tokyo from LosAngeles and San Francisco via Honolulu. PanAm's application has been strongly contested by NorthwestAirlines, who serve Tokyo from Seattle and from Portland, Oregon, and already fly a Great Circle route on some eastbound services(on flights between the West Coast and Tokyo a stop is made at Anchorage, Alaska). The C.A.B. examiner's Solomon-like appor-tionment of traffic between the two airlines will allow PanAm to operate its Pacific Great Circle route from Los Angeles and SanFrancisco, but avoids direct competition by refusing a further application from PanAm to operate services to the Orient fromNorthwest's Seattle and Portland terminals. Mr. Cusick concluded that direct competition would have adisastrous effect upon Northwest, and one that might result in a request for the reintroduction of government subsidies. Bothairlines—with the carriage of increased passenger traffic (26,715 in 1952 and 51,800 in 1955) and military mail—have become self-supporting since 1952, when $12.7m subsidy was paid. Although Northwest can expect to lose some passengers to PanAm, furthergrowth of trans-Pacific traffic (the C.A.B. examiner thought that
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
