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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1417.PDF
PLIGHT, 19 August •Hed that the reasons for non-compliance with the November 1V° are submitted to the FAA in writing.The FAA's rule, like that which made mandatory the fitting f < /-ather radar in all but a few types, has been pushed throughhv vir Quesada, head of the FAA, in the face of considerable Srline opposition. The impetus for the new programme came fromthe two Electra crashes, the cause of which might have been olved even more quickly than it was had evidence been availablefrom salvaged crash recorders. '"he FAA require the flight recorders to measure continuouslyfrorr take-off to touch down—as a minimum—time, altitude, head- ing, airspeed and vertical acceleration. ALITALIA GETS CHICAGO THE US-Italy air agreement has been amended and Alitalia nowhas the right to fly to Chicago via intermediate points en routeto the US. It may now also extend its only previous route, which terminates at New York, to points in other countries to be agreed in the future. In exchange, US carriers can now serve Turin as well as Milan,Rome and Naples. At the same time the two governments "formalized an arrangement to exchange air traffic statistics"—inwhich, it is believed, are to be included details of the origin and destination of Alitalia's traffic. Alitalia refers to the "cordial aviation relations" existing between the two countries. THE DAY AIR TRANSPORT STANDS STILL ON Saturday; September 10, between the.hours of 0600 and1200 GMT, air transport over about 8i million miles of land and water will come completely to a standstill.From the northern border of Mexico to the northern tip of Alaska, and including the sea areas out to 150 miles from thecoast, the whole of the North American continent, irrespective of weather conditions, will be subjected to a large-scale exerciseentitled Sky Shield. It will involve the entire air defence radar and electronic system. During the six-hour period all aircraftnot taking part in the exercise, no matter whether they are civil or military, will be grounded. Participating aircraft will, initially,operate at all heights out to-600 miles from the coast; and because of what are officially termed "hazardous" conditions no inboundcivil aircraft will be given an air traffic clearance to approach closer than 150 miles from the coast until the end of the period.Whether or not the authorities have the legal right virtually to close the sky to civil traffic so far from the coast is open toquestion; damage sustained by a foreign aircraft whilst above these waters as a result of exercise activities could well lead tointernational difficulties. Such a widespread prohibition of civil aviation has never beforeoccurred outside the iron or bamboo curtain countries and it may have many and varied repercussions. It seems as thoughabout 28 international airlines will have some 51 of their services to, through or from the USA, Canada and Alaska severely dis-rupted. At least six of BOAC's services will be affected, while over 1,500 domestic services within the region will be similarlydislocated. AMERICA MUST BE FIRST IN SUPERSONICS TT will be far less expensive for the US to stay ahead in com-••• mercial aircraft development than to relinquish the lead and then try to regain it on a "crash basis." This is said by Orval R.Cook, president of the US Aerospace Industries Association, in a warning that the Americans must not be left behind by theRussians in supersonic airliner development. He even goes so far as to prophesy that US carriers may have to fly Russian super-sonic airliners, an eventuality which is "not outside the realm of possibility if suitable Russian supersonic aircraft are the only onesavailable." If the Russians beat the US, he says, there would inevitably bea "flurry of action" in America to build a competitive aircraft. He quotes the Federal Aviation Agency as saying: "The Russianswill be meeting us head-on in every field of civil aviation. They will be scrambling for passengers, freight, and aircraft sales andrentals. And they will be trying to move out into every pocket of the globe, including our own United States. Economics—the necessity for a sound return on investment—will not hamper the Communist drive. If past performances are any indication,the Soviet civil air campaign will be one of prestige, propaganda, and never-mind-the-cost." Mr Cook concludes with the remark, reminiscent of thosemade recently by BOACs chairman, Sir Matthew Slattery: "The Here is the first of two Air-India passenger Super Constellations converted by Lockheed Aircraft Service to all-freight configuration. A W°S dj* *° Or"ve '" BombaY Yw New York and London last week. f sec«"w» Air-India Super Connie has been delivered to LAS for similar '?satment Both will be put on the airline's freight service to the United Kingdom during the coming autumn 283 Back home after eva- sive action over Rome is Capt James Bell, skipper of the BEA Viscount that was in- volved in a near-miss with a Pan American Boeing 707 (see note in col 2 below) tempo of technology makes it imperative that we move—now."He wants to ensure that "the first supersonic airliner that speeds across our shrinking continents will carry a 'made-in-the-USA'tag." NEAR MISS AT CIAMPINO QUICK action by the captain of a BEA Viscount last weekaverted a collision that could have had the most serious consequences. The pilot, Capt James Bell, was reportedly within300yd of a Pan American Boeing 707 approaching the Viscount head-on when he saw it and took avoiding action. Both aircraftwere in the Rome control area at 7,000ft in the vicinity of the NDB "LJ," 17,125 metres to the north-west of the runway. TheViscount, G-AMOP, was on a flight from Malta, and had just completed a 40 deg procedure turn after crossing the beacon; theBoeing was on PanAm flight 114 from Paris to Rome and was carrying 81 passengers. Visibility was "perfect," with clear skiesand about one-eighth cloud, though the BEA aircraft was reportedly on an IFR flight plan. When Capt Bell saw the other aircraft he put the Viscount intoa dive and cleared the Boeing "by a few feet." The 44 passengers were not strapped in, and were thrown about violently in thesudden dive; seven of them, and a steward and stewardess, were subsequently taken to hospital in Rome.With memories of the BEA Viscount collision over Anzio on October 22, 1958, still fresh in mind, a BEA team left thefollowing day for Rome to carry out an investigation, and a PanAm team did likewise. It would not be proper to speculate here onhow two aircraft descending to Ciampino Airport came to find themselves flying head-on in the same airspace at the same height.It may be significant that the control zone extends only to 6,000ft. But whatever the reason, fatalita—the "act of God" finding bythe Italian commission of inquiry into the Anzio accident, seems improbable here. It was strongly recommended at the time whenthe report into that collision was published last November that radio navigation facilities should be modernized and the VORplan speeded up; that radar facilities should be provided and that there should be absolute compliance with the rules governing airtraffic. It seems inevitable that the results of these recommenda- tions by the Italian Ministry of Defence-Air are going to besearchingly examined to determine how effectively they have been implemented.
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