FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1981
1981 - 0133.PDF
FLIGHT International, 17 January I9BI 123 BAA takes airport charges war to court THE British Airports Authority appli cation for an injunction compelling airline members of the British Air ports Users' Action Group (BAUAG) to pay withheld landing and handling charges is to be heard at the High Court on February 9. BAUAG airlines have been withholding, since Decem ber 3, the difference between 1979 and 1980 charges, maintaining that BAA fees are illegally high (Flight, De cember 13, page 2156). The withheld money is being paid into a trust fund. Action Group leaders have indicated that they will comply with court requirements, so by about February 12 the 17 airlines in the Group will know Safety update... • The Canadian Federal Government is making efforts to have all opera tional air traffic controllers designated "essential"—a move which could de prive the controllers of the right to strike. Because the intention is to pre vent service disruption, such legisla tion could ultimately affect aircraft servicing personnel, aircrew, cabin crew and ticketing staff. • Australian Department of Trans port reports show increasing concern about technical staff shortages which threaten its ability to maintain safely radio, radar and navigation aids. Programmes for new equipment in stallation throughout the continent will have to be cut or reduced as a result of "insufficient staffing levels" and the inability to keep technicians on State salaries. These problems have been exacerbated by a serious condi- tions-of-service dispute between the Public Service Board and air traffic control radar technicians which has been running since December 2. Official strike action by the radar men at Sydney and Melbourne airports during the Christmas/New Year period caused considerable disruption as aids went unserviceable, but a truce has been declared while negotia tions take place. Striking technicians have been attending unpaid at their stations to activate facilities in the event of aircraft emergencies. D The US Air Line Pilots' Associa tion (Alpa) has issued specific criti cisms of proposed changes to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air safety rules, all of which are part of the FAA's "Human Factors Pro gramme". Alpa says that the proposal to use random cockpit voice recorder (CVB) and flight data recorder (FDR) information to gain human factors data is a violation of the regulations authorising the devices; that the type of information on these tapes would be of little value in the studies; and that despite FAA assurances that CVB/FDR data would not be used in disciplinary action against aircrew, the regular study of the tapes would have a "chilling effect" on the cock pit environment which would inter- whether they must pay up or not. Austrian Airlines has left the BAUAG, and Sabena has elected to pay charges in full while remaining a member. When the BAA put up its fees last April it also rearranged its charges; Sabena and Austrian were two carriers which benefited from the reorganisation and had little or no increase to pay. Though no British airlines are in the Group, British Airways, Heathrow Airport's biggest user by far, has joined 27 other International Air Transport Association airlines in try ing to persuade the International Civil Aviation Organisation to express disapproval of the BAA's monopolistic practice—charging much more than the basic cost of providing a service, lata is worried that this BAA practice may be exported at a time when air lines are facing fast-increasing ex ternal costs and recession. There is a hearing on January 19 to determine whether legal charges by the BAUAG can be combined with some of those being brought indepen dently by Pan American against the BAA. A BAA spokesman tells Flight that the airlines' legal battle may last several years, and this is why the Authority is applying for the injunc tion to prevent the airlines withhold ing large sums of money until a final legal decision is reached. Alpa extends strike aims THE US Air Line Pilots' Association says that its planned nationwide strike, proposed as a 72hr stoppage at the end of February, is not just about the crew complement question —though this remains a central theme. On January 10 and 11 in Atlanta the pilots met to discuss presentation of their case on the Federal Aviation Administration's handling of aircraft certification, air traffic control problems, human fac tors evaluation, and proposed changes to aeromedical and crew duty time regulations. Alpa is dismayed by what it sees as the FAA's failure to provide a full and fair independent evaluation of cockpit workload and human factors that affect crew performance. The FAA appears to be applying a tradi tional "minimum acceptable safe standards" yardstick in certificating new aircraft and technology, where the pilots believe the Authority has the opportunity to require improved standards towards an era in which airspace will become progressively more crowded and potentially more dangerous. • Flight will present an assessment of the pilots' case for the three-man cockpit in a late February issue, based on new information presented exclu sively to us by the unions. Safety update... fere with aircrew duties and reduce the effectiveness of the devices as aids to accident investigation. Another criticised FAA proposal is the elimi nation of "unnecessary" cockpit duties, particularly during "critical phases of flight". Alpa says many of the proposals are too broadly defined and open to varied interpretation to be of any use, and many short-haul flights would be non-stop critical phases. Finally, Alpa notes that cur rent FAA regulations allow a time limit to be placed on type certification, so proposed new regulations are un necessary. D An Air Europe Boeing 737 turned back to land at Manchester Airport with one engine shut down after a multiple birdstrike on December 17. The engine ingested several birds at a height of 50ft after take off. None of the 120 people on board was hurt. • The US National Transportation Safety Board has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration that the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 should be fitted with audio and/or visual stall warning in addition to the existing stickshaker. This recommen dation follows the NTSB's report on the November 11, 1979 incident in which an Aeromexico DC-10 crew failed to recognise a stall in the climb at 29,000ft. The crew had interpreted the light stall buffet as engine vibra- Safety update... tion and throttled back the No 2 engine; the aircraft then went into the heavy buffet and lost 11,000ft, but recovered and completed its journey. • The June 22, 1980 Lockheed Con stellation crash at Columbus, Indiana, was caused by the crew's "inadequate and unco-ordinated response," accord ing to the US National Transporta tion Safety Board. The crew failed to correct a gradual power loss on the remaining three engines while retard ing the No 2 throttle because of a fire warning during take off. Neither pilot had flown the L-1049H for a year, and the engineer's most recent experi ence had been on a DC-8. The aircraft was 8,3801b over maximum take-off weight, less than full power was used for the take off, and the engine cowl ing flaps were not at take-off position. People... G For their efforts in preventing a hijack aboard a TAA DC-9 last year, Capt Grahame Macklemann and stewardess Esme Qazim have been awarded the Star of Courage, Australia's second highest award for bravery. • Hawaiian Airlines announces the appointment of Peter Dudgeon as president. He has been with the com pany since 1969.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
