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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3647.PDF
fliqht.international@rbi.co.uk Letters Flight International welcomes letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK. The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Flight International cannot publish letters without name and address and reserves the right to select or edit letters. FLIGHT SAFETY We can rise to new challenge One crucial factor regarding our ability to overcome the new terrorist threat seems to have been overlooked. The aviation industry has, since its earliest days, needed to address and ultimately conquer flight safety issues, which it has done with remarkable success. On each occasion the industry has managed to overcome numerous setbacks and move ahead with greater strength. It is easy to forget that the reality of aviation is that passengers are suspended thousands of feet above the ground, in a non-survivable external environment, protected by only a man-made and managed machine. Yet the level of safety (both real and arguably more importantly, perceived) is such that parents feel comfortable using aircraft to send their children unaccompanied halfway round the world and passengers frequently feel so confident in an aircraft environment that they do not even feel the need to listen to the pre-flight safety brief. This is a remarkable achievement. The aviation industry is, I am sure, more than capable of overcoming the current cri sis of confidence. I do not know what changes will be made but I would expect that a combination of technology and process applied in an intelligent, measured way will help us resolve the issue. Do not despair: no industry is better placed that ours to rise to the new challenges posed since the events of 11 September. Stuart East Foxdale Aviation Loxwood, West Sussex, UK US security still impotent... Everyone hoping that the US authorities responsible for aviation security learned their lesson on 11 September must be deeply disap pointed. The changes that have been implemented are no improve ment at all and reflect the same for- malistic, methodic approach that has been used before and has absolutely no connection to real life or real threats. The group that potentially has the most opportunity to do harm seems to have been given the least attention - ground staff. Many ground staff workers have had to obtain new identification cards in recent weeks, and because of some workers' temporary assign ments and/or absence to courses or examinations at other stations, some of the cards were sent by mail. This clearly poses potential dan gers because workers who have only been employed for weeks or months can enter an apron and even escort others in without any difficulty. They also can easily enter workshops there with not only cardboard-cutters but a whole range of tools ready for abuse. Care must be taken - but it needs to be done in the right places at the right time and not just where it is easy. Rene Pils Petronell, Austria ...and Europe is no better Despite all the publicity about increased safety, anyone dedicated can still get things through European security, as 1 discovered by accident. On a trip last week from Germany to England, 1 forgot to transfer my Swiss pocket knife from my trousers to my hand-lug gage. Sure enough, at German security they spotted my knife among the things from my pock ets, and I had to check in my roll- on with the knife in it. On the way back I packed the knife in my hand luggage, and "it fitted neatly underneath my shaver. I checked in at the automatic machine at Birmingham as usual. Imagine my surprise to find that the UK security, supposedly with more than 30 years of anti-IRA training, allowed my hand-luggage - containing the knife - to pass through without question. So I could still neatly peel my orange - what else would one use a pocket knife for? Lambert van Ouwerkerk Mahlow-Waldblick, Germany Pilots could stop hijackers On receiving the warning, "Hijack, hijack" from the cabin crew, pilots should immediately warn passen gers of rough air ahead. Once the lap strap signs go on, the pilots could pull back the power levers. The nose would then be stuffed down for about 20sec, and after, say, another 20sec, pulled back so that the increase of g forces brings bodies back to the floor. By repeating the dose several times, most of the miscreants would be either injured or flat on the floor. Some innocent passen gers might also end up hurt or flat on their backs, perhaps - but then hijacking is air piracy, which threatens the health of all on board. This basic plan can be refined to ensure that any traffic or other problems can be cleared with air traffic control - but there's no way that 1 would keep the aircraft straight and level, and give the hijackers a level battlefield. Mauri McGreal Auckland, New Zealand 27-30 November Interservice/lndustry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (l/ITSEC) Orlando, Florida, USA Tel:+1 (703)5221820 12-14 December National Business Aircraft Association New Orleans, USA Contact: Cassandra Bosco, NBAA Tel:+1202 783 9000 www.nbaa.org 8-10 January Cargo Facts 2001 (rescheduled) - Annual Aircraft Symposium Seattle, USA Tel:+1206 587 6537 kkoch@cargofacts.com 16-17 January Eurocontrol & ATM Workshop on Upper Airspace Harmonisation Brussels, Belgium Contact: Helene Barbier Tel:+32 2 729 37 47 helene.barbier@eurocontrol.be 14-16 February HAI Heli-Expo 2002 Orlando, Florida Tel: +1 703 683 4646 www.rotor.com 20-21 February Aircraft Finance and Commercial Aviation (the Geneva Forum) Geneva, Switzerland Contact: Helen Coetzee Tel:+44 (0)20 7915 5618 hcoetzee@icbi.co.uk 26 February-3 March Asian Aerospace 2002 Singapore Tel:+44 (0)20 8910 7746 Contact: Andy Braley andy.braley@reedexpo.co.uk 10-14 March Dangerous Goods by Air Conference & Exhibition Paris, France Contact: Jane Sessenwein Tel:+1 (514)874 0202x3337 sessenwein@iata.org 1-7 April FIDAE International Air and Space Fair Santiago, Chile Tel:+ 56 2 01251 2600 www.fidae.cl 8-10 April Airline Financial Summit 2002 New York, USA Contact: Elaine Turner Tel: +44 (020) 8607 6246 www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 13-19 NOVEM BER 2001 75
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