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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0127.PDF
HEADLINES AIR TRANSPORT DAVID LEARMOUNT / BARCELONA Europe mandates flight monitoring But USA fears litigation and prefers voluntary code Pilots of all European large com mercial aircraft will have their flight operations compulsorily monitored and recorded by the end of this year, says the European Joint Aviation Authorities. The US Federal Aviation Administration has already decided to adopt a vol untary approach to flight data monitoring (FDM). The move will put pressure on authorities in Africa, Asia and South America - where accident rates are higher than in Europe and the USA - to speed up FDM implementation. The European FDM regulations are expected to go forward for JAA committee adoption in June, enabling Europe to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation's 1 January 2005 FDM implementation target date. Final proposals for compulsory FDM on aircraft weighing more than 27,000kg (59,5001b) have been adopted by the JAA opera tions sectorial team, says its leader Georges Rebender. The basic requirement for compliance is a suitable electronic flight data recorder (EFDR) or quick-access recorder that can store and quickly download data on the flight pro file, trajectory, use of flight controls and the engines. Many major European carriers already carry out this once-controversial practice. If pilots are found commonly to carry out procedures that are divergent from the ideal by more than a cer tain amount, training can address the specific problems instead of being generic only. The FAA is taking a voluntary approach on FDM at this stage, on the grounds that most affected US carriers are choosing to adopt FDM - which they call flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) - but the acceptable means of compliance will not be defined by the FAA in time for the ICAO deadline. The agency says: "The original and cur rent intent of the FOQA pro gramme is for the FAA to use aggre gate data supplied voluntarily by airlines that routinely collect data from flight data recorders. The most challenging issue is the variety of databases used by US airlines." The issue of protecting the FDM data from gratuitous litigation in a country such as the USA, which has a Freedom of Information Act, has been more intractable. JAA regulation director Yves Morier says the European consulta tion period has ended, and all that is required before FDM adoption into JAR Ops regulations in June is legal fine-tuning. This has to ensure that the intended directions on non-punitive use of the infor mation are watertight, and the same applies to protecting the data from gratuitous litigation. BUSINESS JACKSON FLORES / RIO DE JANEIRO Sinergy Group buys into Avianca In a surprise move, ownership of Colombia's flag carrier Avianca exchanged hands late last week when Brazil's Sinergy Group acquired a controlling stake in the airline. Owner of the Brazilian regional airline OceanAir, the Sinergy Group purchased a 75% stake in Avianca in a deal that reduces Colombia's National Coffee Federation's (FNC) share to 25% and sees Valores Bavaria leave the carrier's ownership.The agreement allows the FNC to sell its stake in heavily indebted Avianca within the next three years. The Sinergy Group successfully countered proposals from Continental Airlines, LanChile and TACA, and will also take control of Colombian airline SAM. German Efromovich, chief executive for both the Sinergy Group and OceanAir, says Avianca will retain its identity and its current organisation will remain unchanged. The deal is still subject to creditor approval. SEE FEATURE P38 Briefing Airbus gets into Spirit ORDER Airbus has secured another US customer with Detroit-based Spirit Airlines deciding to order 35 A319s and A321s in a deal valued at $2 billion. The airline has also placed 60 options. The new aircraft will replace Spirit's entire fleet of 32 Boeing MD-80s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, with deliveries starting in March 2005 and running until 2010. JSF flight-test rejig dismissed REJECTION The Joint Strike Fighter programme office has rejected a proposal by prime contractor Lockheed Martin to rearrange the F-35 flight- test plan, government and industry officials say. The decision means the conventional F-35A variant will start flight testing in late 2006, followed months later by the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) design and, finally, the F-35C carrier variant. Programme officials had considered deferring flight tests on the overweight STOVL variant, which has already caused a one-year delay in the JSF system development and demonstration phase. The STOVL design is still listed as the first variant to achieve initial operational capability in about 2010. GD widens scope with Spectrum purchase ACQUISITION General Dynamics is to acquire fast-growing, privately held satellite manufacturer Spectrum Astro for an undisclosed price. Gilbert, Arizona-based Spectrum is building science and test satellites for NASA and the US Department of Defense and is part of the Northrop Grumman team developing the Space Tracking and Surveillance System as well as the Lockheed Martin group competing to build GPS III navigation satellites. US DoT to help rebuild Iragi transport system RECONSTRUCTION A US Department of Transportation (DoT) team, consisting initially of Federal Aviation Administration officials, is being sent to Iraq to assist in the reconstruction of the country's transport system. The team is a precursor to a permanent DoT presence at the US Embassy in Baghdad, which opens in July. The DoT also to plans increase assistance to Afghanistan and strengthen US ties with Jordan and Kuwait, says transport secretary Norman Mineta. NASA visionary Pickering dies 4/0^. PEOPLE William Pickering (left), NASA's former A Y director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1954 to ' 1976 - the year of the of Viking Mars soft landings - died on 15 March, aged 93. Pickering led the successful effort to place the USA's first satellite, Explorer 1, in orbit in 1958 and was involved in all the US planetary missions, including the first Venus and Mars explorers, Mariners 2 and 4 in 1962 and 1965, respectively. India to sign BAE Systems Hawk contract PROCUREMENT The Indian ministry of defence expects to sign a cont ract this week for 66 BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers. New Delhi signed a memorandum of understanding on 19 March to complete the acquisition, which will be backed by an initial 25-year support package. Coppinger joins Flight International APPOINTMENT Flight International has boosted its technical expertise with the appointment of Rob Coppinger (right) as technical reporter. Formerly chief reporter of The Engineer, Coppinger brings four years of broad technology journalism experience with many contacts in aerospace. Before his career as a journalist, Coppinger was a postgraduate manufacturing engineer in the UK motor industry. Coppinger replaces Michael Phelan, who is studying for an MBA in France. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23-29 MARCH 2004 5
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