Monday 31 March 2014

Nigeria Aviation Watch

U.S. aviation team arrives, to re-certify NCAA, CAT 1

A TEAM from the United States (U.S.) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) arrived the country at the weekend to begin the process of re-certifying the Nigerian aviation industry, which it started in 2010.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation agencies said yesterday that they were ready for the audit. According to a release by the acting NCAA Director General, Benedict Adeyileka, the four-man team will assess NCAA’s compliance with applicable sections of ICAO standards contained in Annexes 1, 6 and 8.
Adeyileka said the team would use the current International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) checklist and ICAO guideline for the exercise. The eight critical elements are primary aviation legislation, specific operating regulations, state civil aviation system and safety oversight functions and technical personnel qualification and training.
Others are technical guidance and tools, licensing and certification obligations, surveillance obligations and resolution of safety concerns. FAA awarded Nigeria Category One safety status in 2010 after the country met the IASA standards and four years later, the body decided to re-audit Nigeria in response to critical reports about the aviation industry, according to its letter to NCAA to announce the re-certification.
culled from The Guardian

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Angry relatives of passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have clashed with police outside Malaysia's embassy in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

MH370 mystery

Angry relatives of passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have clashed with police outside Malaysia's embassy in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

It came after Malaysian PM Najib Razak said a new analysis of satellite data showed the plane had ended its journey in remote seas south-west of Australia.

China has asked to see the data on which Malaysia's conclusion was based.

The search for missing flight MH370 has been suspended because of bad weather.

At the scene

Celia HattonBBC News, Beijing

The scenes in Beijing are a demonstration of the extreme levels of anger and frustration felt by relatives of those on the missing plane.

Public street protests are illegal in China but the fact that these relatives were able to organise themselves together, wearing matching T-shirts and carrying professionally printed banners, indicates they feel they have nothing left to lose.

Relatives left their hotel and first boarded three city buses which they said would take them to Malaysia's embassy in downtown Beijing.

But a thin line of Chinese police blocked those buses. So the relatives left the buses, broke through police lines and simply marched to the embassy themselves, chanting slogans like: "We want the truth". Banners read "Mum, Dad, without you what will I do?" and "We want the truth from Malaysia".

Many of the families are convinced that the Malaysian authorities have been distorting facts. Their actions today show they will risk breaking the law and angering the Chinese government in order to get the information they feel they deserve.

Will China tolerate plane protest?

A multinational search effort has focused on seas some 2,500km (1,500 miles) to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying a total of 239 people, including 153 Chinese nationals.

In Beijing, relatives of passengers on board the plane released a statement accusing the Malaysian government of trying to "delay, distort and hide the truth".

Dozens of them then left their Beijing hotel on a protest bound for the Malaysian embassy, carrying banners asking Kuala Lumpur to be truthful with the relatives.

Police stopped their buses from leaving, so they left the buses and walked there themselves, with scuffles then erupting outside the diplomatic mission.

The protesters threw water bottles at the embassy and tried to storm the building, demanding to meet the ambassador.

There was a heavy police presence at the embassy, and there was a brief scuffle between police and a group of relatives who tried to approach journalists, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The families also appear to be becoming more critical of the Chinese authorities themselves, the BBC's Celia Hatton reports from Beijing.

While some defended the authorities, other relatives shouted slogans denouncing the Chinese government as "corrupt", she reports.

Monday 24 March 2014

Satellite data has confirmed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 carrying 239 people crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told a news conference all those on the Boeing 777-200 have been lost.

He said satellite data provided by UK company Inmarsat showed the plane's last recorded position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

"This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites," Mr Razak said.

"It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."

Sky's Jonathan Samuels in Beijing said there were "very, very distressing" scenes as relatives were told the news.

"Some people were in tears, others are helping those struggling and a woman is screaming in absolute anguish. It's very tough to watch," he said.

Malaysia Airlines told relatives they should "assume beyond any reasonable doubt" that all those on the plane are dead.

Relatives of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines MH370 cry after watching a television broadcast of a news conference, in the Lido hotel in Beijing — The text message sent to relatives by Malaysia Airlines

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived," the airline said in a text message to relatives.

"As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia's Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean."

The flight vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.

No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made since, but debris found in remote waters off Australia might be part of the missing plane.

The confirmation came after Sky sources said families of those on-board will be taken from Beijing to Australia.

An Australian navy ship is close to finding possible debris from the plane after a number of sightings of floating objects some 1,550 miles west of Perth.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the entire crew of HMAS Success is keeping a lookout for the objects.

They included two "relatively big" objects and several smaller ones.

The objects cited by the Chinese were seen near an area identified by satellite imagery as containing possible debris from the missing airliner.

The US Navy has also announced it is sending one of its high-tech black box detectors to the area.

More news still coming to you shortly.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak says...

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak says new analysis of satellite data in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 indicates that the plane’s flight ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.

“Based on new analysis….MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth,” Razak said Monday. “It is therefore, with deep sadness and regret, that I must inform you that according to this new data that flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”

Shortly before Razak’s announcement, relatives of the passengers were booked on charter flights to take them to Australia, sources told

Sky News. An emergency meeting between families and Malaysia Airlines officials was scheduled to take place in Beijing, and paramedics were on scene, according to Sky News.

Earlier Monday, Australian and Chinese search planes spotted more objects in the southern Indian Ocean that were identified as possible debris from the missing jet.

More to come…

Did You Know?

Ray-Ban sunglasses: it all began from aviation

Details: Published on Monday, 21 October 2013 15:21

The history of Ray Ban starts back in 1929 when the company Bausch & Lomb received an order from the U.S. Air Force for the development and production of glasses for pilots. These new sunglasses had to protect pilots’ eyes from the sunlight and improve image clarity while piloting an aircraft.

The company decided to use optical lenses in the production of new sunglasses in order to protect pilots’ eyes from ultraviolet and infrared rays. Eventually, pilots liked new sunglasses so much that ‘Tear Drop’ sunglasses, also known as Aviators, became an inherent part of every American pilot.

The new product was so convenient that the pilots started to wear them not only on duty, but in the everyday life as well. This, along with the prestige of the pilot’s profession itself, quickly brought Tear Drop sunglasses to high popularity within average Americans. Everyone wanted to wear glasses ‘as pilots’.

In 1937, the company Bausch & Lomb launches mass production of Tear Drop glasses. A special market brand was designed to name the sunglasses - Ray-Ban.

The Aviator became a well-known style of sunglasses when General Douglas MacArthur landed on the beach in the Philippines in World War II. Newspaper photographers snapped several pictures of him wearing them.

Following the success of Aviators, Ray-Ban presented another classic style – Wayfarer. These sunglasses soon became popular in Hollywood. Eventually, already in the 60’s, the glasses were worn by everyone - from presidents and stylish women and ending with well-known musicians and hipsters. In 1961, the brand received a major support through the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's", in which Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly practically lived with her Wayfarer glasses.

In the 70’s and early 80’s Ray-Ban glasses faced a decline in the demand. Struggling with lowering sales, the company decided to go on a marketing trick and signed a $50,000 worth contract according to which various Hollywood actors and starts were appearing in movies and TV shows with Ray Ban glasses. Investments paid off in a year, and during the 1982-1987 period alone Ray-Ban glasses were noticed in more than 60 films and shows.

Meanwhile, unlike the U.S., in Europe, Ray-Ban gained a lot of popularity only in 1990’s when an Italian company Luxottica Grouppriobrela acquired the rights on the Ray-Ban trademark. The company Luxottica has remained faithful to the traditions of Ray-Ban and fully maintained technology of glass lenses thus bringing Ray-Ban’s brand to the success across Europe and further, in other regions.

More on Ray-Ban glasses @ FlightStore

Edinburgh Airport Introduces State-of-the-art Bag Drop Facility

Details: Published on Monday, 24 March 2014 12:55

Passengers at Edinburgh Airport will now have the chance to use the UK’s first multi-airline bag drop facility – speeding up the check-in process and allowing customers the chance to spend more time relaxing before their flight.

Ten new self-service kiosks have been installed which allow passengers to weight their baggage, print their own bag tag and dispatch their luggage themselves.

Operated by easyJet and Flybe and not available in any other Scottish airport, the state-of-the-art technology enables passengers to have control over all parts of their check-in experience.

A quick scan of a boarding pass will prompt the passenger to weigh their bag and a bag tag will be printed. easyJet and Flybe passengers will then be directed to the designated bag drop zone where they can dispatch the luggage themselves.

Using the latest touch screen and thermal printing technology, the new SONIC kiosks, manufactured by Phase5 Technology (PST), allow passengers to check in their luggage without having to queue and wait to be manually processed.

Several self-service bag tag machines are already in use in the terminal but Edinburgh Airport is the first in the UK to use web-based software to operate a fully common, shared bag drop facility for passengers.

The idea of this ‘common check-in’ process ultimately means that low cost airlines can avoid the high costs of designing their own computer systems and operate a shared system alongside with multiple carriers.

Edinburgh Airport says plans are underway to trial a baggage storage facility this summer which will allow passengers to check in their luggage days before their flight.

Bags will be weighed, tagged and screened before being stored in a secure facility prior to being loaded on the passenger’s flight.

The new bag drop facility is just one of a number of examples of how Edinburgh Airport is investing in technology to make the passenger’s airport journey as easy as possible.

The airport has also recently installed the UK’s first remote check-in desks with Jet2, taking all the check-in functions away from the bag belt. This model means that absolutely everything happens in one place, apart from dispatching your luggage on the belt. New body scanners have also been installed in the security search area.

David Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Edinburgh Airport, said: “New ownership has allowed us to be creative in the way we look at the check-in process. A huge amount of research, engagement and investment has gone into this new process and we’re delighted to officially launch the first multi-airline common bag drop facility in the UK with our partners at easyJet and Flybe.

“At Edinburgh Airport we’re committed to enhancing the passenger experience and no doubt many will have seen the huge amount of change currently underway at our airport. We’re working hard to make the passenger experience the very best it can be and our new bag drop facility is just one of a number of exciting projects launching this year.”

Source and Photo: Airports International

Thirty Hurt In Train Derailment At O'Hare Airport

Thirty Hurt In Train Derailment At O'Hare Airport - Report

March 24, 2014

Thirty people were injured after a Chicago Transit Authority train derailed and hit a platform at O'Hare Airport early on Monday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The injuries are not life threatening, according to early reports, Chicago Police Department spokesman Ron Gaines told the newspaper.

The train jumped a bumper at the end of the line at about 2:55 am and moved up an escalator, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford told the Tribune. He said it was not clear how fast the train was moving at the time.

Malaysia Jet Saga bts Over ATC RadarHighlights Dou

March 21, 2014

The ease with which a big airliner vanished from Malaysian radar illustrates an uncomfortable paradox about modern aviation: state-of-the-art aircraft rely on sometimes antiquated ground infrastructure to tell them where to go.

While satellites shape almost every aspect of modern life, the use of radar and radio in the cockpit has, for many pilots, changed little since before the jet engine was first flown.

Even though Malaysia suspects someone may have hidden its tracks, the inability of 26 nations to find a 250-tonne Boeing 777 has shocked an increasingly connected world and exposed flaws in the use of radar, which fades over oceans and deserts.

"It's not very accurate. The world's moved a bit further along," said Don Thoma, president of Aireon, a venture launched by US-based mobile satellite communications company Iridium and the Canadian air traffic control authority in 2012 to offer space-based tracking of planes.

"We track our cars, we track our kids' cell phones, but we can't track airplanes when they are over oceans or other remote areas," he told Reuters news agency.

Satellites provide the obvious answer, say experts.

"The way to go is satellite-based navigation and communication. In navigation, we need to get away from ground-based radar and in communications we need to get away from radios," said radar expert and aviation consultant Hans Weber.

COSTLY OVERHAUL

Inefficiencies caused by radar are costing travellers money through increased fares and penalising economies through extra delays, according to those who back an ambitious but potentially costly overhaul of the world's major aviation routes.

"Since controllers use voice communication, they have to leave more space between planes because of the risk of losing contact," said Weber, who heads TECOP International, a US-based consultancy.

Two major proposals for new airspace systems in the United States and European Union could change all that, with hefty profits at stake for aerospace firms on both sides of the Atlantic, though critics say the schemes are wasteful and late.

The US aerospace industry has been pressing for years for a USD$40 billion overhaul of air traffic control systems, but the cost and complexity of the undertaking have slowed the effort and Congress has cut funding repeatedly.

The Next-Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, is due to be fully implemented in 2025, but automatic US federal spending cuts due to resume in 2016 could delay that, the industry says.

Parts of the system are already in place, such as the ADS-B surveillance system now installed in many cockpits, but others have lagged due to funding constraints.

Europe, which has some of the world's busiest skies with an estimated 33,000 flights a day, has ambitious plans through the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR). This research programme aims to triple airspace capacity, halve air traffic management costs and revamp Europe's infrastructure by 2020.

A 2011 McKinsey study said implementing SESAR could boost EU gross domestic product by EUR€419 billion from 2013 to 2030, create 328,000 jobs and cut flight times by 10 percent.

This project, too, has been beset by delays due to friction over the control of airspace and Europe's debt crisis. Some controllers' unions oppose the plan.

Canadian company FLYHT Aerospace Solutions has developed a satellite- and Internet-based system that is used by 40 operators such as airlines and business jet operators to monitor aircraft systems, map flight paths, provide voice communications, and on-demand streaming of black box data.

Richard Hayden, a company director, said the system could serve as a backup for navigational systems since it also provides GPS tracking, cockpit voice, data and text via Iridium satellites. However, he said the system would not meet all the specific navigation requirements now spelled out for next-generation air traffic control systems.

CRACKLY RADIOS

For decades air traffic controllers helped planes to thread their way through increasingly crowded airspace and maintain a low industry accident record.

On some flights over stretches of ocean like the busy North Atlantic, pilots try to report at regular intervals or pass messages via other aircraft.

On such routes planes equipped with satellite communications now increasingly use a messaging system called CPDLC to establish a data link with controllers, several pilots said. Using the same system, they can request changes in altitude too.

But it is not yet standard and the system needs airlines to pay for satellite service, something not all are willing to do.

Indeed, Malaysia Airlines had not signed up for satellite service on the jet which disappeared on March 8, complicating efforts to track the missing aircraft. Malaysian officials have not ruled out technical problems with the jet.

Simply providing the connectivity is not enough, however, and this is one reason the cockpit is moving into the digital age at a slower pace than the smart phones of their passengers.

"It has got to be super-reliable and secure. You can't rely on any system that has a failure rate that would be perfectly acceptable for a cellphone: say, 1 in 100 calls. In aircraft, one in a billion is an acceptable safety factor," said Weber.

Australian Ship Homes In On Possible MH370 Debris

March 24, 2014

An Australian navy ship was close to finding possible debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on Monday as a mounting number of sightings of floating objects raised hopes wreckage of the plane may soon be found.

The HMAS Success should reach two objects spotted by Australian military aircraft by Tuesday morning at the latest, Malaysia's government said, offering the first chance of picking up suspected debris from the plane.

So far, ships in the international search effort have been unable to locate several "suspicious" objects spotted by satellites in grainy images or by fast-flying aircraft over a vast search area in the remote southern Indian Ocean.

"HMAS Success is on scene and is attempting to locate and recover these objects," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who called his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak to inform him of the sighting, said in a statement to parliament.

The objects, described as a "grey or green circular object" and an "orange rectangular object", were spotted about 2,500 km west of Perth on Monday afternoon, said Abbott, adding that three planes were also en route to the area.

Neither Malaysia nor Australia gave details on the objects' size.

Attention and resources in the search for the Boeing 777 have shifted from an initial focus north of the Equator to an increasingly narrowed stretch of rough sea in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of miles from the original flight path.

Earlier on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency said a Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft spotted two "relatively big" floating objects and several smaller white ones dispersed over several kilometres.

Beijing responded cautiously to the find. "At present, we cannot yet confirm that the floating objects are connected with the missing plane," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing in Beijing.

Australia said that a US Navy plane searching the area on Monday had been unable to locate the objects.

China has diverted its icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, toward the location where the debris was spotted. A flotilla of other Chinese ships are also making their way south. The ships will start to arrive in the area on Tuesday.

Over 150 of the passengers on board the missing plane were Chinese.

The latest sighting followed reports by an Australian crew over the weekend of a floating wooden pallet and strapping belts in an area of the icy southern Indian Ocean that was identified after satellites recorded images of potential debris.

In a further sign the search may be bearing fruit, the US Navy is flying in its black box detector to the area.

"If debris is found we will be able to respond as quickly as possible since the battery life of the black box's pinger is limited," Commander Chris Budde, US Seventh Fleet Operations Officer, said in a statement.

Budde stressed that bringing in the black box detector, which is towed behind a vessel at slow speeds and can pick up "pings" from a black box to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet, was a precautionary measure.

"EVERYONE IS QUITE HYPED"

"The flight has been successful in terms of what we were looking for today. We were looking for debris in the water and we sighted a number of objects on the surface and beneath the surface visually as we flew over the top if it," said Flight Lieutenant Josh Williams, on board a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion.

"The first object was rectangular in shape and slightly below the ocean. The second object was circular, also slightly below the ocean. We came across a long cylindrical object that was possibly two metres long, 20 cm across.

"Everyone is quite hyped."

Australia was also analysing French radar images showing potential floating debris that were taken some 850 km (530 miles) north of the current search area.

Australia has used a US commercial satellite image of two floating objects to frame its search area. A Chinese satellite has also spotted an object floating in the ocean there, estimated at 22 metres long (74ft) and 13 metres (43ft) wide.

It could not be determined easily from the blurred images whether the objects were the same as those detected by the Australian and Chinese search planes, but the Chinese photograph could depict a cluster of smaller objects, said a military officer from one of the 26 nations involved in the search.

NASA said it would use high-resolution cameras aboard satellites and the International Space Station to look for possible crash sites in the Indian Ocean. The US space agency is also examining archived images collected by instruments on its Terra and Aqua environmental satellites.