FIRST HINT OF SUNRISE FROM SPACE

On July 30, 2013, Expedition 36 Flight Engineer Karen L. Nyberg of NASA took this photograph of a sunrise viewed from the International Space Station. As the space station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, traveling at about 17,500 miles per hour, the crew sees about 16 sunrises and sunsets daily. IMAGE CREDIT : NASA

FAA RECOMMENDATIONS SEEK TO IMPROVE SAFETY AND REDUCE GENERAL AVIATION CERTIFICATION COSTS

New Recommendations Seek to Improve Safety And Reduce General Aviation Certification Costs An Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), convened by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), today recommended a broad range of policy and regulatory changes that it believes could significantly improve the safety of general aviation aircraft while simultaneously reducing certification and modification costs for those aircraft. The committee, made up of international industry and government experts, was tasked with examining the existing standards for the design and certification of aircraft ranging from small piston-powered airplanes to high-performance business jets, that are contained in Part 23 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. "Streamlining the design and certification process could provide a cost-efficient way to build simple airplanes that still incorporate the latest in safety innovations," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "These changes have the potential to save money and maintain our safety standing – a win-win situation for manufacturers, pilots and the general aviation community as a whole." The committee's recommendations cover the areas of design, production, maintenance and safety. The ARC's goal was to identify ways to streamline the certification process, making it cheaper and easier for manufacturers to incorporate safety improvements into their products, allow for upgrades to the existing fleet, and provide greater flexibility to incorporate future technological advancements. "The committee's goal was to increase safety while simultaneously decreasing the cost of certification" said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. "The FAA's goal is to embrace innovation and create a regulation that will stand the test of time." The Part 23 rulemaking committee included 55 representatives from the FAA, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Brazil's Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC), the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA), New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as well as airplane manufacturers from around the world. Among the ARC's recommendations was the suggestion that compliance with Part 23 requirements be performance-based, focusing on the complexity and performance of an aircraft instead of the current regulations based on weight and type of propulsion. Under many of the existing Part 23 requirements, small, relatively simple airplanes have to meet the same regulatory requirements as more complex aircraft. The committee proposed using industry consensus standards to define a compliance framework that can be more easily amended to keep up with evolving technology. This step would encourage innovation while ensuring that the FAA retains safety oversight.  The FAA will review the ARC recommendations as it decides how to proceed on improving general aviation safety.

TWO MOONS PASSING IN THE NIGHT

The Saturn moons Mimas and Pandora remind us of how different they are when they appear together, as in this image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Pandora's small size means that it lacks sufficient gravity to pull itself into a round shape like its larger sibling, Mimas. Researchers believe that the elongated shape of Pandora (50 miles, or 81 kilometers across) may hold clues to how it and other moons near Saturn's rings formed. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Mimas (246 miles, or 396 kilometers across). North on Mimas is up and rotated 28 degrees to the right. The image was taken in blue light with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on May 14, 2013. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 690,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Mimas. Image scale is 4 miles (7 kilometers) per pixel. Pandora was at a distance of 731,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) when this image was taken. Image scale on Pandora is 4 miles (7 kilometers) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

FAA PROPOSES 2.75 MILLON CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST BOEING CO.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $2.75 million civil penalty against Boeing Co.'s commercial airplanes unit for allegedly failing to maintain its quality control system in accordance with approved FAA procedures.   "Safety is our top priority and a robust quality control system is a vital part of maintaining the world's safest air transportation system," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "Airplane manufacturers must take prompt and thorough steps to correct safety and compliance problems once they become aware of them."   In September 2008, Boeing discovered that it had been installing nonconforming fasteners on its model 777 airplanes. On October 2008, the FAA sent Boeing a letter of investigation that requested a response within 20 working days. The FAA alleges that Boeing repeatedly submitted action plans that set deadlines for the accomplishment of certain corrective actions, but subsequently failed to implement those plans. The company implemented a plan to address the fastener issue on Nov. 10, 2010, more than two years after Boeing first learned of the problem   "Manufacturers must make it a priority to identify and correct quality problems in a timely manner," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. Boeing stopped using the nonconforming fasteners after officials discovered the problem. However, some of the underlying manufacturing issues continued to exist until after the corrective action plan was in place.   Boeing has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's civil penalty letter to respond to the agency.

AMERICAN AIRLINES RENUEVA SU FLOTA

La estadounidense American Airlines recibió su primer Airbus A319 de los 260 con que renovará su flota para adaptarse a una "experiencia de vuelo moderna" que incluye nueva tecnología, una mayor comodidad a bordo y eficiencia en el uso de combustible.

"Todo en la aeronave A319 ha sido diseñado con el cliente como centro", señaló en un comunicado el director comercial de American Airlines, quien destacó el uso de la tecnología Wi-Fi y conexiones USB en cada uno de los asientos de cuero.

Los pasajeros de primera clase disfrutarán de una selección de 200 peliculas, 180 programas de televisión, 350 de audio y hasta 15 juegos en el monitor de la pantalla táctil de alta resolución. Los asientos de clase económica contarán con monitores de pantalla táctil, películas y programas de televisión.

"Con la introducción de la familia A320, la aerolínea está demostrando su confianza en un producto de un solo pasillo que ha cambiado las reglas de juego para las aerolineas alrededor del mundo", subrayó John Leahy, directivo comercial de Airbus.

LEBA - AEROPUERTO DE CÓRDOBA

El Aeropuerto de Córdoba pone mañana en servicio la pista de vuelo ampliadad. Las nuevas dimensiones permitirán el movimiento de aviones de mayor tamaño y alcance, como el Airbus A320

Esta ampliación hará posible el uso de las infraestructuras ya ejecutadas. Con esta medida transitoria, las aeronaves que necesiten despegar disponiendo de toda la longitud de la pista podrán hacerlo por la cabecera 21, mientras que las que requieran la extensión completa para aterrizar, habrán de hacerlo por la 03.

La apertura parcial de la pista ampliada, que pasará de 1.380 a 2.050 metros, garantiza la operativa de aviones de mayor tamaño en el aeropuerto: si con las dimensiones originales podían hacerlo aeronaves del tipo ATR72, las nuevas lo harán factible para reactores domo el A320.

EL BOEING 787 NO ES UN AVIÓN FIABLE

John Leahy, director comercial de Airbus, ha indicado que "la arquitectura del Boeing 787 no está madura; no es un avión fiable". Estas declaraciones las realizó el directivo a propósito del incendio de un Boeing 787 de Ethiopian Arilines registrado el pasado día 12 en el aeropuerto londinense de Heathrow.

"Parece obvio que este avión no es fiable y que sus sistemas no tienen madurez", afirmó durante la entrega del A330-300 número 1.000 a la compañía Cathay Pacific Airways.

"Tienen una arquitectura que no está madura y que se va haciendo progresivamente. Esto supondrá mucho tiempo, mucho dinero y numerosos vuelos cancelados. Y posiblemente haya que replantear algunos sistemas de a bordo", agregó.

El Boeing 787 Dreamliner, de nuevo en servicio tras varios meses inmovilizado por el sobrecalentamiento de sus baterías de iones de litio, ha registrado en las últimas semanas nuevos problemas.

INFOSHARE 2013InfoShare 2013

 

InfoShare 2013   InfoShare 2013 Singapore August 29-30    We have a preferred rate at the Changi Village Hotel at 1 Netheravon Road, a short walk to the Singapore Aviation Academy. Please click here for more information.        The Flight Safety Foundation, in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) will host the inaugural International Aviation Safety Management InfoShare on Aug. 29-30 in Singapore. The intent is to provide an open dialogue on safety management issues and a neutral ground to exchange information about the challenges states and operators are facing and what can be enhanced in the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) guidance. The Infoshare is designed to meet several objectives: Provide a venue for the presentation of Annex 19 by ICAO. Provide opportunity for promotion of best practices in safety management at both operator and state levels. Allow individuals and organizations that are actually managing safety on a day-to-day basis to provide feedback to key safety organizations such as ICAO, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), FSF, etc. Confirmed Airlines: Air Astana Air Nuigini Air Pacific Cobham Aviation EVA Airways Malaysia Airlines Scoot SilkAir Singapore Airlines Singapore Cargo Sharp Airlines Southern Air Tiger Airways

 

 

JAL GROUP MONTHLY TRAFFIC DATA JUNE 2013

 

 

JAL Group Monthly Traffic Data June 2013

JAL Group today announced its traffic data for the month of June 2013. Please refer to the tables below.
1.1) JAL Group International Passenger Traffic Data - FY2013 

Month	Pax	y.o.y(%)	RPK (000's)	y.o.y(%)	ASK (000's)	y.o.y(%)	L/F(%)
APR - 13	578,279	99.8	2,582,823	104.5	3,698,245	104.5	69.8
MAY - 13	587,529	97.1	2,700,281	100.8	3,799,832	103.4	71.1
JUN - 13	615,744	99.5	2,897,529	103.1	3,762,418	103.4	77.0
FY13 1st Q	1,781,552	98.8	8,180,633	102.8	11,260,495	103.7	72.6
JUL - 13
AUG - 13
SEP - 13
FY13 2nd Q
OCT - 13
NOV - 13
DEC - 13
FY13 3rd Q
JAN - 14
FEB - 14
MAR - 14
FY13 4th Q
TOTAL	1,781,552	98.8	8,180,633	102.8	11,260,495	103.7	72.6

1.2) Monthly International Passenger Route Traffic Data - June 2013 

Route	Pax	y.o.y(%)	RPK (000's)	y.o.y(%)	ASK (000's)	y.o.y(%)	L/F(%)	FY12 L/F(%)
Transpacific	151,494	103.3	1,174,503	104.0	1,418,492	109.1	82.8	86.8
Europe	57,148	98.8	537,184	98.4	661,454	94.9	81.2	78.3
S.E.A	238,019	109.7	853,615	112.8	1,150,514	105.3	74.2	69.3
Oceania	9,185	89.9	71,592	90.7	118,665	95.4	60.3	63.4
Guam	11,224	98.3	28,229	98.3	35,655	100.1	79.2	80.6
Korea	64,699	85.3	74,346	87.8	102,316	89.7	72.7	74.2
China	83,948	84.2	158,030	84.1	275,286	99.7	57.4	68.1
Total	615,744	99.5	2,897,529	103.1	376,418	103.4	77.0	77.2

2) JAL Group Total Domestic Passenger Traffic - FY2013 

Month	Pax	y.o.y(%)	RPK (000's)	y.o.y(%)	ASK (000's)	y.o.y(%)	L/F(%)
APR - 13	2,309,460	101.8	1,760,896	100.6	3,074,956	102.8	57.3
MAY - 13	2,572,177	104.5	1,922,732	103.1	3,206,977	102.5	60.0
JUN - 13	2,478,817	104.0	1,847,686	102.2	3,162,660	106.2	58.4
FY13 1st Q	7,360,454	103.5	5,531,314	102.0	9,444,591	103.8	58.6
JUL - 13
AUG - 13
SEP - 13
FY13 2nd Q
OCT - 13
NOV - 13
DEC - 13
FY13 3rd Q
JAN - 14
FEB - 14
MAR - 14
FY13 4th Q
TOTAL	7,360,454	103.5	5,531,314	102.0	9,444,591	103.8	58.6

3) JAL Group Cargo Traffic Data - FY2013 

Month	International				Domestic
	Cargo		Mail		Cargo		Mail
	Ton	y.o.y(%)	Ton	y.o.y(%)	Ton	y.o.y(%)	Ton	y.o.y (%)
APR - 13	20,773	100.9	2,384	111.3	31,751	101.4	2,278	104.7
MAY - 13	20,917	105.5	2,438	116.4	31,461	102.1	2,380	111.0
JUN - 13	21,698	103.9	2,285	120.7	30,806	102.5	2,410	102.6
FY13 1st Q	63,388	103.4	7,108	115.9	94,018	101.9	7,068	105.9
JUL - 13
AUG - 13
SEP - 13
FY13 2nd Q
OCT - 13
NOV - 13
DEC - 13
FY13 3rd Q
JAN - 14
FEB - 14
MAR - 14
FY13 4th Q
TOTAL	63,388	103.4	7,108	115.9	94,018	101.9	7,068	105.9