Volume 9, Number 44b October 30, 2003

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The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded, Illustrated News Coverage At AVweb's NewsWire.

FAA KEEPS GRAPHICAL TFR PROMISE
A year after promising them, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will announce that real-time graphical depictions of current TFRs will be available on the FAA Web site starting today. Blakey is expected to make the announcement at AOPA's annual meeting in Philadelphia. She made the promise at last year's AOPA Expo in Palm Springs. Agency spokesman William Shumann said the new system will give pilots complete, up-to-the-minute information on TFRs as they are created. Michael Cirillo, the FAA's program director for air traffic planning and procedures, told a media briefing Wednesday that the new system is fully automated and will be refreshed every 15 minutes. More...

...EASY TO USE, HELP AVAILABLE
The new graphical TFR site is easily accessed by clicking on the "Pilots: Graphic TFRs" section of the FAA homepage. The click will take pilots to a national map where they can take their pick of TFRs that might affect the flight they are planning. Clicking on the individual TFRs brings up the map, with the TFR shown in red hash marks. There's a layering feature that allows the user to zoom and add major highway and airports, identify major metropolitan areas and place the TFR on a VFR sectional chart. The graphics also include the textual NOTAM descriptions (legal and plain-language) and the whole package can be printed off for ready reference in the air. There is also a 24-hour help desk. More...

CALIFORNIA’S WILDFIRES AFFECT AVIATION
Things have returned to "normal" in the skies over southern California, if you can call flying through thick smoke and dodging fire-related TFRs normal. As AVweb reported on Monday, California’s ongoing battle with massive wildfires has taken its toll on aviation operations. Things took a turn for the worse on Sunday when a fire got within two miles of the FAA's Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) and it was evacuated. The facility, which covers a host of major airports and dozens of GA airports, is the busiest in the country, according to the FAA's William Shumann. "There were lots of delays but things are back to normal in southern California," Shumann told AVweb. More...

…LAX BECOMES A PARKING LOT…
The fires also affected terminal facilities on Sunday, as Los Angeles International Airport officials opted to hold all takeoffs for about half an hour and then only resume departures on a limited basis. Early Sunday evening, FAA controllers at LAX were handling about half the normal hourly arrival rate of 70 aircraft. The reduction in the number of arriving flights was causing delays or cancellations in outbound flights. According to The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, once takeoffs resumed, aircraft were assigned rather unusual procedures, where they were climbing to an altitude of 5,000 feet or more over Santa Monica Bay VFR with apparently no radar coverage. More...

…AND AIRLINES CANCEL HUNDREDS OF FLIGHTS
As one would expect, the ATC facility change and the fires themselves caused major headaches for the various airlines servicing the region. Not waiting for LAX to ground their aircraft, many carriers opted to cancel hundreds of flights in the region. As a result, the entire nationwide route system was affected. At LAX alone, more than 250 flights were canceled. Citing dense smoke and impaired air traffic control operations, Southwest Airlines cancelled a total of 152 flights to and from Burbank, Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County/John Wayne, and San Diego, while America West Airlines said most of its flights in and out of the five airports were either cancelled or delayed. More...

SOLAR FLARES CAUSE COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS
Mother Nature can sure cause a lot of static when she wants to. In fact, static was the only thing heard on a few air-carrier-based communication systems on Monday, as a solar storm was blamed for interfering with high-frequency communications. While the storm could last up to two weeks, a powerful flare-up that hit earth yesterday morning was labeled the "third most powerful solar X-ray flare on record, a remarkable X17.2 category explosion," according to The European Space Agency. Although the first flare-up did not cause widespread problems, the second event did disrupt some airline communications bands and cellphones and even caused some difficulties for the firefighting in California. The FAA's William Shumann said the agency's ground-based and satellite systems have been unaffected to date. More...

THE DANGERS OF TELLING BAD JOKES
You'd think an airline pilot would know better ... especially after a fellow employee had been brought up on charges in Queens, N.Y., for similar behavior in August ... but an Air France crew member was detained Friday after he allegedly made remarks about the plane blowing up as his baggage was being screened at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Associated Press reports an alarm went off as the pilot's luggage was processed through a screening machine. The pilot was called back to the station for a second screening. As security officials were inspecting his bags, the pilot allegedly joked about the plane blowing up, him blowing up and the story ending up on the front page of The New York Times. The TSA staffers were not amused. More...

FAA BILL AMENDED AGAIN
A conference committee of the House and Senate has agreed to strip language relating to the privatization of 69 FAA control towers from the long-delayed FAA Reauthorization Bill but privatization opponents say that's not the end of the debate. The bill, which should have been passed in September, has been held up over the privatization clause and it's still not clear how the latest move will affect its passage. FAA spokesman Greg Martin said the new conference report will likely be put in front of the House today and passage is expected. But passage by the Senate is expected to take longer and Martin said a continuation of the current temporary spending authority, which expires Friday, will almost certainly be required. More...

MINETA TO ADDRESS SPACE EXECS
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Norman Y. Mineta will address the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) this morning. Mineta is expected to discuss the department’s interest in the internationally competitive private commercial launch industry. FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Patricia G. Smith will also address the committee. More...

COACH SEATS: DON'T GET MAD, GET EVEN?
Those who are regularly shoehorned into airliners may enjoy Ira Goldman’s new invention. Called the Knee Defender, the beeper-size block of plastic supposedly allows passengers to prevent the seat in front of them from reclining. Although the device has only been for sale about a month now, some debate has arisen in online chat rooms and federal officials are gauging the result of using the device in the air. The discussion centers on whether the Knee Defender would cause confrontations at the flight levels. More...

SECURITY AND WHO WE PUNISH
Nathaniel Heatwole shook the TSA and airline community last week after allegedly placing box cutters, bleach and clay in the lavatories of two Southwest Airlines jets. Now, he’s back hitting the books at Guilford College. A news release from the Quaker school confirmed the junior "has returned to his normal academic and campus life routines." Twenty-year-old Heatwole, of Damascus, Md., was released without bail Oct. 20 after being charged with taking a dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft. His next hearing is set for Nov. 10. While he could face prison time for the federal charges, Heatwole won't be punished by Gilford College because he didn't violate Guilford's student conduct code, Anne Lundquist, dean for student life, told the Associated Press. More...

ON THE FLY…
TFRs are expected to sprout in Texas with President Bush’s Crawford visit...
Marco Island airport will host its own Centennial of Flight event...
Congress is investigating Boeing’s tanker leaser deal with the USAF...
Atlanta’s airport will now be called Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int’l...
The FAA published its final rule on Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums...
First parachute-saved Cirrus flown to AOPA Expo...
Meet AVwebbers at AOPA Expo, Booth 502... More...

AVWEB'S AVSCOOP AWARD..

Congratulations and an AVweb hat go out to Skip Howe, this week's AVscoop winner. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. Rules and information are at http://www.avweb.com/contact/newstips.html.

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NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
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BIZAV
BIZAV
AVweb's expanded coverage of business/corporate aviation continues with extensive coverage of NBAA's annual convention in Orlando.

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AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK...
We received over 100 pictures last week. Congratulations to this week's winner, Dick Lemons, of Kansas City, MO. His picture titled "different View" certainly does provide us with a unique perspective of his flight. The shot was taken of the spot-mirror on the rear "cabanes" of his 1915 Nieuport 11 replica. You’ll notice another Nieuport (Dick Starks) can be seen banking away in the mirror with the Missouri River can be seen just below. Great picture, Dick! Your AVweb hat is on the way.

To check out the winning picture, or to enter next week's contest, go to http://www.avweb.com/potw More...

AVWEB'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK...
We received over 300 responses to our question last week on the Concorde’s retirement. About one third (34 percent) felt the Concorde was never economically viable and never should have entered service in the first place, while 37 percent agreed its caused many financial difficulties but they also felt the supersonic airliner is an engineering marvel. About 12 percent of the respondents thought the Concorde should have not been retired.

To check out the complete results or respond to this week's question, go to http://www.avweb.com/qotw
This week, we would like to know your thoughts on panel-mounted GPS units. More...

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SPONSOR NEWS

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AVflash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest aviation news, articles, products, features and events featured on AVweb, the Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service. http://www.avweb.com

Letters to the editor intended for publication in AVmail should be sent to mailto:editor@avweb.com.com. Have a comment or question? Send it to mailto:newsteam@avweb.com.

Today's issue written by News Writer Arturo Weiss:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#aweiss
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team: mailto:sales@avweb.com.

Let's all be careful out there, okay?

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