Volume 10, Number 23a -- May 31, 2004

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

PIPER GROUNDING TIP OF THE ICEBERG?...
The FAA has confirmed it's investigating whether defective heat-treated steel found in dozens of New Piper aircraft made its way to other manufacturers. "It's something we are definitely looking into," FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told AVweb. She said there is no evidence to date that the issue affects any other manufacturer but Charles Nelson, vice president of marketing for Wilco Inc., the Wichita steel distributor that supplied the steel to Piper, told AVweb any number of aircraft manufacturers or other types of industries could have taken delivery of specially heat-treated steel that is not as strong as it should be. "I've told them (the FAA) that every time I've talked to them," said Nelson, whose company is, perhaps unfairly, at the center of the grounding of at least 49 newly built Pipers last week. More...

...STEEL TREATER SUGGESTS PIPER CASE UNIQUE...
Wilco sent the steel to Certified Steel Treating in Los Angeles at New Piper's request. When steel is normalized, an independent lab must test it -- the results are returned with the shipment. Nelson said all the paperwork was in order for the steel order, which was then forwarded to Piper. He confirmed that all of the treated steel in that particular order went to Piper. But he also said Certified treats steel for numerous other distributors. He said there's a good chance some of those distributors supply other aircraft manufacturers. Certified President Jeff Davis agreed his company treats steel "for lots of people" but he suggested the Piper order was an anomaly. "I haven't heard any complaints from anyone else," he said. More...

...PIPER RUSHES TO FIX 49 PLANES GROUNDED
Meanwhile, New Piper is whittling down the number of aircraft that are grounded as it identifies those that contain parts made from the defective steel. The company originally issued a Mandatory Service Bulletin grounding 76 aircraft built since mid-January. Of those, 39 had been delivered to customers. Spokesman Mark Miller said that by last Friday, the number of affected aircraft had been cut to 49, of which 20 were in customers' hands, 23 were at dealers and six were still at the factory. Because the aircraft can't be flown, teams of service technicians must be sent to inspect and, as necessary, retrofit the affected aircraft with new steel parts. More...

NTSB URGES AIRBUS RUDDER AD
Airbus says it agrees with an NTSB recommendation that the rudder-control system on A300-600 aircraft be modified to prevent the kind of circumstances that sent an American Airlines flight tumbling briefly out of control over Florida in 1997. The NTSB is urging the FAA to issue an Airworthiness Directive for Airbus to modify the rudder-travel limiter system "so it can respond effectively to rapid airspeed changes such as those that might be experienced during upsets and not be adversely affected by pedal forces." More...

...PROBLEM HIGHLIGHTED IN FLIGHT 587 PROBE
The report makes no mention of Flight 587, which crashed in New York in 2001, killing a total of 265 people, but Forbes.com said the recommendations grew out of that investigation. In the New York disaster, the aircraft entered a series of rapid oscillations after hitting the wake turbulence of a Boeing 747 shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport. The vertical stabilizer came free of the airplane, as did both engines, before the aircraft crashed into suburban Belle Harbor. Among the dead were five people on the ground. More...

GA SHOULD PAY "FAIR SHARE" FOR SERVICES
Another prominent airline-industry executive has joined Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson in the call for higher fees for general aviation. In anopinion piece, Jim May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, claims GA accounts for 40 percent of the flights handled by FAA centers and 69 percent of tower work but contributes only 2 percent of the revenue (through gasoline tax) needed to keep the systems operating. "The fees general aviation operators pay today don't even come close to covering the costs of the federal aviation services they receive," May wrote. More...

INSTRUMENT EXAM, CHECK RULES CHANGE
If you're working on your instrument rating or you need an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC), your world is about to change, and not entirely for the better, according to at least one training expert. The FAA has revised its instrument rating practical test standards. The 48 pages of new rules go into effect on Oct. 1, and one clause in particular will have widespread consequences, Richard Kaplan, a principal and instructor at Flight Level Aviation, told AVweb. He said the new rules require that a circling approach be demonstrated during the IPC. Not only does the requirement send the wrong message to pilots (that circling approaches are SOP) and decrease flexibility (the ability to adapt training to address the pilot's weaknesses), Kaplan claims, it will also increase costs to trainers, and, ultimately, pilots. More...

CONTROLLERS THREATEN STRIKE OVER RADIO NOISE
It sounds like a familiar story but news that Israeli air traffic controllers are threatening to strike has a twist. The controllers aren't looking for more money, longer breaks or better benefits. They say they'll walk off the job if the government of Israel doesn't crack down on all the pirate radio stations operating in the country that are disrupting air traffic communications. "In light of the extent to which broadcast stations are appearing in our 'electronic skies,' an air crash is only a matter of time," the chairmen of the air traffic controllers union and the Israeli Pilots Union wrote in a joint statement to the government. Meanwhile, Israel's national airline is setting up satellite bases in North America to save money and time for flight crews. More...

LIABILITY: THE SILENT PLAYER IN THE WATER-BOMBER DEBATE
The Forest Service cancelled air-tanker contracts in part because it was afraid of being sued if any of them crashed, according to a report in the Billings Gazette. In a remarkably candid interview (for a government official concerned about liability) Tony Kern, the Forest Service's assistant director of aviation management, said the safety of air crews and people on the ground was the first consideration but liability was also a concern. In late April, an NTSB report on two air-tanker crashes said many of the planes are potentially dangerous and, because they are "public use" aircraft, they are outside the FAA's certification jurisdiction while fighting fires. That put all the responsibility on the Forest Service and it responded May 10 by canceling contracts for 33 large tankers. More...

PILOTS HELP OUT TROOPS OVERSEAS
The St. Augustine Airport Pilots Association is sending a bit of home to U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The pilots group is taking $10 donations that will allow it to fill packages with snacks, toiletries, lip balm, eye drops and DVDs for soldiers fighting in those countries. "I think everybody should say thank you to our troops and this is a perfect way to do it," association member Bill Pacetti told the St. Augustine Record. Donations have come in from as far away as California and checks, made out to SAPA U.S. Troop Care Package, can be sent to 147 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine, FL 32084. More...

ON THE FLY...
Brazil plans to start shooting down suspected drug runners, U.S. disapproves...
Friday, the runway lights went out at South Florida International Airport, again...
Hopes that helicopter logging in the swamps of Louisiana may help the environment...
Saturday, a Commemorative Air Force P-51C made an emergency off-field landing...
For NBC Dateline watchers, AVweb's interview with Captain Al Haynes. More...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
_______
COLUMNS
As the Beacon Turns #77: The Big Non-Stop
Stepping up from domestic airline routes to international routes brings some perks to pilots -- like fewer flights per month -- but a 13-hour leg can really be a pain in the keister. AVweb's Michael Maya Charles just upgraded to the MD-11 and the Memphis to Tokyo route ... and now he spends his off-duty time catching up on sleep.

More...

READER FEEDBACK ON AVWEB'S NEWS COVERAGE AND FEATURE ARTICLES:
http://www.avweb.com/avmail/

Reader mail this week about FSS privatization, firefighting tankers, Capstone in Alaska, airport noise and much more.

More...

SHORT FINAL...
(Three runways, two intersections and a lesson in geometry.) While doing touch and goes at my home airport...
Tower: Experimental XYZ, cleared to land 17, hold short of 35.

Me (without thinking): Roger, cleared on 17, hold short of 35.

(Several seconds later.)

Voice on frequency: I want to see this!

Another voice: Me, too!

Tower: Uh, Experimental XYZ, make that hold short of 22.

Voice: Darn! More...

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PILOT'S AUDIO UPDATE HELPS YOU BE A BETTER PILOT
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FIRST WORLD FLIGHT: THE ODYSSEY OF BILLY MITCHELL IS A MUST-READ!
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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 Russ Niles:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#rniles
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.

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