Volume 11, Number 47a — November 21, 2005

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

AGE 60 RULE GOING AWAY?
Is there life after 60 for airline pilots? By the end of next year there may be, as long as they're willing to share the cockpit with a (relatively) young whippersnapper. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed a bill last Thursday that would allow airline pilots to keep flying until their 65th birthday as long as another qualified pilot under the age of 60 is also on duty in the cockpit. The so-called Age 60 Rule has been in effect for more than 45 years and the FAA has resisted (sometimes vigorously) attempts to scrap it. Last July at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey reaffirmed her position that the rule was here to stay, but Congress could change all that. More...

...AS PENSION OVERHAUL PLAN PASSES...
As the committee was finishing its work, the full Senate was busy ratifying a bill that, among other reforms, would allow pilots caught in the various airline pension-scheme defaults, either completed or imminent, to qualify for the full rate offered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that bails out bankrupt pension plans. Under current regulations, only those who retire at age 65 qualify for the maximum PBGC benefit of about $45,000 a year. Airline pilots, who must retire by 60, are only eligible for about $29,000. An amendment by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, would qualify pilots for the full $45,000 if their pension plan goes bust. But the bill also contained provisions to make it easier for airlines to keep their pension funds afloat. More...

...AND PILOTS UNION THREATENS "MURDER-SUICIDE"
Of course, all the congressional help in the world won't help the legacy carriers if they can't help themselves and it seems like pilots at both Delta and Northwest are willing to pull the pin on their respective airlines. When it comes to concessions, pilots have the most to give and they've given up a total of $1.2 billion in wages and benefits to try and keep the struggling carriers afloat. The pilots, all members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have indicated they're running out of patience with demands that they work for less and are threatening to go on strike, even though they agree with Delta's prediction that a strike would result in a "murder-suicide" for the airline. "Is it a real threat? Yes it is," said Mark McClain, chair of the Northwest branch of ALPA. More...

GAO SUGGESTS MORE FAA OUTSOURCING…
The Government Accountability Office is suggesting the FAA back away from rejigging its core funding mechanisms and, instead, concentrate on making do with less. And contracting out heads the list of ways the FAA could get its financial house in order while coping with major funding, technology and human resource challenges. "Some experts, and GAO's work, suggest that FAA pursue near-term options, such as contracting out more services," the report's synopsis reads. "After establishing a sound financial management record, FAA could pursue options for greater financial management flexibility." The synopsis doesn't pinpoint which services could be outsourced but it is critical of the FAA's current approach to saving money. More...

...BUT OUTSOURCED MAINTENANCE NEEDS MORE OVERSIGHT...
You could forgive the FAA for being confused on the outsourcing issue. While the GAO seems to be encouraging it, the other government watchdog that monitors the agency was sending a different message. Ken Mead, the Department of Transportation's Inspector General, testified before the Senate Transportation Committee that more and more airline maintenance is being outsourced and he said that means the FAA needs to step up its inspection of third-party maintenance facilities. He said outsourcing isn't the issue. "It is that maintenance, wherever it is done, requires oversight," he said. He said the FAA was warned two years ago about shortcomings with maintenance subcontractors and promised to increase inspections but has been slow to do so. Mead is particularly concerned about the increasing amount of maintenance being done in other countries. More...

...SAFETY PROGRAMS GOOD, COULD BE BETTER
The GAO also took a look at the FAA's safety oversight system and, while it had to acknowledge the extraordinary safety record of U.S. commercial air operations, that doesn't mean there isn't room for a little tweaking. For instance, the GAO thinks the FAA spends too much time doing "traditional inspections" of airlines and not enough time looking for potential risk factors. The GAO also suggests beefed-up training for inspectors to ensure they understand the complex aircraft they are inspecting and, while it says the FAA training programs are generally good, there is a lack of evaluative standards to go with them. More...

RECORD-ATTEMPT AIRCRAFT SABOTAGED?
A Maryland pilot who hopes to circumnavigate the globe via the two poles says someone apparently poured lacquer thinner into his aircraft's fuel tanks. "This is a hard thing to wrap my mind around," Gus McLeod told the Baltimore Sun. "I can't believe I would be so important that someone would want to hurt me." McLeod told the Sun he left his Firefly, a modified Velocity, outside his hangar one night with a can of laquer thinner on the ground beside it. He found the empty can the next day but apparently didn't suspect the new whereabouts of its contents. On a shakedown flight on Oct. 16, he experienced engine problems and upon landing found yellow goo in the fuel lines. Later tests confirmed the presence of laquer thinner in the fuel and inspection of the fiberglass fuel tank revealed they'd been partially dissolved, resulting in fuel-line blockage. More...

FLIGHT PLAN RHETORIC CONTINUES USER FEE FOCUS
The FAA's annual revision of its five-year planning document, called its Flight Plan, continues the much-disputed tack that the existing funding structure for the agency, through the Airway and Airport Trust Fund, is falling short and a new method of funding is needed. AOPA President Phil Boyer said the fund is actually growing but the FAA is under intense pressure from airlines and from within the administration to establish a fee-for-service system. AOPA is also suggesting Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta was a little less than forthcoming when he told those attending his Q&A session at AOPA Expo earlier this month that "From my perspective, it will not be a user fee" that will dig the FAA out of the mire. More...

PROP NPRM AFFECTS BONANZAS, NAVIONS
About 2350 Beech Bonanzas, T-34s and Navions with certain prop and engine combinations will fall under a proposed Airworthiness Directive that will require immediate replacement of the prop on about 500 of the affected aircraft and RPM limits on the others. Based on test data supplied by McCauley, the FAA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemakingcovering 3A32C406/82NDB–X and D3A32C409/82NDB–X propellers, installed on Continental IO–520, TSIO–520 or IO–550 engines, saying McCauley's testing "identified stress conditions that affect the fatigue life and damage tolerance" of the props. AOPA is challenging the NPRM, saying there's no accident data to back up the proposed AD. More...

AFTER 60 YEARS, IT'S STILL A MYSTERY
Perhaps proving that no good mystery can be left that way, NBC News, without uncovering a shred of new information or evidence, is, according to the Palm Beach Post, "rekindling speculation" on what happened to a flight of five Navy Grumman Avengers that went missing 60 years ago off the coast of Florida in what became known as the Bermuda Triangle. Congress also voted to commemorate the anniversary with a resolution that passed 420-2 (Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., voted against). "Perhaps someday we will learn what happened and lay this mystery to rest," said Florida Republican Clay Shaw, who put the resolution forward. Apparently, the latest television probe, which will air Nov. 27, doesn't do that. More...

PILOT ACCEPTS SUSPENSION FOR COLLISION WITH SKYDIVER
The pilot of a plane that collided with a skydiver, causing fatal injuries, has agreed to accept a nine-month suspension of all of his aviation certificates. But William J. Buchmann's lawyer, R. Patrick Phillips, says the 57-year-old pilot is not admitting that he violated any regulations, despite accusations by the FAA that he flew the aircraft in a "grossly careless or reckless manner" when it struck his longtime friend Albert "Gus" Wing over Deland Airport last April. "Our view is that this was an accident and nothing more," Phillips told the Orlando Sentinel. And while they mourned the loss of Wing, colleagues and patrons at Skydive Deland, including Wing's family, are rallying behind Buchmann, who's being kept on at the skydive center, doing ground jobs, while he serves the suspension. "He's one of the best, most competent pilots that [has] ever worked in our industry," said Skydive Deland owner Bob Hallett. More...

CITATION AIRLIFT CARRIES SPECIAL ATHLETES
About 2,500 Special Olympics athletes will arrive in style at the U.S. Special Olympics National Games at Iowa State University next July. A fleet of 400 privately owned Cessna Citations will fly the athletes from 35 states to the Games. All of the flight time, pilot time and fuel will be donated by the owners of the planes. Cessna is coordinating the effort, called the Citation Special Olympics Airlift. A sign-up sheet is available by going to the link provided on the airlift information page. More...

ON THE FLY...
ELT in delivery truck sparked search...
King Air's belly landing caught on camera...
Flight 93 movie started production in England...
Hooters pushes out of Rockford. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Drop us a line. Heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about? If it caught your eye, it will probably interest someone else, too. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. You're a part of our team ... often, the best part. More...

READER FEEDBACK ON AVWEB'S NEWS COVERAGE AND FEATURE ARTICLES:
AVmail: November 21, 2005
Reader mail this week about the EZ Rocket, light guns and more.

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NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
COLUMNS
CEO of the Cockpit #51: Cockpit of the Apes
If a free-enterprise economy is Darwinian and if legacy airlines are dinosaurs, what are the little mammals and what are the cockroaches? And which will survive longest? AVweb's CEO of the Cockpit ponders this in the hypoxic cockpit of a 777 in this month's column.

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AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVFLASH
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb's NO-COST twice monthly Business AVflash? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash also focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the Business of Aviation. Business AVflash is a must read. Watch for a Business AVflash regular feature, TSA WATCH: GA IN THE "SPOTLIGHT". Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/ More...

SHORT FINAL...
What to bring to the table when entering the pattern...

ATC: N1234, confirm you have current ATIS.

N1234: N1234 has Whiskey.

(Unidentified pilot): In that case, welcome to the party! More...

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

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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.

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