DO ATC RECORDINGS ABSOLVE BRAZIL BIZJET PILOTS?
A Brazilian newspaper says the American pilot of an Embraer Legacy 600 bizjet that collided with a Brazilian airliner last month was flying at the altitude assigned by air traffic control. Folha de S. Paulo reported Thursday that transcripts of the radio exchange between the controller and the aircraft show that the Legacy crew was told to climb from its flight-planned altitude of 36,000 feet (appropriate for its northwesterly heading) to 37,000 feet, where they clipped a GOL Boeing 737. The airliner crashed, killing all 154 people aboard. Legacy pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino were able to land the damaged Legacy at a military airstrip in the Amazon jungle with no injuries to the seven people on board. More...

BRAZIL ATC TRANSCRIPTS UNDER WRAPS
Although it would seem a simple matter to release the transcript and tapes and let the investigation proceed with the benefit of that crucial information, the Brazilian air force has refused to do so. The air force oversees air traffic control in Brazil and told The Associated Press it’s normal to sit on this kind of pivotal data under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conventions designed to protect information given voluntarily to investigators. Just who the air force is trying to protect is open to speculation but, while it keeps the tapes and transcripts from public view, the American pilots must remain in what amounts to house arrest in a Rio de Janeiro hotel. Their lawyer is calling for a return of their passports pending “frank disclosure of all the facts.” Meanwhile, the air force has other ATC-related problems on its hands, some of which stem from the accident. More...

WINDS A FACTOR IN LIDLE CRASH
The NTSB says a 13-knot easterly wind may have contributed to the circumstances that led to the crash of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle’s Cirrus SR20 into a Manhattan apartment building on Oct. 11. An update to its investigation issued Friday suggests the brisk breeze would have effectively decreased the turning space available for the aircraft by 400 feet as Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger made a U-turn near the end of the East River exclusion area, a VFR sightseeing route that terminated near where the crash occurred. Although it doesn’t come right out and say it, the report invites speculation that whoever was flying initially misjudged the available turning room and, while banking sharply to avoid the building, stalled the airplane. More...

NOT MUCH ROOM FOR ERROR
The report says that radar data showed the Cirrus’ track up the east side of Roosevelt Island, roughly the middle of the river. From that point, the plane had about 1,700 feet of clearance to the west in which to complete the turn. However, the wind would have pushed the plane 400 feet during the turn, making the available radius just 1,300 feet. At the aircraft’s speed of 97 knots, that would have required a constant bank angle of 53 degrees. “If the initial portion of the turn was not this aggressive,” the report says, “a sufficiently greater bank angle would have been needed as the turn progressed, which would have placed the airplane dangerously close to an aerodynamic stall.” More...

ATC UNION SAYS SIX-DAY WEEK COMMON
A single line in an AVweb story about a controller caught napping has unleashed a torrent of response (with a little prodding from union headquarters) about just how much overtime is being scheduled in towers and centers. Controllers from all over the country have responded to a request from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association for anecdotal confirmation of a comment made by NATCA spokesman Doug Church’s that six-day weeks were becoming commonplace. From Napa to Atlanta to Anchorage to LAX, controllers responded with similar stories. “We have been working six-day work weeks since before June,” wrote one controller. “We have no end in sight.” More...

"STOP WHINING" SAY SOME
The story also prompted spirited comments from a minority of respondents who said they were tired of the rhetoric. A contract tower controller and former PATCO controller who was fired by President Reagan in 1981 said controllers know what they’re in for when they sign up. “The shifts, the overtime, it’s all part of it,” he said. “If you don’t want to do it, then don’t become a controller.” This fellow was particularly incensed by those who claim that they can’t get enough sleep between shifts and said it’s their responsibility to ensure they’re properly rested when they show up for work. A former ATC supervisor told us he thought the whole thing was a media stunt. “I suspect the napping controller incident was a NATCA setup to gain media attention,” he wrote. More...

NAV CANADA MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Canada’s private-sector provider of air traffic control, information and weather service for civilian aviation is celebrating its 10th birthday and it says the system is in better shape and costs less than when it was in government hands. Nav Canada bought Canada’s airspace management system lock, stock and console for $1.5 billion in 1996 and since then it says it has thoroughly modernized equipment and facilities, developed airspace-management software that’s in demand in other countries, increased the number of air traffic controllers by 250 and improved safety (loss of separation incidents are down by 40 percent). According to its math, it’s done all this while at the same time charging about 20 percent less on a per-passenger basis than the old ticket tax its direct-billing system replaced. However, the company-generated news release glosses over some significant controversies that have erupted over the past decade, most notably the introduction of general aviation user fees. More...

RUSSIA RELAXES GA REGS
Russia has significantly relaxed constraints on general aviation in a move that’s expected to stimulate growth of business and private flying. According to Flight International, regulators have dropped rules that required GA operators to get permission for each flight. The new rules also make aircraft ownership, certification, registration and maintenance a lot easier. Of particular note to the burgeoning bizjet business is the elimination of a rule that required filing of flight plans for cross-border flights a minimum of 24 hours in advance. "It's a long-overdue decision," Alexander Yevdokimov, managing director of JetTransfer, told Flight International. "It will help us compete with foreign rivals who enjoy fast-track treatment by their regulators." It might also help open up an overland route from North America to Europe. For the past five years, a group of Alaskans has been working with Russian authorities to establish VFR routes in the Russian Far East. It’s now possible, but not very convenient, to fly from Alaska to a couple of airports on the east coast of Russia. The goal of the Alaskan effort is to open up GA routes that will link North America with Russia, Asia, Europe and Africa, with the longest open-water crossing being about 30 nm over the Bering Strait. More...

CYLINDER CRACK ALERT
The FAA has issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin recommending that owners of certain larger Continental engines with ECi cylinder assemblies inspect the cylinders for cracks every 50 hours after they’ve accumulated more than 500 hours in service. The bulletin affects 520- and 550-series engines with certain ECi components. The cracks started showing up in 2003 and start as fatigue cracks that eventually go through the cylinder wall near the exhaust valve seat. This causes decreased compression but is unlikely to cause separation of the cylinder from the engine, according to the FAA. More...

CARBON MONOXIDE WARNING
In what it calls a “safety admonition,” the FAA is reminding aircraft mechanics to pay special attention to the exhaust and heater systems on light planes at this time of year. It’s also a good idea to check and/or replace the carbon monoxide detector in your plane. (You do have one, right?) Most small aircraft have some sort of heat-exchanger setup on the exhaust system to provide cabin and defroster heat. If the exhaust system leaks, engine gases can get into the heating systems and pump carbon monoxide into the cockpit. “Technicians should inspect all exhaust system components for condition with particular attention to areas associated with cabin heat and defrost systems,” wrote aerospace engineer Barry Ballenger from the FAA’s Kansas City Office of Continued Operational Safety. “Look for deformation, corrosion, erosion, cracks, burned spots, and loose or missing hardware.” More...

FORECASTERS PREDICT LEGAL ACTION
The National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) says it will take legal action against the FAA’s plan to eliminate on-site weather forecasters at 21 Air Route Traffic Control Centers. In a letter to the agency, Richard J. Hirn, the NWSEO’s general counsel, says the FAA’s plan to centralize the weather-forecasting operation in a single, contracted-out facility violates various laws that, in a nutshell, say it’s the National Weather Service’s job to provide weather information to the FAA. Hirn also notes that NWS forecasters have been consistently exempt from contracting out because they provide services that are “inherently governmental.” More...

CLEVELAND PICKED FOR NGATS TEST
The future of airspace management might start in Cleveland. Sensis Corporation, in partnership with federal and local governments, is installing equipment at NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland that will link three local airports to a system that will include, among other things, “4D trajectories and virtual air traffic control towers.” It’s all part of the Next Generation Air Traffic System (NGATS) research effort to try and find technological solutions to the capacity and congestion problems that are looming in the skies. Datalinks, “decision support systems” and a whole range of futuristic-sounding gear will be part of the system. More...

COMAIR FIRST OFFICER NAMED IN CRASH SUIT
First Officer James Polehinke, the lone survivor of the Comair Flight 5191 crash, is among those named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of a Florida man who died in the crash. In a news release, lawyer Stephen Marks, who has won a number of multimillion-dollar settlements in airplane crash suits, said he tried to keep Polehinke out of the case directly but he was unable to come to terms with his insurance company. The suit also names Comair, and Marks says it’s clear that the pilot and airline are to blame. "Comair has acknowledged publicly that its pilots were using an outdated airport map in an attempt to make excuses for departing from the wrong runway,” he said. “Therefore, both the airline and its pilots are clearly responsible for this tragedy despite what we are sure will be efforts by their insurer and lawyers to blame others." More...

ON THE FLY
Raytheon’s new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been certified by the FAA…
Alan Conklin, who co-founded Conklin & de Decker, died Nov. 3 at age 86…
PBS's NOVA is running a documentary on Albert Santos-Dumont Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific... More...

AVWEB AT AOPA EXPO
Not going to AOPA Expo this week? Don't worry, AVweb is, and we'll be delivering the latest news from the show to your inbox, starting with the regular Thursday AVwebFlash on the opening day of AOPA Expo. Then check your e-mail inbox on Friday and Saturday morning for special issues written and produced from the show. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: CAROLINA AIR CENTER

For local prices, enter your U.S. ZIP Code or Airport Identifier: Fuel prices provided weekly by AirNav, based on prices from the past 2 weeks. Changes are relative to last week.

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Carolina Air Center at KHXD in Hilton Head, S.C.

AVweb reader Matt Thompson complimented the FBO staff for giving piston operators the same red carpet treatment as the jet set.

" I stopped here three times in nine days in two different aircraft (a Beech B36TC and a Cirrus SR22). The quality of service was superb. While many resort facilities really roll out the red carpet for the jet set, Carolina Air Center gave me the same service I have received when arriving in much larger corporate aircraft. It was a pleasure doing business with these folks. I would highly recommend them to anyone passing through the area. And I might add, they are the only FBO on the field. Many thanks for this excellent level of service."

Keep those nominations coming.For complete contest rules, click here.

AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
COLUMNS

The Pilot's Lounge #106: Why Do Smart People Bend Airplanes?
It's easy to say that a person who got in an airplane accident was not as smart, well-trained, or endowed with the right stuff as other pilots. A little too easy, in fact. And research shows it's wrong, as AVweb's Rick Durden discusses this month in The Pilot's Lounge.

More...

READER FEEDBACK ON AVWEB'S NEWS COVERAGE AND FEATURE ARTICLES
AVMAIL

AVmail: Nov. 6, 2006
Reader mail this week about 100LL replacements, user fees, ATC asleep and more. More...

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...

AUDIO NEWS
AVweb posts audio news on Mondays, plus a new in-depth interview each Friday. In Friday's podcast, you'll find a one-on-one interview with Spectrum Aeronautical chairman Linden Blue. And AVweb's podcast index includes interviews with Adam Aircraft chairman Rick Adam and New Piper CEO Jim Bass, recorded live at the recent NBAA Convention in Orlando. And in Monday's news summary, hear about how ATC transcripts might vindicate Legacy pilots in Brazilian midair; NTSB says wind was a factor in NYC crash of Cory Lidle's SR20; more air traffic controllers complain of six-day workweeks; NavCanada turns 10; Russia relaxes constraints on general aviation; FAA issues safety bulletin for Continental engines with ECi cylinders; "safety admonition" released for aircraft exhaust systems; future of airspace management takes root in Cleveland; first officer named in Comair crash lawsuit. Remember: In AVweb's podcasts, you'll hear things you won't find anywhere else.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: BOEING 747 SP RETIREMENT LANDING
Welcome to AVweb's "Video of the Week" feature, where we like to kick off the work week with an interesting video we (or more often, our readers) have discovered on the web. This week's featured video comes from South African pilot Rudi Greyling and features the retirement landing of a Boeing 747 at Rand Airport in Germiston. Click through to watch ó and remember to send us a link when you come across interesting videos. We watch every one of them, and if we use yours here, we'll send you an AVweb cap as a "thank you.") More...

SHORT FINAL
A short but sweet one from AVweb's sister publication IFR.

Overheard on approach to a regional southern airport at eight minutes before the hour...

Approach: Sundownner Two Lima Charlie, do you have information November?

Sundowner 2LC: Uh, negative, we're waiting for, uh, December. More...

AVwebFlash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

Today's issue was written by news writer Russ Niles (bio).

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