The Buttonville Flying Club COPA Flight 44

The Department of Transportation's new rule limiting the time passengers can be held on closed aircraft away from the gate goes into effect April 29, but Delta and JetBlue think construction at JFK may give them good reason to be excused from potential fines. The airlines, which operate a majority of flights at the airport, have petitioned for temporary exemptions from the rule because a four-month-long project at JFK will close the airport's longest of four runways (14,572-foot 13R/31L) as it is widened and repaved in concrete through July. Under normal conditions during peak hours, the FAA estimates the runway's closure may cause delays of about 50 minutes, and those delays will then ripple out to other airports and through affected carriers' schedules. Both Delta and JetBlue have made adjustments to their schedules but fear that may not be enough. Under the new DOT's new rule, an airline could be fined for every passenger held on a closed non-traveling airliner for more than three hours. Translated into dollars, it means that an airline that left passengers on a full Boeing 737 could be subjected to nearly $3.5 million in fines.

By 2030, the general aviation fleet will grow by about 50,000 airplanes and 52,000 active pilots, the FAA forecast this week. The forecast calls for robust growth in the long term and predicts business use of GA aircraft will expand at a faster pace than personal and recreational use. With growth forecast across all sectors -- traffic at the nation's 35 busiest airports is expected to increase by 60 percent -- infrastructure upgrades will need to keep up. "A safe, efficient and vibrant aviation system is vital to our nation?s economic health," said Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "We must find long-term solutions that will keep the U.S. aviation industry competitive and moving forward into the future." Light sport aircraft are expected to increase by about 825 aircraft per year through 2013, then taper off to about 335 per year. Sport pilots, which numbered 3,248 at the end of 2009, will increase to 14,100 by 2030, the FAA estimates. The forecast, which comes after a short-term period of slow growth in aviation activity, underscores the need for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), as well as continued investment in airport infrastructure projects, the FAA said. "This forecast makes a very strong business case for NextGen," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. "Without NextGen, we won?t be able to handle the increased demand for service that this forecast anticipates." Meanwhile, the FAA reauthorization bill, which will provide funding for the agency, continues to be stalled in Congress. Legislators from Tennessee have come under fire this week for trying to de-rail the bill due to a provision that would make it possible for some FedEx workers to unionize.

Statistics that show a high accident rate for homebuilt aircraft may not reveal the complete picture, EAA said this week. The Nall Report, compiled annually by AOPA's Air Safety Foundation, reported last week that in 2008, amateur-built aircraft had an accident rate almost five times the rate of type-certificated aircraft and a fatal accident rate more than seven times higher. "On the surface, the statistics may give one impression of amateur-built accident and fatal-accident rates," said EAA on its Web site. "It takes some digging to get actual totals and comparisons." For example, EAA said, the FAA and NTSB often use different parameters to report the homebuilt aircraft fleet size and the accidents that occur each year. "Our analysis is in part, in response to the Nall Report," EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski told AVweb on Wednesday. "We felt the numbers that were out there could benefit from additional analysis and clarification." EAA posted an analysis by Ron Wanttaja that offers an alternate view of the data.

We're sorry to report that Paul Bertorelli is being treated for ADHS ? advanced delusional hallucination syndrome. We're not sure if he's making progress, but you can be the judge of it by reading his latest post to the AVweb Insider blog. It has something to do with a Piper J-3C.

A 23-year-old man who stole a Cirrus SR22 in San Diego last month has pleaded guilty to a felony. Skye Turner was charged with using an airplane without the owner's permission. The court referred him to a new treatment program for mentally ill offenders that provides supervision and custody, the San Diego News Network reported this week. However, if he is not accepted into the program he could be sentenced to 120 days in jail instead. Turner, who is not a pilot but has had some training, stole the keys to the airplane on Feb. 18, just a few hours after a pilot in Austin, Texas, flew his Piper Dakota into a government building. Turner reportedly had been in a dispute with his girlfriend and threatened to crash the SR22 into the ocean, according to SDNN.

More training for pilots on advanced simulators could help prevent crashes and save hundreds of lives, according to an analysis by USA Today. Many pilots today are trained on older simulators that can't effectively re-create the real behavior of aircraft during stalls, severe icing, upsets due to wind shear or wake encounters, and other extreme conditions, says a recent NTSB report. Loss of control was a factor in 73 percent of the 433 airline fatalities in the U.S. since 2000. (Note that the fatalities that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, are not counted in accident statistics, since they resulted from a crime, not an accident.) Newer simulators created with research by the military and NASA are more effective, but there are no federal requirements for pilots to be trained on them.

An NTSB study shows glass cockpit technology has not significantly improved the safety of small light planes, the NTSB said Tuesday, and the board recommended changes, from training to maintenance reporting, to improve the statistics. While data collected between 2002 and 2008 showed fewer total accidents for those aircraft equipped with glass panels, that total came with a higher fatal accident rate and higher total fatal accidents. For the period from 2002-2008, conventionally equipped aircraft suffered 141 total accidents with 23 having a fatal outcome. Glass-equipped aircraft suffered 125 total accidents with 39 having a fatal outcome. But the board's study also found the mission profile for each type of equipment package and the characteristics of the pilot were different between the two platforms. Generally speaking, higher-time pilots were flying longer flights with glass. That said, the NTSB was able to use the data to offer six recommendations voiced at the meeting. Five of those were related to equipment-specific training and one applied directly to testing requirements.Related Content ? NTSB Reports:NTSB Overview Report (PDF)Findings & Recommendations (PDF)Closing Comments (PDF)// -->

The next-generation military tanker will almost certainly be a Boeing. Northrop Grumman announced Monday it would not be submitting a bid in the $35 billion sweepstakes to introduce a replacement for the KC-135 and KC-10 fleet. Boeing's bid is riding on a modified 767 platform while Northrop Grumman would use an A330 modified in the U.S. Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush effectively threw in the towel on the protracted battle. He said the company "will not protest" the outcome of the competition, which now appears to be down to one. Bush did suggest the odds were stacked in favor of Boeing, however. "We reached this conclusion based on the structure of the source selection methodology defined in the RFP, which clearly favors Boeing's smaller refueling tanker and does not provide adequate value recognition of the added capability of a larger tanker, precluding us from any competitive opportunity," Bush said.

In a surprise move last week, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger announced his retirement from U.S. Airways and flew his final flight. Sullenberger, 59, has been the most famous pilot in the U.S. since he safely landed an A320 dead-stick on the Hudson River just over a year ago. In a statement, Sullenberger said though he is retiring after 30 years on the flight line, he plans to continue to advocate for aviation safety and for the profession of airline pilots. "I will work to remind the entire industry -- and those who manage and regulate it -- that we have a sacred duty to our passengers to do the very best that we know how to do," he said. Retirement is sure to keep him busy -- on Sunday, Sullenberger was photographed at a Vanity Fair Oscar party in Hollywood alongside Tom Hanks, who looks like he could easily step into Sully's shoes to play him in a movie.

Both the U.S. House and the Senate formed General Aviation Caucuses last year, and their ranks are growing. Now NBAA is encouraging pilots to contact those representatives to let them know that you value GA. Pilots whose representatives are not yet members of the caucus can ask them to join. The House GA Caucus now numbers more than 100 members and the Senate group is 25 strong. The NBAA Web site lists members of each caucus by state. The House Web site makes it easy to e-mail your representative simply by entering your zip code. At the Senate Web site, it's also easy to choose your state and immediately get e-mail links for both senators. AOPA also offers online guidance on how to communicate with your elected representatives about GA.

Does military intelligence translate to transportations security? AVweb Editor-in-Chief Russ Niles isn't sure, but he speculates on some of the challenges Robert Harding will face as TSA chairman in the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog. Read his thoughts and share your own here.

Overheard near Sacramento, California, where NorCal approach and departure is training a large number of new controllers:Cessna 12345:"NorCal approach, student pilot, Cessna 12345. Heading 024. 1500 feet, climbing to 5500."NorCal Approach:"Cessna 54661, student controller. Roger radar contact."Michael Fedorykvia e-mail

President Obama's next pick for chairman of the Transportations Security Administration is widely reported to be retired Maj. Gen. Robert Harding, a lifelong intelligence specialist whose bio (PDF) reads like a character in a Robert Ludlum novel. Various sources are reporting Harding, the former second in command of U.S. Army Intelligence and director of operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency before that, will be nominated Monday. He retired from the Army in 2001 and owned his own security consultant firm specializing in homeland security assignments. Since much of his work, if he's approved by Congress, will center on aviation, AVweb searched the FAA Airmen Registry to see if he's a pilot and what ratings he might have. We found a Robert A. Harding and a Robert Harding, but that's all we found

>>> AVWEB FUEL FINDERCURRENT PRICE FOR 100LL: $4.62 (up 2¢ from last week)CURRENT PRICE FOR JET A: $4.31 (down 1¢ from last week)Fuel prices provided weekly by AirNav, based on prices from the past 2 weeks. Changes are relative to last week's prices. /TEXT_ONLY-->http://media.avweb.com/banmanavweb/a.aspx?Task=Click&ZoneID=0&CampaignID=5385&AdvertiserID=167&BannerID=2726&SiteID=19&RandomNumber=2079190496/TEXT_ONLY-->AVweb readers continued to travel the length and breadth of North America this week, sending us notes about the best FBOs they discovered along the way. Our latest "FBO of the Week" award goes to Above View at St. George Municipal Airport (SGU) in St. George, Utah.AVweb reader Jaime Votaw tells us how Above View stepped up to the plate when her husband made an unscheduled stopover:My husband flew in tonight after needing to land aftet battling weather all day. This was an unexpected stop in a trip to Salt Lake City. I called in at about 8pm and someone answered the phone. It was obviously after hours, and the person who answered offered to run up the airport and get my husband a crew car so he could get to a local hotel. Up until Justin answered the phone, I had no idea what to tell my husnad to do. They are always friendly there, but this was way above and beyond for them to do. Thank you, Above View ? you guys are great!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!

IFR magazine's Jeff Van West shows how a portable GPS can be used to evaluate what altitudes will be safe for flying up valleys (without actually changing altitudes) and how to use the GPS while in those valleys to enhance safety and situational awareness.

Last week's kid controller story kicked off world-class frothing about the sensationalizing mainstream media, probably deserved. But on the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli argues that there's a risk assessment lesson in there that we can all benefit from. Read Paul's thoughts and share your own here.

The FAA has banned tower visits, and airline pilots using New York's JFK Airport are showing support for tower controller Glenn Duffy and his supervisors after Duffy allowed his kids to issue instructions over the tower frequency in mid-February. The pilots are signing off their transmissions with "Adios," the salutation Duffy's nine-year-old son delivered in two of his transmissions Feb. 16. His twin sister took the mic a day later. According to the New York Daily News, some are amplifying their discontent with the fate that might await the controllers. "Thoughts going out to your co-worker there," the newspaper reported a Delta pilot departing Kennedy Airport was recorded on LiveATC as saying. "I think it's BS what he's going through."

After seeing the illusion for themselves, authorities who launched a large-scale search last weekend to find a plane stuck in trees near Darwin Airport, Australia, said witnesses were right to report it. Multiple witnesses who contacted authorities last Sunday just after 6 p.m. local time claimed to have seen the plane through light rain as it sat stuck in mangroves. The "aircraft" is actually the meeting of two roof lines visible from a distance at a particular angle. Unfortunately, the misunderstanding was not resolved before a land-based search effort involved police and an aerial search involved a CareFlight helicopter. In the full light of day, authorities who traveled to the point from which the reports were made said witnesses did the right thing by alerting authorities. "I've actually seen it, myself" Duty Superintendent Mike Murphy told ABC news. "It's remarkable how it looks like a light aircraft pointing out into the ocean." (Images after the jump.)

Two British men who were found with a scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras, and who admitted to "illegally monitoring aircraft" near Indira Gandhi International Airport, India, have been fined by an Indian court, but were released Friday without jail time. Stephen Hampton, 46, and Steven Ayres, 56, had faced up to 10 years under spying charges, but pled to a lesser offense that could have led to three years in jail. The two were arrested in India, Feb. 15, two days after a bomb blast in the Indian city of Pune initiated a security crackdown in the country. In the UK, authorities have approached plane-spotters differently. In 2004, a UK plan sought to recruit them to report suspicious potentially terrorist-related activities near airports. That program does not exist in India. There the men were arrested for recording the conversation between pilots and air traffic control, which (as performed) was against sections of India's Telegraph Act. The men pled guilty to a breach under the act.

The NTSB announced Thursday that it will hold a public (and online) meeting March 9 to discuss a study on whether glass cockpits have improved the safety record of small light general aviation aircraft. The meeting will be held Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET at the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C., but will also be broadcast and archived online. The study was initiated to track the effects of recent, relatively swift and major changes in cockpit technology. Ten years ago, analog was the standard for new single-engine aircraft avionics, says the Board, but now "almost all new light planes come equipped with digital flight display avionic systems." Those digital systems "enhanced function and information capabilities" and also represent "a significant change and potential improvement" in how GA pilots acquire and monitor the information they need to control their aircraft. Click through for specific links and more details.