Only approved electronic devices allowed in the cockpit?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe the flight attendants should start talking to the cockpit, too. When a plane overshot Minneapolis last month because the crew was playing around with personal laptops, national attention turned to what actually goes on in the front of the plane. Congress is kicking around the idea of a new bill that would kick personal electronic devices from the cockpit.

Unsurprisingly, the pilots and airlines aren’t crazy about the idea. They say that the measure would impede progress by making innovation less accessible. Scott Schleiffer, a cargo pilot who’s also thrown some brain time at safety issues for the Air Line Pilots Association, told USA Today, “We would like to have access to tools, and as tools evolve, we would like to have better tools.”

FAA chief Randy Babbit agrees, saying, “We need to be very careful,” in regards to the prohibition of personal devices in the cockpit.

Airlines are starting to bring new technology into the cockpit, with laptops and other devices used to improved weather and safety information. The devices aren’t all that different from what distracted the Northwest pilots who missed Minneapolis. JetBlue has issued laptops to pilots, which are used to push through calculations during takeoff and landing. But, the airline doesn’t allow personal use of them.

So far, two bills have been introduced in the Senate. They would exempt devices used to operate the plane or help with safety issues, but pilots don’t believe that this is enough.

Neither side of the argument addresses the core problem: keeping pilots focused on the job. In theory, extraordinary measures shouldn’t be necessary. Professionals, by definition, should not need that kind of intense oversight. It’s already against the against the law for pilots not to pay attention to their responsibilities, and that’s probably enough regulation. Instead, the solution needs to come to the airlines — organizational measures are needed to ensure that professionals remain professional. Executed properly, the good ones shouldn’t even notice a different.

“Nationwide system outage” grounds flights

by Willy Volk on

Only when I arrive at my gate do I learn of the FAA‘s “nationwide system outage” grounding flights across the country. Gate attendants are reading from prepared FAA statements, explaining they don’t know what caused the delay, but that they’re working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

My 8:50am flight has been pushed back to 9:50, but now — at 9:20 — there’s been no word about rescheduling my flight. Naturally, I have a connecting flight in Atlanta Hartsfield — the world’s busiest airport — and they are reporting widespread delays, as well.

The issue, apparently, revolves around scheduling flights for departure. (There’s a lot of confusion about this, here at FLL.)

Flights in the air are safe, and seemingly, airlines have the ability to clear flights one-by-one for departure: that explains the three flights that have zoomed off in the past 20 minutes. According to @ExecutiveTravel, “The FAA’s own site says that flight schedules are being entered in MANUALLY, thus the delays and cancellations” — but I’m unable to find this information.

We’re on the ground — literally — for this story, updating live from our Twitter account. We’ll also update this post as we learn more.

If you’re traveling today … we sympathize.

UPDATE: Apparently, the computer glitch is in Atlanta.

UPDATE 2: The gate attendant announced at 9:50 that the delay would end in “about 45 minutes.” Let’s see how accurate he is.

UPDATE 3: The gate agent was right on target. That flight is boarding now. My flight — the one originally scheduled for 8:50 — is now scheduled to depart at 11:30.

UPDATE 4: According to the WSJ, “The FAA system is a major, cutting-edge program full of redundancies that are designed to keep it from going down.”

White House pushing for answers to airline industry woes

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Obama Administration is taking a closer look at the airline industry with the hopes that something can be fixed. Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood is pulling together a panel that will investigate the problems the industry faces and hopefully come up with a solution. But, I don’t think anyone’s breath is being held.

The airlines are always swamped with criticism, with consumers unhappy about customer service levels, on-time arrivals and departures, the shrinking list of amenities and increasingly cramped conditions. Now, shareholders are speaking louder about declining revenues and profits. Employees are losing their jobs, and regulators and industry observers worry about continued safety violations, including drunk and distracted pilots.

Ultimately, LaHood’s goal is for the panel to put together “a road map for the future of the aviation industry.” The panel is being convened thanks in part to a push from the airline unions, the stakeholders worried most by the layoffs that have now become routine. According to The Associated Press, they believe the industry is “dysfunctional.”

Of course, it didn’t take the airlines to offer their thoughts ask for money — lots of it. They claim that radar technology that dates back to World War II isn’t as effective as a GPS-based alternative. The industry would love to see this upgrade … as long as the government writes the check. The FAA is already prepared to spend $15 billion to $22 billion on this effort, but there is an additional $14 billion to $20 billion currently sent over to the airlines. The upside would be reductions in airport congestion, fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

The Air Transportation Association (shockingly) thinks the taxpayers should pay the bill because the system would benefit the whole country. US Airways CEO Doug Parker wrote a letter to LaHood saying that the airlines simply don’t have the cash to meet their end of this.

Unfortunately, the airline industry has once again asked for money and not offered any solutions of its own. No suggestion was offered as to any of the other difficulties pertaining to the industry, and I tend to become suspicious when there is only one problem identified. It implies that everything could be fixed, in this case, with the replacement of radar air traffic control systems with GPS technology. We’re dealing with an industry that has lost credibility rapidly, so even if this one grand move would address ever gripe, large and small, a willing audience is unlikely to take shape.

[Photo by extremeezine via Flickr]

Drunk pilot arrested in London

by Tom Johansmeyer on

After (another) pilot was found drunk in London this week, the issue of pilot inebriation has become a frequent discussion topic. Since 1997, 11 commercial pilots, on average, have tested positive for alcohol every year. According to FAA regulations, pilots can’t fly with a blood alcohol content of above 0.04 percent (it’s 0.02 percent in Great Britain). Last year, 13 pilots tested positive, making 2008 slightly above average.

The FAA conducts more than 10,000 random alcohol tests every year, says spokeswoman Laura Brown. This is approximately 10% of the total, as there are around 100,000 commercial pilots in the United States.

The latest culprit, Erwin Washington of United Airlines, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Monday, when he was suspected of being drunk in the cockpit — members of his crew reported him to the authorities. Washington could lose his license as a result. Two other U.S. pilots have been arrested in England on charges involving alcohol in a little more than a year.

Though an intoxicated pilot is obviously a danger to the passengers, the National Transportation Safety Board says that no airline in the United States has crashed because the pilot was drunk.

[has video]

United to receive heavy fine for towel stuffed in engine

by Katie Hammel on

US Airways and United Airlines both stand to receive multi-million dollar fines from the FAA for maintenance violations.

US Airways’ violations include failing to inspect cargo doors and landing gear on a few plans and for failing to perform routine checks on dozen of others. US Airways responded quickly to the news, saying that the violations stem from the integration of their maintenance systems back from October 2008 to January of 2009, and that they are working on addressing the issues. The airline could be fined up to $5.4 million. This is the isn’t the first time US Airways has been fined this year either. In January, they were fined for violating rules involving oversold flights.

United’s violation is perhaps more troubling. The airline faces a $3.8 million fine for a single incident. In April 2008, a Boeing 737 returned to Denver after its engine shut down with low oil pressure. When the engine was inspected, two shop towels were inside. The towels “had been used to cover openings in the oil sump area” instead of the regulation caps. The towels were believed to have been there since December 2007, when maintenance was performed on the engine. This sounds terrifying, but according to the Cranky Flier website, it isn’t quite as scary as it sounds. The caps are only used during maintenance and then removed.

But still, the FAA is taking the incident seriously. “As a result of United’s failure to follow its maintenance procedures. . .it flew the aircraft on more than 200 revenue flights when it was not in an airworthy condition,” the FAA said in a statement.

[via ABC News Denver]