LIFESPAN OF AN AIRCRAFT

Bhoja air crash at Islamabad had generated widespread comment on the age of the aircraft being above 20 yrs old and still being engaged in service.Without prejudice to the impending investigation, let's look at what governs the airworthiness of an aircraft and especially when aging.

INADEQUACY IN TRAINING

B787Cockpit

Airline training is always a focal point in the aviation industry and the thrust should be to deliver training that surpasses well over the bare minimum regulatory requirement. More often than not, lack of training or inadequate training is a common contributor in incidents and accidents.

NEW CHANCES TO SEE THE SHUTTLE

The space shuttle Enterprise is scheduled to , on 23 Apr 12, fly low over New York city mounted atop a modified Boeing 747. The flight is scheduled to take place between 0930 and 1130 AM, weather and other conditions permitting. The low altitude flight over the Hudson river will  bring it the past the Statue of Liberty . After landing at JFK, the shuttle will be transferred aboard a barge for a second trip along the  Hudson to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and space Museum.

National geographic is hosting online a ‘gigapan” views featuring ultra-high resolution pictures of the orbiter. The interface allows visitors  a chance to view  and virtually wander unobstructed across the space station, in detail, no fee required.

UAV RAISES CONCERN ABOUT SAFETY

It is the Orwellian era. Although some thirty years have passed since the gloomy scenario portrayed by George Orwell in 1984, the mushrooming presence of surveillance cameras and security procedures have invaded our privacy to an extent never foreseen by the author. With the increase in security threats due to religious and ethnic terrorism, we have all but acquiesced ourselves to this privacy invasion with mute protests.

A new entrant in the surveillance area is the UAVs. After having been successfully deployed over the mountains of Afghanistan to counter the Al Qaeda threat, the US government is mulling over the feasibility and acceptability of a programme that would allow unmanned aircraft to fly beside commercial planes in the US airspace.

STERILE COCKPIT RULE

The Sterile Cockpit Rule is a regulation requiring pilots to refrain from non-essential activities during critical phases of flight, normally below 10,000 feet. The FAA imposed the rule in 1981( and adopted by most regulatory bodies) after reviewing a series of accidents that were caused by flight crews who were distracted from their flying duties by engaging in non-essential conversations and activities during critical parts of the flight. One such notable accident was Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, which crashed just short of the runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in 1974 while conducting an instrument approach in dense fog. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that a probable cause of the accident was distraction due to idle chatter among the flight crew during the approach phase of the flight.