Faa | uuspost

“I am proud to have served on the FAA Task Force that developed these new procedures, which will make safe airspace, even safer”, said HAI President, Matt Zuccaro.  “The Federal Aviation Administration promised to have new safety rules, new charts, and a new training program in place by November 19 to make the airspace around New York City safer, and they did it.  I am very impressed.”

In fact, the final piece of this package of proposed changes, the “Final Rule” on the airspace modifications proposed by the FAA following the tragic August 8, 2009 midair collision of a tour helicopter and small airplane over the Hudson River, was published in the Federal Register Tuesday, November 17, two days ahead of schedule.  Zuccaro noted that the typical federal agency rulemaking process can take anywhere from 3 to 7 years to complete.  The FAA accomplished this one in about three months.

The proposed rule was based on the recommendations of a New York City Airspace Task Force, which included HAI, the Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, in addition to a wide range of subject matter experts from the FAA.

The final rule will enhance safety by separating lower-altitude, local aircraft flights over the Hudson River from flights transiting through the overlying corridor airspace at the higher altitudes.

“These changes will define separate corridors for aircraft operating locally and those flying along the Hudson River area,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “Separating aircraft on different missions and improving pilot situational awareness will add more layers of safety to this high-demand airspace.”

Basically, the rule also now requires pilots to follow safety procedures that have been used, voluntarily, for the past 26 years.  “Make no mistake about it,” adds Zuccaro.  “The Hudson River corridor has been a safe and orderly place to fly, but by making the previous voluntary procedures mandatory, by segregating transient aircraft from aircraft conducting local operations, and adding uniformity to the airspace altitudes, we are making it even safer.”

Under the new rule, a Special Flight Rules Area is established over the Hudson and East Rivers, in which pilots must:

• Maintain a speed of 140 knots or less.
• Turn on anti-collision, aircraft position/navigation lights, and landing lights if equipped.
• Self-announce their position at mandatory reporting points on specific radio frequencies.
• Carry current charts for the airspace and be familiar with them.

In an exclusion zone below 1,300 feet over the Hudson River, pilots must announce their aircraft type, position, direction and altitude at charted mandatory reporting points and must stay along the New Jersey shoreline when southbound and along the Manhattan shoreline when northbound.  Pilots transiting the Hudson River must fly at an altitude between 1,000 feet and 1,300 feet. Local flights will operate in the lower airspace below 1,000 feet.

The rule also incorporates the  provisions of an October 2006 Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) that restricted fixed-wing aircraft in the exclusion zone over the East River to seaplanes landing or taking off on the river or those specifically approved by FAA air traffic control.

The effective date for the new rule is November 19, 2009.  Revised and updated versions of the three pilot charts that local fixed wing and helicopter pilots use for navigation will also be available on November 19, 2009.  The FAA intends to conduct seminars and coordinate with pilot groups to make pilots aware of the new requirements and has developed an online training program that covers flight operations in the New York area.

HAI has joined it affiliate organization, the ERHC and AOPA in promoting the new rule and  on-line training program that is designed to accompany it, to ensure that all pilots operating in the New York Airspace know what is expected of them.

Faa.Gov

Looks like a computer equipment failure at the Federal Aviation Administration has caused some problems at airports around the country, but mostly concentrated in the Northeast where airlines and airports are dealing with bad weather to boot.

So far little impact at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love field according to both Flightstats.com and www.fly.faa.gov. But the northeast airports are sort of lit up like a Christmas tree in terms of yellow and red delay status. Terry got an update from American Airlines:

American Airlines Inc. spokesman Tim Smith said the FAA issues had slowed American’s operations somewhat, but serious. “I think we’re doing pretty well, actually,” Smith said.

He said American had been informed that the FAA computer problem had been resolved. With that, American and other carriers will simply have to catch up from the earlier problems, he said.

“Our longest delay… was just over an hour,” Smith said. As he scanned American’s schedule, “I saw nothing extreme. I saw some flights that were on time, a few that were early and others that had a 10-minute delay, 15 minutes, 25, all well under an hour,” Smith said.

Smith said that American’s D/FW Airport arrivals had averaged 94 percent on time at that point.

FlightStats.com indicated that as of 9:50 a.m., 64 percent of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport’s flights had departed on time, and 88 percent of arrivals were on time or within 14 minutes of schedule.

More on the problem, ATC controllers union and FAA responses after the click:

The problem, according to wires:

Flights nationwide were delayed this morning after a mysterious nationwide computer glitch hampered a key Federal Aviation Administration flight processing system.

The system electronically inputs pilots’ flight plans to computers, telling air traffic controllers the anticipated route and altitude of each flight after taking off. Controllers reached by ABC News say they have had to enter those plans manually, resulting in a slowdown of takeoffs and landings.

From the National Air Traffic Controllers Association:

WASHINGTON – There has been a major, nationwide air traffic control computer system outage this morning, and it is having a severe, negative impact on air travel across the country. Here is what we know thus far:

? The NADIN system (National Airspace Data Interchange Network), which is the computerized system for processing flight plans and information for every flight in the country, has failed in both of its locations – Atlanta and Salt Lake City. We do not yet know the technical reason for the failure. We have some reports that the system is coming back online, which is good news, but there will be flight delays throughout the day due to the “ripple effect” of this outage.
? The NADIN failure has created a domino effect of problems throughout the country, starting with the inability of FAA automated ATC systems at major regional facilities to process flight information, forcing the manual input of information by air traffic personnel. Air traffic controllers are without electronic decision-making tools and cannot keep up with the sheer numbers of flights — resulting in delays.

FAA’s statement so far:

This is the Federal Avaition Administration with all the information we have at this time about this morning’s equipment outage that has been affecting flights nationwide. My name is Elizabeth Isham Cory.

We are starting to see systems come back up (approx 8:34 a.m. local). We are still seeing some delay as the correction works through the system, so we recommend you check with your carrier before flight today.

Early this morning (NEW time, approx 6 a.m. Chicago), one of the two centers that handles the filing of flight plan information nationwide had a problem with the electronic system that files those plans. The other center picked up as much as possible, and any surplus flight plans were entered manually. Flight plans are filed before flight – they include information about the flight – including planned destination, route and fuel on board, among other things.

Any delays we saw today were at the gate. Flights in the air were safe – we could always see planes on radar and talk to them. Again, the planes that were affected today were on the ground at the gates.

Again, the system is back up, so we should see any remaining delay work its way through the system shortly. The FAA is working to determine the source of this problem.