On 2nd February ESA signed a contract to build a further eight Galileo satellites, alongside other agreements to modify Europe’s Ariane 5 launcher to carry four navigation satellites at a time.

The contract to construct and test the Galileo satellites was awarded to a consortium headed by prime contractor OHB System AG in Bremen, and partner Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in Guildford, UK.

A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft returned to Darwin on the evening of 4th February following its mission in support of Papua New Guinean search and rescue efforts after the sinking of the ferry MV Rabaul Queen.

MV Rabaul Queen Ferry was reported to have sunk approximately nine nautical miles off Finschhafen, while on a voyage from Kimbe to Lae, in Papua New Guinea. There are believed to have been 350 people on board, approximately 50 have been rescued.

Following the Costa Concordia accident Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport, has asked that the currently ongoing review of EU passenger ship safety legislation take fully into account any lessons to be learnt from the tragedy. The review will prioritise, in particular, the issues of: design and stability of passenger ships, technological developments in the sector, crew training and safe operation, including emergency evacuation procedures.

ITU reported from Geneva on 19th January that its Radiocommunication Assembly had reached an important decision to defer the development of a continuous time standard in order to address the concerns of countries that use the current system of the leap second in Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC).

EASA on 18th January published its Comment Response Document and it is available on the 7MB pdf. This concerns the implementation of rules on Flight and Duty Time Limitations and rest requirements for commercial air transport, commonly known as FTL regulations.

Also available is a 14MB pdf containing the 2382 pages of responses.

On 20th January the EASA published an Airworthiness Directive to mandate a prompt detailed visual inspection of the wings of twenty Airbus A380 machines.

On 6th January EASA issued preliminary aviation safety data for 2011 which shows a modest improvement in worldwide safety levels. In commercial air transport operations, the number of fatal accidents decreased from 46 in 2010 to 45 in 2011.

PDF version

Fourteen Asia/Pacific States meeting in Kuala Lumpur on 11th and 12th January adopted a comprehensive strategy to systematically improve passenger and cargo security throughout the region, part of a global initiative aimed at countering new and emerging threats to air transport worldwide, it was reported by ICAO from Montreal.

It was announced on 20th January that the Australian Army had temporarily suspended flying operations for the Black Hawk helicopters upon identifying a number of fractured bolts during a routine maintenance check.