At the end of March IATA announced from Santiago that it was urging governments and other stakeholders in Latin America to unite to give aviation the freedom to succeed by improving aviation safety, making badly needed investments in infrastructure and reducing the heavy tax burden on the industry.

From The Hague it was announced on 20th March that the Kingdom of the Netherlands and EUROCONTROL had signed a co-operation agreement for the provision by EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) of air traffic data services to the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF).

The Netherlands has some of densest and most complex airspace in the world. Optimum civil and military co-operation is therefore paramount to ensuring safe and high-performance civil and military air traffic services in a context of growing air traffic and more demanding military requirements.

Following the sinking of the passenger ferry Shariatpur-1, on 13th March after
being hit by a small cargo ship in the Meghna River, south-west of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu offered his condolences and sympathies to the families of all those who lost their life.

Speaking to the Organization’s Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications and
Search and Rescue (COMSAR), in session last month the Secretary-General also
expressed the solidarity of IMO, at these difficult times, with the Government of
Bangladesh. He reiterated IMO’s readiness to respond to any request from
Bangladesh for assistance for technical co-operation.

On 19th March it was reported from Montréal by ICAO that the Procurement Section of its Technical Co-operation Bureau (TCB) has been certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard for quality management systems.

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced that Raymond Benjamin (France) has been appointed as Secretary General of the Organization for a second three-year term, from 1st August 2012 to 31st July 2015.
Mr. Benjamin was first appointed to the position on 1st August 2009. During his first term, he sharpened the focus of the Organization to make it more prominent and effective in its leadership role as the global policy-setting forum for international civil aviation.

Air transport operators now have a scientific basis for decision making in the event of a volcanic eruption thanks to a manual published by ICAO and endorsed by industry partners.

Entitled Flight Safety and Volcanic Ash (Doc 9974), the manual provides guidance which States may recommend to aircraft operators when there is forecast volcanic ash contamination, placing the responsibility for such operations on the operator, under the oversight of the State regulatory authority.

The unexpected establishment of LIGHTSQUARED ground transmitters in the USA has caused concern within international circles. Essentially LightSquared uses frequencies adjacent to GPS frequencies with a serious risk of interference. This paper explains IAIN’s concerns. It is not a scientific paper but is based on scientific facts currently available from the US experiences.

Europe’s next fleet of meteorological satellites is set to make its debut in 2017, following the signing on 24th February of the development contract. While Meteosat Third Generation will ensure full continuity with the current Meteosat satellite family, it will also introduce significant improvements.

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.

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.

Throughout the 2011 calendar year, the (US) National Transportation Safety Board conducted a study of Experimental-Amateur Built (E-AB) aircraft to evaluate the safety of this growing and innovative segment of general aviation.

“The co-operation we have received from EAA and the E-AB community has been tremendous,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P Hersman. She added, “Through this study, we hope that we will be able to give the innovators and aviators in the community information about accidents that will result in a real and immediate safety payoff for them when they are flying these aircraft.”

Attached here as a PDF are the minutes of the Officers’ Meeting held on 28th November 2011 held at the Harpley Room, Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London.

Also attached are the Treasurer’s Report, Reports from ICAO, IGC, IHO and IMO as well as the 2018 Congress update.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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).

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.

The sale of 72 Harrier aircraft to the United States was confirmed on 24th november by the UK Ministry of Defence, saving around £1 billion overall. The airframes and associated parts will be used as a major source of spares to support the US Marine Corps Harrier AV-8B Fleet.

It was annaounced from Washington on 2nd December that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is to hold a hearing on air race and air show
safety. During the one-day meeting, the Board will gather information on the safety regulations and oversight in the planning and execution of these events.
Regulators, aviation organizations, industry groups, and airport authorities will be questioned by the Board about safety practices, procedures, and protocols.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reacted cautiously to the publication on 1st December of the European Commission’s Airport Package of legislation which is aimed at addressing the critical issues of European airport capacity and competitiveness.

IATA highlighted two of the package’s positive features:

• IATA welcomes the further liberalization of the ground handling market which should allow airlines to provide a better and more efficient service at European airports.
• IATA acknowledged that by legalizing secondary trading of airport slots, the package provides a regulatory foundation for a practice that has become widespread. Transparent rules will ensure that this is done in fairness to all parties concerned.

At a meeting in Moscow on 21st and 22nd November, European Member States of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) committed to a wide-ranging strategy aimed at significantly improving aviation security at the national and regional levels. This Regional Conference on Aviation Security was the third in a series of similar meetings around the world aimed at implementing an ICAO Assembly Declaration on Aviation Security adopted as a global framework to deal with new and emerging threats through greater international co-operation on passenger and cargo security.

It was reported on 28th November that CANSO, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, has called on European Member States to provide political leadership and address the key issues delaying progress towards achieving a Single European Sky (SES).

CANSO’s member European Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) have reaffirmed their commitment to the SES, and their support for the performance scheme as a mechanism for driving progress.

At about 2010 Western Standard Time on 29th January 2010, a single engine Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, registered VH-NWO, was being operated on a night medical evacuation flight from Derby to Kununurra, Western Australia with four persons on board. The pilot reported that about 56 km after takeoff, as the aircraft was passing through flight level 180, the engine exhibited a number of problems before the pilot turned the aircraft back to the departure airport. The engine failed and the pilot glided the aircraft to land at Derby. There were no injuries. Subsequent inspection confirmed that the engine propeller reduction gearbox had seized.