A ceremony was held in Brisbane on 12th November recognising the Royal Australian Air Force’s receipt of a top international aviation award. The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN) presented its Grand Master’s Australian Medal to the Air Mobility Control Centre (AMCC) for its work co-ordinating the Australian Defence Force’s air lift responses to a series of natural disasters in early 2011.

It is now less than a week away from the opening of the 2011 European Navigation
Conference which will be hosted in London by the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN). The spectacular venue is the new Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in Prescot
Street, London E1 8GP (Tel: 020 7959 5000) close to Tower Bridge and HM Tower of London.

ENC 2011 will run from 29th November to 1st December, with a preliminary day of tutorials on 28th November.

Take a look at the programme.

Further information is available on www.enc2011.org.

Europe’s first two Galileo satellites have reached their final operating orbits, opening the way for activating and testing their navigation payloads, it was reported by the European Space Agency on 4th November.

Marking the formal end of their LEOP (Launch and Early Operations Phase), control of the satellites was passed on 3rd November from the CNES French space agency centre in Toulouse to the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen in Germany.

Oberfaffenhofen, operated by the German Aerospace Center DLR, will be in charge of the satellites’ command and control for the whole of their 12-year operating lives, it is understood.

Recent technology has produced small, lightweight data recording devices suitable for use in small helicopters that lack traditional flight data recorders. The most popular models of these devices have built-in video recorders that image the cockpit area.

IFALPA pilots, it was reported on 2nd November, have long supported the
use of flight data recorders recognising the potential they hold for improving
flight safety.

On 21st October the first pair of satellites for Europe’s Galileo global navigation satellite system was launched into orbit by a Russian Soyuz vehicle from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, creating a milestone mission, reported ESA.

The Soyuz VS01 flight, operated by Arianespace, started with liftoff from the new launch complex in French Guiana at 1030 GMT (1230 CEST) on 21st October. All of the Soyuz stages performed perfectly and the Fregat-MT upper stage released the Galileo satellites into their target orbit at 23 222 km altitude, 3 hours
49 minutes after liftoff.

CALL FOR PAPERS EXTENDED TO 1st JANUARY 2012

A Conference Organising Committee comprising The Royal Institute of Navigation, London, the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy, University of Nottingham, (UK), and the Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Rijeka, Croatia have extended an invitation to the 6th GNSS Vulnerabilities and Solutions 2012 Conference to be held from 21st to 24th May, 2012 in Baška, Krk Island, Croatia.

Call for papers deadline extended to 20th October 2011

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, 22nd and 23rd March 2012

Following a successful meeting in 2010, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Institute of Navigation are planning a second symposium to bring together current research in the history of navigation.

The symposium will explore the wider impact of the ‘discovery’ of longitude and the ways in which navigation has evolved since then. In particular it will aim to investigate the connections between navigational advances and the development of exploration, surveying, commerce and empire from the 19th century to today.

In order to improve global aviation safety, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Commission (EC) agreed on 22nd September on the use of a single repository and a common categorization scheme (taxonomy) to report all aviation accidents and incidents worldwide, it was announced from Montreal.

Under the agreement, ICAO will promote, among its 190 Member States, the European Co-ordination Centre for Accident and Incident Reporting Systems (ECCAIRS), developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) for collecting and analyzing aviation safety data as well as the sharing of safety information.

On 20th September ICAO presented a proposal to the international aviation community that will assist in the modernization of air traffic management systems
in order to cope with the anticipated doubling of passenger traffic to some five
billion by the year 2030.

Some 500 representatives from States and industry attended ICAO Headquarters
for the Global Air Navigation Industry Symposium (GANIS) from 20th to 23rd September.

Key to an effective confidential reporting scheme is getting the right balannce between disclosing information to improve transport safety while maintaining confidentiality to protect a person’s identity. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) invites comments to help it get this balance right. The ATSB is particularly interested in any concerns readers have about the proposed reforms – whether they agree with the new regulations or would like to see more changes.

On 18 August 2011, an Aérospatiale Industries AS355F2 helicopter, registered VH-NTV, was operating in an area east of Lake Eyre, South Australia. On board were the pilot and two passengers. The helicopter landed on an island in the Cooper Creek inlet, about 145 km north of Marree, SA, at about 1715 Central Standard Time. At about 1900, the helicopter departed the island, and soon after takeoff it collided with terrain. The pilot and the two passengers were fatally injured, and the helicopter was destroyed by the impact forces and a fuel-fed fire.

Australian Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced on 16th September that the A39-002 KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport has completed its first flight in Royal Australian Air Force service.

A Cessna Aircraft 208 (VH-UMV) was engaged in parachuting operations from Cairns Airport, Queensland on 31st December 2009. While climbing through 12,500 ft in preparation for a parachute drop, the engine failed. The parachutists exited the aircraft and the pilot completed a glide approach and uneventful landing at Cairns Airport.

On 9th September the European Space Agency advised that the first Galileo navigation satellite had arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, ready to begin preparations for launch on 20th October.

The satellite is due to be launched aboard a Soyuz ST-B vehicle on 20th October, together with a second Galileo that is now being readied for its own flight to French Guiana. This will be the first launch of Russia’s workhorse Soyuz rocket from French Guiana and will take place from a new facility 13 km northwest of the Ariane 5 launch site.

Shipping’s call for UN force against Somali pirates – The global shipping industry (represented by the Round Table of international shipping associations) has called for the establishment of a United Nations force of armed military guards to tackle the piracy crisis in the Indian Ocean, which it says is spiralling out of control, it was reported on 9th September.

In a hard hitting letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), BIMCO, INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO demand a bold new strategy to curb rising levels of piracy which have resulted in the Indian Ocean resembling the Wild West.

A new aviation safety podcast was launched on 1st September by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in conjunction with the Sony Award winning Flaps podcast team. Known as Airspace, the podcast is initially part of the Airspace & Safety initiative (ASI*) work to inform the aviation community of changes resulting from next year’s London 2012 Olympics, but will also feature other
safety and airspace issues.

The first edition focuses on the airspace restrictions that the British Government will be putting in place during the Olympics and can be heard or downloaded here: www.soundcloud.com/flapspodcast/caa-airspace.

The European Space Agency announced on 2nd September that the 9th September deadline for letters of intent is approaching fast for proposals of experiments relevant to climate change that use the International Space Station as a platform.

ESA is soliciting proposals for flight experiments relevant to climate change studies using the ISS as a platform. Often invisible to the naked eye, profound changes occurring on, in and above Earth and to its climate can be observed by instruments mounted on the Space Station. This is one of many new areas where the Space Station will benefit science and technology, and where the addition of recoverable Earth observation experiments could further expand its capabilities.

The International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), in conjunction with the Arabian Maritime Navigation Aids Services (AMNAS) will host an IALA training seminar on the IALA Risk Management Tool Box – PAWSA, IWRAP Mk2 & Simulation from 27th November to 1st December 2011, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat.

A flyer with more information.

IALA workshop on global sharing of maritime data, 12th to 16th September, 2011.

To be held at IALA HQ, 10-14 rue des Gaudines, St Germain en Laye, 78100 France.

Tel: +33 1 34 51 70 01

Fax: +33 1 34 51 82 05

e-mail: iala-aism@wanadoo.fr

URL: www.iala-aism.org

More information in the accompanying pdf.

Report on the 8th POSITION NAVIGATION and TIMING (PNT) BOARD meeting, 9th and 10th June 2011, Crystal Palace Hotel, Washington.

We publish here a report from Dr Refaat Rashad, President of IAIN, (Arab Institute of Navigation) who attended the eighth meeting of the Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Board hosted by NASA in Washington in June.

Some presentations made during the gathering are to be found at:
www.pnt.gov/advisory/2011/06

On 15th August the new, improved, NATO Shipping Centre (NSC) website went live providing more comprehensive and timely information about pirate activity around the Horn of Africa for the shipping community.

On 15th August the Nautical Institute, which has been serving the maritime professional since 1971 announced that it is to expand its accreditation services.

Members’ input, which has fed into the Institute’s current five year strategic plan, highlights that focus on competency and professionalism across the entire maritime industry is greater than ever.

The issue of competency in the modern era is consistently raised by members in
terms of the effectiveness of training, reduction of sea time and experience,
assessment and use of simulation. There is a strong perception that competency is
reducing across the board at sea and ashore, not merely due to the rapid promotion of officers but due to the shortage of suitably qualified personnel.

Towards the end of July in Montreal ICAO announced that it expects global air traffic to grow by about 5.3% in 2011, 6.2% in 2012 and 6.1% in 2013, in terms of
passenger-kilometres performed. The projected increases reflect positive economic prospects worldwide, based on an average 3.5% growth in the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the next three years, as estimated by IHS/Global Insight, a major economic forecasting organization.

Despite multiple headwinds, such as potentially higher oil prices and the implementation of fiscal austerity policies in key economies, this reduced forecast from the 3.9% global GDP growth in 2010 should, nevertheless, allow the
momentum in traffic growth to continue, fuelled by strong air travel demand due to improved household balance sheets and robust business cash flows.

EUROCONTROL announced in July that it is assisting the European Commission in building the Single European Sky, contributing to its regulatory and technology elements. A formal letter was received from the Commission, nominating the Agency to take on the role of European Network Manager as defined in the Single European Sky II (SES) legislation.

Following the invitation of the Commission, EUROCONTROL is now seeking the formal approval of its Members States to accept the nomination.

It was announced from Washington on 31st July that the National Transportation Safety Board had launched a team of investigators to assist the government of Guyana with its investigation into the previous day’s accident at Cheddi Jagan
International Airport, Georgetown, Guyana, involving a scheduled passenger
flight.

On 30th July at approximately 0125 (EDT), Caribbean Airlines flight 523,
(Trinidad & Tobago registration 9Y-PBM), en route from Trinidad to Guyana,
overran the runway during landing at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Guyana.