Effects of Low Visibility during Landing Avoid Aviation Accidents.

Effects of Low Visibility during Landing Avoid Aviation Accidents

 

 

 

Approaching during Low Visibility in rain, snow, fog, or bad weather, will have serious impact on air traffic, and may even lead to an Aviation Accident.

 

However, throughout the final phase of the approach, pilots need visual reference from the runway to maneuver the airplane to touch down. The runway visual range (RVR) is the range over which the pilot of an aircraft on the center line of a runway can see the runway surface markings or the lights defining the runway or identifying its center line. The minimum RVR requirement for landing depends, amongst others, on the airport facilities, aircraft equipment, pilots' training and airlines' policy.

 

If the visibility deteriorates just before the plane touches down, that would pretend a great challenge to the pilot. Flights would hold in the air and wait for the visibility to improve. If low visibility condition persists, a flight may have to divert to another airport due to fuel consideration and make a safe landing. Occasionally a second approach to the same airport could be devastating after a Missed Approached, if you think the conditions  will continue the same , you never know ??. Make a good decision and fly to your alternate immediately.

Minima for Landing Operations under Different Categories of Instrument Landing System (According to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) DOC 9365-AN/910)

 

 

Dogs Are Part of Safety .

 Dogs Are Part of Safety

In memory of my lovely dog ​​my Golden Retriever Fergie who dead few days ago.

 

    

This article is very interesting to read.  I’m a very passionate about dogs, and is very true what this officer said about dogs “To a police officer, the dog is his partner,” dogs are part of the family, so it appears that dogs have become such an important part of the family In America, dogs are remarkable animals because they are uniquely sensitive to the cultural attributes of the people with whom they live.

Not only are dogs a product of culture, but they also participate in the cultures of human.

The dog is part of safety. They are used in airports to fight safety concerns too.

 

Miami’s police dogs to get more protection with bulletproof vests

 

 

 

               Police officers accompanied by their K-9 companions wearing Pet Armor protective vests

 

They serve in some of Miami’s most dangerous missions, but only two of the city’s 18 K-9 officers wear protective vests.

 

That soon will change when most of the police dogs in the city’s K-9 unit will get bulletproof vests, donated by Pet Armor and the nonprofit organization Vested Interest in K-9s. Each vest costs approximately $1,000.

 

So far this year, seven police dogs have died in action around the country — none from Florida. In 2013, three Florida dogs were among the 18 nationwide that died. They were from Miami Gardens, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Leon County.

 

“To a police officer, the dog is his partner,” said Sgt. Freddie Cruz, Miami police spokesman. “He trains him and takes him home every day.”

 

Losing a dog “is like losing a family member,” Cruz said. The most common causes of death are overheating, shootings or stabbings. The last dog to die in action in Miami was Atlas, partner to officer Wayne Cooper, in 2000.

 

This year, the company Pet Armor has donated money to departments around the country to buy bulletproof vests for police dogs.

 

Miami uses trained police dogs to detect narcotics, explosives and currency.

 

“They are used in airports to fight drug trafficking and money laundering,” said Sgt. Garret Wing, a K-9 supervisor. “We have recently developed a ‘dog weapon,’ whose specialty is to find hidden firearms and cartridge shells at shooting and murder scenes.”

 

A patrol dog specializes in “dissuading crime simply by his presence,” Cruz said. The animals can locate and detain suspects.

 

“They are good in armed robbery or assaults; when a suspect enters a house; and when there is suspicion that there are drugs in a house, the dogs walks around it,” Cruz said. “We don’t use a dog for a misdemeanor or when there is a minor involved.”

 

Most of the police dogs are German shepherds and Belgian Malinois. They come from Germany, the Netherlands and Mexico.

 

“They come already trained in a special academy,” Cruz said

 

They begin patrol when they finish a six-month training in a canine patrol, Wing added.

 

They can patrol for six to eight years. Some dogs need vests; others don’t. Temperature and the nature of the emergency call determine whether a dog should wear a bulletproof vest.

 

“The heat and the search in more dangerous places or when it is known that the criminals are armed make it more likely to use the bulletproof vest,” Wing said. Until now, the unit only had two vests.

 

K-9s work the same number of hours as a police officer. “We work 10 hours a day,” Cruz said. The dogs have two hours of daily training and are ready to patrol with officers the rest of the day.

 

Twelve four-legged K-9 officers — Tango, Onyx, Rambo, Bolt, Boss, Dash, Dino, Falco, Flash, Kane, Red and Rocket — will soon receive bulletproof vests. They will receive special training to get used to the new equipment.

 

“Part of their formation is to make them comfortable and familiar with different types of equipment,” Wing said.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/06/18/4187153/police-dogs-in-miamis-k-9-unit.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAA Orders Boeing To Protect 737s From Hackers.

 

FAA Orders Boeing To Protect 737s From Hackers

The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) published an order last Friday in the Federal Register, an official federal journal containing government rules and public notices, requiring Boeing to modify the technology aboard 737 jetliners to protect the planes against computer hackers.

 

Effective immediately, the order applies to 737-700, -700C, -800, -900ER, -7, -8 and -9 aircraft. These models feature a digital systems architecture composed of several connected networks. According to the FAA, the network configuration on these models allows increased connectivity with external networks, such as passenger entertainment and information services, which create possible vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers.

 

"This may allow the exploitation of network security vulnerabilities resulting in intentional or unintentional destruction, disruption, degradation, or exploitation of data and systems critical to the safety and maintenance of the airplane, which could result in unsafe conditions for the airplane and its occupants," the FAA explained in its order.

 

According to the FAA, existing regulations do not cover the types of system architectures present on these airline models. The proposed order ensures that unauthorized sources external to the plane do not receive access to the airplane's electronic systems.

 

"14 CFR regulations and current system safety assessment policy and techniques do not address potential security vulnerabilities that could be caused by unauthorized access to airplane data busses and servers," the FAA's order said.

 

Although the order is open for public comment until July 21, the FAA determined that public comment was unnecessary and "would significantly affect the certification of the airplane." The model subject to the order is the most popular plane made by The Boeing Company. By making the rule effective immediately, the FAA hopes to avoid slowing down design and delivery of new planes.

 

"The FAA has determined that notice of, and opportunity for prior public comment on, these special conditions is impracticable because these procedures would significantly delay issuance of the design approval and thus delivery of the affected aircraft," the FAA said.

 

Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, said the special conditions laid out in the FAA order are not unusual and help to institutionalize actions already planned by the manufacturer.

 

"They are a normal part of the process for introducing new technology or design features not previously addressed by regulation," Alder said. "Special conditions are one way regulators and manufacturers work together to ensure that commercial airplanes are safe and secure."

 

Source :

http://www.hstoday.us/briefings/industry-news/single-article/faa-orders-boeing-to-protect-737s-from-hackers/f52534c49760584b58f8ca9e317f9141.html



The Decision Making Process.

The Decision Making Process

 

Decision Making Models in Aviation

What that mean the term Decision Making Process to you as an airmen, and why decision making process normally involves several steps in which you as a pilot make selections based on gathering of some factors and also some beyond your control? So, by recognizing the elements you can control, you will improve your aptitude to make intelligent and good effective decisions inside your cockpit.

As pilots, our personalities and attitudes toward risk taking, combined with pressures on us from others, so and may cause us as pilots to make decisions that would be considered imprudent by others.

Pilot Judgment is the mental process that we use in making decisions. Decision making in the flight environments is the choice to use proper phraseology and also to follow all the rules and flying safe by recognizing the elements, you can control and improve safety inside your cockpit to make and effective good decision to stay away from incidents and accidents.

Recognize a change, always maintaining a good situational awareness, this enable you to easily detect a change in your flight environment. Continuously define the problem, choose a course action, implement your decision, and ensure that you made the correct action all the time to have a safe fly in all phases during flying, so, I would like to recollect today in this safety post, the acronym DECIDE, that is used by the FAA to describe the basic steps in the decision making process.

All over the world, pilots learn to fly by studying the rules and regulations, so most accidents are caused by pilot error, as I stated on my previous posts, many errors are a result of poor decision on the part of the pilot, good judgment and good decision making is the key to stay away from accidents.

Remember we are humans and human factors involve the overall performance of human beings.

Any pilot can make mistakes; the most important is to recognize our mistakes on time to make a good decision to avoid any incident or accident.  

DECIDE:

ü  Detect the fact that a change has occurred.

ü  Estimate the need to counter or react to the change.

ü  Choose a desirable outcome for the success of the flight.

ü  Identify actions which could successfully control the change.

ü  Do the necessary action to adapt to the change.

ü  Evaluate the effect of the action.

To use the DECIDE technique, first my best advice to all pilots is memorize the meaning of each of the terms. So, as you repeatedly think through the acronym DECIDE, it will become to you and help you in all your flight decisions, Safety is the Key , think safety all the time.