Aviation Conspiracy: Is FAA Hiding Bird Strike Data?

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Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#514......................................................................................
.....April
5, 2009 Past newsletters can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm If you want to get this
bi-weekly newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill
Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net

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Quote of the Week: "The agency fears people will avoid airports that report
bird strikes, making airports reluctant to come forward with accurate
information." from a news story this week

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Is FAA Hiding Bird Strike Data?

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As Bill Sees It (Editorial): Obama Nominates Former Pilot Union Boss For
FAA Top Job!!! This week President Obama nominated Randy Babbitt to be the
next FAA administrator. I guess it was too much to ask Obama to pick a
anti-airport expansionist for the top FAA job; but it would have sent the
message that their are limits as to how much noise pollution Americans can
take. News stories reported that the industry group, the Air Transport
Association, "applauded" the selection. They are looking forward to working
with Babbitt to increase the "efficiency" of the air transportation system.
Look for use of the word "efficiency" as the latest aviation polluter
codeword for airport expansion.

England Still Leading The Anti-Airport Expansion Fight: The video on the
right from last year's demonstrations to stop Heathrow Airport expansion
shows how organized British groups are. The only thing comparable to that in
the U.S. is the Northeast states groups fighting the FAA's Airspace Redesign
scheme which will bring new and higher levels of noise to places like
Rockland County, New York (see N.Y City metropolitan area airspace redesign
map on the left). As all these actions by the FAA are caused by aviation
expansion the solution lies in putting a "cap" on the numbers of airport
flights.

The FAA's Long History Of Discriminatory Aircraft Routing!!! While I
support the fair sharing of airport noise I sympathize with communities that
don't want increased airport noise. Unfortunately, what will happen if
Rockland County and other communities targeted for increased overflight
noise win is that the FAA will just increase the pollution on communities
already heavily impacted. That's what the FAA did when they failed to
redesign the JFK airport routes so as not to inflict increased noise on
politically-protected areas like Lawrence, Long Island and dumping
(especially health-damaging night flights) on poor and minority areas in
Rockaway, New York City. I remember when I lived in Rockaway I tried to get
our then congressman, now U.S. senator, "Chuck" Schumer, to stop the FAA
plan to single out Rockaway as the "preferred nighttime route" for JFK
Airport night traffic. Schumer didn't lift one finger to help his
constituents being singled out for this "preferential" treatment by the FAA
which took night traffic away from Lawrence, Long Island and other
communities not in his district. I later found out that Schumer had a close
association with the predominantly Jewish Lawrence community and attended
rallies in Lawrence and the nearby Five Towns area to free convicted Israeli
spy Jonathan Pollard (picture on the left). Will Obama Take On The FAA's
Politicized, Discriminatory and Racist Routing Policies? I am hoping (the
audacity of hope) that President Obama and the new FAA administrator will
stop these discriminatory, health-damaging and unjust FAA routing policies
and their political enablers, like Schumer. More likely, however, there will
be continuation of these corrupt and even racist routing policies which for
so long have had the blessings of both slimy political parties.

FAA Doesn't Want The Public To Know About Bird Strike Data!!! News stories
this week talked about how our wonderful federal agency, who serves the
airline industry so well, want to keep the public from knowing about the
number of bird strikes the U.S. aviation industry experiences. Apparently
they are doing this so travelers won't avoid using airports like JFK, which
have a huge bird/plane collision problem. JFK Airport actually has a
wildlife preserve at the end of one of its busiest runways!!! The FAA rats
have been hiding birdstrike dangers for years by having a "voluntary"
reporting of the incidents by pilots. An ABC news story this week said that
with this corrupt FAA policy "only twenty percent of bird strikes are
reported." In 1995 However, since the recent crash of a LaGuardia Airport
plane into the Hudson River there are calls for this policy to be changed
into a MANDATORY one. I think it's about time for aviation industry and FAA
"transparency."

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FAA Wants To Hide Bird Strike Data!!! The Federal Aviation Administration
doesn't want consumers to know when or how frequently commercial planes hit
flying birds, apparently assuming that if people knew the truth, it would be
bad for the airline business. The FAA proposes to withhold safety
information from the public, putting the airline industry ahead of the
interests of its passengers. That is outrageous. The FAA proposed keeping
information on bird strikes secret after agency officials were set to
release its database on the subject to The Associated Press, in response to
a Freedom of Information Act request. In the Federal Register, which covers
rules and proposals the government publishes daily, the FAA claims
"inaccurate portrayals of airports and airlines could have a negative impact
on their participation in reporting bird strikes." The agency fears people
will avoid airports that report bird strikes, making airports reluctant to
come forward with accurate information. Apparently, the agency believes that
ignoring the problem will make it go away. The public really didn't grasp
the danger of bird strikes until Jan. 15, when a flock of birds crossed the
path of a US Airways jet taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Danville pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, with help from his crew,
bravely glided the craft into the Hudson River with 155 people aboard.
Thankfully, everyone survived. Although a double bird strike such as that
encountered by the US Airways flight is rare, strikes themselves are not.
http://www.thereporter.com/opinion/ci_12054550

Bird Strike Brought Down Concorde At JFK Airport In 1995!!! June 3, 1995:
An Air France Concorde ingested one or two Canada geese into the No. 3
engine when landing at JFK. The engine failed, and shrapnel from the No. 3
engine destroyed the No. 4 engine - and cut several hydraulic lines and
control cables. The pilot was able to land the plane safely, but the runway
was closed for several hours. Damage to the plane was estimated at over $7
million. The French Aviation Authority sued the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey, and eventually settled out of court for $5.3 million.
Editor's Note: picture on the right is of another Concorde engine fire which
happened in July, 2000 and ended the Concorde's reign of noise terror.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId™433696

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Important Aviation
News Stories This Week

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52U8NL20090331

U.S. airline passenger traffic to drop 9 percent: FAA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Passenger traffic aboard all airline flights in the
United States will drop nearly 9 percent this year due to recession compared
with 2008, when they carried 679 million people, the government said on
Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimate, if it proves accurate,
would represent the largest decline in annual domestic capacity since the
industry was deregulated in 1978.

Major airlines slashed capacity by more than 8 percent when demand plummeted
in the year following the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The FAA also said the number of passengers boarding international flights on
U.S. carriers is expected to drop 2.4 percent.

American carriers have scaled back transatlantic routes due to a sharp drop
in business travel. The global financial services meltdown has hurt travel
between New York and London, industry officials have said.

Aircraft operations are forecast to fall 5.7 percent in 2009 as carriers cut
service and flights by some larger aircraft due to falling demand.

Most flights, however, should remain full or nearly full, with load factors
expected to hover around 80 percent, the FAA said.

The FAA also estimated domestic carriers would board 1 billion passengers
for the first time in 2021, instead of the previous forecast of 2016.

(Reporting by John Crawley; Editing by Andre Grenon)

FAA must disclose bird data

Let consumers judge Posted: 04/03/2009 07:36:59 AM PDT
http://www.thereporter.com/opinion/ci_12054550 The Federal Aviation
Administration doesn't want consumers to know when or how frequently
commercial planes hit flying birds, apparently assuming that if people knew
the truth, it would be bad for the airline business.

The FAA proposes to withhold safety information from the public, putting the
airline industry ahead of the interests of its passengers. That is
outrageous.

The FAA proposed keeping information on bird strikes secret after agency
officials were set to release its database on the subject to The Associated
Press, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. In the Federal
Register, which covers rules and proposals the government publishes daily,
the FAA claims "inaccurate portrayals of airports and airlines could have a
negative impact on their participation in reporting bird strikes."

The agency fears people will avoid airports that report bird strikes, making
airports reluctant to come forward with accurate information. Apparently,
the agency believes that ignoring the problem will make it go away.

The public really didn't grasp the danger of bird strikes until Jan. 15,
when a flock of birds crossed the path of a US Airways jet taking off from
LaGuardia Airport in New York. Danville pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger,
with help from his crew, bravely glided the craft into the Hudson River with
155 people aboard. Thankfully, everyone survived.

Although a double bird strike such as that encountered by the US Airways
flight is rare,

strikes themselves are not. Just look at the Bay Area.

A MediaNews report in February revealed that during a 12-month period that
ended in August, airplanes at Oakland International Airport collided with 70
different forms of wildlife, mainly birds. On Feb. 4, a United Airlines
flight leaving Denver bound for San Francisco was forced to return after a
bird struck one of its engines. United Flight 1220 on Feb. 15 made contact
with seagulls as it was preparing to depart San Jose; the flight was
aborted.

No injuries were reported from the two latter incidents, but clearly this
suggests a problem that cannot be ignored.

The FAA's claim of protecting airports is preposterous. Not only does the
FAA's request fly directly in the face of President Barack Obama's executive
order assuring more transparency in U.S. government, but withholding this
information is dangerous.

The information is vital for research. Even the FAA admits bird strikes have
increased seven times since 1990. And yet it chooses to do nothing about it.
If the problem is that airports will withhold the data, which is now
provided voluntarily, then the solution is to require it.

Withholding public information goes against transparency and safety. The
Obama administration must order the FAA to release information on bird
strikes, begin a thorough examination and find ways to cut down the
incidents.

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