Quote of the Week:  " When an aircraft is taxiing or taking off, it produces a 'plume' of gases, including some, such as nitrogen dioxide, which can be harmful."  Nic Ferriday, spokesman for Britain's Aviation Environment Federation

Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #432................................................................................June 10,  2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm  The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports  http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net

Expanding Airports Means Increased Global Warming!!!

As Bill Sees It: (Editorial): More Delays On Aviation System Stretched To The Limit!!! As the FAA can't cram enough planes into the sky to meet "demand," it is common sense that the least little glitch will cascade into a massive backup and delay of the whole rotten aviation system. As the FAA is also pushing the safety envelope to add increased flights by doing little things like reducing the distance between planes, I'm just surprised that there hasn't been a major disaster...yet. Maybe the FAA is waiting for something like that to happen before they stop reducing aircraft safety. That's called "tombstone" planning. Aviation Polluters Just Don't Give A Damn!!! Whether its aviation's increasing contribution to global warming or health and other impacts inflicted on communities impacted by airports, the aviation industry and their government stooges couldn't care less. I shouldn't say they don't care, because if they didn't they wouldn't be so actively fighting every effort to make the aviation industry environmentally responsible. Fortunately however, as the aviation expansion insanity increases there seems to be more and more individuals and groups forming to fight it. Unfortunately, most of these groups have a narrow focus that only includes their airport, while totally ignoring the overall aviation expansion menace.  It seems like countries that are getting the fastest airport expansions, like England, are the ones where there is the most anti-aviation activity. Some "anti-noise" groups seem to go out of their way to minimize or ignore aviation noise. Sometimes I wonder if these anti-noise groups weren't actually created by the Aviation Cabal to control the aviation pollution opposition. Some of these groups seem to go out their way to minimize the impacts of aviation noise by focusing on things like leaf blowers. 

Plane Disaster For The Ozone Layer: The aviation sector has still not woken up to their contribution to this climate change causing global warming. According to a scientific research, aviation currently accounts for approximately two per cent of greenhouse gasses. Scientists believe that soon this figure will double. Across the world 16,000 commercial jet aircraft produce more than 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, an amount that equals the entire African continent. On average trains create one third of the carbon dioxide emissions of a plane. So a flight from Delhi to Kanpur, would release 375 kg of carbon dioxide emissions - as opposed to a train, which would be just 75 Kg. Aviation expert, Kapil Kaul says that the aviation industry understands the role of environment but is doing about climate change. “It is not on their agenda to do so,” says he. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/aircrafts-cause-global-warming/42178-3.html How Do Airports Effect Our Health: A public inquiry into a second runway at Stansted Airport began on Wednesday, beginning months of evidence presented for and against the proposal. The current emphasis on climate change means that many environmental campaigners will focus on the additional carbon dioxide which the runway may generate. However, local residents still have concerns about the impact of the airport on their quality of life - and even directly on their health.

FAA Computer Failure Cripples U.S. Air Traffic Control System; Delays Nationwide: Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A computer failure within the air traffic control system which keeps America's skies safe has turned into massive delays for travelers across the country. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says a server in Atlanta failed, leaving airports around the country without flight plan information on thousands of planes. FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere says the agency responded to the Atlanta failure by rerouting data to a separate facility in Salt Lake City, which cause those servers to overload and crash. Bad weather also hit tourists and business fliers as planes went from "on time" to "delayed" and some to "canceled." Some passengers say they've been waiting several hours for their flights, in yet another travel meltdown. The FAA and the airlines themselves have been under fire recently for mistreating passengers, including an incident which prompted JetBlue to offer a new "passengers' bill of rights." National Air Traffic Controllers Association spokesman Doug Church says that while the systems are offline, controllers will have to enter flight data manually. While the process is possible, it is also time consuming. Church admits, "With some of these East Coast airports, nothing is getting in right now." Editor's Note: Whatever happened to the Passenger Bill of Rights? I guess the aviation industry got their congressional lobbyists to kill it after various politicians like Sen. Schumer milked it for all the public relations news value they could.  http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007591553 


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                                    Important Aviation News Stories This Week

http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/greenwich/18822.shtml

Jun 8, 2007
Westchester County Airport
Feds say noise increases minor for Greenwich residents

By Kenneth Partridge, Staff Reporter
A proposed rerouting of airplanes at two local airports will not lead to major noise increases for Greenwich residents, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official said last Thursday night.

Speaking at a meeting of the Round Hill Association, Steve Kelley, program manager for the FAA’s airspace redesign project, said any noise impacts would be below what the federal government considers significant.

As part of the “Integrated Airspace Alternative” plan, which the FAA endorsed in March, flights arriving at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport would shift about 30 miles to the east, pushing traffic into the heart of Fairfield County.

In addition, planes leaving Westchester County Airport, which borders Greenwich, would make a circular turn after takeoff and make much of their initial climb over Greenwich.

With respect to the latter — the main concern for many Round Hill-area homeowners — Mr. Kelley said planes would make an “unrestricted climb” and reach altitudes of 9,000 to 10,000 feet while flying over town.

At those altitudes, he said, most people will not notice the change.

“There is nothing, from a federal standpoint, that is reportable in Connecticut,” Mr. Kelley said, explaining that the government is only required to implement noise mitigation measures when the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) — a noise measure used in the aviation industry — exceeds 45.

FAA noise maps show DNL values of around 40 for areas of backcountry Greenwich — both under the proposed redesign and in 2011 projections based on existing flight patterns.

The possible reroutings at LaGuardia and Westchester County, he said, are part of a larger effort to make airspace in the Northeast more efficient.

He said the region is the most complex in the country because of the close proximity of so many airports.

Before the presentation, U.S. Rep. Chris Shays criticized the FAA, saying the agency had done a poor job communicating initially with the public. Even so, Mr. Shays said he believes Greenwich will come out of the redesign relatively unscathed, at least compared to neighboring towns.

During a question-and-answer session, Mr. Kelley said any changes are at least two to three years away. He said the FAA is expected to issue its final decision in late August, after it finishes reviewing comments submitted by the public.

Toward the end of the meeting, Mr. Shays asked Mr. Kelley about a recently announced Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation on the FAA’s redesign procedures.

Mr. Kelley said he welcomed the GAO investigation, adding that measures like the DNL are problematic, since they’re difficult to explain to the public.

First Selectman James Lash also took issue with how the FAA discloses information. After the meeting, he told the Post that a noise consultant hired in May submitted a report that objected to, among other things, the FAA’s “lack of clarity.”

In particular, Mr. Lash said, the noise consultant, who was hired as part of a partnership with the Town of New Canaan, didn’t have access to information on the specific nature of the climb planes would be making after departing Westchester County Airport.

Mr. Lash said that if pilots follow the guidelines outlined by Mr. Kelley, the estimated altitudes of 9,000 to 10,000 feet are probably correct.

“If they follow the procedure, he’s right,” Mr. Lash said.

Mr. Kelley said the redesign project could cost between $200 million and $300 million, and Mr. Shays reminded the audience that it’s ultimately up to Congress. “That’s the hook that we have,” Mr. Shays said.