AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Pointing handheld lasers at planes could become a federal crime in the US, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, under an amendment approved by the senate this week. The amendment was approved on a 96-1 vote. Tea Party Republican Sen. Rand Paul was the only senator to vote against the proposal. "I think that it is a bad idea to point lasers at Pilots and there are a lot of states that already have laws' against doing that," Paul said. "I think the states ought to take care of it". The FAA said the number of incidents in which people pointed lasers at planes and helicopters nearly doubled last year, from 1527 in 2009 to 2836 in 2010. Lasers are capable of temporarily blinding Pilots and experts say it is only a matter of time before it brings down an aircraft.

*An FAA study into Pilots' relationship with airliner flightdecks is expected to argue that flight crews are not properly trained for modern cockpits, and that there is a need for radical change in their recurrent training. According to media reports today, the report which is due to be published later this year, is expected to establish a connection between accidents and inadequate training, identifying specific areas in which there is a need for change to Pilot training, Airlines' standard operating procedures, and even the design of interfaces between Pilots and automated systems. Inadequate crew knowledge of automated systems was a factor in more than 40% of accidents and 30% of serious incidents between 2001 and 2009. One of the most recent examples would be the crash the COLGAN AIR Dash 8-400 in Buffalo, New York, in February 2009. The crew had reacted wrongly to the onset of a stall, something most Pilots believe they would never do, and the aircraft went out of control, crashing with the loss of all onboard.

*The 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta has ruled that mother of a man killed in the 2007 crash of a TAM LINHAS AEREAS A320 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, can sue TAM as well as Airbus. On July 17, 2001, Flight 3054 overran the runway upon landing at Congonhas Airport and crossed a highway before impacting a warehouse and exploding. All 187 passengers and crew onboard the A320, pictured above, were killed, as well as 12 people on the ground. While the widow of the only American victim in the crash settled with TAM, his mother had filed a separate suit against TAM and Airbus in 2009. On Wednesday, the 11th Circuit court ruled that the lawsuit could go forward. The panel  found that the victims mother had not received due process, because her case had been dismissed before she had an opportunity to bring suit against Airbus. The panel concluded that "the district court abused its discretion" by dismissing the complaint without the opportunity to be heard, and without notice. The crash resulted in the indictment of several Brazilian citizens, including 2 TAM employees and 5 employees of Brazil's civil aviation agency ANAC

*Philippines budget carrier CEBU PACIFIC is hiring hundreds of new employees as they begin a 5 year expansion plan. Cebu has 20 A320 on schedule to be delivered thru 2014, with 4 of those aircraft arriving in the last 4 months. The 1st low-cost carrier in Asia, Cebu Pacific currently operates more than 260 flights daily to 16 international cities and 33 domestic destinations. The expansion at Cebu comes amid continued labor woes at national flag carrier PHILIPPINE AIRLINES.

*According to media reports, an AIR FRANCE A380 encountered moderate to severe windshear on takeoff from the runway 31 at New York JFK last evening. The A380 climbed out without problem and continued on its flight without incident. Other Pilots had been reporting moderate windshear prior to this incident.

*US AIRWAYS Flight 771, a Boeing 767, had to make an emergency diversion to Piedmont/Triad Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, yesterday, February 5, due to an unspecified technical problem. The 767, enroute from Zurich to Philadelphia and seen above after landing in Greensboro, was removed from service.

*EL AL CARGO Flight 881, a Boeing 747, had to make an emergency diversion to Munich, Germany, on Friday, February 4, after the crew received a smoke alert for the forward cargo hold. The aircraft was met by Emergency Services who could find no trace of heat, smoke or fire. The 747, seen above after the emergency stand-down, was released 6 hours later to continue its flight to Liege, Belgium.

*BELAIR Flight 8715, an A320 on service for AIR BERLIN, had to reject takeoff from Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday, February 3, due to an indication of a hydraulics failure.

*AIR CANADA JAZZ Flight 7745, a CRJ200, had to make an emergency landing in Montreal, Canada, on Wednesday, February 2. The First Officer declared an emergency while on approach to Montreal, reporting that the Captain had fallen seriously ill. The CRJ landed 10 minutes later and was met by Emergency Services. No information was released on the health of the Captain.

*AIR WISCONSIN Flight 3770, a CRJ200 on service for US AIRWAYS, had to make an emergency landing in Ottawa, Canada, on Sunday, January 23. While on approach to Ottawa, the crew reported a flaps problem and abandoned the approach. They then declared an emergency and made a safe landing at a higher than normal speed about 20 minutes later. The flaps were reset and the CRJ was returned to service. The incident was just made public yesterday.

*AIR WISCONSIN Flight 3747, a CRJ200 on service for US AIRWAYS, had to make an emergency return to Ottawa, Canada, on Thursday, January 20, after the crew could not retract the flaps. The CRJ was later ferried to Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs. The incident was just made public yesterday.