This story may not get much air time in the US as it is coming out of the Paris Air Show - and the US government suggested that American companies not attend...

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Plane safety plans get back seat

GLOBE AND MAIL ~ Report on Business
06/17/2003

ANDY PASZTOR

PARIS Promising new technologies to prevent future commercial-airplane accidents are being significantly scaled back or delayed as much of the aviation industry's attention has shifted to safeguarding jetliners from potential bombs and terrorists. Nearly two years after jetliner attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, this week's Paris Air Show underscores just how dramatic the shift in priorities has been for aircraft manufacturers, carriers and government officials. With airlines mired in financial crises around the world and the U.S. government facing multibillion-dollar bills to deploy bomb-detection equipment and pay for other security improvements at airports, traditional aviation-safety programs have been put on the back burner.

That means money and high-level commitments for a variety of budding safety advances -- from onboard turbulence-detection devices to improved runway-collision warning systems -- are not forthcoming.

"This is not the time we're going to get new safety mandates," says Robert Johnson, head of Honeywell International Inc.'s aerospace unit. He acknowledges that his company has put off plans to develop and deploy a number of new safety devices. Instead, Honeywell is ramping up research and engineering work on various homeland-security and military initiatives.

Without more proactive initiatives, experts fear accident rates inevitably will climb around the world. Brian McDonnell, Ireland's top aviation regulator, believes that "security is only part of the [overall safety] picture." Industry leaders "should be particularly anxious that we not emphasize one at the expense of the other," he adds.

So far, adverse impacts on prominent safety projects include:

Prototype cockpit displays designed to warn pilots of impending runway collisions won't be tested in U.S. commercial jets anytime soon.

Development of laser devices able to accurately detect and predict turbulence in clear weather -- a problem that kills or injures scores of passengers and flight attendants every year -- has become a lower priority. The result: Pilots still have to rely on imprecise warnings from other crews, or spotty reports from busy air-traffic controllers, to avoid dangerous turbulence at high altitudes.

In-flight data links between pilots and air-traffic controllers, previously hailed as the answer to unclogging congested voice-transmission frequencies, have been stalled by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for cost reasons.

The loss of momentum comes even as airlines and pilots face a daunting array of fresh challenges. Ultra-long-range operations -- currently flights of around 15 hours, but projected to stretch to 18 hours or more over water or barren polar regions -- raise questions of crew fatigue, onboard firefighting capability and other safety factors.

Still, in spite of the challenges, some companies and government agencies are moving ahead with safety advances. Airbus officials say they haven't cut back appreciably on safety expenditures and, for instance, are pursuing innovative technologies to prevent their impending superjumbo A380 from crashing into natural or man-made obstacles. Cash-strapped airlines also are spending money on stepped-up monitoring of jet engines. But the trend toward sidetracked safety initiatives is prompting increased criticism and concern from veteran air-safety advocates.

"But the trend toward sidetracked safety initiatives is prompting increased criticism and concern from veteran air-safety advocates."

Chris, Thanks again for an excellent article- this is very interesting. Also concerning is the attitude here in the U.S. that American companies not attend. Very upsetting to say the least.