Plane Conversations

Originally published on Clear On Top on 4 March 2011

Federal officials released a proposal recently to the Federal Register that will limit the use of the BARR program to owners and operators of aircraft who are deemed to have a “valid security concern”.  For a little over a decade, the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) has provided a way for owners and operators with a privacy concern to have their N# and the corresponding flight information be blocked from public availability.  Without the BARR, real-time information for any aircraft on an IFR flight plan is available to the public through the internet.  Public use websites exist that provide ownership and tracking information on the aircraft including it’s location, altitude, airspeed, destination, and estimated time of arrival for little or no charge.  To take this to the next level, apps exist for the iPhone and other smart phones that allow a user to point at an aircraft flying overhead and be provided with all the aforementioned information pulled from this public domain.

If this proposal is passed owners and operations will be required to re-submit written certification of a “valid security concern” on an annual basis for approval.  The proposal defines a valid security concern as follows:

“A Valid Security Concern is a verifiable threat to person, property or company, including a threat of death, kidnapping or serious bodily harm against an individual, a recent history of violent terrorist activity in the geographic area in which the transportation is provided, or a threat against a company.”

Ed Bolen, President of the NBAA, issued a statement today saying that the proposal will grant “an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of aircraft owners and operators, a threat to the competitiveness of U.S. companies and a potential security risk to persons on board.”  Bolen’s entire statement along with much more information concerning the proposal can be found on the NBAA website.  I encourage you to take a bit of time and learn about the very real threat to your privacy that is lurking around the corner.  We have 30 days to make our comments heard before this proposal comes up for action…the time to speak up is now.

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In college, I took a class called International Strategies and Security.  I believe that I may have been the only non-military student in the class which, for a civilian, turned out to be like a Tom Clancy novel – only it lasted for a whole semester.  We discussed technology that just blew my mind.  I had no idea the things that were possible and I’m sure that what blew my mind then is Stone Age compared to what is possible now.

So yesterday, we talked a little bit about test flights Alaska Airlines is conducting to be greener both environmentally and economically.  I think that there is a lot to celebrate with that.  My one concern with their reliance (and more, with NextGen’s reliance) on satellite technology is the increase in solar storms projected over the next few years.  I am curious to see how the technologists will handle it.

Since the systems do rely on satellite communication, they will be vulnerable to solar flares and storms, the kind we discussed back in March, which brings me back to the same concerns I expressed then.  With so many new pilots being trained using only glass cockpits and satellite approaches, what happens when those systems are compromised?  Worse, what happens when those systems are compromised and the pilots don’t know it?  NextGen, RNP, OPD and RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) are all designed to increase efficiency by tightening up the airspace.  This precision puts more aircraft into smaller spaces.  Well, if a pilot was flying along a flight path ten years ago, he might have encountered another aircraft along the same path; but, since neither of them was flying with today’s degree of precision, there was still likely to be a safe distance between the aircraft.  However, with todays’ greater precision, the space is greatly reduced.  If all systems are operating as advertised, that’s no problem.  In fact, it’s positive situation.  However, if solar flares contaminate the positioning information, an aircraft may be hundreds of feet off position and not know it.  If two aircraft are in the same situation, but are separated by only a few hundreds of feet to begin with, well, you do the math.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently awarded $125 million to Boeing and other companies to develop greener aircraft, fuels and technology.   As aircraft become more advanced and the Gee-Whiz factor in them increases, by definition, they get further away from the simple, stick-controlled Stearman.  I love the advances, don’t get me wrong.  I just know that a great many young pilots are learning on advanced equipment and may not be learning some of the manual basics of their predecessors.  For now, the young group still has access to pilots trained without all of the gizmos.  Those pilots are available to act as mentors and assist the younger generation of aviators in gaining some wisdom, an invaluable asset, as Billy Minkoff pointed out last week.  His example of the new, accessible very light jet and microjet is perfectly appropriate here.  As precision flying gets more precise and pilot training gets further removed from non-precision equipment, without mentoring, how do we avoid the dangers of corrupted satellite data?

What technology and training do we develop to slow or halt the current trend as expressed by CFM Director of Operations Dwayne McMurry, “It used to be that the last words on a cockpit voice recorder were ‘Oh, (explicative)!’  What you hear these days is, ‘What’s it doing now?’ “

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Starting the end of this year, if you are an aircraft owner you will have to apply for a new aircraft registration. The month your current aircraft registration was issued in will determine its expiration and when you have to apply for the new registration. 

For example if your aircraft registration certificate was issued in March of any year you will need to apply between November 2010 and January 2011 for the new registration.

 If you have no changes in your registration you can do the renewal online.

The new rule puts a three year expiration date on the new registration. I have seen this in many countries and it is usually a means for the government to collect more money from aircraft owners.

Prior to this rule change, an aircraft registration (the certificate that identifies the aircraft owners) was good indefinitely until such time as the aircraft owner(s) sold the aircraft. It also should have been canceled if the aircraft was scrapped, totaled in an accident of if the aircraft was registered with ownership in another country’s registry.

The new registration fee is $5.00 which is insignificant at this point. Hopefully this is not a means to eventually tax ownership though the registration process.

My concern is the FAA’s ability to handle mass registration submissions without creating a backlog of paperwork that would cause some owners registrations to become invalid even though they have complied with the new rules.

The FAA is saying if you don’t have a valid registration your aircraft can not fly. Basically lack of current registration causes the aircraft to be un-airworthy.  

The FAA’s concern seems to be that their data base in not accurate because aircraft owners don’t play by the rules. The FAA claims that possibly 35% of all aircraft registered are not flyable or have wrong information.  To some degree that is a valid concern, especially with scrapped aircraft that could be put back into service in an un-airworthy condition.  

So now we all have to submit new forms every three years and track the expiration. For fleet operators it is another item to track on their maintenance program. For individuals who own aircraft, I assume they will be responsible for tracking it and held accountable if they don’t? I don’t see where you get a reminder like we get in Tennessee when our car tags expire, but maybe that is coming.  

The FAA is understaffed today so how are they going to keep up with this, and especially how do they enforce action against those who don’t comply. Do inspectors have time to go around and check on all of the 357,000 plus aircraft registered in the US?

You can read the FAA rule and information here.

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