Issue 8
March 7, 2002
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NATA Safety 1st e-Line Service News
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Welcome to the NATA Safety 1st e-Line Service newsletter,
a quarterly summary of the latest NATA Safety 1st news
and education, dedicated to line service staff. Please
make copies available to all line service technicians,
both full and part-time.
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In this Issue of NATA Safety 1st e-Line Service ...
****NATA Safety 1st Program and Other NATA News
****Featured Safety Article... GAMGRAM 47 HOW DOES WATER GET INTO AN AIRCRAFT
APRIL 1997 PART 1
****FAQ --- NATA Safety 1st and Fueling Issues
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****NATA Safety 1st Program and Other NATA News
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NATA NEWS
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Did you read the following press release? The purchase is complete and
the ATI PLST is now called the NATA Safety 1st PLST....
NATA TO ACQUIRE AVIATION TRAINING INSTITUTE--SAFETY 1st PROGRAM TO OFFER
LINE-SERVICE TRAINING
New Orleans, LA, December 11, 2001--- National Air Transportation Association
(NATA) president James Coyne announced today that the NATA has acquired
the Aviation Training Institute (ATI) from Aviation Resource Group International
(ARGI), which has set the standard of excellence with its professional
line service-training program since 1997. Coyne also announced that the
Association will begin offering a comprehensive and affordable line-service
training program for aviation businesses.
The NATA Safety 1st Program will be expanded to include the training materials
previously offered by ATI in addition to NATA’s widely recognized
Safety 1st written and practical tests. Safety 1st is a line-service testing
program that identifies the knowledge and skills required of all line
service professionals.
“Training line service professionals—and subsequently testing
their knowledge and skills—holds numerous benefits for FBOs, their
customers and their employees,” Coyne said. “By offering this
expanded program to the industry, NATA is making the reduction of ground-handling
accidents its number one safety priority.” Coyne said that aircraft
operators should welcome NATA’s efforts and “frequent those
businesses who have shown a dedication to safety by participating in the
NATA Safety 1st program.”
The aviation insurance industry has come forward to support NATA’s
goals.
Associated Aviation Underwriters/Global Aerospace
“Global-AAU supports NATA’s effort to further enhance the
quality of line-service training,” said John D’Angelone, executive
vice president, general aviation. “We believe the insurance industry
will applaud the comprehensive training program offered by NATA as a tool
to improve safety and reduce claims.”
AIG Aviation, Inc.
“This program, administered by a quality organization like NATA,
should play a substantial part in reducing claims and, in time, premiums,”
said W.R. Eason, AIG executive vice president. “AIG looks favorably
on well-managed FBOs that embrace this training in both our selectivity
and pricing process.”
Phoenix Aviation Managers, Inc.
“It is well known that annual and recurrent training in aircraft
has reduced losses,” said Roger Ridings, executive vice president
of Phoenix Aviation Managers. “We feel the same type of training
program for service employees can have similar results. Fewer claims should
help improve insurance costs for everyone. We support NATA in their initiative
to improve line-service training and will encourage our insured companies
to support advanced training for all line-service staff.”
United States Aircraft Insurance Group
“USAIG feels it is commendable that NATA, as a leader in the industry,
is forging ahead to bring substantive line-service training to a broader
segment of the FBO community,” said USAIG executive vice president
Bill Welbourn. “USAIG will make training of this kind a key ingredient
in our underwriting of FBOs.”
W. Brown and Associates
“W. Brown and Associates believes a better training program is a
must to decrease losses,” said Vincent Zimmerer, executive vice
president. “NATA is a leader in the FBO safety field, and we look
favorably at FBOs who have lowered their losses using comprehensive line-training
programs.”
“Aviation businesses nationwide have decried the increases in insurance
premiums and deductibles for airport liability and hangar keepers coverage,”
added Coyne. “At the same time, insurance companies have experienced
substantial losses from these types of claims. Training and re-training
is the most logical long-term solution to improve safety, reduce claims,
and ultimately mitigate high insurance premiums or reductions of coverage.”
# # #
NATA, the VOICE OF AVIATION BUSINESS, is the public policy group representing
the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies
Just in case you haven't heard about the PLST...
The 9-module training program covers Ground Servicing, Ramp Safety, Refueling Piston Aircraft, Refueling Turboprop Aircraft, Refueling Jet Aircraft, Fuel Farm Management, Towing, Customer Service and Fire Safety. A new, tenth module will be developed with the FAA on Facility and Ramp Security when guidelines and regulations have been determined. All of the manuals will be available on CD ROM.
The introductory cost to NATA members is $100 per line service technician
and $200 per line tech for non-NATA members . There is a special promotion
if you join NATA or sign up for the new Safety 1st PLST, the first one
is free, a $100 dollar value. This introductory pricing will remain in
effect until April 15th. With this pricing, you really can't afford not
to train.
If you'd like additional details on the training program, please email
Amy Koranda. Details will soon be available on our website.
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PROGRAM NEWS
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We have a new telephone number dedicated to the NATA Safety 1st Program.
Please call (703) 575-2045 and ask for Amy Koranda, Jennifer Sword or
Louis Soares. Our FAX number is still the same at (703) 845-8176.
Many of you may wonder how the new NATA Safety 1st PLST will affect your
current participation in the NATA Safety 1st Program. The program is still
the same great testing program it has always been. As we said in the last
e-Line, we do plan to put the written exam online. This will make test
results available much faster. The practical exam will still remain a
crucial component of the program as well. We are determining the best
delivery method at this time.
For those that purchased the ATI PLST and participate in NATA Safety 1st,
there are a few changes that we addressed by letter sent in January. If
you did not receive this letter, or have any questions please email Amy
Koranda or call (703) 575-2045 to receive copies of the paperwork.
The NATA Safety 1st Program had a booth at the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers
Conference January 13-16, 2002 in Orlando, Florida. It was great to see
so many of you exhibiting and displaying the NATA Safety 1st counter cards.
Take a peek at who attended as we tried to capture each of you and your
wonderful booths. If you haven't attended this great event, you might
consider doing so next year. It is a great show! Just the right size to
talk individually with your customers and colleagues.
Many of you have begun retesting your line technicians in accordance with
the biannual testing requirements of the NATA Safety 1st Program. If any
of your line service are due to be tested the first half of this year,
you received a letter with the line technician's name and the date they
tested. If they are no longer at your facility, just note this on the
list and fax it back to us. The letter also included information on how
to order more test binders if you need them.
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SEMINAR NEWS
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NATA Convention Seminars: Register Online
Please remember the Line Service Supervisor Training Seminar (LSST) is
a required part of the NATA Safety 1st Program. If you have already sent
someone from your business, please feel free to skip to the next paragraph.
If not, it is required that one person from your line service, usually
the supervisor, attend an LSST. And remember, as long as that person remains
with your company, the LSST requirement has been met for Safety 1st.
The next LSST will be held in Indianapolis on March 25-27,2002 during
the NATA Convention. The seminar runs 3 days to give attendees time to
visit the Tradeshow floor. Many LSST attendees expressed an interest in
the tradeshow so we are trying to accomodate this desire. We will provide
you with a badge that will allow attendance in the seminar as well as
the Convention, in lieu of lunch. We encourage you to register as soon
as possible as the seminar is filling up.
Train the Trainer will be held on March 28th, the last day of the Convention.
It will be taught by two well-known and popular NATA presenters, Walter
Chartrand and Frank Surface. It is a very interactive seminar with many
training tips and techniques followed up by hands-on exercises specific
to aviation training. It also gives you a better idea on what kind of
trainer you are and why. Don't miss it or you will have to wait until
September to catch the next one.
Financial Management Tools and Techniques for Aviation Service Businesses,
will be held March 24th and 25th in Indianapolis just prior to the convention.
Phil Botana and Mark Chambers, experts in the financial aspects of running
FBOs, will lead the seminar. All information is aviation specific with
hands-on exercisesthat compliment and reinforce your learning experience.
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NATA CONVENTION NEWS
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The 2002 Annual Convention will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana at the
Indianapolis Convention Center in March 26-28, 2002. Don't miss out. We
look forward to seeing you there!
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MEMBER NEWS
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In a previous e-Line, we told you about NATA Safety 1st participant, Midcoast
Aviation designing a safety vest with the NATA Safety 1st logo. Since
then, many of you have been asking how to order the vests. Call Michael
Hollis with Northside Sales, CO. at (501) 945-0905 and he will be able
to help you. If you'd like to see the vest again, take another look. Your
customers will thank you!
We know you are busy taking care of business. If you think of something
to share with other NATA Safety 1st participants, we'd like to include
it here. What are we looking for? Unique solutions to common problems.
Common solutions to common problems. Anything you think other line service
technicians should or would like to know. You will receive full credit
or anonimity, just let us know!
Let us hear from you...If you’d like to share something with other NATA Safety 1st participants, send an email to Amy Koranda with information and/or pictures for the NATA e-Line and website.
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****Featured Safety Article...GAMGRAM 47 HOW DOES WATER GET INTO AN AIRCRAFT
APRIL 1997 PART 1
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As part of this e-Line, we will include an educational
article.
Most of the articles will provide continuing education on issues
of importance to line service. In addition, if you are currently
taking the NATA Safety 1st written and practical exams, these
articles will make great study material. Feel free to copy them
and maintain a book for future reference.
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GAMGRAM 47 HOW DOES WATER GET INTO AN AIRCRAFT
APRIL 1997 PART 1
By: Gammon Technical Products
Email: Jim Gammon
Website: www.gammontech.com
<a href="http://www.gammontech.com">AOL users, click here</a>
Tele: (732) 223-4600
Fax: (732) 223-5778
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GAMGRAM 47: HOW DOES WATER GET INTO AN AIRCRAFT PART I
If any of you figure out a way to make water burn, please call us. We'd
be happy to help you make use of this knowledge. Until then, 1 think we
can all agree that it is not a good idea to put it into aircraft fuel
tanks. This is the first part in a two part series.
Many people just do not understand how water can get into an aircraft
and therefore do not understand what they can do to prevent such contamination.
Some do not realize how often it happens, and that it can happen to them.
We are not talking about a drop or two, we are talking about gallons or
even hundreds of gallons.
In our industry we have procedures for checking certain things, but many
people do not know why they are performing these checks or what can happen
if they do not. Unfortunately, a lack of understanding often leads to
complacency, and this can lead to disaster.
In case you are not getting the point, EVERY YEAR LIVES ARE PUT AT RISK
BECAUSE REFUELING COMPANIES LIKE YOURS DON'T THINK IT CAN HAPPEN TO THEM!
In every case, after the event the operator is shocked and disbelieving.
The common comment is, "I thought it couldn't happen here; we have
a good QC program, do all the tests and use a good fuel supplier."
The same thing CAN happen to you, no matter how good you think your quality
control is. The following are examples of how water has gotten to aircraft.
Surely there are other additional ways for this to happen; this is not
a complete list of every possible cause.
1. On top of virtually all truck tanks, there is what we call "roll-over
protection". This amounts to a dike or dam around the vents and manways.
The idea is to prevent damage to these items if the truck rolls over upside
down. To drain rain water (or melting snow) from this area, hoses are
run down from the corners of the enclosure. Unfortunately, inspection
of these drain hoses is often ignored as "no big deal, and they plug
with debris (or even ice).
Well It is a very big deal. This has caused many incidents where gross
amounts of water (up to 250 gallons) were put into aircraft. I personally
spoke to a man who drained 150 gallons of water from an airliner. How
did it get into the tank? If the water can't drain off, it "pools"
up to 8 inches (or even more) deep. If the manway or vent seals fail,
it goes directly into the storage tank. Even if the seals do not leak,
when you engage the PTO to pump, the vent (which is submerged in water)
opens allowing the water to enter the tank.
Check the drain hoses and manway gaskets and the filter separator water
controls. Sump tanks and vessel sumps.
2. The snow had accumulated at an airport, and due to warm days and cool
nights, the snow melted during the days and refroze at night. This allowed
several inches of water to cover the area where the underground tank was
buried. The gauging hatch or the test cable port gasket for the floating
suction leaked. Water went directly into the storage tank. The filter
separator water This has also happened in warm climates during strong
rains or floods. In one case, all of the fuel floated out of the tank
and the tank completely filled with water.
Check your tank top connections for a tight fit and proper gaskets; sump
your tanks and vessels. Make sure the sample is fuel and not pure water.
Check water controls, tank sumps and vessel sumps daily.
3. The ground-water level was high and a structural problem caused a leak
in the underground storage tank. Fuel did not leak out, water leaked in.
The pilot or engineer of an aircraft being fueled later happened to notice
that a fuel tank level indicator suddenly went from almost empty to full
in the blink of an eye. If he had not noticed this, caused by an electronic
gauge not calibrated for the high conductivity and mass of water, a catastrophe
would certainly have occurred. Still, over 300 gallons of water was drained
from the aircraft.
Test your water controls and take extra samples from the truck and aircraft
sump if the slightest hint of unusual water risk is present.
Tank tightness testing is not just for environmental reasons. If you notice
your storage tank levels increasing or not decreasing as expected, double
check your tank sump. In this case the water float on the truck had a
severed wire and the fuel farm had a failed water float.
4. A new man was assigned to fill the aircraft lavatory water tank. He
was not familiar with the particular aircraft and put the water into the
overwing fueling connection. It was only caught because his supervisor
knew a Beechcraft King Air will not hold 150 gallons of potable water.
The fueling operation is not the only way to get water into the aircraft.
5. The aircraft was being refueled when the refueler cargo tank went empty.
The lineman left both of the fuel tank caps off and drove back to the
fuel farm for more fuel. He could not refuel because they were unloading
a transport trailer (bridger). His shift ended and he went home, forgetting
to finish. It rained the next two days and only due to the pilot's preflight
check was the error discovered.
When you open a cap, do so only to insert a nozzle. Close it before you
depart for any reason, even to do a small task such as picking up a dropped
item. ALSO - If you notice that the cap does not f it tightly, indicating
a possibly failed gasket, notify the pilot. Rainwater frequently enters
aircraft fuel tanks through leaky tank caps.
6. Upon completing a new arm of the hydrant system, a "hydrotest"
was performed. To do so, the system was filled with water and pressurized.
When no leaks were detected, the system was drained and purged at high
flow rates with fuel prior to being commissioned for fuel use. Due to
an imperfect purge, and a broken wire on a water probe over 50 gallons
of water was placed onto a jetliner. Even though the wing tanks were sumped
prior to flight as a special precaution, the water was not discovered
until the engines performed unevenly in flight and a precautionary landing
was made. It turned out the sump sample was pure, clear water, but looked
like clean, dry fuel and the jar smelled like fuel from previous sampling.
Carry coffee, tea, "food coloring" or other water based or soluble
material with you and drop some into fuel samples. If it sinks to the
bottom as a drop, you have fuel. If it dissolves, you have a problem.
Do not accept a clear and bright test alone as proof that the sample is
good, clean fuel. It can be bad, clean water.
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****FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) --- NATA Safety 1st
and Fueling Issues
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This section will help you with the paperwork and study
process.
In addition, we will include other questions about fueling issues
that are frequently asked. If you have any tips to share, please
submit them to us and we will include them in upcoming e-Lines.
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Many of you conduct safety meetings. Consider the following
paperwork and the fact that this is training.
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You judiciously gather everyone for your monthly safety meeting. Good
for you! Do you keep a written record of these meetings? You should. But
what do you keep? For starters, keep a copy of your safety message, notes,
curriculum and handouts. In other words, keep a copy of everything relevant
to your safety message on file. This is training and all training needs
to be recorded.
Now you are done right? Not just yet. Don't forget another important detail
before you end! Make sure to hand out a participant list with the date
and subject of the meeting. After each participant's name, include a line
for their signature. This will serve a two-fold purpose. The first is
to acknowledge that this individual received safety training. The second
is to assist you in knowing who missed this meeting and make sure they
receive this pertinent safety training in the very near future.
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What should we do at our safety meetings?
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All is quiet on the western ramp. You haven't had an incident for quite
some time. Are you are getting a little paranoid that your line techs
may become complacent? You are not alone. What can you do?
You keep past incident reports on file at your facility, right? Take a
look through these reports to refresh your memory. At your next meeting,
use these past events to present examples to demonstrate safety hazards
that tripped up people in the past.
These reports will serve to remind or teach your line techs what
procedures were taken to eliminate particular hazards. To some of your
line techs these may be refresher lessons. For new employees, they will
provide concrete reasons why you have particular safety procedures in
place.
The value of using real incident reports teaches your line techs that
safety threats are real and do exist. Reviewing these old reports will
also reinforce correct safety procedures. It will remind your line techs
to keep safety upper most in all of their actions and prevent complacency.
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Facts on the fly....compliments of Valley Oil Company, LLC.
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....Exxon/Mobil Elite has come out with new technology oils for reciprocating
engines that are synthetic based. So, not all synthetic based oils are
just for turbine aircraft.
....Left over turbine oil that is left in an open container will rapidly
absorb
moisture from the air causing it to be off-spec.
....Most large corporate aircraft manuals recommend a brake rider in the
cockpit.
In the each e-Line, we ask you to share safety information or statistics
about how the NATA Safety 1st Program has impacted your business. Please
keep information coming our way! We really think you are doing a great
job of keeping those lines safe.
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The NATA Safety 1st e-Line Service newsletter is distributed quarterly.
We welcome your feedback on this newsletter and any topics you would like
to see discussed. Send articles/email to Amy Koranda.
Thank you for your commitment to line service safety...
keep those ramps safe.