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  The Global Positioning System Directorate has released a Federal Register Notice announcing plans to execute a test in February 2019 to investigate legacy receiver week roll-over behavior and analyze any off-nominal behavior exhibited. The Global Positioning System (GPS) week number rollover occurs in the GPS legacy navigation (LNAV) message every 1024 weeks due to the GPS week number being represented by only 10 bits within the LNAV message. The next GPS week number roll over will occur 18 seconds prior to the 0000Z boundary (Coordinated Universal Time) between April 6/7 2019. In most cases, any negative response from a GPS receiver caused by a problem accounting for the 10-bit week number roll over would likely affect the calendar conversion from GPS time to UTC date/time and could result in the GPS receiver thinking it had jumped backward in time by 1024 weeks to 21/22 August 1999. If you wish to participate in this test, please submit the answers to the questions in the Federal Register Notice to the SMC/GPE mailbox by February 4, 2019. After the submission of the questionnaire, the team will schedule individual meetings with interested civil vendors to further discuss their participation in the test in more detail. You will find the full text of the Federal Register Notice and the list of nine questions at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/01/25/2019-00111/2017-public-interface-control-working-group-and-forum-for-the-navstar-gps-public-documents Rick Hamilton CGSIC Executive Secretariat GPS Information Analysis Team Lead U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center 703-313-5930  The Department of Transportation plans design changes to the Bettles Airport. Those changes include, but are not limited to reducing the airport runway width from 150' to 75' (click on the following link: Airport Layout Plan for the runway existing conditions).
Please contact the following ADOT or AACA representatives to discuss further: ADOT Design Chief - Albert.beck@alaska.gov ADOT Planner - Chris.johnston@alaska.gov AACA - aaca@alaskaaircarriers.org The Alaska Department of Transportation Aviation Advisory Board will be meeting in Anchorage, January 22, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Airport Manager’s 4th floor conference room at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The meeting is open and the public is invited to attend. Please call Statewide Aviation if you have any questions (907) 266-2596. For additional information, please visit: Meeting Agenda To attend by Conference Call dial (907) 266-2455. More than 2,000 FAA inspectors and engineers furloughed due to the partial government shutdown that began on Dec. 22 have been recalled to work, according to an FAA statement made on Tuesday. The latest revision of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) plan for operations during the shutdown now categorizes a total of 3,113 Aviation Safety positions as necessary for life and safety and therefore excepted from furlough. Read more Kate O'Connor AvWebFlash  “Antarctica was the final continent on our checklist,” says Lynden Air Cargo President Rick Zerkel. “Now we can cross it off.” Lynden Air Cargo has joined a short list of operators that serve all seven continents by starting a new project in support of an Italian Antarctic expedition team doing research on the icy land mass. The month-long mission lasted from October 30 through November 30 and involved carrying supplies from Christchurch, New Zealand to Italian base Mario Zucchelli Station and Phoenix Field at McMurdo Station, the US base in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. According to Lynden Air Cargo Captain Pat Madland, Terra Nova Bay is about 2,000 miles and seven hours from Christchurch, and Phoenix Field is 300 miles further south and about eight hours flying time. “This was accomplished with an augmented crew to allow for rest,” Pat explains. “We also carry a loadmaster and mechanic.” The whole operation requires nine people on the ground in Christchurch. “This high-profile project illustrates Lynden Air Cargo’s capabilities in remote locations,” says Adam Murray, Director of Business Development and Marketing. “With 98 percent of the continent covered in ice, there are no cities or villages. This is another addition to our capabilities and we hope to provide this service next year and on an ongoing basis if possible.” The flight crew includes Captains Pat Madland and Thomas Lindberg, First Officer Josh Havel, Flight Engineers Bill Spencer, Clint Swanson and John Worley, Loadmaster Leonel Lopez and Aircraft Mechanics Travis Blaszak and Dan Spears. “The cargo on the first two trips to Terra Nova Bay consisted mostly of helicopters. We carried two Squirrel helicopters on each trip. Since then, the cargo has been scientific equipment and food,” Pat says. “Although it’s exciting to go to Antarctica, Lynden Air Cargo crews are used to flying to remote locations in challenging conditions. Antarctica closely resembles Greenland with its mountainous terrain covered with an ice cap. Much of the continent is around 10,000 feet high although we landed on sea ice runways at sea level. Most of our Lynden crews have been to six continents and it’s nice to add the seventh.”  Due to a lapse in Federal Government funding, the Fairbanks FAA Safety Team cancelled the following seminars and events:
Thank you for your support! Regards, Lisa Asplin FAA SafetyTeam Program Manager 4419 Airport Way, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709 (907) 457-9241 lisa.asplin@faa.gov  Today, USDOT officials shared concerns on whether the USPS can pay the Alaskan air carriers year end payments.
If the shutdown continues and USDOT cannot forward relevant year end (November 2018) data to the USPS, bypass mail payments to air carriers could be delayed.  Independent Fixed Base Operators Association (IFBOA), and QBE Aviation of QBE Holdings, Inc. are pleased to announce a Good Experience Return (GER) of 26% for the close of 2017, totaling approximately $5.5 million in returns. To date, over $15 million in GER have been earned by program participants. Key program components are safety and returns, which currently average 21% in GER. We are once again proud to announce the closing of another successful year,” stated Steve Allen, QBE’s Senior Vice President, Head of Aviation. Thanks to the strategic relationship with IFBOA, this program has been available to AACA members affiliated with IFBOA since 2011. To learn more, please contact AACA at 907.277.0071 or Brokers can contact a QBE Aviation Workers’ Compensation underwriter to receive a quote: Brian Neal, Vice President, Head of Aviation Workers’ Compensation, QBE at 770-548-3044 or Brian.Neal@us.qbe.com. Michael Lumpkin, AVP – Lead Underwriter, QBE at 770-794-6423 or Michael.Lumpkin@us.qbe.com. John Carroll, Senior Underwriter, QBE at 770-794-6412 or John.Carroll@us.qbe.com. Jennifer Reynolds, Senior Underwriter, QBE at 770-303-2963 or Jennifer.Reynolds@us.qbe.com. Carissa Lampkin, Associate Underwriter, QBE at 770-794-6424 or Carissa.Lampkin@us.qbe.com. A fledgling California airline says it is canceling flights until further notice because of a shortage of pilots. California Pacific Airlines began service to and from its base in Carlsbad, California, in November with four 50-seat ERJ145s and was plagued with delays and cancellations shortly after it launched. In one case, a plane was damaged when it was hit by a backhoe on a ramp in Pierre, South Dakota, but other cancellations were blamed on mechanical issues. In late December the airline announced it was canceling all flights until it could get more pilots hired and trained. The airline’s reservation website shows no availability through the end of February. Airline officials told the NBC San Diego affiliate that the company hoped to resume service in February. Those who have booked flights in January will get refunds. The airline lists its destinations as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Reno and San Jose with one-way fares starting at about $100. From AV Web.  The FAA is amending Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 71 by modifying Class E airspace extending upward from 1,200 feet above the surface at Nuiqsut Airport, Nuiqsut, AK; Oooguruk Island Heliport, Nuiqsut, AK; Pioneer Heliport, Nuiqsut, AK; Perryville Airport, Perryville, AK; Pilot Point Airport, Pilot Point, AK; and Point Lay Airport, Point Lay, AK.
This action adds language to the legal descriptions of these airports that reads ‘‘excluding that airspace that extends beyond 12 miles from the shoreline.’’ Also, this action removes the airport name from the airspace designation for Oooguruk Island Heliport and Pioneer Heliport, to conform with recent change to FAA Order 7400.2L, Procedures for Handling Airspace Matters. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) Personnel Summary Staff at Work
Some essential services include air traffic control (including contract towers) as well as TSA and Customs operations. The collection of aviation taxes will also continue and the FAA’s aircraft registration activities will operate normally, however, activities including the issuance of airmen certificates and facility security inspections will stop. In addition to the shuttering of the Department of Transportation, other departments affected by the partial government shutdown include Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Homeland Security, Financial Services-General Government, Interior-Environment, and State. • Life and Safety excepted positions : (Air Traffic Organization – 23,856; Office of Aviation Safety – 216; Office of Security and Hazardous 24,208 Materials – 61; and Other – 75) • Staff necessary to the discharge the President's constitutional duties and powers: 62 • Positions funded by multi-year appropriations, indefinite appropriations, or contract authority: 786 Airport Improvement Program (AIP) – 566; Research Engineering & Development – 218; Aviation Insurance – 2 • Positions funded by franchise funds 1,511 • Positions supporting lawful continuation of other functions (e.g., support for Life and Safety positions): 571 Total Positions at Work 27,138 Summary of Suspended Activities • Development of new air traffic control specialists not certified to work a position; • Issuance of airmen certificates; • Approval of exemptions for unmanned aerial systems operations; • Aviation rulemaking; • Random drug testing of the non-Controller workforce; • Facility security inspections, evaluations, audits and inspections; • Routine personnel security background investigations and PIV card services; • Continuity of Operations Planning; • Development, operational testing, and evaluation of NextGen technologies; • Development of NextGen safety standards; • Air traffic performance analysis; • Capital planning for FAA facilities and equipment; • Investment planning and financial analysis; • Dispute resolution; • Audit and evaluation; • Financial operations, controls, reporting and accountability; • Most budgeting functions (except those necessary to provide necessary services to support excepted functions); • Law enforcement assistance support; • Most administrative support functions not required for support of life and safety “excepted” positions; and • Congressional liaison services. Publication: NATA -Department of Transportation December 2018 The FAA is amending Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 71 by modifying Class E airspace extending upward from 1,200 feet above the surface at Nuiqsut Airport; Oooguruk Island Heliport; Pioneer Heliport; Perryville Airport; Pilot Point Airport; and Point Lay Airport. This action adds language to the legal descriptions of these airports that reads ‘‘excluding that airspace that extends beyond 12 miles from the shoreline.’’ Also, this action removes the airport name from the airspace designation for Oooguruk Island Heliport and Pioneer Heliport, to conform with recent change to FAA Order 7400.2L, Procedures for Handling Airspace Matters. The IA seminar will be held in Fairbanks at the UAF Campus, Wood Center, on Friday, January 25, 2019 and will be broadcast to Anchorage, Kenai, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Bethel, Dillingham and Nome. The seminar schedule is attached.
For additional information on specific locations, the following individuals can be contacted: Fairbanks, Nome: Doug Lowry (304) 826-0532 Anchorage, Bethel, Dillingham: Kyle Weinzirl (907) 271-7019 Juneau, Kenai, Sitka, Ketchikan: Charles Wisner (907) 790-7378 2019_ia_seminar_schedule.pdf Register on www.faasafety.gov for AMT credits! Regards, Lisa Asplin FAA SafetyTeam Program Manager 4419 Airport Way, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709 (907) 457-9241 lisa.asplin@faa.gov Mary Siroky Appointed Acting Deputy Commissioner of DOT&PF
Siroky brings extensive legislative, budget and management experience to the department. Mary Siroky, DOT&PF Acting Deputy Commissioner(JUNEAU, Alaska) – Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) Commissioner John MacKinnon has appointed Mary Siroky acting deputy commissioner. “Mary’s experience and knowledge of the department, and of state government, is essential as we work through the budget process,” said Commissioner MacKinnon. “Her leadership will be a considerable asset.” Siroky’s extensive legislative, budget, and management experience is rooted in her 30 years of state service. Before retiring in 2016, Siroky served as DOT&PF administrative services director where she was responsible for planning, development and execution of department operating and capital budgets; federal reporting; and management of the department’s administrative functions. |
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July 2020
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