A Publication for the

Avionics Maintenance
Conference

Second Quarter 2010 Volume XI, Number 2

AMC News
IN THIS ISSUE 2011 AMC – Call for Symposium
AMC News Topics and Great Ideas
2011 AMC – Call for Symposium
Topics and Great Ideas front cover
AMC Review 1 The AMC Steering Group will be meeting in October to begin
AMC Awards 2
AAI Volare Awards 3 planning the 2011 AMC, scheduled to take place April 18 –
Pioneer Award ..4 April 21, 2011, in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Memphis
Volare Awards 5
Roger S. Goldberg Award 9 Marriott Downtown.
AMC Steering Group Elections 10
AMC Chairman’s Notes 12
FCM Activities 13
FLS Working Group 13
Industry Highlights 14
The Value of the AMC 14
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your
Captain Speaking… 18
AMC-Developed ARINC Standards 24
Avionics Industry Calendar back cover

The 2011 AMC will continue the successful daily schedule

where the AMC discussion items will begin on Monday
morning, and AMC mini-symposiums will be held at the end
of each day, Monday through Wednesday.

If you have a symposium topic that you would like to suggest,

or a technical presentation you would like to make, please
submit your ideas to Sam Buckwalter at ARINC,
sbuckwal@arinc.com. In order for your ideas to be
considered, they should be submitted no later than
Notice September 28, 2010.

The material in Plane Talk® is

meant only as general
information. In all cases no In addition, if
maintenance action published in you have a
Plane Talk® should be taken that great idea or
is not in consonance with your
particular company’s operating suggestion for
and maintenance procedures, the
your approved maintenance improvement
manuals, or your certification
agency’s directives. of the AMC,
please submit
that as well.

AERONAUTICAL RADIO, INC.

2551 Riva Road

Annapolis, Maryland 21401-7435 USA

http://www.aviation-ia.com/amc/
 AMC Celebrates 2010 in Phoenix!

The 2010 AMC, hosted by US Airways, was held March 29 – April 1, 2010, at the Hyatt
Regency in Phoenix, Arizona. Forty-six airlines, five airframe manufacturers, and 214 avionics
suppliers and others participated in the meeting. There were 762 registered attendees from 26
countries.

The AMC.AEEC Opening Session

The AMC Chairman, Mitch Klink, FedEx and
AEEC Chairman Greg Kuehl, UPS, officially
opened the 2010 Open Forum.

David Seymour, Vice President, Technical Operations, from US

Airways provided the keynote speech.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 1

 The AMC Awards

The AMC Vice Chairman, Mark Sorensen, Delta Air Lines presented the AMC Awards:

In recognition of the organizational support provided by US

Airways, the AMC Host Organization Award was presented to:

Ken Przeslica, US Airways

The Roger S. Goldberg Service Award, an award presented to an individual for

demonstrating vision and excellence in support of the AMC. The Roger S.
Goldberg Service Award was presented to Martin Story, Delta TechOPS.

The complete Roger S. Goldberg Award presentations are provided in full in

this report.

Martin Story, Delta TechOPS

2 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

The AAI Volare Awards

Jack Nemeth, President, AAI of Jack Nemeth & Associates,

(right), presented the Volare Awards to:

Jim Terpstra, Jeppesen

Pioneer Award

David Nesseler, Air Wisconsin

Volare Award – Airline Avionics Maintenance

Merritte DeBuhr, Carlisle Technologies/ECS

Volare Award – Avionics Manufacturer

Roy Oishi, ARINC Industry Activities

Volare Award – Special Award

Mike Russo, ARINC Industry Activities

Volare Award – Special Award
__________________________________________________________________________________

Science has the Nobel Prize, literature—the Pulitzer, and avionics—the Volare Award. The Volare
Award has become world-renowned as the avionics industry’s highest award for individual
achievement.

Each year, AAI encourages the contribution of ideas, leadership and innovation by allowing individuals
to be nominated for Volare Awards prior to the annual AMC and AEEC. These awards recognize
individuals in airline and supplier organizations for outstanding personal achievement.

The Volare Awards that are offered at the AMC and AEEC allow individuals to be nominated in the
categories of Airline Avionics Maintenance and Avionics Product Support. In addition to these Volare
Awards, AAI presents a Pioneer Award and a Chairman’s Special Award on an as deserved basis.

Over the past 42 years, Volare Awards have been presented to outstanding members of the avionics
maintenance community. The Volare Awards are likely to be the most important award they have ever
received.

And this year is no exception. Today, we are going to present Volare Awards for outstanding
achievement in supporting the aviation world. Since 1968, the AAI has been recognizing those leaders
in our industry that strongly participate in it. Prior to today, there have been 232 Volare Awards
presented to different individuals. When you see one of your peer group walking around with their
award pin, you can rest assured the holder has demonstrated great love and dedication for aviation.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 3

 Jim Terpstra, Jeppesen (Retired)
Volare Award – Pioneer Award

The prestigious Pioneer Award was first bestowed in 1985 and has only been awarded nine
times since then, including today’s recipient. This award recognizes and honors an individual
who has pioneered technical or other innovation which results in a major, long-term impact on
the application of electronics, electrics, or instrumentation to commercial airline operations.

Volare Citation

Our candidate for this very prestigious award grew up in

Bozeman, Montana, and obtained a BS degree from
Montana State University.

A very experienced instrument rated pilot with over 6,100

hours, he holds several FAA certificates/ratings including
SEL, MEL, and ATP. He is also an FAA Gold Seal Flight
Instructor. Our candidate started his employment with
Jeppesen in 1968 as an aviation writer and editor. He
advanced to the position of Senior Vice President of Flight
Information Technology and Aviation Affairs where he
served for many years. He retired in 2004 after 35 years
and continues to serve as a Jeppesen consultant. He was a
pioneer of many innovative programs related to flight
information, procedure design, aeronautical charts and
aeronautical databases, including the first ARINC 424
specification for use in early Flight Management Systems.

It is my honor and a great personal pleasure as the President of the Airline Avionics Institute to
present the Pioneer Award to Mr. Jim Terpstra of Jeppesen.

Mr. Terpstra’s comments:

I did not expect this when I showed up this morning, but I appreciate it very much. It is an
industry that has given me a lot, and hopefully I have been able to give back to this
distinguished group. I have been associated with all of you in one way or the other over the
years, and I hope this love can continue. Thank you.

4 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

Dave Nesseler, Air Wisconsin
Volare Award – Airline Avionics Maintenance

Volare Citation

Our candidate has been in the aviation

industry for over 28 years. He has held
various positions with his airline including
Avionics Manager, Director of Avionics,
and is presently the Director of Technical
Development. His contribution to the
regional jet airline part of the industry has
had a wide impact.

He became involved with the AMC in 1995,

and while on the AMC Steering Group has
helped bring regional airline issues to the
conference and is one of the main factors
for the increasing visibility of the regional
jet operators at this conference. Through
his diligent work and ardent practice he
has been instrumental in the success of his
airline and has an outstanding reputation
within the CRJ operator community.

It is my honor as the President of the Airline Avionics Institute to present the Volare Award, in
the category of Airline Avionics Maintenance, to Mr. Dave Nesseler of Air Wisconsin.

Mr. Nesseler’s Comments:

Well, this is really humbling, and I really do appreciate it. When I started in the industry, I had
hair down to the middle of my back and now it’s a little grayer and little bit shorter. I always
remember one of my mentors told me that as a regional jet representative, you have to get in
there and scrap and fight for what’s yours. And we really have such similar objectives that it
just makes sense to me. This is really appreciated and I am humbled. Thanks.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 5

 Merritte DeBuhr, Carlisle Technologies/ECS
Volare Award – Avionics Manufacturer

Volare Citation

Our candidate has a long distinguished

career with several manufacturers starting
at King Radio, then on the Allied Signal
and Smiths Aerospace. He has been
involved in radio programs, CNS/ATM and
flight deck programs. He has been
instrumental in developing equipment
installation solutions in direct support of
airline customers needs.

He is presently the industry focal point for

EFB integration and aircraft installations.
He has participated in more aircraft
installation surveys than any other person
in the industry. He was also the lead industry editor contributing to ARINC Report 828
concerning Electronic Flight Bag Standardization.

It is my honor as the President of the Airline Avionics Institute to present the Volare Award, in
the category of Avionics Manufacturer, to Mr. Merritte DeBuhr of Carlisle Technologies/ECS.

Mr. DeBuhr’s Comments:

What a surprise—38 year of crawling around on airplanes and I never imagined this. Thank
you.

6 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

Mike Russo, ARINC Industry Activities
Volare Award – Special Award

Volare Citation

The winner of this award was raised in Michigan

and received his BSEE from Michigan Technical
University in 1970.

He began his career with Westinghouse Electric

initially designing, testing and installing Instrument
Landing Systems (ILS) at airports all over the
world. He joined ARINC in 1977 and since 1984 he
has held various leadership positions within the
AEEC. His contributions to the industry include
pioneering work on TCAS and Transponder, and
then on Microwave Landing Systems. When Data
Link communication emerged this candidate
developed and maintained all ARINC Standards for ACARS, VDL2, AOC data link and related
protocols.

Most recently this candidate served as founder and Secretary of the AEEC Data Link Users
Forum. He is the outgoing AEEC Executive Secretary responsible for over 200 ARINC
Standards used by all types of aircraft and aircraft systems.

It is my honor as the President of the Airline Avionics Institute to present the Volare Award in
the category of AAI’s Special Award to Mr. Michael Russo of ARINC Industry Activities.

Mr. Russo’s Comments:

I am definitely humbled and honored by this award, and any achievement I have made has not
been on my own, but with the support of the staff I work with, my colleagues, and those
experts in the industry that contribute and participate so well.

Thank you very much.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 7

 Roy Oishi, ARINC Industry Activities
Volare Award – Special Award
Volare Citation

With a degree in Physics and experience as a US

Army Officer, Roy’s professional career has
included challenging work with Sperry Gyroscope,
Harris Corporation, RLG Computer Consoles, and
ARINC Engineering Services.

He has served as advisor to the United States

member of the ICAO Operational Datalink Panel.
He was instrumental as the engineer responsible
for the introduction of ATM using VHF and Satellite
in the Far East and Russia.

In 2001 Roy joined ARINC Industry Activities as

Technical Fellow and his career culminated in the
distinction of serving as the Executive Secretary of
the AEEC.

It is my honor as the President of the Airline Avionics Institute to present the Volare Award, in
the category of AAI’s Special Award, to Mr. Roy Oishi of ARINC Industry Activities.

Accepting for this award in Roy’s absence will be Mike Rockwell, Senior Director of ARINC
Industry Activities.

Mr. Rockwell’s comments on behalf of Roy Oishi:

I would just like to say a few words on the behalf of Roy: For those of you that know Roy, he’s
never short on something to say. I contacted him this morning and congratulated him on this
nomination and award and he asked me to pass this message along:

AAI has been the strong industry partner to the AEEC for many years and this recognition is
particularly significant to me. The member companies of AAI have provided the brain power
and muscle for AEEC and indeed for all of ARINC IA. This includes whatever standardization
venue, including COMM/NAV, dataloading, datalink, surveillance, networking, you name it…
The volunteers from the industry never cease to amaze me with their knowledge and
dedication to the industry.

To receive an award in the name of all of those people is indeed an honor. Thank you and best
wishes for a successful week in the dry heat of Phoenix.

8 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

Roger S. Goldberg Award

Presented at the AMC Opening Session

by Mark Sorensen, Delta
On behalf of the AMC Steering Group, It is my honor to present the
Roger S. Goldberg award today. One of Roger’s sayings that many of us
have heard is “It is your conference, and it is what you make of it”. Many
of us heard that from him when he was here and when he supported us
as the Executive Secretary of the AMC. Roger knew how to encourage
others and guide decisions benefiting this conference. And that is what
this award is all about.

It is my honor to present this award to Martin Story, of Delta TechOPS.

Martin has been an active leader in many industry committees. He has

been on the AMC Steering Group since 1995; he served as the AMC
Vice Chairman from 1998 to 2000, as well as in 2003. He has served as
the AMC Chairman from 1998-1999 and again from 2003 to 2005.
Mark Sorensen
AMC Vice Chaiman Like Roger, he has been a consistent Steering Group member, a faithful
participator and he was always our cleanup guy on our open forum on
Thursdays. He did a great job as always, and we always looked at him to be able to do that for us.

In 2002 he was awarded the AAI Volare award, and he has been active on many industry committees,
including the working groups that developed ARINC Standards 625, 626, 627, and 663. He has also
developed many ATA standards that have helped the industry over the years.

Martin, congratulations.

Martin Story, Delta TechOPS

Martin’s Comments:

I guess I met Roger more than 20 years ago, so to receive an award

that bears his name is really special. I was on the AMC Steering
Group when they conceived the Roger S. Goldberg Award, so I know
what it means and thank you very much.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 9

 AMC Steering Group Elections
Sam Buckwalter, AMC Executive Secretary, reported that KLM, US Airways, and Southwest have
contacted him with their intention to stand for election for the Member At Large positions.

This year there are 3 airlines that stood for election, with two slots available. The airlines elected were,
KLM and US Airways.

Sam also reported that the South American region will remain vacant as no member airline has
indicated their willingness to stand for election.

The AMC Steering Group met Thursday afternoon. Mitch Klink, FedEx, was elected as Chairman, and
Marijan Jozic, KLM, was elected Vice Chairman.

10 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 AMC Steering Group

Mitch Klink, FedEx Marijan Jozic, KLM Sam Buckwalter, ARINC Chris Uphoff,
AMC Chairman AMC Vice Chairman AMC Executive Secretary Air Wisconsin

Greg Devlin, American Jacob Barak, El Al Yasuhiro Kinoshita, Mark Sorensen, Delta
Japan Airlines

Jens Latendorf, Lufthansa Rich Stillwell, United Kevin Kramer, US Airways Doug Mailat, AAI Liaison

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 11

 AMC Chairman’s Notes

On behalf of the AMC Steering Group, I would like to sincerely

thank all participants for their contributions to another
successful AMC in Phoenix this year. Lots of hard work goes
into the productive discussions we had at Open Forum and
hopefully those efforts returned back to you—10-fold! Please
help spread the word on the benefits of AMC to those that
were unable to attend this year.

An extra special thanks goes out to all our Member Airlines, Corporate Sponsors, and AAI Members.
Please remember, if you don’t fall into one of these categories, contact an ARINC Industry Activities
staff member for information on how you can support the AMC and gain access to privileges that
otherwise you have to pay for.

By now, you should have downloaded the final 2010 AMC Report that transcribes all the dialog spoken
at Open Forum. Please review the items that pertained to your Organization and follow-up on the
commitments made. Part of the final Report is the all important Registration List so you can maintain
your professional contacts throughout the year.

It is never to early to start gathering potential Agenda Items for AMC 2011 in Memphis! Start a folder
that archives your technical issues that are unresolved or are not being resolved to your satisfaction.
This will make it much easier to recall your items when it comes time to write them in January 2011.

Also, please keep in mind we willl be releasing meeting schedules for the Working Groups we have
planned for this calendar year. This is your chance to contribute to our Industry by getting involved and
making a difference.

Mitch Klink
Chairman – AMC Steering Group

12 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 FCM Activities

Field Loadable Software (FLS) Working Group to Meet

by Scott Smith
ARINC Industry Activities

The Field Loadable Software (FLS) Working Group meeting will meet on
June 2-4, 2010, in Annapolis, Maryland. The meeting will be co-chaired
by Rod Gates, American, and Ted Patmore, Delta.

The purpose of the meeting is to conduct a final review of Supplement 1

to ARINC Report 667: Guidance for the Management of Field Loadable Software.

ARINC Report 667 has been thoroughly reviewed and should be considered mature at the
conclusion of the June meeting. The following actions will be accomplished:

 Review inputs concerning software management from Flight Simulator Training Device
operators

 Review Chapters 1-9 for minor editorial changes since last meeting

 Review Acronym list and Glossary Appendices for accuracy and applicability

The FLS Working Group will conclude the meeting with a consensus on the maturity of the
document, and following the meeting the Industry Activities staff will prepare a final draft for
adoption consideration.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 13

 Industry Highlights
The Value of the AMC
by Dave Kuhn, American Airlines

“Another AMC Success Story!” That is our battle cry, is it not?

And why not, that is why we are all here: to make our businesses
succeed. To resolve problems and build relationships. To share
solutions and showcase the next greatest thing in avionics and
avionics maintenance, and even beyond in more recent years. To
cooperatively develop industry standards and even assist regulatory agencies to make
our industry safer.

To sing karaoke till 2 AM in the CMC suite. OK, maybe some of us anyway.

So, why am I speaking about this? Well, if you have ever tried to tell Mitch Klink “no”,
you know why I am up here. The man frightens me to be truthful.

No, I am simply here to share what benefit American Airlines realizes by participating in
the AMC. I am not on the Steering Group. I am not a VIP or industry expert. I am just an
engineer like many of you simply trying to do my very best to successfully maintain and
operate the safest and most reliable and dependable product for our customer.

How does the AMC help with that? Well, to the first point:

Problems get solved here. Over the

years, countless issues have been
resolved that were directly addressed in
this forum that ultimately saved us time,
money, and helped to ensure safety
requirements were met.

Something I started doing a couple years ago was to simply catalogue the published
discussion items that were about specific parts, systems or systemic problems found at
American Airlines.

I now go through every submission, and search our company databases for all of the
manufacturer part numbers listed. I log those that match, or have similar part numbers
in some cases, and I categorize those specific items by the engineering group I think
that may be most familiar with the issue. I also capture the cost/impact data submitted
by the items author.

And what this does is it narrows down the amount of material for the different
engineering groups to sort through, and allow for the specific engineer to address those
items that he or she can effectively handle it. Thus giving them plenty of time to
investigate the impact the issue may have for us, and allow them the opportunity to
gather data to support each issue as is warranted. And of course, time permitting, I
really hope every engineer looks at all of the items.

14 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights

But, with this tool we can at least feel confident that our subject matter experts are
exposed to the relevant items for us. And this has ultimately increased the participation
at American Airlines, as well has been a benefit for us.

Now as I mentioned, I do capture the submitted costs but understand I am simply

adding up the submitted cost impacts from the variety of sources but only for those
items of specific relevance to American Airlines. And since a lot of the submissions do
come from operators like ourselves, the potential cost impact is likely to be similar.

This total is shown at the top of this simple spreadsheet I use to keep track of these
items and can be quite a large number. For the 2010 submissions I logged 101 items
out of the 248+ submissions that were of particular relevance to American Airlines. Of
those where cost impact was submitted, the total was $6.8M. A sizeable potential cost
impact for sure.

And mind you this number is particularly useful in justifying the expense of attending the
AMC, a little free advice there.

Once this spreadsheet is complete, I email it to all of our engineering departments along
with the published discussion items. The individual engineers then use this spreadsheet
as a lookup table of sorts to find the items they are interested in. And then I ask for the
feedback on the specific items and contact them individually to see if there is anything
that I or any other AMC attendees from American may need to share, express, or
defend in the open forum.

And sometimes this actually drums up the participation of the engineers and they come
to the conference to speak to the issues themselves. We always have a pretty full table
here at the AMC open forum.

So, it’s a pretty simple approach but it has been helpful in maximizing the benefit of the
conference for us. You may find a similar approach effective as well. This first benefit is
the discussion items themselves. As I said, there were 101 items that of particular
relevance for American Airlines and of those, 14 were submitted by us. So that means
by participating in the conference we are potentially realizing the benefit of resolving 87
issues we may not have realized we had, or possibly didn’t have time to address and
resolve on our own. Or we may have not had the influence alone to effect a needed
change.

When you look at it this way, it’s almost as if we’re contracting a small army of
engineers and industry experts to resolve issues that we may just not get to. All for the
price of a membership and a couple hotel rooms, it’s a pretty good return on our
investment, I think.

And regarding the 14 submissions we sent in, it is interesting that every year, after the
publication of the discussion items but before the conference actually takes place we

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 15

 Industry Highlights
often seem to get some resolution to a good number of our items. This is the evidence
of the effectiveness of the AMC.

We all want to succeed, and we all want to be a part of the solution. So often just the
knowledge that an item is going to be discussed in the open forum can prompt proactive
resolution from all of the interested parties.

I can think of at least two items in particular this year that I will be announcing that I am
very pleased to have resolved in such a timely manner.

Now many times the issues are on such a scale they cannot be effectively addressed in
this forum, though, and often in these cases, ARINC Industry Activities steps in and
holds working group meetings that respond to these larger issues. These AMC working
groups have developed some great guidelines and standards that have shaped our
industry. They have brought standardization, direction, and resolution to some pretty
complex issues at times. Some great examples that I can think of and that I have even
participated in are the ARINC Report 625 Industry Guide for Component Test
Development and Management, ARINC Report 668: Guidance for Tool and Test
Equipment Equivalency, and the ongoing work of the ARINC Report 672 working group
on No Fault Found issues.

Networking: this in my opinion is one of the greatest reasons to attend AMC. Although
it is kind of hard to quantify, I personally have called on colleagues that I have met at
AMC and “picked their brains” to help resolve problems where we simply may have not
had experience with the product, and we needed that little bit of guidance that you
cannot always find in the CMM.

I can also think of some chance meetings where one might run into that OEM engineer
who developed the product you are struggling with at the moment, but you did not bring
that issue up in the AMC open forum. I know one of our engineers was able to fix a
problem that had him stuck for months after a short ride in an elevator at this same hotel
during the last AMC held here. He recognized one of the elevators occupants’ vendor
badges and struck up a conversation. And he made the contact that got him back on
track with his engineering problem.

Again, it’s hard to quantify and qualify that kind of benefit but it happens all of the time at
AMC.

Industry influence: I cannot say that the AMC has directly been the cause of some the
websites, forums, and the like that the airframers and OEMs have developed. But I
would think that their participation in AMC would at least give them insight to the kind of

16 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights
helpful information and support that their customers are looking for. And those forums
and websites might be useful to develop better support tools and programs.

Using one of these websites, I was recently shown the fleet reliability statistics being
updated on American’s Boeing fleet, a very useful tool indeed. Certainly developed for a
number good reasons I am sure, but I’m guessing that customer feedback heard at
assemblies like this one at AMC must have had a least some impact on the decision for
companies like Boeing to invest in these great tools.

For some of you, I am preaching to the choir. And I thank you for your past a future
participation in the AMC. You are helping American Airlines operate a better airline. For
those of you participating in the AMC for the first time, or even reading this in the AMC
Report or somewhere else well after the close of the conference I hope you understand
a little bit better the overall benefit of participating in the AMC.

You will solve problems, and you will better your bottom line. You will make beneficial
contacts. This group operates of course by funding from memberships, and by active
participation of the attendees.

In the immortal words of our friend Roger Goldberg, “It’s your conference, and it’s what
you make of it”. Never more true than now.

So, I encourage you: become an airline member organization. Or an Industry Activities

corporate sponsor. That is crucial to the basic operation of the AMC. But further, get
active in the open forum. Get in a working group. Be a part of the solution and you and
your organization will reap the rewards.

Thank you for your time, have a great conference.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 17

 Industry Highlights
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped.
by Marijan Jozic

On 15 April 2010, a volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in Iceland erupted and
strong winds pushed the ash cloud towards Western and Central Europe. Almost all of
the European airspace from Milan / Italy and north thereof was closed to prevent
another incident similar to British Airways Flight 009 and KLM Flight 867.

This is just a short historical overview about those two legendary flights before
commenting on the European airway crisis of April 2010.

The BA Story:

The BA incident happened on 24 June

1982. BA Flight 9 took off from London
Heathrow to Auckland, New Zealand.
While on the stretch from Kuala Lumpur
to Perth, the aircraft flew into a cloud of
volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount
Galunggung, causing all four engines to
fail due to compressor stall. (There is a
documentary about that flight on
Discovery). The cloud was very hard to
discern visually.

With the engines out, the cabin pressure system failed. As

pressure within the cabin fell, oxygen masks dropped from the
ceiling - an automatic emergency measure to make up for the lack
of air. Captain Captain Moody swiftly decided to descend at 1,800
meters (5,900 feet) per minute to an altitude where there was
enough pressure in the outside atmosphere to breathe almost
normally. Captain Moody made an announcement to the
passengers that has been described as a masterpiece of
coolness:

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a

small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our
damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much
distress.”

At 4,100 meters (13,500 feet), they were approaching the altitude at which they would
have to turn over the ocean and attempt a risky ditching. Although there were guidelines
for the procedure, no one had ever tried ditching in a Boeing 747 – nor has anyone
since. As they performed the engine-restart procedure, engine number four started, and

18 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights
at 13:56 UTC, Captain Moody used the single engine’s power to reduce the rate of
descent. Shortly thereafter, engine three restarted, allowing him to climb slowly. Shortly
after that, engines one and two successfully restarted as well. The crew subsequently
requested and expedited an increase in altitude to 4,500 meters (14,800 ft) in order to
clear the high mountains of Indonesia.

During the ordeal, the windscreen had been virtually sandblasted, and there was
considerable “St. Elmo’s fire” as a result. After reaching its target altitude, Captain
Moody throttled back. However, engine number two surged again and had to be shut
down. The crew immediately descended to and held 3,600 meters (11,800 ft).

As Flight 9 approached Jakarta, the crew found it difficult to see anything through the
windscreen and had to make the approach almost entirely on instruments, despite
reports of good visibility. The crew decided to fly the (ILS). However, the glide slope was
inoperative, so they flew the localizer as the First Officer monitored the airport's
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME). He then called out how
high they should be at each DME step along the final track to the
runway, creating a virtual glide slope for them to follow. Although
the runway lights could be made out through a small strip of the
windscreen, the landing lights on the aircraft seemed to be
inoperable. After landing, the flight crew found it impossible to
taxi, due to glare from apron floodlights which made the already
sandblasted windscreen opaque.

It was found that problems had been caused by flying through a cloud of volcanic ash
from the eruption of Mount Galunggung. The cloud sandblasted the windscreen and
landing light covers and clogged the engines. As the ash entered the engines, it melted
in the combustion chambers and adhered to the inside of the power-plant. As the
engine cooled from not running and as the aircraft descended out of the ash cloud, the
molten ash solidified and enough broke off to allow air to flow smoothly through the
engine allowing a successful restart. The engines had enough electrical power to restart
because one generator and the onboard batteries were still operative.

Engines one, two, and three were replaced at Jakarta, as well as the windscreen, and
the fuel tanks were cleared of the ash that had entered them through the pressurization
ducts, contaminating the fuel and requiring that it be disposed of. After being ferried
back to London, engine number four was replaced and major work was undertaken to
return the aircraft to service. G-BDXH also entered the Guinness Book of Records as
the longest glide in a non-purpose-built aircraft, until the record was broken by the Air
Transat Flight 236 incident.
The crew received various awards, including the Queen's Commendation for Valuable
Service in the Air and medals from the British Air Line Pilots Association. Following the
incident, the crew and passengers formed the Galunggung Gliding Club as a means to
keep in contact. Damaged engine parts from BA 9 are on display at Auckland Museum.

The KLM Story:

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 19

 Industry Highlights

On 15 December 1989, KLM Flight 867 was an Amsterdam to Tokyo flight with a stop in
Anchorage. While descending into Anchorage International Airport, all four engines
failed. The Boeing 747-400, less than 6 months old, flew through a thick cloud of
volcanic ash from Mount Redoubt which had erupted the day before.

All four engines failed leaving only critical systems on backup electrical power. When all
four main generators shut off due to the failure of all the engines, a momentary power
interruption occurs when the flight instruments transfer to standby power. Standby
power on the B747-400 is provided by two batteries and two inverters. The captain
performed the engine restart procedure which was not successful on the first few
attempts and was repeated until restart was achieved. On some of the attempts, as one
or more (but not all) engines started to operate, the main generator would switch back
on. Switching on and off caused repeated power transfer interruptions to the flight
instruments. These power transfers were later verified from the flight data recorder.
Transcript of the conversation with the ATC:
The following transmissions took place between Anchorage Center, the air traffic control
facility for that region, and KLM 867:
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘KLM 867 heavy is reaching level 250 heading 140’’
 Anchorage Center—‘‘Okay, Do you have good sight on the ash plume at this
time?’’
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘Yeah, it’s just cloudy – it could be ashes. It’s just a little
browner than the normal cloud.’’
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘We have to go left now. . . it’s smoky in the cockpit at the
moment sir.’’
 Anchorage Center—‘‘KLM 867 heavy, roger, left at your discretion.’’
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘Climbing to level 390, we’re in a black cloud, heading 130.’’
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘KLM 867 we have flame out all engines and we are
descending now!’’
 Anchorage Center—‘‘KLM 867 heavy anchorage?
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘KLM 867 heavy we are descending now. . . we are in a fall!’’
 Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘KLM 867 we need all the assistance you have sir. Give us
radar vectors please!’’

Fortunately, Captain Karl van der Elst and crew were finally able to restart the engines
and safely land the plane. In this case the ash caused more than 80 million USD in
damage to the aircraft (requiring all four engines to be replaced), but no lives were lost
and no one was injured. As of 2010, the aircraft is still in service with KLM.
Back to the future, to April 2010
Since 1989 there has been no significant announcement of a volcanic ash encounter.
Let’s keep it that way.

20 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights

But maybe those incidents triggered the panic situation in Europe. It is not that I don’t
care about safety, but it looks that there is no significant proof that the volcano under
the Eyjafjallajökull glacier can stop 26,000 flights which fly each day in Europe. During
the days following the start of the eruption, the sky was clear and there was no visible
cloud for three days. It is beautiful spring weather and it is ideal for gardening. It is a bit
strange that those white stripes on the sky are not present. Also, when you drive around
airports, it is disturbing that there is no activity whatsoever.

The Authorities closed the airspace and they were afraid to decide to open it again. Not
only the affected area but the whole airspace was closed. They are talking about safety
but no one knows how much dust particles can be measured 40,000 feet above the
North Sea or Germany. It is just a wild guess that we are in great danger. We don’t
know where the danger is and we don’t know how extensive it is. Visually, it is just a
perfect clear sky.

Being an engineer, I look differently at those events. Looking at the two events in
history, I cannot remain neutral. Simply put, both captains announced that they saw the
cloud. They flew into it and experienced problems as a result of that.

The skies above Europe were clear when approximately 20 test flights were flown by
KLM and Lufthansa. The results of those test flights were uneventful, so logically there
was a much smaller chance of an aircraft experiencing problems due to the volcanic
ash cloud. The question remained after the test flights: how long would the airspace
remain closed?

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 21

 Industry Highlights
Even if an aircraft experienced an ash cloud, today’s pilots are much more prepared
and better equipped than in the 1980s. The majority of the press coverage on these two
events in the 1980s stresses the engine failures. But the description of the cloud’s effect
on the avionics is not mentioned. For example, air data systems (pitot and static ports)
were choked with ash, resulting in unreliable or no airspeed or altitude indications.
Navigation was accomplished by radio beacons and inertial systems, systems
considered antiquated today.

Today’s aircraft use GPS, and everyone flying in European

airspace is able to operate with RNP 1. Aircraft can also
operate at RNP 0.1 in the terminal area. The majority of
aircraft can perform Autoland CAT 3 and can fly using FMS
back to the airport. I am not afraid that crew will lose their way
when they have the most sophisticated equipment ever build.

With regards to flying with a sandblasted windscreen, I can imagine that it is frightening
to fly in without GPS and with sandblasted windscreen. Fast forward just 20 years later,
and there is FLIR and heads-up displays available, which can give pilot enough
confidence that he is landing on the right spot. Also, there is an Electronic Flight Bag
(EFB) with moving maps which can guide pilot very accurately to any place he wants.

If the crew encounters a volcanic cloud, the avionics systems will be there to help the
pilot navigate back and land safely. The only problem he will have is ensuring that
engines are running, although this is a mechanical issue and not an avionics problem If
the airplane has flameouts in all engines, he would still be able to navigate. Even with
no engine power, there will be enough time to glide to the nearest airport. We are
talking about Western Europe and not remote Alaska or Indonesia. There is at least one
airport within a circle of 30 miles anywhere on the continent. There are no significant
mountains to deal with and there is radar coverage over the whole area. It is the best
controlled airspace on earth and we are afraid of a few dust particles? Isn’t that
strange?

Let’s forget all political and management issues. What should the engineer actually do?

1. Investigate if the ATC radar can detect volcanic particles? If yes, limit those sectors
and fly around. Using GPS, the aircraft can fly very accurately around any spot you
wish. That is what we do with cumulonimbus clouds every day.
2. If the ATC cannot see the volcanic cloud, use satellite pictures and limit the flights in
the affected sectors.
3. If there is any doubt for night flights, fly only during the day, but please fly.
4. Monitor the flights and ask pilots to report strange things: unusual clouds, unusual
colors of sunsets, etc.
5. There are millions of meteorology companies and reports. Ask their reports to isolate
possible danger zones.
6. Do some test flights and collect particles for investigation. Check the density of dust
in dangerous areas.

22 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights
7. Measure and analyze. That’s what engineers do every day.
8. If your fleet is not using GPS, EFB, and HUD, think about those installations. I can
imagine that after this European event, there will be real-time dust reporting in the
near future that you will be able to uplink into your aircraft, and you will be able to
see the situation on your EFB just like you were watching weather reports.

Perhaps I don’t understand it because I am an avionics engineer. I am sure if engineers

will find good solutions of monitoring the volcanic dust clouds and improve the aircraft
operation, they will hear from their managers or politicians: It is to expensive, and by the
way, those events are rare. They occur once in a 100 years.

The funny coincidence is that every time they actually need an engineer to provide the
advice of what to do.

Boy, am I glad to be an engineer.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 23

 Industry Highlights
AMC-Developed ARINC Standards
by Sam Buckwalter, AMC Executive Secretary

ARINC sponsors three committees that develop standards for the airline community:

 Airlines Electrical and Electronic Committee (AEEC)

 Avionics Maintenance Conference (AMC)
 Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Conference (FSEMC)

While AEEC is best known for the development of ARINC standards, over the years,
AMC has taken a lead in the development of many industry standards as well in the
areas of Shop and Test Equipment Standards, Process Standards, Software
Transmission and Management Standards, and Aircraft Maintenance Standards.

For the convenience of our Plane Talk readers, the AMC-developed ARINC standards
are listed below. Persons wishing to order these standards may do so by ordering
online at https://www.arinc.com/cf/store/category.cfm?prod_group_id=1 or contacting
the ARINC Document Department at +1 410 266-4117, or via standards@arinc.com.

24 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights
Shop and Test Equipment Standards

ARINC 602A-2: Test Equipment Guidance is an update of ARINC 602 following the
introduction of new digital test equipment standards and the publication of ARINC 608A.
This standard includes specific references to On-board Maintenance Systems (OMS)
and Automatic test Equipment (ATE) used within the maintenance community.

ARINC Report 614: Standard Firmware Loader for Avionics Shops describes the
characteristics of a standard firmware loader for avionics shops. It is capable of copying
digital information into memory devices installed in circuit card assemblies, Line
Replaceable Modules (LRMs) and On-Board Replaceable Modules (OBRMs). It
contains the recommendations of the air transport community concerning the design
and development of firmware loader equipment.

ARINC Report 606: Guidance for Electrostatic Sensitive Device Utilization and
Protection describes the nature of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and its effects on
digital avionics equipment. It provides information concerning methods to protect
against ESD damage which could originate in many different ways.

ARINC Specification 608A: Design Guidance for Avionics Test Equipment, Part 1 –
System Definition provides top-level guidance intended for the design of Automatic Test
Equipment (ATE). It includes the definition of hardware and software needed for analog
and digital signal testing using a Test Unit Adapter common interface. This standard
describes the overall ATE system concept as well as the definition of the specific
elements of those systems.

ARINC Report 625-2: Industry Guide for Component Test Development and
Management defines recommended standard practices for developing Test
Specifications (TS) and Technical Support and Data Packages (TSDP) to support
alternate and equivalent implementations for all CMM tests. This report introduces a
new term “Test Implementation Package” (TIP) which is similar to a Test Program Set

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 25

 Industry Highlights
(TPS) but applies to all shop testable components without regard to technology. See
Figure 1.1-1 TIP TPS Relationship. The term “TPS” will be still used as a particular TIP
in an ATE environment.

ARINC Specification 626: Standard ATLAS Language for Modular Test defines an
airline-recommended subset of ATLAS intended to be used in conjunction with test
systems that are compliant with ARINC 608A. ATLAS is a standard abbreviated English
language used in the preparation and documentation of test procedures that can be
implemented with automatic or semi-automatic test equipment.

ARINC Report 627-2: Programmers Guide for SMART™ Systems Using ARINC 626
ATLAS provides guidance to ATLAS test programmers for developing, writing and
documenting test programs in ARINC 626 ATLAS. This is a companion standard to
ARINC 608A, Design Guidance for Avionics Test Equipment. It provides guidance to
managers and system integrators for standardizing test programs and their
documentation.

ARINC Report 668: Guidance for Tool and Test Equipment (TTE) Equivalency provides
guidelines for the process used to establish the equivalency of TTE and related
procedures other than that recommended by the OEM. Primarily, ARINC 668 is
concerned with equipment specified or recommended for the purpose of performing
specific tasks concerning the airworthiness of an article (e.g., avionics, hydraulics,
pneumatics, mechanical devices, etc).

Process Standards

ARINC Report 431: No Fault Found – A Case Study provides the final report of AMC
Task Group 116 formed to discover the causes of “No Fault Found” in avionics
equipment during test. This standard identifies sources and provides recommendations
for improvement.

ARINC Report 640: Resolution of Inservice Anomalies through ASAPP defines a

generalized process by which anomalies in aircraft systems can be detected. This

26 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights
process is intended to improve timely isolation and resolution of those anomalies. The
objective is to reduce costs to the airlines, airframe manufacturers and aircraft systems
suppliers by removing anomalous behavior from aircraft systems in a timely manner.

ARINC Report 662: Strategies to Address Electronic Component Obsolescence in

Commercial Aircraft establishes guidelines that should be observed during initial design,
production and maintenance of avionics LRUs, and to present short-term strategies to
minimize costs and impacts associated with decreasing availability of electronic
components.

ARINC Report 663: Data Requirements for Avionics Component Maintenance focuses
on the many aspects related to component technical data and documentation including
a common understanding of levels one - three maintenance (test, repair, re-
certification). This includes defining the extent and format of OEM documentation to be
delivered to the airline customers to support both the decision and technical
requirements to accomplish level three maintenance; establishing minimum data
requirements to support the airlines' decision relative to the accomplishment of level
three maintenance (test solution, type of repair process, projected MTBF, modification
potential, unit cost, alternative repairs, etc.); and identifying the minimum technical data
requirements to support level three maintenance in airline shops for future avionics
components (test, documentation).

ARINC Report 670: Guidance for Materials, Processes, and Parts Equivalencies states
industry rules and guidelines support/mandate equivalency, but provide very little
guidance on how to realize MPP substitution. Currently, industry guidelines fail to
provide adequate direction to maintenance facilities for material, process, and part
equivalencies. Suitable substantiation procedures to be able to select alternate
materials are demanded by the air transport industry. The purpose of ARINC Report
670 is to provide clear definitions for materials, processes, parts, substantiation
requirements, decision boundaries and limitations, and a standard process for
equivalency determination. This report is intended as general guidance for avionics
maintenance facilities; however, this does not preclude its use for other sectors of
aircraft maintenance as appropriate.

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 27

 Industry Highlights
Software Transmission and Management Standards

ARINC Report 666: Electronic Distribution of Software describes a secure internet

facility for sending all types of aviation software using the worldwide web (www).
Software suppliers may use this document as a starting point for the construction of a
secure web server utility. It provides sufficient flexibility and is compatible with
numerous software distribution models. The file management structure is consistent
with other ARINC standards for loadable software, and references ARINC 665 and
ARINC 667 in particular.

ARINC Report 667: Guidance for the Management of Field Loadable Software
describes effective methods to manage and distribute operation flight software
programs, aeronautical data bases and other forms of software used within an airline
organization. Topics include software acquisition, software receiving, software
distribution and necessary documentation. The FLS management process described in
ARINC 667 is compatible with published FAA/JAA guidance on this subject. Software
suppliers, airline users and regulators will find this document to be a practical and
effective guide.

ARINC Report 673: Guidance for the Use of UHF Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) defines the minimum requirements for implementation of UHF-RFID for
component management within the commercial air transport industry. The secondary
objective of this document is to define the minimum data set required to allow the free
interchange of information between all organizations involved in the life cycle of the
component. A third objective is to provide guidance for the implementation of UHF-RFID
technology in the airframe and component supply chain and maintenance operations.

28 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

 Industry Highlights
Aircraft Maintenance Standards

ARINC Report 604-1: Guidance for Design and Use of Built-In Test Equipment (BITE)
The primary purpose of BITE is to assist maintenance personnel in the proper
maintenance of avionics systems in a cost-effective manner. A description of a
Centralized Fault Display System (CFDS) is included in this standard. The CFDS
accumulates fault data, presents this data to a maintenance operator, and assists
troubleshooting by performing diagnostic tests and performing verification testing after
installation of a replacement unit.

ARINC Specification 624-1: Design Guidance for Onboard Maintenance System

enables continued improvement of avionics maintenance practices through On-Board
Maintenance System (OMS) recording. This standard defines the OMS which
incorporates fault monitoring fault detection, BITE, and airplane condition monitoring
system.

ARINC Report 644: Portable Maintenance Access Terminal (PMAT) contains the
electrical interface definition, and a functional description of a PMAT. The intent of this
standard is to provide general and specific design guidance for the development of a
PMAT primarily for airline use.

ARINC Report 644A: Portable Multi-Purpose Access Terminal (PMAT) is intended for
use in the airplane maintenance environment allowing remote access to onboard
systems. This standard describes the aircraft interface, operational capabilities and
standards necessary to achieve interoperability with onboard systems, stand-alone
internal or external mass memory devices, and ARINC standard printers.

ARINC Report 669: Guidance for Lead-Based Soldering, Repair and Rework provides
guidance for using industry standards for developing a soldering program tailored to
meet the specific requirements of the user. Moreover, it provides uniform guidance for
maintenance facilities based on industry standards and, therefore, should be accepted

Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010 29

 Industry Highlights
throughout the air transport industry. This document is not a stand-alone document - it
is intended to be used with the referenced international industry standards.

ARINC Report 671: Guidance for the Transition to Lead-Free Soldering, Maintenance,
and Repair provides guidance for the use of international standards for the maintenance
of lead-free electronic equipment. The purpose is to assist manufacturers, maintenance
facilities, and operators to define lead-free soldering requirements and to minimize the
set of lead-free solders, processes, and practices to gain consistency across the
industry.

ARINC Report 672: Guidelines for the Reduction of No Fault Found (NFF) provides
guidance for the removals of equipment from service for reasons that cannot be verified
by the maintenance process (shop or elsewhere) are a significant burden for aircraft
operators. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as No Fault Found (NFF). Many
other industry guidelines have been created in the past addressing NFF. NFF is often
perceived as a shop-only problem or an individual component reliability problem. This is
not true. NFF solutions require an inter-disciplinary effort to identify the true causes and
implement successful solutions. This document describes the most common sources of
NFF and provides guidance to develop appropriate solutions. The sources of NFF are
spread throughout the following four domains:

• Design/Production
• Flight operations
• Line operations
• Shop operations

This report provides a holistic view of the NFF problem based on the above domains
and the following categories:

• Documentation
• Communication
• Training
• Testing
• System/Components design

Complete elimination of NFF is not a realistic expectation. However, a structured

approach will help toward minimizing the effects of NFF.

30 Plane Talk-Second Quarter 2010

Avionics Industry Calendar

AMC Steering Group

Mitch Klink, Chairman Marijan Jozic, Vice Chairman

FedEx KLM PLANE TALK is a registered service mark held by Aeronautical Radio, Inc.
tel +1 901-369-3223 tel +31 8 23 977 556
mrklink@fedex.com m.jozic@td.klm.com A newsletter concerning airborne electronic equipment maintenance
dedicated to the avionics industry
Sam Buckwalter Chris Uphoff
Executive Secretary Air Wisconsin Published for the Avionics Maintenance Conference
ARINC tel +1 920-747-8368 by
tel +1 410-266-2008 chris.upoff@airwis.com
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American Airlines US Airways Sam Buckwalter
tel +1 918-292-2145 tel +1 480-693-7467 Assistant Editor
greg.devlin@aa.com kevin.kramer@usairways.com Scott “Smitty” Smith
Jacob Barak Yasuhiro Kinoshita
El Al Israel Airlines Japan Airlines
tel +972 397 17 215 tel +81 3 5756 2362 2010 Meetings
jacobb@elal.co.il yasuhiro.kinoshita@jal.com
FLS June 2-4 Annapolis, MD
Mark Sorensen Jens Latendorf
Delta Lufthansa Technik SAI June 8-10 Atlanta, GA
tel +1 612-727-4462 tel +49 40 5070 66756
mark.sorensen@delta.com Jens.latendorf@lht.dlh.de GAIN June 8-10 Annapolis, MD

Rich Stillwell Open Ku-Band June 8-10 Seattle, WA

United Airlines
tel +1 650-634-5080 CAR-AC-AS Representative AGIE/MAGIC June 14-16 Hamburg, GE
rich.stilwell@united.com
FOS/NIC June 15-16 Cleveland, OH

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Liaison Representative
APEX June 29-July 1 Bellevue, WA
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PENNWELL Corp DLK July 6-8 Montreal, CD
AAI Representative
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dougm@pennwell.com

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