SAA US flights unaffected

Cape Town - South African Airways says it has not imposed a general ban on the use or carriage of electronic devices on board its flights as the airline has not received any directive from US Department of Transportation or the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict or ban usage of electronic devices on board its aircraft.

South Africans travelling to the UK and US via Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and several other cities will no longer be allowed to use their laptops, iPads, tablets, kindles or e-readers in-flight – following the US and UK government ban on electronic devices on flights.

The ban affects flights 10 specific airports, via a direct flight to the US or the UK, and travellers should note they will not be allowed to stow any electronic device larger than 16cm x 9.3cm in their hand luggage.

Flights out of the US to these airports are not subject to the ban, according to US authorities.

“Customers may continue to use and enjoy their devices in our cabins except for those electronic devices that have specifically been prohibited on board and public/customer notifications to that effect have been made,” says SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.

SEE: #ElectronicsBan: How are SA travellers affected?

 Traveller24 contacted Acsa to determine if any added security measures will be looked at from South Africa, but has yet to receive a response. In June 2016, the US issued a terror alert for South Africa over the weekend, warning of "terror attacks by Islamic militants. The alert saw security measures increased at airports as well as malls across the country.

“Whenever a ban is imposed or restriction is placed on the usage of devices, it is based on specific operational or security considerations. At this stage there is no blanket ban on carrying or using electronic devices on our flights, including those that serve the US destinations we fly to,” says Tlali.

SEE: SACAA 'monitoring security measures' following US terror alert

Airlines affected by the US and UK ban include Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Egypt Air and Turkish Airlines. Affected devices not allowed in hand luggage include all tablets, iPads, Kindles, e-readers, laptops, cameras and lenses, portable DVD players, electronic game devices and travel printers and scanners larger than 16cm x 9.3cm.

The 10 international airports affected by the ban: 

- Cairo in Egypt

- Amman in Jordan

- Kuwait City in Kuwait

- Casablanca in Morocco

- Doha in Qatar

- Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia

- Istanbul in Turkey

- Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. 

Lost productivity

While it's not quite as disruptive as an outright ban on smartphones — remember when the Samsung Galaxy note 7 was banned as it was considered a fire hazard - much less a travel ban based on nationality,  the laptop limitation is a headache for a number of people, especially the business traveller who now has to stow it in their checked baggage. 

'Lithium batteries not be transported in the hold' 

The ban also raises the question around the airline policy that lithium-ion batteries not be transported in the hold - the batteries have been blamed for past aircraft fires.

“The airlines are responsible for enforcing these rules and therefore have the final say. One carrier may have a slightly different interpretation to another so it is vital that passengers contact airlines directly or your travel expert for clarification. Flight Centre Travel Group is also liaising with airlines to get clarity,” says  Michelle Jolley, Spokesperson for Corporate Brand a division of Flight Centre Travel Group.

ORLY ATTACKER A RADICALIZED MUSLIM

A “radicalised Muslim” known to security services has been shot dead after attempting to steal a soldier’s gun at Paris Orly Airport. 

The 39-year-old French citizen, identified as Ziyed Ben Belgacem, shot at police officers manning a checkpoint in northern Paris with an “air pistol” before launching the airport attack, the French interior minister said.

During a visit to the airport, Bruno Le Roux said one officer was shot during the routine check and was undergoing hospital treatment for injuries to his face.

“We can link the [airport attacker’s] identity with a check carried out at Garges-les-Gonesse by a patrol in Stains this morning,” he added.

“The individual’s identity is known to the police and intelligence services.” Belgacem's father and brother, as well as a cousin, have been detained for questioning.

According to French broadcaster BFMTV he had sent them a text reading: “I screwed up, I shot the police.”

A police source described the attacker as “a radicalised Muslim known to intelligence services”.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference on Saturday evening that at the airport, Belgacem yelled he wanted to die in the name of Allah and said “whatever happens, there will be deaths”. 

Mr Molins said the attacker held an air pistol to a soldier’s head and used her as a shield. He apparently wanted to use her weapon to shoot people in the busy airport.

Contrary to earlier reports by French officials, Mr Molins said the attacker did wrench away her powerful military-grade assault rifle.

The soldier’s colleagues fired three bursts – eight rounds in all – when they killed him.

Belgacem had a lengthy criminal history of violence, robbery and drug offences but was not on the “fiche S” list of terror threats, despite being investigated by the DGSI as a potential jihadi after indications of Islamist radicalisation emerged in 2015.

Mr Molins said three people were being held in police custody, and that Belgacem’s choice of target and evidence that he had been radicalised justified launching a terrorism investigation.

Research has shown that more than half of European Isis fighters have a criminal past, with recruiters deliberately targeting violent criminals and gang members looking for redemption and a licence to kill in the name of jihad.

​Like many other Islamists, Belgacem is believed to have been radicalised in prison and was put under surveillance after being freed, although it was unclear when monitoring stopped.

Prosecutors said no evidence of extremism was uncovered in a search of his home, which was among scores raided in the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks.

PARIS ATTACK-ORLY

PARIS — An attack on a soldier at Orly Airport near here on Saturday is being treated as a possible act of terrorism, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. The assailant, the prosecutor said, had carried out a burst of violence over a period of two hours before being fatally shot.

The Paris prosecutor, François Molins, said the motives of the assailant — identified as 39-year-old Ziyed Ben Belgacem — were unknown. But the prosecutor added that Mr. Belgacem had a lengthy police record, including arrests for robbery and drug-related offenses, and had served time in prison. He was known to the authorities, Mr. Molins said, but primarily as a criminal.

The shooting at Orly prompted a partial evacuation of the airport, the diversion of all flights and a security sweep to determine whether the assailant had left any explosives at the airport’s two terminals, officials said. Incoming flights were diverted to nearby Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The chain of events began when Mr. Belgacem was stopped by the police at 6:55 a.m. in the Paris suburb of Garges-lès-Gonesse, after he was spotted driving at a high speed with his headlights off, Mr. Molins said at a news conference on Saturday evening.

After he pulled over, Mr. Belgacem fired a pistol loaded with birdshot and fled. One police officer was slightly injured.

Mr. Belgacem then drove to a bar in Vitry-sur-Seine, where he fired his gun again but did not injure anyone. When he exited the bar, he left his cellphone there.

He fled in his car, but abandoned it a few miles away. He then carjacked another vehicle and drove about eight miles to the airport.

There he spotted a three-soldier unit patrolling the airport, Mr. Molins said. At 8:22 a.m., Mr. Belgacem, carrying his pistol, tossed a container of gasoline on the floor. He grabbed one of the soldiers and held his gun to her head.

Mr. Molins said the soldiers reported that he yelled: “I’m here to die in the name of Allah. Whatever happens, people are going to die.”

As Mr. Belgacem grappled with the soldier, he wrested her rifle from her. At that instant, the two other soldiers fired three bursts from their weapons, killing him.

Mr. Molins said the antiterrorism unit of the prosecutor’s office and the French Intelligence Service had opened an investigation.

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Mr. Belgacem was carrying cigarettes, 750 euros in cash, or about $800, a lighter and a Quran at the time of the attack, Mr. Molins said. Cocaine, a machete and some foreign currency were later found at his home.

Mr. Belgacem’s brother, father and cousin were questioned by the police, Mr. Molins said.

While in prison during 2011 and 2012, Mr. Belgacem was identified by intelligence officials as someone who had become radicalized. After his release, he remained on the authorities’ radar, and his house was searched in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, Mr. Molins said, although no action was taken against him.

The episode at Orly was reminiscent of an attack in February near the Louvre in which a man with two long knives attacked soldiers patrolling in the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping mall. The man injured a soldier before being shot several times.

The attack on Saturday came amid a heated presidential election campaign in France, with the first round of voting to take place on April 23.

Any terrorist attack so close to the election, political analysts suggest, could be an opportunity by the candidates of the far right, Marine Le Pen, and the center right, François Fillon, to berate the current Socialist government and by association Emmanuel Macron, the center-left candidate, who was previously the economy minister, for failing to protect the French people.

While both Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Fillon posted Twitter messages about Saturday’s attack, they used the episode primarily as an opportunity to praise French soldiers and, in Ms. Le Pen’s case, to underscore some of her campaign themes. She said in her post: “Violence has overwhelmed France, a consequence of the laxity of successive governments. But there is the courage of our soldiers.”

Mr. Fillon limited his Twitter message to praise the “women and men” of what is known as Operation Sentinel, the soldiers who “work for our security and have once again proved their courage and efficiency.”

The unit attacked at the airport was part of Operation Sentinel, whose 7,000 soldiers patrol public areas, including airports, tourist attractions and train stations.

The west terminal at Orly reopened by 1 p.m., the Paris airport authority said. Flights gradually resumed at the south terminal, where the attack took place.

Air India Operations Head Licence Temporarily Suspended By Aviation Authority

NEW DELHI:  Acting tough, aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday suspended the flying licence of Air India operations head Capt A K Kathpalia for skipping mandatory pre-flight medical test repeatedly.

The action comes within a week of the national carrier taking Capt Kathpalia, a senior executive pilot, off flying duties.

Interestingly, Capt Kathpalia -- who is the Executive Director (Operations) -- has been selected for a board level position at Air India pending final approval.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has now suspended the licence for failing to undertake breath analyser test, either before or after operating a domestic flight on January 19.

In an order, the regulator said that in public interest, "the privileges of the pilot licence held by Captain A K Kathpalia ATPL No.1330" is being suspended for three months.

The suspension "shall be endorsed on his licence", the order issued by DGCA Joint Director Lalit Gupta said. In this context, endorse refers to mentioning about the particular action in the personal records of the violator.

The suspension would be effective from February 7 -- the day when he was taken off from flying duties by the airline after directions from the DGCA.

There was no response from Air India to queries in this regard.

Sources at the airline said the five-member committee, set up to probe allegations of violations against Capt Kathpalia, has submitted its report to the DGCA.

DGCA officials were not available for comments.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) had complained that Kathpalia had evaded pre-flight medical test on several occasions.

Laser Detect System ltd Unveils The SpectroDrone This Week In Israel

LDS Unveils The SpectroDrone This Week In Israel

Following extensive testing in the laboratory and in the field, Laser Detect System (LDS) Ltd. is unveiling SpectroDrone – the world’s first drone-based explosive detection sensor.

Utilizing LDS’ laser-based explosive detection system, SpectroDrone detects explosives and other hazardous materials, in gas, liquid, powder or bulk form, at a distance of several meters from the threat. SpectroDrone can perform such missions over an operational radius of up to 3 Km. In addition to the detection of dangerous materials, SpectroDrone can remotely analyze different materials in real time, fulfilling essential role in mining and other industrial operations.

LDS unveiled the SpectroDrone at Israel’s HLS & Cyber Expo in Tel Aviv. At the exhibition, SpectroDrone is displayed integrated on the Airobotics Optimus drone – a high capacity multi-mission multi-rotor drone.

In this new configuration SpectroDrone automatically detects and analyzes explosives materials and IEDs, hazardous compounds, and narcotics from a distance, in addition to its surveillance role, thus enhancing situational understanding and real-time response to emergency situations. The SpectroDrone payload can also be mounted on ground robots and in fixed operation such as LDS’ SPHERE vehicle inspection systems.

“We are very excited to unveil this innovative solution for security and anti-terror applications at Israel’s HLS & Cyber,“ said Eli Venezia, LDS founder and President. “We are also encouraged by the great promise our technology offers for commercial applications.”

“When running security, emergency or surveillance missions in an industrial environment, the ability to dynamically and swiftly replace payloads, as well as introduce new innovative ones, is a real step forward,” says Ran Krauss, CEO, and Co-Founder of Airbotics. “The next generation of security lies in introducing unique technological capabilities, which I believe LDS and Airbotics bring jointly to market.”

SpectroDrone implements LDS’ patented, laser-based detection technology. The payload comprises multiple electro-optical assemblies comprising a laser source emitting several wavelengths, laser range finder and high-resolution camera - all integrated with state of the art spectrometers which that operates LDS’s software package and proprietary algorithms.

This algorithm enables to achieve the sensitivity required for remote operation, increasing the probability of accurate detection while reducing false negative and false positive detection rates, bringing detection performance level to that of laboratory equipment.

Event Will Be Back In San Jose October 2017

The 2nd Annual Drone World Expo attracted 2,711 commercial drone professionals this week to the San Jose Convention Center.  The exhibit hall featured nearly 100 exhibiting companies showcasing the newest products and solutions with a world-class education program featuring a stellar line up of 120 end users, industry and government experts.

"The energy and excitement at Drone World Expo was fantastic, fueled by the new product announcements, unique educational content and incredible networking opportunities.  We would like to thank our exhibitors, attendees, speakers and partners for making this event more than a tradeshow but a true community gathering in the heart of Silicon Valley," said Joelle Coretti, Event Director, Drone World Expo.  "We heard a lot of great buzz on the show floor from the commercial end users who were discovering many innovative and dynamic new products and solutions for their needs."
 
The exhibitors responded enthusiastically about their experience at the trade show with many already renewing booth space for the 2017 Show which will take place October 3-4, again at the San Jose Convention Center.
 
John Sheehan, Leader, Commercial Aviation Inspection Service, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company said, "This was our first time at Drone World Expo and we were very impressed with the audience which was the right mix of users, operators and producers.  This event is what the industry needs - an opportunity for real businesses to find solutions for their real needs.  We will definitely be back in 2017."
 
Rosalie Bartlett, Marketing Manager, Kespry said, "We were thrilled to have met with end users in all of our target markets agriculture, construction, insurance and mining.  So many of the attendees walking the floor did their research about the industry and came ready to buy seeing the huge ROI in using drone technology.  The Drone World Expo education program was great - providing end users with compelling and informative reasons to invest in drone technology. We couldn't be happier with the results."
 
Steve Snow, Marketing Specialist, Esri said, "Drone World Expo delivered an excellent conference which brought us a lot of good leads.  The event is helping to build a stronger community."

Steve Gitlin, Vice President Corporate Strategy, AeroVironment said, "Drone World Expo was very productive from an integration of ideas standpoint. We launched our new Quantix™ drone at the show and now the operators who were in attendance can see the benefits of the range, reliability and efficiency of the product and the commercial applic
ations." 
 
In addition to the exhibits, Drone World Expo offered a world-class education program which kicked off with an opening day keynote presentation on The Future of Drones: Clearing the Flight Path to a Connected World.  Prior to the keynote Gretchen West of Hogan Lovells, provided an overview of the last year for the drone industry where UAS/drone user registration topped 600,000 by the end of September 2016 compared to 250,000 manned aircraft registrations.  West discussed the key factors driving the growth in the industry which have been fueled by the implementation of the long-awaited/anticipated Part 107; as well as; recommendations for the FAA Micro UAS ARC; the creation and adoption of the NTIA and Industry Privacy Best Practices; and the Congressional Extension of FAA Reauthorization Act to name a few.

On Wednesday morning, attendees had a chance to hear from Zipline International, Crisfield Clinic, X (formerly Google x) and the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership who discussed the implementation of drone delivery, and the realities and challenges the industry faces.  Lawrence Williams of Zipline showcased the work they are doing in Rwanda delivering medical supplies and said, "Instant delivery is what people expect and in healthcare logistics it can save lives.  Currently our drones in Rwanda are capable of delivery of life saving medical products, in a 15 to 35-minute time frame, which is truly transformative."  He and Dr. Kerry Palakanis of Crisfield Clinic discussed the work they are doing toward bringing this technology to rural areas in the United States.
 
Drone World Expo 2017 will be held October 3-4, once again at the San Jose Convention Center.

Asking Passengers To Take An Active Role In Aviation Safety

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta is encouraging travelers to Fly Smart this holiday season.

“I’m asking air travelers to take an active role in aviation safety when they fly this holiday season,” said FAA Administrator Huerta (pictured). “Fly Smart and be prepared. Your actions can save your life and those around you.”
 
Flying is incredibly safe. In fact, this is the safest period in aviation history. Government and industry have significantly reduced the risk of accidents by working together on airplane design, maintenance, training, and procedures – but emergencies can happen.
 
“While tens of millions of passengers will rely on air travel this holiday season to connect them to destinations around the world, pilots across the country stand ready. On each and every flight, pilots and crewmembers work together to ensure that the passengers and cargo we carry arrive safely and efficiently to their destinations. Over the next few weeks, airports and aircraft will be a little more crowded, and as always, we encourage passengers to be patient and listen carefully to crewmember instructions. Aviation is the safest mode of transportation in the world, and passengers have played an important role in maintaining that incredible record by working with crewmembers and complying with federal guidelines,” said Capt. Tim Canoll, Air Line Pilots Association, International President.
 
"Bring a spirit of community, watch the safety briefing and listen to your Flight Attendants. As aviation's first responders we are proud to help usher you safely and securely on your travels," said Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants.
 
Travelers can make their flight even safer by taking a few minutes to follow these guidelines:

• In the unlikely event that you need to evacuate, leave your bags and personal items behind. Your luggage is not worth your life. Passengers are expected to evacuate an airplane within 90 seconds. You do not have time to grab your luggage or personal items. Opening an overhead compartment will delay evacuation and put the lives of everyone around you at risk.
• Pack safe and leave hazardous materials at home. From lithium batteries to aerosol whipped cream, many items can be dangerous when transported by air. Vibrations, static electricity, and temperature and pressure variations can cause hazardous materials to leak, generate toxic fumes, start a fire, or even explode. When in doubt, leave it out.
• Leave your Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone at home. You are prohibited from transporting this recalled device on your person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked baggage on flights to, from, or within the United States.
• If you have spare batteries, pack them in your carry-on baggage and use a few measures to keep them from short circuiting: keep the batteries in their original packaging, tape over the electrical connections with any adhesive, non-metallic tape, or place each battery in its own individual plastic bag. You cannot fly with damaged or recalled batteries.
• Prevent in-flight injuries by following your airline’s carry-on bag restrictions.
• Use your electronic device only when the crew says it’s safe to do so.
• Pay attention to the flight attendants during the safety briefing and read the safety briefing card. It could save your life in an emergency.
• Buckle up. Wear a seatbelt at all times.
• Protect young children by using a child safety seat or device. Your arms cannot hold onto a child during turbulence or an emergency. An FAA video shows how to install a child safety seat on an airplane.