Aviation and Airport

D.C. area flight restriction to be imposed during State of the Union Address
The Federal Aviation Administration, at the request of DHS and the Pentagon, will be modifying the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and Washington Metropolitan Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) with additional flight restrictions on 28 January 2008
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Trial begins for laser-jamming systems on commercial airlines
Three American Airlines Boeing 767-200s which fly daily round-trip routes between New York and California will be equipped with BAE’s anti-missile laser jammers this spring; part of DHS $29 million trial
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Business aviation “extremely concerned” over proposed DHS border rules
Among DHS’s new requirements is the need for private aircraft to transmit notice of arrival information to U.S. border patrol agents via an Internet site no later than an hour before departure; if an Internet connection is not available, the aircraft must land at another location and wait for approval; groups representing private aviation say this and other requirements are too onerous
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TSA places behavior observation teams in more airports
TSA behavior observers now operate in more than fifty U.S. airports; since January 2006, behavior-detection officers have referred about 70,000 people for secondary screening; of those, about 600 to 700 were arrested on a variety of charges
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China shows first domestically developed regional aircraft
China plans to become a serious competitor to Boeing and Airbus; today it has taken the first step toward that goal by unveiling Xiang Feng, a 90-seat jet
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Adding bellyflaps to blended-wing aircraft increase their manoeuvrability
Blended-wing aircraft generate less drag, are quieter, and use far less fuel; they are also less maneuverable because the aerodynamic surfaces that control an aircraft’s pitch are located closer to the aircraft’s center of gravity than those on a conventional aircraft; the solution, adding bellyflaps
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BAE tests counter-missile system on American Airlines aircraft
DHS awards BAE $29 million to test laser jamming systems on American passenger planes; test was initially limited to cargo planes, but Congress wants to see whether system is suitable for passenger planes
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TSA, Texas prison collaborate on dog training
TSA will allow inmates in Travis County State Jail in Austin to take care of puppies who will ultimately serve as explosives detection dogs within TSA’s National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program
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Growing unease with DHS Terror Watch Lists
As DHS’s consolidated Terrorism Watch List grows — there are now about 800,000 names on it — criticism by individuals who find themselves on the list for no reason, and by privacy and advocacy groups, grow as well; DHS established Travelers Redress Inquiry Program to allow individuals to have their inclusion on the list examined, but problems persist
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New T-ray source would improve airport security, cancer detection
Terahertz radiation does not have sufficient energy to “ionize” an atom by knocking loose one of its electrons, which is good news, because this ionization causes the cellular damage that can lead to radiation sickness or cancer; T-ray absorption patterns could not only detect but also identify a much wider variety of hazardous or illegal substances than X-ray
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Unmanned aircraft will challenge air traffic control
The rapid growth in the number of UAVs flying the skies for a variety of purposes leads to serious discussion of a UAV air-traffic control system to monitor their flight and prevent accidents
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UAVs to be used for mid-air refueling
U.S. Air Force, Boeing conducts tests to see whether a UAV can perform mid-air refueling
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DSC receives Home Office funding for improved explosive detector
U.K. company has developed technology to produce from vapor single crystals of the compound semiconductor cadmium telluride, which can be used as detectors of X-rays and gamma rays
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Continental first in nation to use paperless boarding
Continental passengers at Houston airport can now board planes by showing their cell phones or PDAs to security checkers; checkers scan rectangular bars on the cell phones’ or PDAs’ screens, which contain passengers personal and travel information
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New X-ray technique developed
The tomographic energy dispersive diffraction imaging (TEDDI) harnesses all the wavelengths present in an X-ray beam to create 3D pictures; could be used to detect hidden explosives, drugs, and human cancers more effectively
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