April, 2013

BEACON NEWSLETTER TEAM

LT COL SHARON WILLIAMS LT COL VAN DON WILLIAMS MAJOR JAMES RIDLEY, SR. MAJOR MANUEL CEJA Inside this Issue Republished Articles Pages Smoke Alarm

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Safety in Places of Public Assembly

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Understanding School Violence

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Kids and Bicycle Safety

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Sinkholes Why Do Smart People Do Dumb Things? NTSB Safety Alert

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2013 NTSB Academy Opportunity

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Safer Skies Through Education

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Region Safety Officers

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Col Robert Diduch CAP/SE [email protected] Col Robert Alex Asst CAP/SE Ground Operations [email protected] Lt Col Bruce Brown Asst CAP/SE Educational/Cadet Programs [email protected] Lt Col Dennis R. Bannon Asst CAP/SE Mishap Reviews [email protected] Lt Col Eric Sharppee Asst CAP/SE Aircraft Operations [email protected] Mr. Frank Jirik

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Home Page → Weather &

officially determine if it

Hydrology → Sinkholes

is a sinkhole.

Sinkholes What is a sinkhole? Sinkholes are depressions or holes in the land surface that occur throughout west-central Florida. They can be shallow or deep, small or large, but all are a

Many of the lakes in Florida are

result of the dissolving of the

relic sinkholes. Sinkholes can be

underlying limestone.

classified as geologic hazards sometimes causing extensive

Hydrologic conditions, including

damage to structures and roads

lack of rainfall, lowered water

resulting in costly repairs.

levels, or, conversely, excessive

Sinkholes can also threaten

rainfall in a short period of time,

water supplies by draining

can all contribute to sinkhole development. More facts about sinkholes can be found in the District’sSinkhole Brochure.

unfiltered water from streams, lakes and wetlands directly into the aquifer (underground water supply).

Sinkhole data and maps Florida Department of Environmental Protection

More information about sinkholes Florida Sinkhole Research Institute

View the Department of Environmental Protection’s sinkhole database

Sinkholes are a

What if a sinkhole opens on my property? •

threatened, contact your

common naturally

homeowners insurance

occurring geologic

phenomenon and one

If your home is

company. •

If extensive damage

of the predominant

occurs to your house or

land forms in Florida.

property, notify the Office of Emergency Management for the county. •

If desired, the resident

Consumer guides Consumer guides relative to sinkholes are available from the State of Florida Department of Financial Services.

Contact the Institute at UCF’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department P.O. Box 162450, Orlando, FL 32816-2450 (407) 823-2280

may make contact with a private contractor to evaluate the hole to

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FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education much power New"How NTSB Safety Alerts Notice Number: NOTC4630

do you ned to fly with wings like this?"

In case you missed the announcement, here is the press release from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announcing the publication of five additional Safety Alerts for pilots and mechanics. Today, March 12, 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board issued five Safety Alerts that focus on the most frequent types of general aviation accidents. “Because we investigate each of the 1,500 GA accidents that occur in the United States every year, we see the same types of accidents over and over again,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “What’s especially tragic is that so many of these accidents are entirely preventable.” Each year, about 475 pilots and passengers are killed and hundreds more are seriously injured in GA accidents in the United States, which is why GA Safety is on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List. (http://go.usa.gov/28DF) A Safety Alert is a brief information sheet that pinpoints a particular safety hazard and offers practical remedies to address the issue. Three of the Safety Alerts focus on topics related to some of the most common defining events for fatal GA accidents. These include low-altitude stalls, spatial disorientation and controlled flight into terrain, and mechanical problems. The other two Safety Alerts address risk mitigation. The five Safety Alerts issued today are: • Is Your Aircraft Talking to You? Listen! • Reduced Visual References Require Vigilance • Avoid Aerodynamic Stalls at Low Altitude • Mechanics: Manage Risks to Ensure Safety • Pilots: Manage Risks to Ensure Safety The NTSB is creating five short videos – one for each Safety Alert – which will be rolled out this spring. The videos will feature regional air safety investigators sharing their experiences and observations of the many accident investigations they conducted as well as advice on how pilots and mechanics can avoid mistakes that can have such tragic consequences. "GA is essentially an airline or maintenance operation of one, which puts the responsibility for sound decision making on one person’s shoulders," Hersman said. "We are promoting and distributing the alerts to reach pilots and mechanics who can benefit from these lifesaving messages.” The five Safety Alerts approved today, as well as others that have been issued since 2004, are available at http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety_alerts.html. The presentations investigators made to the Board today are all available at http://go.usa.gov/28bx.

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The Official Safety Newsletter of the Civil Air Patrol-April 2013

Col Charles Greenwood GLR/SE [email protected]

Col Robert Castle SWR/SE [email protected]

Lt Col Bill Woody SER/SE [email protected]

Col Charles Glass MER/SE [email protected]

Lt Col Paul Mondoux NER/SE [email protected]

Lt Col Alex Kay PCR/SE [email protected]

Col Harold D. Brown NCR/SE [email protected]  

Lt Col Donald Johanson RMR/SE [email protected]

 

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