Winners Recognized For Advances In Aircraft Testing
Procedures
The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), in association
with the FAA, recognized the recipients of the 2009 FAA-ATA
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) "Better Way" award Wednesday.
The "Better Way" award recognizes a team of government and
airline industry individuals who together worked to advance
inspection and testing of aircraft structure, components or
systems. This award, jointly sponsored by the FAA and ATA, was
presented at the ATA Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Forum in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Industry professionals recognized with this prestigious award
are: Ed Lukas and Bernie Adamache from Air Canada Jazz; Jerome
Pinsonnault, Roy Wong and Jean-Marc Bertrand from Bombardier Inc.;
David Piotrowski, John Bohler and John Lee from Delta Air Lines;
Alex Melton, Robert Hager and Malcolm Berner from Northwest
Airlines (now Delta Air Lines); Dennis Roach, Kirk Rackow and Ciji
Nelson from the Airworthiness Assurance Non-Destructive Inspection
(NDI) Validation Center (AANC); Jeffrey Kollgaard, John Linn,
William Jappe and Masood Zaidi from The Boeing Company; Rick Lopez
from Iowa State University; and Mark Vellacott from Structural
Monitoring Systems.
The "Application and Validation of Comparative Vacuum
Monitoring (CVM) Sensors for In-Situ Crack Detection" team was this
year's winner. The team was recognized for its accomplishments in
the testing, evaluation and validation of a sensor that detects
cracks and flaws during the inspection process, particularly in
hard-to-access areas. AANC initially teamed with Boeing, Delta Air
Lines, Northwest Airlines (now Delta Air Lines) and Structural
Monitoring Systems (SMS) to study deployment and long-term
operation of the sensors. More than two years of flight tests,
factors such as environmental durability, sealant protection and
reliability were evaluated. As a result of these and other tests,
Boeing added this technique to its Common Methods NDT manual. Over
the past year, the sensor has been used to monitor cracking on
engine mount beams with the participation of Air Canada Jazz and
Bombardier. The use of the CVM sensor is the first time that an
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has adopted structural health
monitoring techniques by using a mountable sensor. The team has
proven that this sensor can facilitate a more sensitive, rapid and
reliable inspection.
"ATA congratulates this year's winning team for its
extraordinary work in the advancement of crack detection
inspections, and the industry will benefit from your successes,"
said ATA President and CEO James C. May. "It is my pleasure to
recognize your accomplishment today, as it underscores the critical
need for our industry to continue such innovative, collaborative
efforts to enhance safety."
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