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Mark V. Rosenker Sworn in as 11^th Chairman of NTSB

Washington August 11, 2006 - Mark V. Rosenker took the oath of office today as the 11th Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Chairman Rosenker became a Member of the Board in March 2003 and was designated by President Bush as Vice Chairman of the Board that April. In March of 2005, Rosenker became Acting Chairman, a position he has held until today.

Last year, President Bush nominated Rosenker to a new 5-year term as Member; the Senate confirmed him in December for a term that expires at the end of 2010. The position of Chairman, which runs for two years, requires separate presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. President Bush nominated Rosenker for the Chairmanship earlier this year; he was confirmed by the Senate last week.

"I am extremely grateful to President Bush and the Members of the United States Senate for the confidence they have shown in me," Chairman Rosenker said, "and I look forward to leading the NTSB in carrying out its challenging mission. I'm also committed to maintaining the Board's position as one of the most effective and respected agencies in federal government."

Since coming to the Board, Chairman Rosenker has been the Member on scene for a number of Safety Board investigations, including the December 2005 crash of a seaplane in Miami that killed all 20 persons aboard; the October 2005 capsizing of the passenger vessel Ethan Allen in Lake George, NY that also took 20 lives; and two derailments involving Metra commuter trains in Chicago last year.

Before joining the Board in 2003, Rosenker served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office beginning January 20, 2001. In that capacity, he had responsibility for policies, personnel and plans that involve Department of Defense assets in direct support of the President.

Prior to his White House appointment, Rosenker was Managing Director of the Washington, DC office for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), overseeing the development, implementation and management of a national public information program dealing with all facets of organ transplantation in the U.S. Before joining UNOS, he served 23 years as Vice President, Public Affairs for the Electronic Industries Alliance.

Chairman Rosenker's interest and experience in transportation safety dates back more than three decades to his time at a major national public affairs organization. His clients there included the American Safety Belt Council, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and the Safety Helmet Council of America. He later served as Director of Communications for the American Moped/Motorized Bicycle Association.

Rosenker's professional experience includes service in the federal government at the Department of Interior, the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the American Battle Monuments Commission. He is a Major General in the Air Force Reserve.

The departure delays on flights to European destinations -- particularly London's Heathrow International Airport -- were due to late arriving aircraft on Thursday following disclosure of a terror plot in the United Kingdom.

A survey of airlines Thursday showed passengers were checking baggage -- rather than carrying it on airplanes -- at a rate 30 to 50 percent above normal. This significant increase in the number of checked baggage resulted in fewer items for federal screeners to check at passenger security screening. This in turn resulted in near-normal wait times for passenger screening at the LAX terminals.

Airport maintenance workers, meanwhile, reported they were collecting fewer surrendered items and emptying trash bins at a much slower pace than early Thursday when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) banned carrying of liquids and gels on aircraft.

Airlines reported late Thursday that there was no perceptible decline in passenger traffic due to the elevation of the security threat level in the United States for the aviation sector.

Approximately 200 California National Guardmembers were expected to report to LAX early Friday to assist the TSA in performing secondary screening at aircraft boarding gates in the passenger terminals. The National Guardmembers will be unarmed and perform their duties under the control of the LAX Federal Security Director.

Additional security measures implemented Thursday by LAX Airport Police and other law enforcement agencies are expected to remain in effect while the U.S. threat level is at High, or Orange, for all commercial aviation operating in the U.S., including international flights.

Palmdale CA August 11, 2006 - Mayors Jim Ledford of Palmdale and Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles announced the award of a grant from the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) today for support of the Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD).

The DOT SCASDP grant, in the amount of $900,000, was awarded to the City of Palmdale to support a revenue guarantee program for regional jet service, on a major U.S. airline, from Palmdale Regional Airport. The program has been in existence since 2002, providing grants to support air service development efforts to small airport communities.

"This is an exciting step forward in bringing commercial air service back to Palmdale," said Mayor Ledford, "and we want to congratulate all of our regional partners on making this application a success, most especially Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), Mayor Villaraigosa and our local elected officials. This was truly a regional effort and a great day for our region."

Mayor Villaraigosa added, "This is a great day for the Southern California airport regionalization efforts that I have been committed to since my election. This has been a priority for me and I have worked closely with LAWA's new Board of Airport Commissioners and Executive Director Lydia Kennard to make regional air service at Palmdale a reality. I am pleased to have the federal government a partner in our efforts to alleviate congestion at LAX and I would underscore that this is only the first of many steps in our regionalization process.

"Fostering the long-term viability of Palmdale Airport is one of the many ways regional aviation can be achieved, and the receipt of this grant places Palmdale, Los Angeles World Airports and all of Southern California on the right track towards achieving a true regional aviation system," said Mayor Villaraigosa.

Palmdale was one of only two California cities to receive an award from the 2006 Small Community Air Service Development Grant awarded by the federal Transportation Agency, Chico being the other. In addition, Palmdale received the largest award of all 25 grant recipients, underscoring the potential of the air travel market.

Palmdale received the entire $900,000 it had requested, along with a match of $3.7 million in local commitments from the regional partnership known as "Wheels Up Palmdale" that included Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the Antelope Valley Board of Trade, the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance, and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. The City of Palmdale contributed $1 million dollars of matching funds but the bulk of the funding, $2.3 million, came from Los Angeles World Airports, the owner and operator of PMD, at the direction of Mayor Villaraigosa.

In addition, letters of support were received from Congressman Buck McKeon, Congresswoman Jane Harmon of El Segundo, State Senator George Runner, State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, LA County Supervisor Don Knabe, the City of Victorville, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and Lockheed Martin Aerospace Corporation in Palmdale. From Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa and Lydia Kennard Executive Director of LAWA and LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, wrote letters endorsing their support for this important air service grant. Councilman Rosendahl, who spearheaded the effort to recruit the support of local elected officials, commented, "This is great news for Los Angeles and all of Southern California. This is a step in the right direction toward building a truly regional system of aviation."

This grant continues to build upon Mayor Villaraigosa's continued emphasis on regionalization of air service in Southern California. On June 2, the Mayor reactivated the former Southern California Regional Airport Authority (SCRAA) as part of his commitment to the LAX Master Plan settlement agreement and to accomplish the goal of more effectively utilizing available airport capacity at Southern California airports other than Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The grant from SCASDP fortifies a real commitment to developing air service at LAWA's regional airports to alleviate the constraints at LAX.

Lydia Kennard, LAWA Executive Director, said of the grant award, "This is a tremendous step forward for not only air service development at Palmdale Regional Airport, but also for the effort to increase the number of flights and destinations that Southern California travelers can have access to at airports that are closer to their homes and places of work. I also appreciate this decision by the US Department of Transportation, as it represents significant federal support of Mayor Villaraigosa's efforts to develop an effect regional airport system in Southern California."

The $900,000 grant award is, in large part, the culmination of significant efforts during the past several years by LAWA, the City of Palmdale, and the County of Los Angeles, to attract new airlines and air service to PMD, which has not been served by a major airline since 1998. Mark Thorpe, LAWA's Director of Air Service Marketing, who has led this ongoing outreach effort to numerous airlines, said of the grant award, "The incentive program that this grant will allow the Wheels Up Palmdale coalition to develop marks the most significant accomplishment in our efforts at PMD to date, as we will now be able to invest in airline partners that are willing to enter a market that we believe will be a viable growth opportunity in the short-term future and beyond."

The combined funds, totaling nearly $5 million, will be used to provide revenue guarantee support for regional jet service from Palmdale to a connecting hub market such as Phoenix, San Francisco or Dallas-Ft. Worth. These hubs will provide passengers a significant number of connecting market options from Palmdale Airport. LAWA has been in discussions with several network carriers expressing interest in re-introducing service to Palmdale.

In addition to the significant growth of the north Los Angeles County region in recent years, Palmdale and the Antelope Valley region are home to some of the largest Fortune 500 aerospace companies in the nation as well as Air Force Plant 42 and Edwards Air Force Base. The demand for business travel generated by the defense and aerospace industry in Palmdale is well documented.

"It took a little time and energy, and a lot of hard work, but the need for a regional expansion of air service has been realized, and with this grant we now can shift our focus from presenting the travel demand need to actually providing quality service," said Mayor Ledford.

Moscow August 11, 2006 - The Boeing Company and VSMPO-AVISMA today announced a joint-venture agreement for the machining of titanium forgings for use in Boeing commercial airplanes.

The 50/50 equity joint venture will produce titanium parts for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. VSMPO-AVISMA will perform rough machining of titanium forgings in Verkhnaya Salda, Russia. Final machining and processing of the forgings will be completed by Boeing's Portland, Ore., fabrication facility and other machining subcontractors.

On April 13, 2006, Boeing and VSMPO announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding leading to the formation of the joint venture.

Consistent with their long-standing business relationship, the two companies also completed a framework agreement to outline the guiding principles of their future work in the area of titanium products.

"This agreement is an outstanding example of how a joint venture should work, with benefits for both of our companies," said Mike Cave, vice president of Airplane Programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "VSMPO will expand its capabilities in titanium parts production, and Boeing will increase efficiency and reduce the waste associated with titanium machining.

"Boeing will continue to work closely with all government agencies to ensure our joint venture and all other activities in Russia remain compliant with all U.S. and international obligations, including the sanctions recently announced by the U.S. State Department," he said.

"The agreement between VSMPO-AVISMA and Boeing expands a relationship that dates back to 1997. Boeing and VSMPO-AVISMA will work together to address efficiency, quality, delivery and cost reduction. As part of this effort, titanium machine-turnings, or 'chips,' from the machining process will be recycled back to VSMPO-AVISMA to create an efficient, closed-loop supply," said Vladislav Tetyukhin, chief executive officer of VSMPO-AVISMA.

Warszawa August 10, 2006 - Manufactured in Poland, by EADS PZL, the PZL-104MA WILGA made its first public appearance at the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh on July 24th to 30th, 2006. The new aircraft generated an incredible interest and enthusiasm among EAA visitors from around the world. These visitors used terms such as "amazing" and "cool" to describe the aircraft. Others nicknamed the new plane the "WILGA-Beast" after its commanding entry into the bush plane market. As a result, several customers placed firm or initial orders for the new WILGA.

Among other meetings, we had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Paul Poberezny of EAA and had a nice visit discussing our Slavic roots.

Also at Oshkosh, in a brief ceremony, Mr. John Colomy of the FAA Certification Office, officially handed over the new FAA Type Certificate to Mr. Ziggy Wasiucionek, EADS PZL Marketing Director.

According to Mr. Jim Webb, WILGA dealer, the participation of the Polish aircraft in the EAA Airventure was a huge success for its initial promotion into the American market.

Farnborough August 11, 2006 - Farnborough International Limited (FIL), the organizers of the Farnborough International Airshow, announced today that more detailed study of the order announcements made by industry at the 2006 airshow (July 17-23) shows that the total value of these announcements reached nearly US$42 billion, up from the previous estimated figure of US$38 billion.

FIA 2006 was one of the biggest in recent memory with 1480 exhibitors from 35 countries taking part. Some 75 defense delegations from 43 countries attended, along with 40 civil aerospace delegations from 15 countries. Trade show attendance figures during the week were up from 133,000 in 2004 to 140,000, while public day visitors rose by 20,000 over the 2004 airshow to reach 130,000.

Trevor Sidebottom, Managing Director of Farnborough International Limited said today: "Now that we have had time to review the details of the order announcements made by companies at the airshow, we are pleased to be able to announce that a total of nearly US$42 billion of business was announced at the event - one of the highest on record.

"We have had a fantastic airshow this year. We promised a new look to the show and we have delivered with a wonderful range of new exhibit and chalet buildings that really have caught the imagination. The comments back from our exhibitors are extremely positive and encouraging for the future, despite the power generation setbacks we had to deal with due to the extreme weather. From the scale of business announced, the high caliber of the visitors attending and the fact that companies are using our airshow to make significant product or partnership announcements, there is no doubt that Farnborough International Airshow is the world's pre-eminent business to business airshow."

International aerospace companies used the airshow to announce orders from across the aerospace spectrum, covering civil and defense products, aero-engines, the supply chain, the MRO sector, training, equipment and services. Of the US$42 billion, some US$37 billion was from the civil aerospace sector with the balance of nearly US$5 billion covering the defense industry. Airframe orders totaled US$35.5 billion, engine orders came to just over US$ 4 billion, with equipment and services business coming to just over US$2 billion.

New products on display at the airshow included the Airbus A380, the Raytheon ASTOR Sentinel surveillance aircraft, a host of new business jet types and the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. Bell Boeing used Farnborough International Airshow to launch an international sales drive for the aircraft.

The most significant new product during the week was the new Airbus A350XWB airliner, which by the end of the week had secured its first order. The rotary winged sector was very busy with the X-Hawk Fancraft from Bell Helicopter and Urban Aeronautics of Israel, the new AgustaWestland AW149 multi-role helicopter and two new variants of the Sikorsky Black Hawk being announced.

Raytheon of the USA unveiled its AT-6 Joint Airborne Weapons System - a light attack version of the T6B turboprop trainer, Honeywell launched its Synthetic Vision System for a business jet with the first to be installed next year on the Gulfstream range of aircraft, and Lockheed Martin used the airshow to reveal details of its all-composite long-range high altitude P-175 Polecat UAV.

Several new collaborative ventures were launched at the airshow, among them being Pratt & Whitney's new strategic alliances for possible powerplants for future medium range twinjets and Bombardier's partnership agreement with Shenyang Aircraft for the manufacture of Dash 8-400 fuselages. Of great UK significance was the announcement of the Team Complex Weapons strategy by Lord Drayson, Minister of State for Defense Procurement under the auspices of the Defense Industrial Strategy.

Prime Minister Tony Blair visited the airshow on Thursday July 20 and after watching a flypast of the Airbus A380 in formation with the RAF's Red Arrows said: "The flypast was absolutely stunning, the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. The Farnborough show is a magnificent showcase for the British aerospace industry. I am pleased to see that the airshow is back on its feet."

DFW International Airport August 10, 2006 - Checkpoint lines averaged less than 10 minutes today and passengers reacted calmly and patiently as DFW International Airport successfully implemented a Level Orange alert in the wake of the foiled terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.

DFW and its Department of Public Safety (DPS) worked quickly with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the Transportation Security Administration to implement new security measures overnight that banned liquids and gels through security checkpoints and aboard aircraft.

DFW has initiated security measures above and beyond federally mandated requirements, as it did after September 11, 2001. DFW DPS has also assigned additional units throughout the Airport, including canine teams, and explosives ordinance officers.

"We at DFW have been well ahead of the curve in this particular situation and the teamwork with our federal partners has been tremendous," said Kevin Cox, DFW's chief operating officer. "DFW continues to keep our airport extremely safe while keeping our security lines moving. We appreciate our employees and Ambassadors for working so closely with passengers today and everyone's vigilance in these difficult times."

DFW's 1,900 daily flights had minimal delays as passengers disposed of a variety of liquids and gels at checkpoints. The Airport has rolled out new signage inside the terminals and begun distributing pamphlets at entry plazas to advise passengers on the new security measures that remain in effect.

"The flying public has been tremendous," said Alvy Dodson, DFW's vice president of public safety. "Our passengers packed their patience today, and we appreciate it. And we will continue to ask all our passengers and employees to be our eyes and ears in the terminals. If they see something that does not look quite right, we encourage them to call 911 or stop one of our officers."

Meanwhile DFW will continue to monitor all of its business operations in the coming days to assure minimal impact on businesses in the Airport and travelers.

"Short lines and informed passengers were a tremendous help to our concessionaires today and we will be working closely with all our business people during this alert period to keep them connected to their customers," said Ken Buchanan, executive vice president of revenue management.

Discovery Channel's INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS Reveals Little Known Facts About the September 11 Attacks

Silver Spring MD August 10, 2006 - Using a definitive, minute-by- minute timeline of rarely seen and heard events, Discovery Channel brings viewers inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, in INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS, premiering Sunday, September 3, 9-11 PM ET/PT. The tragedy unfolds through the eyes of more than 15 people living through it -- including office workers, emergency personnel, Port Authority engineers and firemen. Personal stories, interviews with survivors and family members, archival footage, CGI and dramatic recreations place viewers inside the confusion, horror and heroic acts that shaped that day.

"INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS is a world premiere of the WHAT HAPPENED WHEN program initiative, created to provide perspective about recent historical events," said Jane Root, EVP and GM of Discovery Channel. "WHAT HAPPENED WHEN specials will focus on events in the last thirty years, giving viewers the opportunity to relive the urgency, immediacy and emotional significance of the key stories of our time."

INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS reveals little known facts and knowledge about the twin towers disaster, including:

• Some people trapped inside didn't realize that the walls around them were sheet rock, which they could have easily broken through to get out.

• Stairwells were not continuous throughout the building -- people had to navigate smoky, destroyed floors to continue their evacuation.

• Security in the lobby of the south tower told people who were evacuating to go back up to their offices because it was safer there.

The broadcast of INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS will include public service announcements, urging people to support the World Trade Center Memorial Fund and the Flight 93 National Memorial Fund.

INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS is produced for Discovery Channel by Dangerous Films. Richard Dale is the executive producer for Dangerous and Bill Howard is executive producer for Discovery Channel.

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