Veteran mechanic Donald Gene Buchanan, 64, died earlier this month after he was sucked into the engine of a Boeing 737 preparing for a flight to Houston, according to news reports. Buchanan was the first to die that way in the United States while an aircraft was being prepared for flight, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

"It has not happened a lot, but it has happened before. Just not while boarding," NTSB spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi told the Houston Chronicle.

She said previous U.S. civilian instances of "engine ingestion" have occurred during maintenance or other operations in which a plane was not involved in a flight operation.

A total of 114 passengers and five crew members were boarding at the time, according to reports.

The NTSB has obtained the cockpit recording devices and will pore over the maintenance manual, checking it against engine level data to see if the jet was operating at a proper level with workers nearby.

The incident occurred at El Paso International Airport.

Case said the plants here do a considerable amount of work on military aircraft engines but also do some commercial work. An NTSB spokesperson told the Courier that the board had no role in repair of the engine and could not comment.

ROCK HILL, S.C. - The fuel selector switch of a plane that crashed last summer - killing two Ohio men and injuring a third - was switched to an empty tank, authorities said.

The three men were flying a single-propeller Beech V35 Bonanza from Columbus, Ohio, to Rock Hill on July 24 when it crashed in a subdivision about a mile from the Rock Hill-York County Airport.

Passengers Eric "Ted" Johnson, 43, of Columbus, and Dr. Bill Coulman, 49, of Worthington, Ohio, died. The pilot and flight instructor, commercial pilot Matt Sullivan, also of Columbus, was seriously injured. No one on the ground was hurt.

Johnson was going to Rock Hill to visit family. A review of radar records showed the plane went 10 miles southwest of the airport, turned around, and flew back toward the airport, according to the report.

Witnesses saw the plane's engine quit and said the pilot steered the plane clear of homes in the subdivision before the crash.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to upcoming FAA regulatory changes effective April 6, 2006, AeroVeritas Aviation Safety Consulting Limited has launched a series of online FAA repair station training courses designed to provide an effective solution to a long standing industry problem, and improve aviation safety.

Faced with the requirement to develop new FAA approved training programs for maintenance employees, thousands of aviation repair companies worldwide are feeling the pressure. Related industry partners are also feeling the strain. According to the DOT Inspector General's office, most of the US airlines named in a recent report were not providing an adequate level of training for their employees.

Questions raised over aviation maintenance personnel competency levels, combined with the critical trend toward outsourcing major aircraft maintenance and inspection tasks, have exposed potential risks for the flying public. In addition, diminished FAA inspector staffing still presents concerns regarding the ability to provide effective oversight. However, recent responses from the industry and regulatory officials indicate a general acceptance of the need for improved training.

"The adequacy of repair station training has been in question by regulators for many years," said Mark Mohelnitzky, President of AeroVeritas.

"Most people would agree that the upcoming change to the Federal Aviation Regulations will help support higher standards of aviation safety," added Mohelnitzky. "Companies recognize the need to train their employees, but they currently face challenges with availability, affordability, and convenience of regulatory type training by qualified instructors."

As a former FAA Principal Airworthiness Inspector, and former airline maintenance training instructor, Mohelnitzky has expert knowledge of the regulatory and training requirements for repairs stations of all sizes.

Prior to the new FAA regulation, there were no requirements for repair stations to have an approved training program with specific courses. Consequently, repair stations focused primarily on technical training rather than company inspection procedures and FAA rules governing maintenance.

"Technical training is not a significant problem for repair stations," Mohelnitzky said. "Our goal is to help companies develop customized training programs, and provide them with high quality regulatory training within their budget limits."

A top Chinese aviation official says that China has a better than world average level of air safety in term of major accidents per million flight hours.

Deputy director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation Gao Hongfeng made these comments Tuesday in Beijing.

The CAAC deputy director said that in the past five years, China recorded 0.29 major accidents for every one million flight hours, lower than the world average. He also noted that during the same period China had signed bilateral agreements on air transportation or aviation rights with 42 countries.

Meanwhile, the country has also implemented a new policy regarding foreign investment in China’s civil aviation industry, with easier provisions regarding investment ratios and other matters.

According to a recent study performed by WorkRite Ergonomics, sixty percent of workers report being planted in their chairs for more than six hours a day. The study also stated that nine out of ten workers report end-of-workday aches, pains and fatigue. Sitting for long periods of time puts pressure on the disks in your lower back and can disrupt circulation in your muscles. Also, holding the same position for long periods of time can cause repetitive strain injury. It is a good idea to stand up and stretch every 20 minutes for at least 20 seconds. Using an ergonomically sound chair can also help. (Dana Knight & Jo Dee Black "Remain seated or take a stand against wicked office chairs" Great Falls Tribune, October 10, 2005.)

While shiftworkers on average may not sit as much as this study suggests, there is an increased incidence of musculoskeletal disorders among shiftworkers. One study found that a higher proportion of shiftworkers have back problems (16%) compared to day workers (14%). Ironically, the study suggests that this increased prevalence of back problems could be related to work that is more strenuous than day work (on average). Musculoskeletal problems are one of the leading causes of lost productivity.

END with thanks to jetBlue