06 DEC 2007 _______________________________________ *Runway safety in bad weather is poor, federal report says *U.S. GAO issues report runway and ramp safety *2 die in Pickaway County airplane crash *************************************** Runway safety in bad weather is poor, federal report says Providing pilots with more accurate information about icy or snowy runways is vital to reducing accidents, said a congressional report Wednesday that blamed safety problems at U.S. airports on sluggish government action.The concern about planes over-running slick runways comes as busy holiday travel approaches, and potentially deadly incidents already have occurred this winter.On Saturday, a United plane bound for Chicago slid off a taxiway at the Des Moines airport during snow and freezing rain, but no one was injured.The most serious recent accident in the U.S. took place in late 2005 when a Southwest Airlines plane skidded off a runway at Chicago's Midway Airport during a snowstorm, crashed through airport fences and ended up on a busy street, killing a young boy in a car.Runway incidents are the No. 1 threat in aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Called runway incursions, they occur about once a day in the U.S. The most serious incursions, involving near-collisions are on the increase.Currently, pilots deciding whether it is safe to land during stormy weather often have to rely on subjective assessments of pilots who just landed, safety experts say.In addition, the data radioed to pilots from stopping-distance tests on runways, usually conducted using pickup trucks or other airport equipment, have little correlation to an aircraft's braking power.The FAA and private industry have been working to design equipment that would be put onboard planes to provide actual stopping-distance data that could be handed off to planes next in line to land. But so far the research has not progressed, the FAA said.The runway safety report issued Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, criticized the FAA for not making progress in the last five years. The report focused on the increase in runway incursions. It also called the FAA's runway safety plan outdated and its safety efforts uncoordinated."The actions with the greatest potential that the FAA could take to prevent runway overruns included addressing the causes of circumstances of overruns, such as improving communication of runway conditions and weather information to flight crews, and encouraging improvements in the use of runway condition and friction measurements, which provide data regarding the slickness of a runway," the report said.The National Transportation Safety Board has investigated 12 runway overruns since 2001 that resulted in 18 fatalities. Most involved smaller private planes, not airliners. Pilot error, including misjudging needed stopping distance and aircraft speed, was responsible for most of the runway overruns, the safety board said.Southwest Airlines, the carrier involved in the Midway accident, is working on technology to address the problem."The rules about making decisions about runway conditions haven't changed in 30 years," said Tim Logan, senior director of operational safety at Southwest. "The facts have proven that we need to do better in winter landings."Southwest has conducted preliminary research to generate aircraft braking-action measurements, Logan said. It involves using a computer processor associated with an aircraft's flight data recorder to calculate the stopping distance."The idea would be that a plane would do the calculation following a landing and upload the data to the next plane's cockpit," Logan said."We need FAA involvement."The FAA is working with NASA, aviation industry groups and foreign governments to develop a device to measure the distance it takes to stop on runways. But it "has not shown much promise," FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-runways_06dec06,1,1185716.story ************* U.S. GAO issues report runway and ramp safety The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on their evaluation of: (1) the progress being made by the FAA in addressing runway safety and what additional measures, if any, could be taken and (2) the factors affecting progress in improving ramp safety and what is being done by FAA and others to address those factors. FAA and aviation stakeholders have taken steps to address runway and ramp safety, including deploying and testing technology designed to prevent runway incursions and overruns; helping to change airport layout, markings, signage, and lighting; and providing training for pilots and air traffic controllers. In addition, FAA has made progress in addressing runway overruns and reports that 70 percent of the runways at U.S. commercial airports substantially comply with runway safety area standards, up from 55 percent in 2000. However, the rate of runway incursions has not decreased over the last 5 years. In addition, FAA has not prepared a national runway safety plan since 2002, despite agency policy that it be updated every 2 to 3 years, resulting in uncoordinated efforts within the agency. Runway safety technology currently being installed is experiencing some operational difficulties with its alerting function, while additional technology to prevent runway collisions is years away from deployment. FAA also lacks data on runway overruns that could be used to analyze the causes and circumstances of such incidents. Air traffic controller fatigue, which may result from regularly working overtime, continues to be a matter of concern for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigates transportation accidents, and other aviation stakeholders. Efforts to improve safety in airport ramp areas are hindered by a lack of complete accident data and standards for ground handling, but the aviation industry is taking steps to address these problems with the goal of reducing ramp accidents. Data from 2001 through 2006 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which investigates occupational accidents, NTSB, and FAA indicated that these agencies had investigated 29 fatal ramp accidents during that time. The majority of the fatalities in these accidents were ramp workers. GAO found no comprehensive nonfatal injury data on ramp accidents and neither federal nor industrywide standards for ramp operations. The federal government has generally taken an indirect role overseeing ramp safety; airlines and airports typically control the ramp areas using their own policies and procedures. Meanwhile, some airlines and airports have initiated their own efforts to address ramp safety, and aviation organizations have begun collecting ramp accident data. (GAO) GAO-08-29: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-08-29(aviation-safety.net) **************** 2 die in Pickaway County airplane crash A pilot and his passenger were killed this morning when their plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Rickenbacker International Airport.The single-engine Cessna Caravan plunged into a brush-covered field southeast of Rickenbacker Parkway and Ashville Pike in northern Pickaway County.The cargo plane, a charter flight for Columbus-based shipper AirNet Systems, departed into heavy snow for Buffalo, N.Y., at 6:55 a.m., officials said.The white aircraft with blue and gold stripes was resting on its top, largely intact, about a mile from the end of the runway.The dead were identified late this afternoon by the Pickaway County sheriff’s office as:James A. Babcock, 58, of Wooster, Ohio, a pilot for Castle Aviation, of North Canton, Ohio.Michael Benton Bratek, 34, of Blasdell, N.Y., an AirNet employee.The 1999-model plane was owned by Avion Capital Corp., of Anchorage, Alaska, and operated by Castle Aviation, officials said.Lt. Robert Radcliff of the Pickaway County sheriff's office said the plane quickly disappeared from radar after its departure.Airport staff and police scrambled to search for a possible wreck. The plane was found by an airport worker about 7:40 a.m., about 45 minutes after it went down, Radcliff said.No distress message was received from the pilot prior to the crash, he said.The plane was carrying checks and other goods for a banking customer, according to AirNet spokesman Bob Lentz.AirNet operates the majority of its flights at night using its own aircraft, but it subcontracts some flights for small shipments such as the plane was carrying this morning, Lentz said.Federal Aviation Administration officials were at the scene and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the way.http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/05/air.html ***** Status: Preliminary Date: 05 DEC 2007 Time: ca 07:00 Type: Cessna 208B Caravan I Super Cargomaster Operating for: Castle Aviation, opf. AirNet Systems Leased from: Castle Aviation Registration: N28MG ? C/n / msn: 208B-0732 First flight: 1999 Engines: 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A Crew: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 Passengers: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: Pickaway County (United States of America) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Columbus-Rickenbacker Airport, OH (LCK/KLCK), United States of America Destination airport: Buffalo Municipal Airport, NY (BUF/KBUF), United States of America Narrative:The Cessna Caravan carried canceled bank checks to Buffalo when it took off from Columbus (LCK) at 06:55. The airplane crashed shortly after takeoff and ended up upside down in a field. Weather reported at Columbus at the time of the accident (ca 07:00 local, 12:00 UTC) was reported as: 051157Z AUTO 07004KT 1 1/4SM -SN M01/M02 A2961 RMK AO2 TSNO= [Wind 070 degerees at 4 knots; visibility 1.25 miles; light snow] It is reported that the Caravan was owned by Castle Aviation, operating on behalf of AirNet Systems.(aviation-safety.net)