25 JAN 2008 _______________________________________ *UK AAIB issues update on Boeing 777 accident at London-Heathrow *NTSB Issues Update On British Airways 777 Investigation *SAS finds problems during technical examination of grounded DHC-8-Q400 planes *Stowaways Found on Ethiopian Jet *US helps Vietnam upgrade aviation safety *O'Hare Radar System Is Criticized *Flight instructor gets $5 million for catching '20th' hijacker *It's A Record! Cessna Delivered 387 Business Jets In 2007 *************************************** UK AAIB issues update on Boeing 777 accident at London-Heathrow Since the issue of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) 1st Preliminary Report on Friday 18 January 2008 at 1700 hrs, work has continued on all fronts to identify why neither engine responded to throttle lever inputs during the final approach. The 150 tonne aircraft was moved from the threshold of Runway 27L to an airport apron on Sunday evening, allowing the airport to return to normal operations. The AAIB, sensitive to the needs of the industry including Boeing, Rolls Royce, British Airways and other Boeing 777 operators and crews, is issuing this update to provide such further factual information as is now available. As previously reported, whilst the aircraft was stabilised on an ILS approach with the autopilot engaged, the autothrust system commanded an increase in thrust from both engines. The engines both initially responded but after about 3 seconds the thrust of the right engine reduced. Some eight seconds later the thrust reduced on the left engine to a similar level. The engines did not shut down and both engines continued to produce thrust at an engine speed above flight idle, but less than the commanded thrust. Recorded data indicates that an adequate fuel quantity was on board the aircraft and that the autothrottle and engine control commands were performing as expected prior to, and after, the reduction in thrust. All possible scenarios that could explain the thrust reduction and continued lack of response of the engines to throttle lever inputs are being examined, in close cooperation with Boeing, Rolls Royce and British Airways. This work includes a detailed analysis and examination of the complete fuel flow path from the aircraft tanks to the engine fuel nozzles. Further factual information will be released as and when available. (AAIB) (aviation-safety.net) *************** NTSB Issues Update On British Airways 777 Investigation Engines Initially Responded To Inputs; Right Turbofan Throttled Back First The United Kingdom's Air Accident Investigation Board (AAIB), which is leading the investigation into the January 17, 2008, accident in which a British Airways Boeing 777- 236ER landed short of Runway 27L at London Heathrow Airport, issued a report Thursday on the progress of their investigation. At their request, the National Transportation Safety Board is assisting in the dissemination of the AAIB report, which follows: Accident to a Boeing 777-236, G-YMMM, on 17 January 2008 at 1243 hrs Initial Report Update 23 January 2008 Since the issue of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) 1st Preliminary Report on Friday 18th January 2008 at 1700 hrs, work has continued on all fronts to identify why neither engine responded to throttle lever inputs during the final approach. The 150 tonne aircraft was moved from the threshold of Runway 27L to an airport apron on Sunday evening, allowing the airport to return to normal operations. The AAIB, sensitive to the needs of the industry including Boeing, Rolls Royce, British Airways and other Boeing 777 operators and crews, is issuing this update to provide such further factual information as is now available. As previously reported, whilst the aircraft was stabilised on an ILS approach with the autopilot engaged, the autothrust system commanded an increase in thrust from both engines. The engines both initially responded but after about 3 seconds the thrust of the right engine reduced. Some eight seconds later the thrust reduced on the left engine to a similar level. The engines did not shut down and both engines continued to produce thrust at an engine speed above flight idle, but less than the commanded thrust. Recorded data indicates that an adequate fuel quantity was on board the aircraft and that the autothrottle and engine control commands were performing as expected prior to, and after, the reduction in thrust. All possible scenarios that could explain the thrust reduction and continued lack of response of the engines to throttle lever inputs are being examined, in close cooperation with Boeing, Rolls Royce and British Airways. This work includes a detailed analysis and examination of the complete fuel flow path from the aircraft tanks to the engine fuel nozzles. Further factual information will be released as and when available. FMI: www.ntsb.gov aero-news.net ************** SAS finds problems during technical examination of grounded DHC-8-Q400 planes SAS has made a thorough technical examination of the landing gear on the Dash 8 Q400 aircraft that were taken out of service after the third accident involving this aircraft type in autumn 2007. The technical department has found problems in 63 per cent of the solenoid sequence valves (SSV) on the inspected aircraft that were permanently grounded after the accidents last autumn. The Danish Accident Investigation Board has previously concluded that a construction error in the actuators was the cause of the first two accidents involving a Dash 8 Q400. The Accident Investigation Board has not presented any conclusion on the reason behind the third accident, but has in a provisional report stated that the most likely reason is that an O ring came loose from the SSV valve in the hydraulics system in combination with the following fault-tracing. The SSV valve also has a construction error and is currently being modified by the supplier. According to SAS, they "had no possibility of [...] discovering these problems, or the undetected error that caused the first two accidents, in the course of its maintenance work". (SAS) (aviation-safety.net) ************** Stowaways Found on Ethiopian Jet WASHINGTON (AP) - Two men who stowed away on a flight from Ethiopia to Dulles International Airport were being held on misdemeanor charges Thursday, immigration officials said. The men were found Wednesday during a security inspection of the Ethiopian Airlines jet, said Pat Reilly, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are being held on charges of entering the United States without inspection. They likely face deportation if they acted alone, but there could be more serious charges if investigators learn that others were involved or if the men were found to be testing security, Reilly said. "We do not know if others are involved," she said. "If it turned out that they were smuggled into the country, there would be a criminal investigation." The flight originated in Ethiopia, Reilly said, but she did not know if there were any stopovers where the men might have gotten on the plane. Ethiopian Airlines' office in Alexandria, Va., was closed and not accepting messages by phone when contacted Thursday evening by The Associated Press. Ethiopian Airlines officials told WUSA-TV that the men had hidden in the plane's ceiling. If the men got on the plane in Ethiopia, U.S. investigators can work with security officials there to determine how the breach happened, Reilly said. ************** US helps Vietnam upgrade aviation safety HANOI (AFP) - The United States will help Vietnam upgrade aviation security to enable state-run carrier Vietnam Airlines to launch direct flights to the United States, the US embassy said Thursday. The US Trade and Development Agency is providing 1.4 million dollars to upgrade Vietnam's aviation safety oversight capability to international standards, the embassy said in a statement. Vietnam Airlines recently filed for a foreign air carrier permit with the US Transportation Department that would allow for direct air services between Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles via Osaka, Japan. "With Vietnam's recent accession to the World Trade Organization, direct air service between the United States and Vietnam offers opportunities for increased bilateral trade and tourism," the US statement said. *************** O'Hare Radar System Is Criticized CHICAGO (AP) - A new ground radar system designed to prevent runway collisions at the nation's busiest airports loses accuracy during snowstorms at O'Hare Airport and can fail to see snowplows, baggage carts and other vehicles, the president of the local air traffic controllers union warned on Thursday. Joseph Bellino, president of the O'Hare affiliate of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the system is putting the public in danger. "When we say `cleared to land,' we're saying that runway is clear of all obstructions on the runway. If it's snowing, we say it, but we're keeping our fingers crossed," he said. The Federal Aviation Administration denied the situation is as bad as Bellino portrayed it, and said it usually takes a year to fine-tune the software to account for differences in airport layout and weather. The system has been in operation at O'Hare - the nation's second-busiest airport and one of its snowiest - since July. "The controllers union leadership shouldn't be trying to scare the public," said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. He said ground radar is a "secondary tool" used by controllers trained to use their eyes and conversations with pilots to avoid problems. Molinaro also said the system is better than its predecessor at helping controllers keep track of objects other than planes. The old system sometimes produced false or duplicate images during heavy rain. No collisions have been blamed on the new system, called Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X, or ASDE-X. Jeff Gilde, president of Louisville International Airport's controllers local, said that on the eve of the Kentucky Derby in early May, a heavy rain "made the system go completely blank, and it did not come back up." "Basically, the tower visibility was zero. So we could not see out the window and we could not see anybody on radar," he said. "And we actually had an aircraft cross in front of another aircraft that was landing." Gilde said most of the airport's initial problems with the system have worked out, but estimated false system alarms result in a plane not being allowed to immediately land at Louisville once every couple weeks. "For a safety system to be 100 percent effective, it should work 100 percent of the time, and this does not," Gilde said. The technology was first installed at the Milwaukee airport in 2003 after years of testing. It is now in operation at 11 airports, with plans for 24 more by 2011, according to the FAA. The FAA acknowledged that during a heavy snowstorm earlier this month, ASDE-X had trouble correctly identifying long lines of snowplows and other movements on the ground at O'Hare. In a statement, the agency said it is looking into whether the problem could be solved by equipping ground vehicles with transponders - electronic devices used by airplanes to send out an identifying signal. The Milwaukee and St. Louis airports had similar trouble during the first year ASDE-X was in operation there, Molinaro said. On average, it snows 32 days a year at O'Hare, according to the National Weather Service. So far this winter, it has snowed 37 days at O'Hare. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reported last month that O'Hare had the nation's second-highest number of near-collisions on runways between 2001 and 2006. Bellino said he is particularly concerned about construction trucks at O'Hare as part of a $15 billion expansion. Air traffic controllers in the Chicago region have also complained recently that they are weary and more error-prone because of repeated six-day work weeks. The FAA has said staffing is adequate. But the Transportation Department has opened an investigation of work conditions at O'Hare and FAA installations in the suburbs. *************** Flight instructor gets $5 million for catching '20th' hijacker Minnesota instructor notices Zacarias Moussaoui's odd behavior, tells bosses His bosses, at first reluctant, eventually alert FBI who arrest Moussaoui Moussaoui is considered the would-be "20th" hijacker for 9/11 attack Clarence "Clancy" Prevost receives $5 million from State Department Thursday WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Minnesota flight instructor who notified his bosses of student Zacarias Moussaoui's suspicious behavior received a $5 million reward Thursday from the State Department, two government officials told CNN. Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted in 2006 of conspiring to kill Americans on September 11, 2001. Clarence "Clancy" Prevost was an instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota, when Moussaoui was a student there. Moussaoui, sometimes called the "20th hijacker," is the only person charged and convicted in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Prevost received the reward from the State Department's Rewards for Justice program in a closed ceremony at the State Department, the officials told CNN. Moussaoui, an admitted al Qaeda operative, was prevented from participating in the 9/11 attacks because he was in jail. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in connection with his role in 9/11. He is held at the federal Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado. Prevost, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot, has never spoken publicly about Moussaoui, but testified during the sentencing phase of Moussaoui's trial. He said that by the second day of teaching Moussaoui, he heard that Moussaoui paid the bulk of his $8,300 tuition for a flight simulator course in hundred-dollar bills. And that made Prevost think the FBI should be notified. He testified that he found Moussaoui to be a "pretty genial guy" until a lunchtime conversation turned to the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca made by Muslims during Ramadan. Prevost wanted to know if Moussaoui could explain the Hajj to him and asked, "Are you Muslim?" Prevost testified that Moussaoui responded by raising his voice and saying, "I am nothing!" Prevost testified that he approached his managers, and recalled telling them, "We don't know anything about this guy, and we're teaching him how to throw the switches on a 747." But he said his managers at first told him Moussaoui had paid his money and they didn't care. Prevost testified that he told his bosses, "We'll care when there's a hijacking and the lawsuits come in." He testified Moussaoui's stated goal of learning to fly from Heathrow Airport in London to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport was unusual from the beginning, because Moussaoui had 50-odd hours of flight time on a single-engine propeller plane and no pilot's license. Prevost testified he usually had students with more than 600 hours of flight time, and that they are usually professional pilots looking to upgrade their skills and fly bigger jets for a higher salary. But Moussaoui, he testified, "had no frame of reference whatsoever with a commercial airliner. After 15 minutes I said, 'Let's get lunch.' " Prevost said he was worried that if Moussaoui completed the three four-hour 747 simulator sessions he had booked, he would know how to operate a real 747. He testified that he let Moussaoui sit in on another student's simulator session, but he never got any of his own sessions. A day after Prevost went to his bosses with his concerns, two Pan Am program managers called the FBI, leading to Moussaoui's arrest on an immigration violation. Moussaoui had stayed in the United States past his allowed 90 days on his French passport. In November, the Air Line Pilots Association, International, presented Prevost with its 2007 Presidential Citation Award for his efforts to alert authorities to Moussaoui, according to an ALPA statement. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/24/moussaoui.reward/?iref=mpstoryview *************** It's A Record! Cessna Delivered 387 Business Jets In 2007 Company Reports Order Backlog Of $12.6 Billion 2007 was a good year for piston aircraft... and a great year for jets. On Thursday, Cessna announced it delivered 1,274 aircraft in 2007, including first deliveries of four models: the newly acquired (from Columbia Aircraft) Cessna 350 and 400 single-engine pistons, the all-new Citation Mustang entry level jet, and the upgraded Citation Encore+ business jet. During the year, Cessna delivered 387 business jets, 80 turboprops and 807 piston aircraft. In 2006, the company recorded deliveries of 307 business jets, 67 turboprops and 865 piston aircraft. "From 2005 to 2007, our Citation deliveries increased by 130 jets, a 50 percent increase," said Jack J. Pelton, chairman, president and CEO of Cessna. "We're taking a smart approach, using the Textron Six Sigma program, in managing this growth to ensure our quality and customer support remains high and we maintain sustainable employment levels." Also supporting the company's growth in 2007 was the continued expansion of the international business jet market, according to Cessna. Business jet orders outside the United States accounted for 53 percent of Cessna's total orders in 2007, up from 48 percent in 2006. The company plans to deliver 470 business jets in 2008. Cessna's revenues for 2007 were $5.0 billion, up from $4.2 billion a year ago. The company's backlog grew to an all-time high $12.6 billion and total employment grew to more than 15,000. FMI: www.cessna.com aero-news.net ***************