18 AUG 2008 _______________________________________ *Excessive TCAS evasion injured 20 on Taiwanese 757 *UK police arrest Aeroflot jet crew on suspicion of intoxication *Rudder grounds Qantas flight *NTSB: Chopper voice recorder suffered heat damage *Fliers cheer laptop policy change *UPDATE ON NTSB INVESTIGATION OF THE AUGUST 5 SHASTA-TRINITY FOREST HELICOPTER CRASH *Holiday flight is diverted after mid-air brawl breaks out *Taiwan ASC issues final report on TCAS event *Southwest names new chief technology officer *************************************** Excessive TCAS evasion injured 20 on Taiwanese 757: inquiry Taiwanese investigators have found that a Boeing 757's unnecessarily fierce descent during a collision-avoidance manoeuvre injured 20 people on board the jet, four of them seriously. Three passengers were left with broken bones and a fourth was knocked unconscious as the pilot put the Far Easten Air Transport aircraft into a dive which, at one point, exceeded 12,000ft/min. Ten other passengers and six flight attendants suffered light injuries and interior cabin fittings were damaged. During the manoeuvre, a response to a 'descend' command from the TCAS collision-avoidance system, the aircraft was subjected to negative forces of up to 1.06g for about 4s, followed by positive 2.48g for 2s as the pilot arrested the descent and levelled. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, in its inquiry into the 16 November 2006 incident, has concluded that the evasive action was "excessive" and that a properly-executed standard response to the TCAS alert would have sufficed. The 757 had been approaching Jeju in Korea along airway B576 when an Inchon area controller instructed it to descend from FL390 to FL310. As the jet neared FL340 the controller realised it could conflict with a Thai Airways International Boeing 777-300 cruising at FL340 in the opposite direction. With the jets separated by 12.2nm (22.6km) horizontally, and just 51ft vertically, both aircrews received initial traffic advisories warning of one another's presence. The controller, also aware of the potential threat, started instructing the 757 to halt its descent before he realised the aircraft had already passed below FL340, and decided to let it continue. The 757's crew, however, did not comprehend the mixed message and levelled the aircraft at FL338. Thirteen seconds after the traffic advisory the TCAS ordered simultaneous collision-avoidance commands, telling the 757 pilots to descend and the 777 crew to climb. "The [757's] flight crew did not complete the TCAS resolution advisory standard operation procedures and commenced an excessive high-rate descent," says the ASC inquiry. "The induced negative g-force resulted in the occupants' injury." It states that maintaining a normal 1,500ft/min descent rate would have provided enough vertical clearance between the aircraft, and points out that the controller was also resolving the conflict in the horizontal plane by instructing the 777 to make a right turn. At their closest point of approach the two aircraft had 0.85nm lateral and 2,611ft vertical separation. Although the 757's crew had illuminated the seat-belt sign a few minutes before the encounter, several passengers were still moving around the cabin either to reach the washrooms or purchase duty-free goods. "Most of the injured passengers lost their protection because their seat-belts were not fastened while the 'fasten seat-belt' sign was still on," says the ASC. Investigators have stressed that the original conflict arose partly from the use of non-standard phraseology and a failure, both by the 757 pilots and the controller, to follow proper TCAS procedures. Although Taipei-based Far Eastern Air Transport started introducing improved TCAS and crew resource management training, the airline suspended operations in May after running into financial problems. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** UK police arrest Aeroflot jet crew on suspicion of intoxication Police have arrested two crew members at Manchester Airport who were preparing to operate an Aeroflot aircraft on a positioning flight to Russia. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police says both men - one aged 55, the other 47 - are from Moscow and were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol while acting as crew. The arrest took place early today, at about 03:10, and the spokesman says inquiries are continuing. Sources familiar with the incident state that the men were due to operate an empty Aeroflot passenger aircraft, thought to be a Boeing 767, on a positioning flight. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Rudder grounds Qantas flight Qantas has been forced to delay a Sydney-bound flight from London by more than 16 hours because of a problem with the plane's rudder. The airline confirmed yesterday that flight QF2 had been grounded due to a ''technical issue''. It is expected to arrive in Sydney at 7.50pm tonight. The Boeing 747-400 was originally due to touch down at 5.30am. The rudder problem is the latest in a string of mishaps to beset Qantas's fleet since an explosion ripped a hole in the fuselage of a Qantas jet en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne, forcing an emergency landing at Manila on July 25. On Friday, the airline confirmed that a small access panel had fallen off a jumbo jet as it flew to Singapore from Melbourne. The problem was discovered during routine checks after the plane arrived at Singapore's Changi Airport. On Wednesday, a Qantas Boeing 767 had a hydraulic failure which affected the plane's steering as it landed at Sydney airport. The plane left a trail of hydraulic fluid as it touched down on its way from Melbourne, forcing the closure of the runway for more than 40 minutes while the spill was mopped up. On August 2, a Qantas Boeing 767 flight turned back for an emergency landing at Sydney airport after a hydraulic fluid leak was discovered. And a domestic flight was forced to return to Adelaide airport after a wheel bay door failed to close on July 29. AAP http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/rudder-grounds-qanta s-flight/1246793.aspx *************** NTSB: Chopper voice recorder suffered heat damage REDDING, Calif.(AP) -Officials investigating a deadly helicopter crash in Northern California say the cockpit voice recorder suffered heat damage that's complicating efforts to extract information from the device. Nine people were killed and four people injured when the firefighting aircraft went down in the remote Shasta-Trinity National Forest last week. The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday the recorder will be sent next week to England, where the device's British manufacturer will help investigators try to recover recordings that could shed light on what caused the crash. The agency says a team of investigators is in Portland, Oregon, this week to examine the chopper's two engines, which were taken there after being recovered from the wreckage. ***************** Fliers cheer laptop policy change GUIDELINES Checkpoint-friendly laptops must: . Have a compartment holding only the laptop; there can be no accessories, such as papers, pens or cellphones inside. . Be able to lie flat on an X-ray belt. . Contain no metal snaps, zippers or buckles in the laptop compartment. . Have no pockets inside or outside of the laptop compartment. Source: Transportation Security Administration ***** WASHINGTON - It's not surprising that Tim Burke is taking an airplane flight Monday, but it is unusual that he's looking forward to it. The reason: Starting on Saturday, some of the nation's airline passengers will not have to remove their laptops at airport checkpoints. "I'm going to feel a sense of freedom," said Burke, CEO of Garven gift-packaging company, who makes weekly flights between his home in Denver and the company's headquarters in Minneapolis. Passengers who have what the Transportation Security Administration calls "checkpoint-friendly" laptop cases - so-called because X-ray machines can easily see through them - will be free to go through security without opening the case. The policy change by the TSA could speed up security lines for the 2 million people who take U.S. flights each day and reduce incidents in which laptops are damaged, lost or forgotten in airports. "Not having to deal with a computer is a big thing," said Burke, who bought a $25 laptop sleeve he thinks he can put through checkpoint X-ray machines with his MacBook inside. FIND MORE STORIES IN: Minneapolis | Transportation Security Administration | Denver | Starting | Washington Dulles International Airport | Briggs | Tim Burke | MacBook The new policy also could create confusion at the nation's 450 commercial airports. The TSA is not certifying or approving laptop cases, brands or styles. Instead, the agency has published guidelines for the checkpoint-friendly cases, essentially requiring that they provide a clear and uncluttered view of the laptop through an X-ray machine. If a TSA screener can't get a clear X-ray view of a laptop to verify that it's not concealing explosives, the screener can order it to be checked. "There's going to be an education issue with consumers. Some people won't understand what checkpoint-friendly is," said Jim Lahren, vice president for marketing at Briggs & Riley Travelware. The company, like many others, tested its laptop cases in June at Washington Dulles International Airport with a TSA screener giving feedback. Lahren said the company is adding embroidered "checkpoint-friendly" labels to cases, which will be in stores in two weeks. He worries that other companies will add similar labels even if their cases don't follow TSA standards. The TSA is posting signs at checkpoints explaining the guidelines to passengers. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-08-14-laptop_N.htm?loc=interstiti alskip *************** UPDATE ON NTSB INVESTIGATION OF THE AUGUST 5 SHASTA-TRINITY FOREST HELICOPTER CRASH ******** Washington, DC - The following is an update on the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of the Shasta- Trinity Forest helicopter crash near Weaverville, California on August 5, 2008, which killed 9 of the 13 persons aboard. The helicopter was a Sikorsky S-61N, registration number N612AZ, manufactured in 1964. The NTSB team has departed the Redding area. A ten-member group, including investigators from the NTSB, the U.S. Forest Service, Sikorsky and General Electric, traveled to Portland, Oregon this week to examine the engines, which were flown there on Monday. That examination is on-going. The helicopter had taken on fuel immediately before the sortie that included the accident flight. Fuel samples from the truck that serviced the aircraft have been obtained and will be tested. Interviews with firefighters who witnessed the accident have concluded. They consistently reported that the helicopter lifted off slower than they would have expected before striking trees and crashing more than 100 yards from the lift off point. The helicopter's cockpit voice recorder arrived at NTSB headquarters Saturday morning, August 9. Upon examination, it was discovered that the solid state chips had been damaged by heat, and it was determined that the best way to try to extract information from the chips without further damaging them would be to use the facilities of the United Kingdom-based manufacturer, Penny and Giles. Because officials of that company were unavailable to assist investigators this week, the recorder will be taken to England by an NTSB investigator next week. The aircraft's maintenance records and records of the pilot's work history continue to be examined. The captain had about 20,000 hours of total flight time and the first officer had 3,000 hours of civilian flight time. *************** Holiday flight is diverted after mid-air brawl breaks out A holiday flight between to Crete had to be diverted after a brawl erupted among drunken passengers, it has been revealed. An eye-witness told how one man began smashing overhead luggage bins before the captain decided to land the plane in Venice. Aoife O'Reilly, 18, a student from Dublin, said the men involved were all over 30 years of age and had obviously been drinking. Futura Gael brawl: A man began smashing overhead compartments She said: 'We were up in the air and two guys - who were surprisingly a lot older than us - started fights. 'Then we had to be redirected to Venice for a couple of hours. The police came on and had to get them off. 'They had a couple of drinks on them, they were extremely aggressive. 'One of the guys half-way through the flight stood up and started smashing the overhead compartments. 'There were loads of girls and a couple of children and I think some people felt a bit threatened.' The charter flight from Dublin to Heraklion was carrying 167 passengers. Dublin-based Futura Gael, which runs charter flights to holiday destinations, apologised to passengers who were delayed by several hours. 'The incident occurred in Italian airspace at approximately 10pm, where a number of passengers were involved in an incident on board,' said a spokesman. "The captain then made the decision, for the safety of all on board, to divert to Venice, where the aircraft was met by members of the Italian police. "Five people were removed from the aircraft by Italian police and the remaining passengers continued their flight approximately two hours later and have arrived safely in Heraklion." The airline said it had launched its own internal investigation. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1045660/Holiday-flight-diverted-mid- air-brawl-breaks-out.html ************** Taiwan ASC issues final report on TCAS event The Taiwanese Aviation Safety Council conluded their investigation into the near collision between a Boeing 757 and a Boeing 777 off Jeju Island, Korea. They concluded that: ICN control made a non-standard call and gave a confusing instruction to the EF306 during its descent when passing FL340. EF306 flight crew did not fully comprehend the ATC instructions, failed to confirm the instructions and stopped descending at 33,800 ft. Both parties did not apply standard radiotelephony procedures and phraseologies. These anomalies contributed to the TCAS event between EF306 and TG659. The EF306 flight crew did not complete the TCAS RA standard operation procedures and commenced an excessive high rate descent. The induced negative G-force resulted in the occupants' injury. There are other 8 findings related to risk which include : The EF306 flight crew did not adequately exhibit good CRM performance in this occurrence, South Sector Radar Control(SSRC) momentarily missed monitoring the approaching situations developed between EF306 and TG659 while concentrating on the radar identification of other aircraft, SSRC did not comply with ATC/TCAS operating procedures and the limited human capability during a sudden occurrence of abnormal situation who was paying attention continuously to a large number of aircraft in a relatively broad service area which was B576 that applying Reduced Vertical Separation Method(RVSM) operations. In addition, most of the injured passenger did not have their seat belts fastened and lost their protection while the fasten seat best sign was still on, the cabin crewmembers did not provide timely injury information to the flight crew, that would have allowed the flight crew to request sufficient medical assistance before landing and the controllers did not aware the importance of the number of injuries and the need for more ambulances to meet the flight upon landing. This caused the necessary number of ambulances to arrive at the airport with delay. (ASC) (aviation-safety.net) **************** Southwest names new chief technology officer Southwest Airlines has hired Bob Young as VP and chief technology officer (CTO). Young will lead the Dallas airline's infrastructure teams including, test and deployment, application and data architecture, tech services operations support and tech services field support and engineering. The carrier says those teams are the backbone of its technology projects supporting the re-launch of its frequent flyer programme in 2009 and expanding its codeshare relationships to accommodate international itineraries. Young brings experience in the areas of data centre operations, architecture and applications development. He was previously employed by a US-based electronics products company. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************