21 AUG 2008 _______________________________________ *Death Toll Climbs To 153 In Spanair Accident *Spain mourns as air disaster probe continues *US investigators identify crashed Spanair MD-82 *American Eagle Airlines Statement About TSA Actions In Chicago *AAIB: final report issued on HS-748 runway overrun at Guernsey *FAA reviewing business jet's certification process in Fort Worth *Congressional Hearing To Be Held On Eclipse 500 Type Certification *Japan Air, All Nippon Ordered to Inspect Bombardier Aircraft *United Airlines Names Donald Dillman Vice President of Operations Control *************************************** Death Toll Climbs To 153 In Spanair Accident Plane Aborted First Takeoff, Returned For Maintenance Reports from the scene of what appears to be one of the worst aviation disasters to strike Spain paint a gruesome picture... as government officials now say at 153 passengers onboard a Spanair airliner were lost when the plane departed the runway on takeoff from Madrid Wednesday afternoon. Spanair, a low-cost airline owned by Scandinavia's SAS, confirmed to Bloomberg 162 passengers, six crewmembers and four nonrev employees were onboard the heavily-loaded MD-82. CNN reported at least 26 survivors have been transported to area hospitals, though that total now appears to have been optimistic. The accident aircraft was 15 years old, and had its last heavy maintenance check performed in January. Though reports from the accident site continue to be in flux, most state the airliner's left engine caught fire as the plane sped down the runway. ANN will continue to update this story throughout the day. Wednesday's accident is the first fatal crash of a civilian airliner in Spain in 23 years. Original Story 1130 EDT: Authorities say at least 45 passengers were lost Wednesday when a Spanair MD-82 overran the runway on takeoff from Madrid Barajas International Airport. Witness reports to CNN indicate Flight 5022 to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands suffered an unknown explosion during takeoff, and skidded off Runway 36R. Thick smoke still poured from the wreckage one hour after the crash. Local media states the aircraft had aborted a previous takeoff attempt, and returned to the gate for maintenance. The flight then departed, about one hour past its scheduled time. Scandinavian flag carrier SAS, which owns Spanair, confirmed the crash. "Spanair regrets to confirm that its flight number JK 5022 from Madrid to Las Palmas de Gran Canarias was involved in an accident at Madrid, at 14.45 hours local time today," the airline said in a statement. "Spanair is doing everything possible to assist the Spanish authorities at this difficult time. Spanair will provide further information as soon as it becomes available." The Associated Press quotes Spanish emergency ministers stating at least 20 of the reported 166 passengers and crew onboard were killed, and 57 were injured. "It is a certain catastrophe," one unnamed official with SAMUR, Madrid's emergency response force, told the AP. The flight was operating as a codeshare for Lufthansa. ANN will update this story as more information becomes available. FMI: www.spanair.com aero-news.net ************** Spain mourns as air disaster probe continues Investigators continue to probe cause of air disaster at Madrid's Barajas Airport MD-82 crashed while taking off, killing 153 people; 19 people survived (CNN) -- Spain declared three days of mourning Thursday as investigators continued probing what caused a passenger jet to crash on takeoff in Madrid, killing 153 people. Passengers said they saw flames and then heard an explosion moments before Spanair Flight JK5022, carrying 172 people, crashed at Madrid's Barajas Airport Wednesday afternoon. There were 19 survivors, including two infants, Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said. All were being treated at a hospital, Alvaraez said. Watch as the wounded arrive at a hospital > Speculation Thursday centered on a plane part that had to be fixed after the flight first tried to take off. Javier Mendoza, a spokesman for Spanair, said that the plane had overheating problems with its air intake valve, located beneath the cockpit, during its initial takeoff, in comments reported by The Associated Press. The flight had originally been scheduled to depart at 1 p.m. local time. The plane returned to the gate and the valve was fixed by technicians turning it off, said Mendoza, explaining that this was standard procedure. He added that it was uncertain whether the valve was linked to the subsequent crash. The United States National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigation team to Madrid because the aircraft, a twin-engined MD-82, is American-made, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said. In Madrid, where mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon called for three days of mourning beginning, thousands observed a five-minute silence at 12 p.m. local time Thursday. The city of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands -- where the plane was headed -- also has declared three days of mourning. The Spanish flag at the Olympics has flown at half mast, while the Spanish football team wore black armbands for its friendly match against Denmark last night. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero cut short a vacation to arrive at the airport Wednesday evening to speak to families of the victims and offer his condolences. "The government will do all it can to support the families in this difficult situation," he said. "The whole government, logically, is affected, very affected, as are all Spanish citizens, by this tragedy." Watch as relatives of survivors start arriving at the airport > The flight was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, two hours away, when it left the runway. Local officials said one of the plane's two engines caught fire before it came to rest in a gully about 2:45 p.m. local time. The crash sent up a plume of smoke visible from several kilometers away. At the time of the crash, weather conditions were hot and clear. A survivor told Spain's ABC newspaper that she and other passengers heard an explosion as the plane was taking off. "She said they could see the fire, ... and then it was not even a minute or so they heard [something] blow up," reporter Carlota Fomina told CNN. "They were about 200 meters [660 feet] in the air, and then they were landing but not crashing. They were landing, like, little by little; it was not like they [fell] down suddenly." Watch smoke rising from airport > The plane was carrying 162 passengers, four non-working crew members and six working crew members, Spanair said. After contacting families, the airline published the names of those aboard on its Web site. The aircraft was carrying seven passengers from Lufthansa Flight 2554, according to the airline. Spanair, a low-cost airline that has a flight-sharing agreement with Lufthansa, is owned by SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Barajas Airport closed after the crash but reopened more than two hours later, allowing a limited number of takeoffs and landings, an airport official said. See a map of the airport > Barajas airport, eight miles (13 km) northeast of central Madrid, is Spain's busiest, handling more than 40 million passengers a year. In December 2006, two men died after a bomb attack at the airport which the Spanish government blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA. The fatal crash was the first at the airport since December 1983, when 93 people were killed as two Spanish airliners collided. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/21/plane.crash.madrid/index.html *************** US investigators identify crashed Spanair MD-82 US investigators have identified the Spanair Boeing MD-82 which crashed while attempting to depart Madrid Barajas Airport today. The National Transportation Safety Board gives the aircraft's registration as EC-HFP. Flight's ACAS database shows the aircraft to be a 15-year old MD-82 owned by lessor GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS). The twin-jet was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines. It had accumulated over 31,000 flight hours and more than 27,000 cycles. Five NTSB representatives, led by John Lovell, have been assigned to assist with the investigation. More than 170 passengers and crew were on board the aircraft, bound for Las Palmas. There are no firm casualty figures but reports suggest up to 150 were killed in the crash. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** American Eagle Airlines Statement About TSA Actions In Chicago American Eagle Airlines agrees with the TSA that the inspection process is an important layer of security detail. American Eagle is confident that it followed all proper security procedures for securing aircraft overnight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Discussing specific security procedures in detail in a public forum could compromise the security process. On the morning of Aug. 19, a TSA transportation security inspector used a sensitive piece of equipment on nine American Eagle aircraft to hoist himself up from the ground onto several jet bridges at O'Hare. Such unorthodox inspection techniques required additional maintenance inspections per FAA procedures, causing delays to approximately 40 flights and inconveniencing hundreds of customers. If not observed by vigilant Eagle employees in Chicago, the actions of this inspector would have been unknown and could have jeopardized the safety of our customers and crew because of potential damage to the sensitive equipment mounted on the aircraft fuselage. American Eagle is also concerned that the TSA inspector's method of physically hoisting himself up to the jet bridge using a part of the aircraft could have placed him in physical danger. FMI: www.aa.com aero-news.net **************** AAIB: final report issued on HS-748 runway overrun at Guernsey The U.K. AAIB released the final report of their investigation into a serious incident at Guernsey Airport in March 2006. The HS-748 aircraft was landing at Guernsey at the end of a two-sector cargo service from Coventry and Jersey. The Category I ILS approach on Runway 27 at Guernsey was flown in weather conditions that were poor but acceptable for making the approach and there was ample fuel on board for a diversion. The aircraft was seen to touch down between 400 and 550 metres from the 'stop' end of the runway and overran by some 145 metres onto the grass beyond the paved surface. There were no injuries. Investigation by the AAIB revealed no aircraft or runway deficiencies to account for the overrun. During the final approach and landing there were substantial divergences from the company Operations Manual. This operator had previously been the subject of close monitoring by the CAA over a sustained period and its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) was later suspended. The investigation identified the following causal factors: (i) The flight crew did not comply with the Standard Operating Procedures for a Category I ILS. (ii) The commander's decision to land or go around was delayed significantly beyond the intersection of the Decision Altitude and the ILS glideslope. (iii) After landing, the crew did not immediately apply maximum braking or withdraw the flight fine pitch stops, as advised in the Operations Manual. (iv) The operator's training staff lacked knowledge of the Standard Operating Procedures. The investigation identified the following contributory factor: (i) Close monitoring by the CAA had not revealed the depth of the lack of knowledge of Standard Operating Procedures within the operator's flight operations department until after this incident. (AAIB) (aviation-safety.net **************** FAA reviewing business jet's certification process in Fort Worth WASHINGTON - Lawmakers plan to press the Federal Aviation Administration next month about why a small jet was certified in Fort Worth in 2006 over the objections of some test pilots and engineers. The U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general also is investigating the process used to certify the Eclipse 500, a light business jet that was marketed to air taxi services. The FAA briefly grounded all Eclipse 500s in June to inspect throttle controls after both engines of a jet became stuck while the pilots were trying to land in Chicago. On Wednesday, the FAA announced that it had started a 30-day review of the Eclipse's certification, focusing on questions surrounding aircraft safety, electronics and stall speeds. A team that includes former Boeing safety executive Jerry Mack will conduct the review, the FAA said. FAA employees complained about "several outstanding safety/regulatory issues" in a grievance they filed shortly after the Eclipse was certified Sept. 30, 2006. The review "is based on concerns raised by our employees and the inspector general," said Alison Duquette, an FAA spokeswoman. Eclipse Aviation Corp. chief executive Roel Pieper said in a prepared statement that "this special review will uncover what we already know - that the Eclipse 500 marks the safest new airplane introduction into service in 20 years." The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee plans to invite federal investigators and former Eclipse employees to testify at the Sept. 17 hearing, said Jim Berard, a spokesman for the committee. The examination of the Eclipse would mark the second review of FAA oversight since Democrats took control of Congress last year. The investigations have focused on the actions of regional offices in North Texas to point out bigger problems, such as whether regulators became too cozy with airlines and aircraft manufacturers. Rep. James L. Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat who is chairman of the transportation committee, directed an investigation of FAA oversight of Southwest Airlines earlier this year. The inquiry found that FAA supervisors failed to act on earlier warnings about maintenance problems at the carrier. The FAA fined Southwest Airlines $10.2 million for failing to inspect aging jets for fuselage damage. The FAA's review of the Eclipse jet would be the seventh review of its kind in the last 10 years, the FAA said. It is due to be finished in time to present to the committee on Sept. 17. Tomaso DiPaolo, a union representative for FAA aircraft engineers, said the Eclipse was certified on the last day of the FAA's 2006 fiscal year. The performance plan that year tied some FAA managers' compensation to the certification of such very light jets, which were supposed to revolutionize air travel for business travelers. "On Sept. 29, there were several outstanding issues, and the engineers were not willing to sign off on the type certificate," Mr. DiPaolo said. "And when they got back on the following Monday, they found out the airplane had been approved." Certification of the Eclipse was handled by the FAA's rotorcraft directorate, which is headquartered in Fort Worth. The employees' grievance does not detail their objections, but a former FAA inspector said one complaint involved the Eclipse's stall-warning system, which malfunctioned by activating when pilots were on a safe approach and landing. The FAA said service difficulty reports filed by Eclipse 500 operators included problems with stall speeds. "The team will look at whether or not any of these issues were raised during the certification process and if any of the issues are currently a threat to safety," the FAA said in a prepared statement. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/082108eclipsejet.3fe ed1b.html *************** Congressional Hearing To Be Held On Eclipse 500 Type Certification FAA Confirms Cert Review Now Underway Is it another sign of potentially serious problems with the inaugural very-light-jet... or politically-motivated posturing? A Congressional hearing will be held next month to review the type certificate issued to Eclipse Aviation for the EA500 VLJ, following claims by some certification workers the jet was issued its TC by the FAA long before it was ready. The hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Congressman James Oberstar (right), will be held September 17. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association -- which, in addition to its primary role in representing controllers, also represents FAA aircraft certification workers -- filed a grievance in October 2006, alleging "several outstanding safety/regulatory issues" raised by several engineers and test pilots involved with the EA500's certification. The grievance didn't mention specific issues with the plane, and was denied by the FAA... which stands by its certification. That wasn't the end of the story, however. Having been shut down by the FAA, the inspectors took their concerns directly to the Department of Transportation, and to Congress... where they found an audience. As ANN reported, reports surfaced in July Oberstar's committee was preparing to launch a hearing following an investigation by the DOT Inspector General. Oberstar is no stranger to headlines involving aviation safety. The Minnesota Democrat spearheaded this year's investigation into the FAA's questionable oversight of maintenance compliance at the nation's airlines... efforts that led to the highly-publicized groundings of MD-80s at American Airlines in April, and a $10.2 million fine issued by the FAA against Southwest Airlines for failing to conduct fuselage fatigue inspections on its oldest Boeing 737s. Separately, NATCA also has a well-publicized beef with the FAA. The agency forced a new contract on controllers in June 2006, after FAA officials declared an impasse in negotiations with the union... and since then, NATCA hasn't missed an opportunity to call the FAA on the carpet. Certification of the Eclipse 500 was one of the agency's highest-profile projects in some time. That said, it's little secret the Eclipse 500 has suffered a rocky service record since the plane entered serial production in January 2007. The FAA has issued a number of Airworthiness Directives for the plane, including for issues involving icing in the plane's pitot and AOA probes. In June, the FAA issued an Emergency AD following the failure of an Eclipse 500 throttle quadrant, which led to an emergency, engine-out landing at Chicago's Midway Airport. Eclipse developed fixes for both issues. A number of pilots have also blown maingear tires on landing. Though Eclipse maintains that issue is tied to pilots attempted to land the plane at higher-than-book speeds, the company is working to certify a more durable tire. Critics of the company (a very vocal group) accuse the planemaker of sacrificing build quality in its quest to reach production rates as high as four planes per day... a total Eclipse has not come close to achieving. Those naysayers point to the high number of maintenance squawks reported by Eclipse 500 owners in the field -- including poor fit-and-finish quality, avionics problems, and failures of yaw dampener and autopilot servos -- as clear evidence of this problem. The circumstances under which Eclipse eventually earned its TC has also raised eyebrows. Former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey awarded Eclipse with a provisional TC at AirVenture 2006, about a year later than the company had hoped. The "provisional" nature of the certification was due to the company's continued efforts to resolve avionics integration issues. Eclipse also had to redesign the plane's tip tanks to meet lightning safety guidelines... a requirement that led Eclipse to implement a slate of performance-improving airframe modifications, to compensate for the performance hit from the larger, aluminum tanks. The FAA issued Eclipse its full TC on September 30, 2006... a Saturday, and the end of the FAA's fiscal year. The certification workers who brought their complaints to the DOT questioned whether the odd timing of the issuance was tied at all to performance-based pay bonuses for FAA higher-ups, an accusation the FAA has vehemently denied. FAA Confirms Certification Review The FAA acknowledged Wednesday that on August 11, the agency began a 30-day review of the Eclipse 500. Jerry Mack, a former Boeing safety executive, is leading an oversight team of seven FAA experts with specialties such as flight testing, avionics, and certification. None of the team members were part of the original certification group. "The FAA convened this Special Certification Review (SCR) team to look at: aircraft safety, certification of aircraft trim, flaps, screen blanking, and stall speeds," the agency writes. "These issues were the subject of Service Difficulty Reports (SDRs) that have been filed by operators since the aircraft was certificated on September 30, 2006. The team will look at whether or not any of these issues were raised during the certification process and if any of the issues are currently a threat to safety." Eclipse tells ANN it will cooperate fully with the FAA in the matter, and that the planemaker is confident the review will find the Eclipse 500 was in full compliance with all federal regulations at the time of its certification. "Without a doubt, this special review will uncover what we already know -- that the Eclipse 500 marks the safest new airplane introduction into service in 20 years," said Eclipse CEO Roel Pieper. "Customer safety has always been a priority at Eclipse, and we look forward to this investigation dispelling any inaccuracies about the certification of this airplane for once and for all." Eclipse also claims that with more than 5,000 test hours on six test aircraft, the EA500 is the most-tested Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 23 (general aviation) aircraft in decades. The company also implies the high number of service-related issues for the plane is tied to the relatively large number of Eclipse 500s already in service: in 20 months of customer shipments, Eclipse has delivered 245 aircraft, and accumulated more than 32,000 total fleet hours. The FAA notes such certification reviews are regularly conducted by the agency. "In the past 10 years, the agency has conducted special reviews on the Liberty XL-2 (2008), Mitsubishi MU-2B (2005), Cessna 208 (2005), Twin Cessna 400 Series Models (2004), Raytheon 390 (2004), and the Beechcraft T34 (2003)," the agency said. FMI: www.faa.gov, www.natca.org, www.house.gov/oberstar/, www.eclipseaviation.com aero-news.net *************** Japan Air, All Nippon Ordered to Inspect Bombardier Aircraft Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. were ordered by Japan's transport ministry to inspect aircraft made by Bombardier Inc. after a damaged engine part was found on a Bombardier plane last week. The ministry told the carriers to inspect engine parts of 25 Bombardier Q400 aircraft operated by the airlines' units, it said in a statement today. A Japan Air unit discovered a damaged turbine blade on one of its Bombardier aircraft on Aug. 12 after a take-off from Itami airport near Osaka was aborted due to a noise from the engine. No one aboard the plane was injured. *************** United Airlines Names Donald Dillman Vice President of Operations Control CHICAGO, Aug 20, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- UAL Corporation (United Airlines), today announced that Donald Dillman has been named vice president of Operations Control. In this position, Dillman will oversee United's Operations Control Center and have responsibility for decisions affecting more than 1,600 daily mainline flights. He will have operational management responsibilities for flight dispatch, system controllers, aircraft routers, maintenance workload planners, air traffic control coordination and strategy, meteorology and operational engineering. "Captain Dillman's extensive experience in operations will help us to further increase system-wide reliability and operational performance," said Joe Kolshak, senior vice president-Operations for United. "His focus first and foremost will be on enhancing safety while driving top-tier on-time performance to the benefit of our customers and employees." As part of United's focus on improving system-wide reliability and performance, the company is adopting industry best practices and forming an Operations Control Center that will centralize many of the operational functions. Dillman joins United following his distinguished career at American Airlines, where he spent 24 years in various leadership positions. Most recently, Dillman was managing director for American's operations center, where he was responsible for overseeing the operating decisions for more than 2,200 daily flights. Previously, Dillman served as managing director for flight operations, where he developed all flight-related policies and procedures, managed test flight activity, new technology development, fuel conservation programs and other continuous improvement initiatives. Earlier, Dillman served as a Chief Pilot, flew the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and was a training supervisor for several aircraft types, including Airbus A300 and Fokker F100 aircraft. Dillman began his career with American as a pilot in 1984. Dillman will assume his role on September 8, and will report to Kolshak. He will be based at United's operations center in suburban Chicago. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/united-airlines-names-donald-dillman/s tory.aspx?guid=%7B27FE4BDC-C44F-48B3-93E5-6E273AF19582%7D&dist=hppr ***************