22 AUG 2008 _______________________________________ *Spanair: Crashed MD-82 delayed by temperature gauge repair *American Eagle could face fines related to TSA gaffe *New guidelines show shorter A380 separation distances *FAA proposes inspections of E-Jet evacuation slides *NTSB: Firefighting chopper lost power before crash *Regulators seek $18,000 penalty for United **************************************** Spanair: Crashed MD-82 delayed by temperature gauge repair Spanair says an outside temperature indicator was the focus of the technical problem which initially delayed the departure of the Boeing MD-82 involved in yesterday's accident at Madrid. The aircraft, bound for Las Palmas, had been scheduled to depart at 13:00 but returned to the gate after the crew reported a technical fault. A spokeswoman for Spanair says that the captain reported a "damaged exterior temperature indicator" which was subsequently "repaired according to normal procedures". Spanair does not believe the aircraft was in an abnormal condition during the subsequent fatal attempt at departure at around 14:45. All but 19 of the 172 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were killed after it left the runway during take-off, broke up and was consumed by fire. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* American Eagle could face fines related to TSA gaffe The US Transportation Security Administration may levy civil penalties against American Eagle Airlines after one of its inspectors was able to gain access to the interior of seven out of nine Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft at Chicago O'Hare International airport on 19 August. Inspection results are being reviewed and depending on the outcome, TSA says it could penalize the regional. A TSA spokeswoman declined to explain the administration's reasoning behind a potential penalty. An American Eagle spokeswoman says, "We are unaware of any violations," adding she is confident the airline followed procedures for securing aircraft overnight. However, the carrier says in a statement it is concerned about the "unorthodox inspection techniques" used at roughly 0530 on 19 August. An airline employee noticed a man hoisting himself up to the jet bridge close to an ERJ-145 using the pitot tube on the side of the aircraft near the closed and locked cockpit door for leverage, an American Eagle spokeswoman says. The TSA agent admitted to using the same procedure on a total of nine aircraft, all of which the airline then pulled out of service. The agent gained interior access to seven of the regional jets. Inspections, which took up to two hours to complete, revealed no damage and all aircraft were back into service by 1045 on 19 August, the airline says "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," the carrier says in a statement. TSA says it was not its intent to cause delay or potential damage to the aircraft as a result of its inspections. "TSA took immediate steps to re-enforce education about sensitive equipment located on the exterior of a plane," the administration adds. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** New guidelines show shorter A380 separation distances Airbus appears to be moving closer to reaching its goal of establishing wake vortex separation distances for the A380 similar to the Boeing 747 based on revised guidance from ICAO. Previous interim guidance issued by the international regulatory body outlined an approach and departure of 6nm separation for a heavy aircraft such as the 747, 8nm for medium or small aircraft in the A320 category and 10 nm for light category aircraft. Those values were still 2nm, 3nm and 4nm greater than the separation recommended for heavy aircraft such as the 747. An air traffic guidance document issued today by the UK CAA cites new ICAO regulations for the A380 wake vortex separation that drops the distance to 7nm for medium and small aircraft and 8nm for light aircraft. Guidelines for heavy aircraft remained unchanged. Through the A380 development programme Airbus conducted extensive testing of A380 separation distances including back-to-back tests of the A380 and 747 using lidar wake vortex detection technology and examined the behaviour of an A320 flying behind the A380 with a wake vortex visualisation feature. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** FAA proposes inspections of E-Jet evacuation slides The US FAA today proposed an airworthiness directive that will require US operators of 144 Embraer E-170 and E-190 jets to perform visual inspections of the aircraft's emergency evacuation slides. The proposed AD follows a similar directive issued by Brazilian authorities in March after an E-Jet escape slide system was found with tie-down straps, temporary fasteners used for escape slide packing, left in place. "The non-removal of the tie-down straps does not allow the aircraft door to reach the fully open position" and prevents the deployment of the escape slide system in an emergency evacuation, the AD states. Once finalized, the AD will use guidance from a December 2007 Embraer service bulletin and require operators to inspect the escape slides within 600h, and cut any remaining tie-down straps. FAA estimates the inspections will take approximately 2h per aircraft to complete. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Virgin Atlantic is in talks to pull out of its Nigerian venture, Virgin Nigeria. "It is regrettable that events have caused us to review our shareholding and whether it is appropriate that the Virgin brand should remain linked to Virgin Nigeria," Virgin President Richard Branson said. He accused the government of "mafioso style" tactics. Nigeria's new government is forcing the airline to move its domestic flights to another terminal at Lagos' international airport. Virgin Nigeria argues it needs to operate both international and domestic flights out of one terminal to ensure smooth connections. Virgin owns 49% of the airline, and 51% is held by local Nigerian investors. According to Branson, talks with potential buyers have been going on for several weeks. Branson claims that Virgin Nigeria's domestic lounge was smashed by thugs recently to increase the pressure to move. "The behavior of the authorities was similar to the way the mafioso behaved in the U.S. in the 1930s and not what I would have expected from the authorities in Nigeria," Branson says. "If Virgin Nigeria can be treated in this way, can any company in the world seriously consider investing in Nigeria in the future?" http://www.aviationweek.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/publication/aviatio ndaily/loggedin/AvnowStoryDisplay.do?fromChannel=aviationdaily&pubKey=aviati ondaily&issueDate=2008-08-22&story=xml/aviationdaily_xml/2008/08/22/18.xml&h eadline=Virgin+To+Withdraw+From+Virgin+Nigeria+Venture **************** NTSB: Firefighting chopper lost power before crash SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An initial investigation into a deadly helicopter crash that killed nine people in Northern California earlier this month has found that the chopper's main rotor lost power during takeoff. The Sikorsky S-61N helicopter hit trees after losing power and fell out of the air over the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, according to a preliminary crash report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board. Investigators analyzed wreckage recovered from the crash site to determine that the rotor malfunctioned, an NTSB spokeswoman said. The agency reported earlier that witnesses said the helicopter took off more slowly than normal before slamming into a hillside. The report says the firefighting aircraft came to rest on its left side before bursting into flames. Four of the 13 people on board survived with various injuries. A fire-damaged voice-data recorder salvaged from the burned aircraft was sent to its British manufacturer, which determined that both the cockpit voice recording and flight data contained on the device were still intact, NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said. The agency plans to analyze the data in the coming weeks, she said. The helicopter was ferrying firefighters away from a remote mountain site on the front lines of a stubborn wildfire when it crashed the evening of Aug. 5. Worsening weather conditions forecast for the area prompted the decision to fly about 50 firefighters out of the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The helicopter had completed two trips and just refueled before it picked up the third group and made the ill-fated takeoff. At the time of the accident, visibility was good enough that the pilots did not need to rely on instruments to make the flight, the NTSB report said. The two-month-old wildfire the firefighters were battling before the crash was 84 percent contained Thursday after charring more than 44 square miles. The blaze is part of a series of fires sparked by a massive lightning storm in late June that have burned more than 400 square miles across the Shasta-Trinity forest. Farther north in the Klamath National Forest, a 70-square-mile blaze started by the same storm was still just 35 percent contained. The fire was burning in a remote section of the forest and did not threaten any inhabited areas, fire officials said. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFIWHk_LNnWphE623gxDThKBn8PQD92N034O0 ************** Regulators seek $18,000 penalty for United MINNEAPOLIS: (AP) The U.S. flight agency is proposing an $18,000 civil penalty against United Airlines for two maintenance violations it said occurred before a United jet skidded off a runway and ended up in three feet of snow in February. The Federal Aviation Administration disclosed the fine on Thursday after The Associated Press asked about violations cited in FAA documents. The FAA said it notified United of the proposed penalty on Friday. A Feb. 25 flight with 125 people aboard slid off the runway after landing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. No one was seriously hurt. The National Transportation Safety Board said in March that the A320 at Jackson Hole and another United A320 that also skidded off a runway had crossed wiring in their main landing gear. It is believed that caused the wheels to lock. United checked all its A320s and found a third with the wiring problem. That aircraft was not involved in an accident. FAA documents reviewed by the AP alleged two violations by United: _ For three weeks leading up to the Jackson Hole incident, United had operated that A320 on 66 flight legs when it "was not airworthy" according to the instructions in an Airbus manual. _ United failed to identify that wiring for anti-skid devices on the landing gear were swapped. The FAA found that the wires were swapped when new landing gear was installed on that aircraft in Denver on Feb. 3. The connections were tested and the plane returned to flying the next day. In a written statement United said it had not yet received a copy of the FAA's letter and that immediately after the incident it took the "corrective steps that were necessary to ensure the A320 anti-skid systems worked properly and shared that information with our partners and employees." United is a unit of Chicago-based UAL Corp. Airline maintenance has been in the spotlight since spring, when the FAA came under fire for its handling of safety issues at Southwest Airlines Co. and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. The agency is seeking a $7.1 million fine from American and has proposed a $10.2 million fine - its largest ever - against Southwest. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/21/business/NA-US-United-Airlines-FAA .php ***************