24 AUG 2008 _______________________________________ *10 People From Cedar City Killed in Moab Plane Crash *NTSB SENDS TEAM TO INVESTIGATE PLANE CRASH NEAR MOAB, UTAH *Plane makes unscheduled landing at London's Gatwick *Mechanic quizzed over Spain air crash *NTSB: FAA needs faster progress on runway safety *Engine trouble forces jetliner back to SFO airport *Mid-flight bomb scare forces emergency landing *************************************** 10 People From Cedar City Killed in Moab Plane Crash Victims Were from Red Canyon Aesthetics and Medical Spa MOAB, Utah (AP) -- Ten people died in the fiery crash of a twin-engine plane near the Canyonlands Field airport in southeastern Utah, the Grand County sheriff said Saturday. The plane was fully engulfed in flames when emergency responders arrived Friday night at the site about 2 miles from the airport. There were no survivors, Sheriff James Nyland said, adding all of the victims were from Cedar City, Utah. Nyland said the plane took off from Canyonlands Field, near Arches National Park and about 18 miles northwest of Moab. The National Transportation Safety Board was expected at the scene Saturday. Lt. Steve White told radio station KCYN in Moab that the plane "pancaked" after skidding along the ground. Nyland said the victims included the director of Red Canyon Aesthetics & Medical Spa, a dermatology clinic headquartered in Cedar City, clinic staff and the pilot. He identified the victims as David White, the pilot; Dr. Lansing Ellsworth, the clinic director; David Goddard; Mandy Johnson; Marcie Tillery, 29; Valerie Imlay, 52; Keith Shumway, 29; Dallon Ellsworth, 24; Camie Vigil, 25; and Cecilee Goddard, 25. Lansing Ellsworth had recently initiated a monthly skin clinic in Moab, Nyland said. Red Canyon Aesthetics has seven clinics in Utah, two in Nevada and one in Page, Ariz., according to the company's Web site. **************** NTSB SENDS TEAM TO INVESTIGATE PLANE CRASH NEAR MOAB, UTAH The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to investigate an airplane accident in a remote area about 3 miles south of the Canyonlands Field Airport (CNY) near Moab, Utah. The Beech A100 King Air (N601PC) crashed at about 6:15 p.m. MDT last night. The airplane was destroyed by fire. Several fatalities have been reported. NTSB Investigator Tealeye Corneyo has been designated as Investigator- in-Charge and will lead the two-member team. NTSB Press Contacts: Keith Holloway, (202) 314-6100 **** Date: 22-AUG-2008 Time: 1815 Type: Beech King Air A.100 Operator: Red Canyon Aesthetics Registration: N601PC C/n / msn: B-225 Fatalities: Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Tusher Canyon, near Canyonlands Field Airport, Utah - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: KCNY (Canyonlands Field Airport) Destination airport: Narrative: The light twin-engined aircraft is believed to have taken off from the Canyonlands Field Airport in south eastern Utah. It headed off in a south easterly direction, but it would appear that the pilot then attempted an emergency landing in the desert. The aircraft crashed and caught fire, skidding through the desert for about 300m, before coming to a stop. The wreckage was completely burnt out. (aviation-safety.net) ************ Plane makes unscheduled landing at London's Gatwick LONDON (Reuters) - An outgoing passenger plane en route to Barbados was forced to make an unscheduled landing at Britain's second biggest airport, London Gatwick, on Saturday after the flight crew decided to turn back. No one was hurt, and a spokesman for the airport's operator BAA said all the passengers were being taken off the plane. He gave no details of what had prompted the pilot to turn back. "A Boeing 747 operated by Virgin Atlantic has had a precautionary landing at the airport. It is safely down. It has been taken to a remote stand where passengers are being taken off," he told Reuters. *************** Mechanic quizzed over Spain air crash Police and investigators probe deadly plane crash in Madrid Mechanic who cleared the plane for takeoff questioned Spanair official told AP it had no details of the man's testimony MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Police and investigators probing the deadly plane crash in Madrid have questioned the mechanic who cleared the plane for takeoff after tending to a minor mechanical problem, the airline said Saturday. Spanair said the mechanic dealt with a problem in an air temperature gauge that forced the pilot to abandon a first attempt to take off. About an hour later, when the MD-82 finally did take off, it crashed near the end of the runway, burning and largely disintegrating. A total of 153 of the 172 people aboard were killed. The newspaper El Pais quoted unnamed sources close to the investigation as saying that during two sessions of testimony Friday -- first with police and then with crash investigators -- the mechanic insisted that the gauge malfunction was a minor glitch which had nothing to do with Wednesday's crash. A Spanair official told The Associated Press on Saturday it had no details of the man's testimony, but reiterated that the mechanical problem did not cause the crash. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing company rules. Aviation experts have told The AP this problem probably did not cause the crash. All 19 survivors of the crash remained hospitalized Saturday, two of them in critical condition. The worst off was a 31-year-old woman with burns to 72 percent of her body. Her husband died in the crash but her six-year-old son survived. Watch as Spain deals with tragedy > Only 50 bodies have been identified so far. Many were burned beyond recognition and forensic teams have been using DNA techniques for identification. Watch moment of silence > Spanair said the mechanic dealt with the gauge problem by essentially turning the device off, and said this was an accepted procedure because the gauge was not an absolutely essential piece of equipment. But the head of Spanish civil aviation, Manuel Bautista, told the AP in an interview Friday that the gauge should be closely examined to see if it did contribute to the accident. Bautista said a combination of failures likely caused the disaster. "A problem with a temperature sensor may not matter at all, or it can be very important, depending on what other circumstances accompany it," Bautista said. "We will have to see what other issues were present." Relatives of people who died in the crash met Friday night with Spanair representatives and complained angrily that the company was not providing any information on what might have caused the crash. Some said their loved ones had sent them cell phone text messages saying that had tried to get off the plane after the mechanical problem emerged, but were not allowed to. Spanair declined to comment on this Saturday. **************** NTSB: FAA needs faster progress on runway safety LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Officials who made safety recommendations after a plane crash that killed 49 people criticized the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday for not implementing two of them fast enough. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker told FAA's acting administrator there has been "unacceptable response" to two suggestions about runway checks. Comair flight 5191 crashed after trying to take off from the wrong runway at Lexington's airport - a general aviation strip too short for commercial jets. NTSB cited the pilots' failure to notice clues they were on the wrong runway as the primary cause of the accident. The NTSB recommended numerous changes after the accident, including a new rule requiring pilots to confirm their runway location before takeoff and another that would only allow air traffic controllers to clear a plane for takeoff after it had crossed all runway intersections. Rosenker's letter said not enough progress had been made on those two recommendations. But FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said the agency recently approved the regulations Rosenker is seeking and is just waiting for them to be published. "We're done," Spitaliere said. "It's approved. It's at the Federal Register." Deborah Hersman, the NTSB board member who investigated the Lexington crash, said in an interview that aviation regulations can take months if not years to change, even after they are published. She said NTSB hasn't received any document indicating improvements are imminent. "Our position is it's been bottled up in rule-making and just taken too long to get done," Hersman said. Kevin Fahey, whose son, Thomas, was killed in the crash, said he too had been frustrated by delays. "There just seem to be too many excuses for not being assertive enough to move these things from recommendations to requirements," Fahey said. "Many of these things go back to aircraft piloting 101." Rosenker's letter did note progress by the FAA in other areas, including acceptable responses to calls for improved runway markings and research on cockpit technology to help pilots navigate runway systems. Hersman acknowledged there have been improvements, and that air travel is safer now, just days from the two-year anniversary of the Aug. 27 crash. But she said plenty of work remains. "We're not going to be satisfied with FAA's efforts until they've implemented all of them," Hersman said. "Certainly the Comair accident is foremost in our minds." *************** Engine trouble forces jetliner back to SFO airport SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Chicago-bound United Airlines flight was forced to return to San Francisco International Airport early Saturday after running into engine trouble. United flight 158 carrying 249 passengers and crew members landed safely about 30 minutes after takeoff after one of its engine compressors stalled, said UAL spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. The pilot was able to turn the plane around and return to the airport, flying on the aircraft's second engine. Smoke entered the cabin after the plane landed and the engines were shut down, Urbanski said. The airline was investigating the source of the smoke. There were no reported injuries. The airline provided overnight accommodation to the passengers and arranged flights for them Saturday. **************** Mid-flight bomb scare forces emergency landing A Swiss International Air Lines plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday after a bomb threat was made against the flight. The Zurich to Malaga flight was overflying France when the pilot was informed a threat had been made via the Swiss offices. The Airbus A321 turned around and landed safely at Geneva airport. A spokesman for the airport said no one was injured during the landing. The 142 passengers and six crew left the airplane on slides and were taken to a waiting room. The airplane was then moved from the runway for checks by bomb disposal experts but no explosive devices were found. A replacement flight was scheduled for later in the evening. The airport runway had to be closed for an hour and a half, with eight flights cancelled or rerouted to Lyon. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/travel/Mid_flight_bomb_scare_forces_emergen cy_landing.html?siteSect=414&sid=9598915&cKey=1219566767000&ty=nd ****************