14 SEP 2008 _______________________________________ *Boeing 737 crashes in central Russia *Report: 88 killed in Russia jet crash; no survivors *88 killed in airplane crash in Russia's Urals *FAA's role in certifying light jet questioned *Much-lauded American Airlines safety program likely ends next month **************************************** Boeing 737 crashes in central Russia Seventy-five passengers -- including seven children -- were on board Boeing 737 en route to Perm from Moscow was operated by Aeroflot Nord MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A jet carrying 81 people crashed early Sunday morning in western Russia, killing everyone on board, an airline spokesman said. The Boeing 737 en route to Perm from Moscow was operated by Aeroflot Nord. The pilots lost communication with air traffic control at about 3:10 a.m. (2110 GMT), said Aeroflot spokesman Lev Koshlyakov. The landing in Perm was scheduled for 3:30 a.m. Seventy-five passengers -- including seven children -- were on board, in addition to six crew members. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, Koshlyakov said. ************** Report: 88 killed in Russia jet crash; no survivors MOSCOW (AP) - Russian news reports say a plane carrying 88 people has crashed in central Russia, killing all aboard. ITAR-Tass and Interfax are quoting emergency officials as saying the Boeing-737 traveling from Moscow to Perm went down around 3 a.m. Sunday. Agencies say the plane was operated by a division of Aeroflot and was on its approach to land in Perm when it crashed into a swamp. Interfax says there was no damage or deaths on the ground. No further details were immediately available. **************** 88 killed in airplane crash in Russia's Urals MOSCOW (AFP) - A Boeing-737 jet crashed near Russia's city of Perm in the central Ural mountains killing all 83 passengers and five crew on board, Russian news agencies reported Sunday quoting emergency ministry officials. "According to the latest information, the airplane fell into a ravine near the city limits. There were 82 passengers plus a baby and five crew on board, and by preliminary information, they are all dead," investigator Vladimir Markin told the RIA Novosti news agency. "The Trans-Siberian Railway was damaged due to the accident," Markin said. The airplane, which belonged to Russia's leading Aeroflot airline company, was completely destroyed, Interfax reported quoted the Rosaviation agency. "The airplane took off from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport at 0112 Sunday (2112 Saturday GMT), but as it was landing, at the height of 1,800 meters we lost contact with it," the ministry's spokeswoman Irina Andrianova said earlier as quoted by Interfax. A rescue team was reported flying out of Moscow to assist local rescuers. *************** FAA's role in certifying light jet questioned WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal aviation officials said they expect government investigators to show at a congressional hearing next week that a new kind of small, light jet was certified for flight despite safety concerns by some engineers and pilots testing the plane. Federal Aviation Administration employees who worked on the flight certification of the Eclipse 500 very light jet are expected to testify that they felt pressured to move forward with certification despite safety concerns, FAA and labor union officials said. The certification of the Eclipse 500 is the focus of investigations by Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel and the House Transportation committee. The National Transportation Safety Board is also examining an incident earlier this year in which the engines of an Eclipse 500 became stuck at full power during a landing attempt in Chicago. The FAA expects next week's hearing will show that "there were employees who felt their safety concerns were not addressed," said Lynn Tierney, the agency's assistant administrator for communications. The investigations prompted the FAA to order an unusual 30-day review of the Eclipse's certification. FAA officials released the results of that review Friday at a news conference, saying the plane met all safety requirements. "Our conclusion is the airplane is safe and was certified properly," said Jerry Mack, a former Boeing executive who headed the FAA review committee. However, FAA officials said the review also found there was a breakdown of communications on the team that certified the plane, leaving some members of the team to believe their concerns had not been addressed. "We believe that in the end all the safety concerns related to the aircraft were addressed," Tierney said, and that the review panel's work will help fix the communications shortcomings. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents flight certification engineers, filed a grievance against FAA in October 2006, charging the Eclipse was certified despite "several outstanding safety/regulatory issues." Tomaso DiPaolo, the NATCA representative for FAA certification engineers, said the engineers leading the specialty areas involved in certification of the jet - structures, flight testing, propulsion, electronics, and mechanical systems - didn't initial a "grid sheet" indicating safety issues in their specialty had been resolved, normally one of the last steps before a plane is certified. However, on Sept. 30 - a Saturday that was also the last day of the federal budget year - an FAA manager came into work and approved certification of the Eclipse 500 for flight. DiPaolo said two members of the certification team were later denied bonuses or pay raises because FAA managers said they'd raised objections to Eclipse's certification. DiPaolo declined to disclose the nature of the safety concerns, citing FAA rules. FAA officials said it was not unusual for a plane to be certified on a Saturday, and that the timing was at the request of the airplane's manufacturer, Eclipse Aviation Corp. of Albuquerque, N.M., which had asked that the plane be approved by Sept. 30. Peg Billson, president of Eclipse aviation's manufacturing division, said the company proposed Sept. 30 as a date for completing certification because four previous deadlines had already lapsed. She said the jet's certification took five years instead of the expected four years because problems arose that forced the company to switch to a different engine design. ************** Much-lauded American Airlines safety program likely ends next month A much-lauded safety program for American Airlines pilots will likely end next month, airline officials said, after a breakdown in negotiations to renew the program. The Aviation Safety Action Partnership, which began in 1994, allows pilots to report safety-related incidents for investigation without fear of discipline from American or the Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation experts have praised it as an effective way to identify potentially dangerous safety lapses that otherwise might go unreported. The current program was scheduled to expire in January. The FAA extended it as American negotiated a renewal with the Allied Pilots Association. But those talks haven't produced a new program, despite several extensions. Pilots have argued that in some cases, the company unfairly disciplined pilots even when an incident was accepted for review under the program. Airline executives countered that the program has worked well. Airline officials proposed creating teams to review every event and offered to eliminate discipline for lapses that did not involve reckless behavior by the pilot. On Friday, the company informed pilots that the FAA would grant no more extensions. "Proposed changes to address [union] concerns have not been accepted," airline officials said in the memo to pilots Friday. "Absent an agreement, as of Oct. 13, you will no longer have the protections afforded by the ASAP program." American officials said they would establish a confidential hot line for pilots in lieu of the program. The program's demise would come after months of intense scrutiny of safety on the nation's airlines. American grounded 300 MD-80 jets for emergency inspections in April after the FAA raised concerns. Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, was fined a record $10.2 million for allegedly flying Boeing 737 planes without inspections for potentially deadly fuselage cracks. Relations between American and the pilots union have deteriorate in recent years. The two sides have been negotiating for a new pilot contract since 2006, but little has been achieved at the bargaining table. http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/905657.html ****************