15 SEP 2008

_______________________________________

 

*Russia. Aeroflot jet crash an accident, official says

*Aeroflot-Nord gives initial details on crashed 737's crew

*Crashed Aeroflot-Nord 737 recorders found, jet identified

*NTSB ASSISTS GOVERNMENT OF RUSSIA IN AVIATION ACCIDENT 

*Qantas jet aborts take-off

*Growing boneyards are trouble for aircraft industry

*Federal Aviation Team On Saipan Because Of Safety Concerns

*Engineers say FAA rushed plane approval

*FAA formalizes ice-prevention advisory for Trent 777s

*Itek 737 crashed while orbiting to stabilize approach

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Russia. Aeroflot jet crash an accident, official says

 

An Aeroflot jet that crashed yesterday near Perm in Russia's Ural mountains,
killing all 88 people on board, is believed to have been an accident.
Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin told Russian news agency Itar-Tass
that explosives specialists working at the scene "found no proof whatsoever
confirming that it was an attack," and Alexander Bastrykin, the Russian
public prosecutor leading an investigation into the crash, said preliminary
indications suggested it was linked to technical failures, including a fire
in the right-hand engine. The black boxes were recovered and their analysis
will take three to four weeks, Mr. Levitin said. Among the victims was Gen.
Gennady Troshev, a former top commander of Russia's war in Chechnya and
adviser to ex-president Vladimir Putin.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=0ad1171a-5b39-48dc-a8
f8-6bbcca73fb32

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Aeroflot-Nord gives initial details on crashed 737's crew

 

Russian carrier Aeroflot-Nord has released initial details about the crew of
the Boeing 737-500 which crashed in Perm today.

 

It says the captain of the aircraft had 3,689 hours' total flight time while
the co-pilot had 8,799 hours.

 

There are no immediate indications of the circumstances that led to the
accident which occurred in the early hours as the jet was arriving from
Moscow.

 

It came down on rail lines in southern Perm, about 11km northeast of
Bolshoye Savino Airport. The airport has a single runway, designated 03/21.

 

Russia's emergencies ministry says that wreckage is spread over a 10,000m²
area and has damaged 50m of one rail line and 100m of the opposite-direction
track.

 

The accident has disrupted trains operating between Perm and Ekaterinburg.

 

Preliminary information from Aeroflot states that contact with the 737 was
lost while it was on approach.

 

None of the 82 passengers and six crew members survived the accident.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news 

*************

 

Crashed Aeroflot-Nord 737 recorders found, jet identified

 

Russian investigators have retrieved the flight recorders from the
Aeroflot-Nord Boeing 737-500 which crashed on approach to Perm early today.

 

Flag-carrier Aeroflot - of which Aeroflot-Nord is a division - has
identified the aircraft as a 16-year old airframe owned by Sojitz Aircraft
Leasing, but leased through a Dublin-registered vehicle called Pinewatch.

 

The date of manufacture, September 1992, appears to confirm the 737-500 as
having serial number 25792, which was registered VP-BKO at Aeroflot-Nord. It
had previously been operated by China's Xiamen Airlines.

 

Archangelsk-based Aeroflot-Nord had taken the aircraft on five-year lease
from 28 July this year. The lease was due to expire on 21 March 2013.

 

All 82 passengers and six crew on board the CFM International CFM56-powered
twin-jet were killed after it crashed near a rail track while operating
flight SU821 from Moscow.

 

Aeroflot says the accident occurred at 03:10 Moscow time, the equivalent of
05:10 local in Perm. Weather data for Perm Airport around the time of the
crash shows light rain and low, overcast cloud.

 

Contact with the aircraft was lost while it was still at an altitude of
1,100m (3,600ft).

 

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) says the recorders will shortly
be flown to its facility for analysis.

 

Aeroflot-Nord was operating 12 737s before today's accident, and the carrier
has been intending to increase the number to 17 by the end of this year.

 

It is expanding its 737 fleet to replace its Tupolev Tu-154s which the
airline is planning to withdraw from operation on 1 October.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news 

**************

 

NTSB ASSISTS GOVERNMENT OF RUSSIA IN AVIATION ACCIDENT 

 

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a 

team of investigators to assist the government of Russia in 

its investigation of today's crash of a Boeing 737-500 

airplane, Bermuda registration VP-BKO, equipped with CFM56 

engines. 

 

Today, at approximately 5:10 a.m. local time, the aircraft, 

AEROFLOT-NORD flight #821, crashed in the vicinity of Perm, 

Russia under unknown circumstances. This scheduled flight 

originated in Moscow and its destination was Perm. 

Of the 88 persons onboard, 6 crew and 82 passengers, all are 

reported to have suffered fatal injuries, according to 

Russian government officials. 

NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker has designated senior 

investigator Bob Benzon as the U.S. Accredited 

Representative. His team will include an NTSB powerplants 

specialist, an NTSB airworthiness specialist, as well as 

technical advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration and 

Boeing. 

 

The investigation is being conducted by Russia's Air 

Accident Investigation Commission of the Interstate Aviation 

Committee (MAK) which will release all information on the 

progress of the investigation. The agency's phone number in 

Moscow is (+7 495) 953-12-44, the agency website is 

www.mak.ru and the email address is mak@mak.ru. 

# # # 

NTSB Media Contact: 

Bridget Ann Serchak 

202-314-6100 

bridget.serchak@ntsb.gov 

*************

 

Qantas jet aborts take-off

 

A Qantas airliner was forced to pull out of a take-off halfway down the
runway today after the pilot reported an engine failure.

 

Flight QF175 was on the runway at Brisbane Airport bound for Los Angeles
this morning when the pilot was forced to abort take-off and return to the
terminal.

 

The flight was due to leave at 11.05am but, more than four hours later,
passengers were still waiting for alternative flights and were told the
reason for the mishap was faulty wiring.

 

A Qantas spokeswoman said that a "technical issue with the aircraft engine"
was the cause and said that engineers were inspecting the aircraft.

 

One passenger, Helen Meredith, said there was still widespread confusion at
the airport.

 

"Every three hours they say they're working on it and we'll put you on
another flight," she said.

 

"It has been pretty disorganised. They're not communicating very well.
Everyone seems to be wandering around the airport not really knowing what's
going on or what to think."

 

The fault comes two weeks after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority released
a report finding that Qantas was failing to meet its own engineering
standards.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/qantas-jet-aborts-takeoff/2008/09/15/12213
30730657.html

***************

 

Growing boneyards are trouble for aircraft industry

 

Aircraft boneyards, such as Mojave, just north of Los Angeles, are filling
again as airlines struggle to cope with rising fuel prices and fewer
passengers

 

They call them the boneyards, the places where elderly aircraft go to die,
but in the normally silent desert cemeteries for the old and the unwanted
the sound of alarm bells is being heard by the multibillion-dollar
aircraft-leasing industry. 

 

The boneyards, which had been emptying steadily since the airline industry
suffered the catastrophic blow of the 9/11 attacks, are beginning to fill
again — and that is bad news for the leasing companies that are beginning to
suffer sharp falls in the value of older planes. 

 

As banks and oil company creditors pull the plug on struggling airlines, the
blow will rebound on investors in aircraft leases. Fitch, the ratings
agency, issued warnings in July that record jet fuel prices and waning
demand for air travel were raising the risk of default on aircraft leases.
Fitch has switched its rating outlook to “negative” for the entire aircraft
securitisation industry and last week said that the outlook remained poor
despite the recent fall in crude prices. 

 

Aircraft values are beginning to tumble again after recovering post-9/11.
Values for older, less fuel-efficient aircraft are crumbling. 

 

Paul Leighton, managing director of Aircraft Value Analysis Company, said
that the price of older planes, such as the Boeing 737-300 series, had
fallen by a fifth this year and the slide would continue in 2009.
“Generally,” he said, “the market for older aircraft will be a problem and
for newer aircraft it will be more difficult. Lessors will start to
struggle. It may take four, five or even six months to find customers.” 

 

The demise of XL, the charter airline, and the desperate, eleventh-hour
efforts to pay Alitalia's daily fuel bill highlight the problems that may
begin to affect aircraft-leasing companies. These include GECAS, the leasing
vehicle owned by GE Capital, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC)
and CIT Leasing Corporation. 

 

Most airlines do not own aircraft but rent them from leasing companies.
These often will package the income from a portfolio of leases and sell them
to investors, such as banks and other financial institutions, to raise cash
to buy aircraft. These securitised loans, not unlike the mortgage-backed
securities that are causing problems for the banking sector, may now rebound
on investors as airlines default on the rents and the value of aircraft
dwindles. 

 

XL had 20 aircraft leased from institutions, including GECAS and ILFC, but
these were mainly newer planes that should find new homes. Alitalia is
different. Its fleet of more than 180 aircraft is elderly, including many
MD-82s and old Airbuses, which are costly to run and, therefore,
unattractive. A failure of Alitalia would dump these aircraft on to a market
that is about to become saturated with old planes. 

 

Fitch says that the recent cuts in capacity by big carriers, including
American Airlines and Ryanair, as well as bankruptcies and fleet
liquidations, will mean more grounded aircraft just as Boeing and Airbus are
increasing production of new models. “These grounded aircraft, coupled with
the record number of deliveries scheduled for the next several years, could
create a considerable shift in the supply and demand balance for commercial
aircraft.” 

 

Mr Leighton agrees. “We have a long backlog of orders [for new planes] equal
to four years' production and we have high oil prices,” he said. 

 

According to Mr Leighton, the price of a 737-300 could fall to only $5
million (£2.79 million) next year, half its value in 2006. Even more
efficient aircraft, such as the 737-800, are suffering 10 per cent drops in
value. The oldest aircraft, such as early 737s built in the 1970s, can be
bought for just $200,000, but the cost of fuelling and servicing them is
almost prohibitive. 

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/ar
ticle4753619.ece

**************

 

Federal Aviation Team On Saipan Because Of Safety Concerns

 

A three-person team from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is on
Saipan to inspect the Northern Marianas’ international airport following
safety concerns raised with the local government, the Marianas Variety
reports.

 

The team is following up on a July 21 letter to Northern Marianas Gov.
Benigno Fitial that raised “serious concerns” about safety at the Saipan
airport. The FAA said it was worried that frequent unplanned power outages,
which stranded outbound passengers and affected some inbound international
flights, were a safety concern.

 

The airport’s two emergency generators have not been working for months,
which have compounded the safety worries.

 

The FAA team will also examine financial records for the airport, and the
status of a bond issue with the Bank of Guam, the newspaper said.

http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/09/15/federal-aviation-team-on-saip
an-because-of-safety-concerns

**************

 

Engineers say FAA rushed plane approval

 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. aviation engineers say they were
improperly pressured to sign off on a new type of aircraft before all safety
questions were answered.

 

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing
Federal Aviation Administration engineers, has filed a grievance against the
agency, alleging administrators wanted to rush the safety certification of
the new lightweight Eclipse 500 jet, ABC News reported Sunday. 

 

The network said FAA officials defended themselves Friday, saying a review
panel found the certification was not rushed.

 

"Our conclusion is the airplane was safe and certified properly," said
former Boeing executive Jerry Mack, head of the review panel.

 

U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation
Committee, has scheduled hearings to air the issue, ABC News reported. 

*************

 

FAA formalises ice-prevention advisory for Trent 777s

 

US FAA safety regulators have issued an airworthiness directive formalising
Boeing's interim advice to operators on reducing the risk of water-in-fuel
icing on Boeing 777 aircraft.

 

Investigators have identified water icing as a likely cause of the fuel
restriction and dual-engine roll-back on a Rolls-Royce Trent 800-powered
British Airways 777 which crashed at London Heathrow in January.

 

The FAA directive applies only to 777-200 and -300 aircraft equipped with
Trent engines. It requires revision of aircraft flight manuals to include
in-flight procedures for pilots to follow during particular cold-weather
conditions, as well as specific fuel-circulation procedures on the ground.

 

A spokesman for Rolls-Royce says: "The focus is on Trent-powered 777s
because that's the combination in the incident."

 

But the directive states: "Initial review of [777s with other engines] has
not revealed the same vulnerability to the identified unsafe condition."

 

While the mechanism for the icing has yet to be determined, a spokesman for
General Electric says the GE90 and Trent 800 have differing fuel-system
architectures, notably in the location of the main fuel/oil heat exchanger.

 

These differences, he says, generate a difference in fuel temperature at the
heat exchanger inlet.

 

Investigators of the BA accident have performed several tests to determine
whether ice is capable of blocking the fuel flow in the vicinity of the heat
exchanger.

 

The GE spokesman adds: "There are no anticipated field actions for the
GE90-powered 777s."

 

In its directive the FAA says: "We are issuing this airworthiness directive
to prevent ice from accumulating in the main tank fuel-feed system which,
when released, could result in a restriction in the engine fuel system.

 

"Such a restriction could result in failure to achieve a commanded thrust,
and consequent forced landing of the aircraft."

 

It says the directive becomes effective on 29 September and that operators
should revise their procedures within 10 days of this date.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news 

**************

 

Itek 737 crashed while orbiting to stabilise approach

 

Russian investigators have determined that the Itek Air Boeing 737-200 which
crashed in Kyrgyzstan last month lost height during an orbit while
attempting to stabilise its approach to Bishkek Airport.

 

Preliminary information from the inquiry shows the aircraft was trying to
return to Bishkek, minutes after taking off for Tehran, following a
pressurisation problem.

 

But Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) states that there is no
evidence of any other technical fault on the twin-jet.

 

MAK has detailed the moments leading up to the 24 August accident after
managing to derive information from the fire-damaged flight-data recorder.

 

"So far a recording of almost the entire flight has been restored and
synchronised," it says, adding that work is continuing on decoding the last
three or four seconds of data.

 

The aircraft, with 83 passengers, seven crew members and a take-off weight
of 47t, departed Bishkek's runway 08 at 20:30. It followed a standard
departure procedure, designated DW-1, making a left turn to a heading of
240°.

 

About seven minutes after take-off, when the 737 had reached an altitude of
about 3,000m (9,800ft) and was 37km (20nm) from the airport, the crew opted
to return because of an issue with pressurisation.

 

Visibility was good at the time and the pilots planned a visual approach to
runway 08. The aircraft turned right, to head back to the airport, and
descended to an altitude of 1,040m - equivalent to 400m above airport
elevation.

 

Some 12min into the flight the crew reported visual contact with the runway
and, about a minute later, the 737 was 12km from touchdown and travelling at
250kt.

 

Maintaining a height of 400m, the crew began to slow the aircraft until it
reached 185kt at 5km distance. But MAK says that the approach was not
stabilised with respect to altitude, speed and configuration, and the crew
requested a left-hand orbit.

 

Air traffic control cleared the orbit and the aircraft began a left turn
with up to 30° of bank. As the aircraft turned, it descended and its speed
dropped to 155kt. MAK says that, within a short time, the jet was travelling
at an "extremely low altitude".

 

With its undercarriage deployed and its flaps set at 15°, the aircraft
struck the ground about 7.5km from the end of runway 08. Although the
aircraft was destroyed by fire, 25 of those on board survived.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news 

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