16 SEP 2008 _______________________________________ *Spanair jet crashed after alert failure-report *Reports: Pilot acted strangely in Russia jet crash *Qantas jet forced to turn back *Russian prosecutors to probe Aeroflot over crash *Hawaiian Airlines will install fuel-saving devices on 8 jets *Jet Flight Recorders Damaged in Crash *Both recorders badly damaged in Aeroflot-Nord 737 crash *Emergency landing at South Bend Regional Airport *India names new civil aviation secretary *JetBlue creates new executive position *************************************** Spanair jet crashed after alert failure-report MADRID, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A failure in the cockpit alert system contributed to the crash of a Spanair jet at Madrid airport last month which killed 154 people, El Pais newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing preliminary investigation results. The alert system failed to warn pilots that wing flaps had not extended correctly as the McDonell Douglas jet accelerated along the runway on Aug. 20, the report said, according to El Pais, which said the plane also had overheating in a temperature gauge. Spanair, owned by Scandinavia's SAS, had no comment on the report. The crash, the worst in Spain in 25 years, came as the airline had already announced it was laying off a third of its workforce due to fierce competition and high fuel prices. Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the government would make no comment on the investigation until an investigating committee had completed its findings. "In my experience, an accident doesn't happen for a single reason," Rubalcaba told Telecinco television. "We are going to wait for the report to be finished to find out what happened because there are many theories." Information from the black box data recorder indicated that the jet had risen just 40 feet (12 metres) when an automated voice in the cabin warned "stall, stall" before the tail struck the runway and the plane crashed into a ditch, El Pais said. The MD-82 jet arrived in Madrid's new Terminal 4 from Barcelona at 10:13 and was preparing to fly on to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands at 13:06 when the pilots informed the flight tower of a "small problem" and taxied back to hangar. Technicians found overheating in a gauge and removed a fuse from the circuit. After temperature returned to normal the plane taxied back to the runway. The investigation has still to conclude if failures in the alert system, the wing flaps and the overheating are related, El Pais said. *************** Reports: Pilot acted strangely in Russia jet crash PERM, Russia (AP) - The pilot of the Aeroflot jet that crashed killing all 88 people on board ignored commands from air traffic controllers, probably contributing to Russia's worst air disaster in two years, according to news reports Monday. Officials blamed a faulty engine for the crash Sunday of the Boeing 737-500 in the Ural Mountains city of Perm but wouldn't comment on the controllers' claim pending an official investigation. However, Alexander Bastrykin, the chief of the federal Investigative Committee, said the jet's right engine apparently failed and caught fire as the plane was preparing to land in rainy weather. Flight 821, operated by a subsidiary of national flag carrier Aeroflot, carried 82 passengers and six crew members, Aeroflot said. Company officials said the plane was circling at about 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) in "difficult weather conditions" - including low cloud cover and rain - when it went down. Flight controller Irek Bikbov told state-run Channel One TV that the pilot was behaving strangely, disobeying orders to descend on the final approach and instead taking the jet to a higher altitude. "I informed the pilot that he has reached a point where he should go down," Bikbov said in an audio recording broadcast on TV. "He confirmed he was going down but kept climbing." Bikbov then ordered the pilot to make a second run, but instead of making the right turn he turned left. When he asked the pilot whether things were normal on board, the pilot answered positively but his voice was strained as if under stress, Bikbov said. "He was behaving in a strange manner and wasn't following my orders," Bikbov said. The last thing controllers heard was a scream in the cockpit seconds before the plane crashed. The plane's flight recorders have been found, and official said it would take at least three weeks to analyze them. Transport Minister Igor Levitin, meanwhile, said that no trace of explosives had been found on the crash site about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) east of Moscow. He denied earlier reports that claimed the plane had exploded and allegations that it could have been brought down by a terror attack. The plane slammed into the ground on the outskirts of this industrial city, just a few hundred meters (yards) from small wooden houses and apartment buildings. No one on the ground was killed. The jet crashed on a railroad embankment, damaging a section of the track. Parts of the plane's fuselage reading "Aeroflot" and "Boeing" lay askew on the rails, along with clothing, life preservers and engine parts. The crash briefly disrupted traffic on a section of the Trans-Siberian railway. Emergency workers in camouflage uniforms on Monday picked up human remains and placed them in blue bags. Grief-stricken relatives of passengers lined up to provide blood and DNA samples to help in the identification. Aeroflot said it would pay victims' families an equivalent of US$80,000 in compensation per victim - a princely sum in a country where the average monthly salary is equivalent to about US$700. Russia and other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records in recent years, according to the International Air Transport Association. Experts blame weak government regulation, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality among many carriers. In the past, some industry experts said meager compensations for families of crash victims have contributed to a sloppy attitude among Russia's air carriers toward safety. "The problem isn't the planes, it's mainly about the staff and money," said Miroslav Boichuk, head of Russia's Flight Personnel Union. Aeroflot officials have said no problems were reported with the 15-year-old jet when it was last inspected at the beginning of the year. The plane had been used by a Chinese carrier before the Aeroflot subsidiary, Aeroflot-Nord, leased it earlier this year. Sunday's crash was the worst involving a Russian airline since August 2006, when 170 people were killed in the crash of a Tu-154 jet in Ukraine. A month earlier, an Airbus A-310 skidded off the runway in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and burst into flames, killing 125. Sunday's crash was also the second involving a Boeing 737 in the former Soviet Union in the past month. A Boeing flying from the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan to Iran crashed shortly after takeoff Aug. 24, killing 64 of the 90 people on board. *************** Qantas jet forced to turn back A mid-air scare has forced a Qantas jet carrying 133 passengers bound for Brisbane to turn back to Perth. The Boeing 767 was 30 minutes into its flight from Perth to Brisbane when a strange odour was detected, forcing it to turn around. A Qantas spokeswoman said she could not confirm if passengers and crew smelled something burning but added there were no visible signs of smoke. The crew followed safety procedures and turned Flight 594 back towards Perth, where it landed safely at approximately 7.30pm (WST). Engineers were inspecting the plane and passengers were waiting at the terminal for news of when they would depart on other flights. The spotlight has been on the airline since an exploding oxygen cylinder tore a hole through the fuselage of a Boeing 747-400, causing the cabin to depressurise en route from London to Melbourne on July 25. Over the ensuing eight days, Qantas planes suffered two more mid-air incidents, plus other ground-based problems. AAP ************** Russian prosecutors to probe Aeroflot over crash MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors said on Tuesday they are to check safety standards at national carrier Aeroflot after a plane operated by one of its subsidiaries crashed killing all 88 people on board. A Boeing 737-500 operated by Aeroflot subsidiary Aeroflot-Nord crashed as it tried to land in the Ural mountains city of Perm in the early hours of Sunday morning, in Russia's worst air crash for two years. A spokeswoman for Aeroflot said the checks by prosecutors were routine and the company was confident it was in compliance with safety regulations. A statement from the Prosecutor-General's office said investigators had been instructed to "conduct checks on the implementation of aviation and flight safety laws in Aeroflot - Russian Airlines and its subsidiaries." It said the investigation was being launched in connection with Sunday's crash. Investigators initially blamed engine failure for the crash but they said on Tuesday that was not their only line of inquiry. Aeroflot spokeswoman Irina Dannenberg said the checks into the company's safety standards would start on Wednesday. "Such checks occur regularly. The recent disaster has given the reason to conduct another one," she said. "We are in excellent condition and there has never been any difficulty." Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor-General's office which is leading the crash investigation, said on Sunday a technical fault on the plane's right engine was the most likely cause of the crash. "But that explanation is far from being the only one which is being painstakingly examined by investigators," Bastrykin's press service quoted him as saying in a statement on Tuesday. He did not list the other possible causes. Russian state television said these could include a mistake by the crew, low quality fuel or a dangerous cargo in the aircraft's hold. Russia's domestic intelligence agency has said explosives could not have brought down the aircraft. Some witnesses said they heard an explosion while the jet was still in the air, and debris was scattered over a large area. "It will only be possible to draw final conclusions after the 'black boxes' have been processed and after the results are received from complicated forensic studies," the statement quoted Bastrykin as saying. Russia's airline industry has improved its patchy safety record in the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Sunday's crash was the worst since 170 people died in August 2006 when a Russian TU-154 plane crashed in Ukraine. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLG60782520080916?pageNumber=2&v irtualBrandChannel=0 *************** Hawaiian Airlines will install fuel-saving devices on 8 jets Pacific Business News (Honolulu) Hawaiian Airlines said Monday it will install fuel-saving devices on eight of its Boeing 767s. Hawaiian, owned by Hawaiian Holdings (AMEX: HA), has signed an agreement with Aviation Partners Boeing to buy winglets, which extend 11 feet upward from the end of each wing. The winglets are expected to reduce drag and save Hawaiian up to 5 percent in fuel consumption, or more than 300,000 gallons of jet fuel annually per aircraft The winglets also increase the weight an aircraft can carry, extend its range, reduce maintenance costs, improve takeoffs, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Installation of the winglets is scheduled to start in September 2009 and be completed in 2010. Hawaiian also has the option to purchase seven additional pairs of winglets from Aviation Partners Boeing, a joint venture of Aviation Partners Inc. and the Boeing Co. http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/09/15/daily4.html *************** Jet Flight Recorders Damaged in Crash The flight recorders from an Aeroflot Nord Boeing 737 that crashed in Perm on Sunday were seriously damaged, meaning that it will take longer to determine what evidence they can offer on the cause of the accident, the Interstate Aviation Committee said Monday. The news came as some aviation experts questioned initial reports from investigators that the crash, which killed all 88 people on board the flight, had been caused by equipment failure. The work on the black boxes will likely take three or four weeks, Valery Vlasov, head of the Volga and Urals branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry, said Monday on Radio Rossii. The flight, which originated in Moscow, crashed minutes before the scheduled landing in Perm. Witnesses said the plane burst into a ball of fire at an altitude of about one kilometer, and investigators said debris from the aircraft was scattered across an area of 10 square kilometers. Alexander Bastrykin, chief of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General Office, said Sunday that a fire in one of the aircraft's two engines was likely responsible for the catastrophe. But there were conflicting comments from aviation experts on Monday, with some saying human error or even a bird could have caused the catastrophe. "The reason for the engine catching fire, in theory, could have been a large bird flying into the turbine," said Anatoly Kvochur, a veteran test pilot, Interfax reported. Kvochur said spontaneous fires in aircraft engines were rare and were usually put out easily by automatic extinguisher systems on board. Human error could also have been a factor, Interfax reported, citing an unidentified source in the Central Aerodynamics Institute. "An experienced pilot is quite able to land a jet with one working engine," the source said. The tabloid Tvoi Den reported Monday that a flight controller responsible for helping the plane land said one of the pilots had ignored instructions during the approach. After further examination of the wreckage for traces of explosives, investigators from the Perm branch of the Federal Security Service said Monday they had ruled out terrorism as a possible cause of the crash, Itar-Tass reported. A technical commission from the Federal Air Transportation Agency had begun investigating Aeroflot Nord, a subsidiary of national airline Aeroflot, for possible violations of piloting or technical maintenance regulations, and was also examining the company's general activities. Aeroflot Nord spokesman Anton Popov declined immediate comment Monday. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was shown on national television Monday ordering Transportation Minister Igor Levitin to take personal control of the investigation in nationally televised comments. Relatives of the crash victims have been asked to submit blood samples so that comparative DNA tests can be conducted to identify the bodies, Channel One reported Monday. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1010/42/370958.htm ************** Both recorders badly damaged in Aeroflot-Nord 737 crash Russian investigators are warning that heavy damage to both flight-recorders of the crashed Aeroflot-Nord Boeing 737-500 means extracting useful data will take additional time. The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) has started examining the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders from the aircraft which came down in southern Perm yesterday while arriving from Moscow. MAK states: "During inspection of the flight recorders in our technical centre, serious damage was discovered to both tape mechanisms for the voice and data parameters. "To decode the recordings, given their poor condition, requires additional work using special equipment." It says the investigative commission will include US and French participants, representing the manufacturing states of the airframe and engines. A representative from the UK will also take part because the aircraft was Bermuda-registered. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Emergency landing at South Bend Regional Airport Scary moments for more than a hundred passengers as a Southwest Airlines jet makes an emergency landing. Emergency personnel waited on scene as the plane landed safely at South Bend Regional Airport late Sunday night. Flight 1206 from Chicago's Midway Airport heading to Hartford, Connecticut made the emergency landing when the crew smelled smoke in the cockpit. Passengers waited about four hours while mechanics fixed the problem. Airport officials say they are prepared for emergencies just like this. Executive Director for South Bend Regional Airport John Schalliol says, "Our safety division and operations departments work well together to take care of any situation like that." The plane took off again early Monday morning and landed safely in Hartford. http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=9013418 *************** India names new civil aviation secretary India's Government has named Madhavan Nambiar as new civil aviation secretary to replace Ashok Chawla. The Ministry of civil aviation says Nambiar is due to take over as civil aviation secretary on 17 September. He is currently special secretary in the Ministry of Communications and IT's Department of IT. Chawla has been civil aviation secretary since early last year. He is moving to the Ministry of Finance, where he will be secretary in its Department of Economic Affairs. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************ JetBlue creates new executive position JFK-based JetBlue Airways has created a new VP Technology Services role and has named Terry Dinterman to the post. Responsibilities assigned to Dinterman include information technology security, compliance and architecture and all aspects of JetBlue's IT application portfolio including development, quality assurance and business partner management. Dinterman is reporting to carrier EVP systems and technology Joe Eng. Before joining JetBlue Dinterman held the position of VP solution delivery at CNA Financial Corporation and prior to that appointment held technology positions at Budget Rent A Car and SBC Communications. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************