22 SEP 2008 _______________________________________ *Two Lost When R44 Impacts Wisconsin Home *Feds: Doomed crew in SC crash thought tire blew *FAA: DayJet parks fleet *About 30 injured on board CAL 747 *HK Airlines 737 tries to take off from taxiway *Former transport minister becomes Virgin Blue director *FAA under scrutiny for slow response to controller complaints *AMR still backs divestiture of American Eagle *Convair 580 crashed on first flight after cable-rigging check *************************************** Two Lost When R44 Impacts Wisconsin Home Fog Reported At Time Of Early Morning Crash Near Kenosha Airport Two people onboard a Robinson R44 helicopter were killed Sunday morning, when the helicopter crashed into a home one mile south of Kenosha Regional Airport (ENW). The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports the helo (type shown at right) struck the home at around 5:30 am. Five people inside the home were not injured, and were able to escape before flames from the wreckage spread to the dwelling. "The engine just didn't sound right," said Gary Stielow, who lives about 100 yards from the accident scene. "It was sputtering. It was at full power, but it was sputtering real bad. Then you just heard a loud boom." The cause of the accident was not readily apparent. Reported visibility at the time of the pre-dawn crash was between 1/2 to one mile in fog, according to meteorlogist Chris Franks. The identities of the two victims have not been released. The two-year-old R44 was registered to Midwestern Air Services, which provides charter services and flight training at ENW. FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov aero-news.net ************** Feds: Doomed crew in SC crash thought tire blew WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. - The doomed crew piloting a Learjet that crashed on takeoff, killing four people and injuring two popular musicians, thought a tire blew as they hurtled down the runway, a federal safety official said Sunday. National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said a cockpit voice recording of the Friday night crash indicates the crew tried to abort the takeoff, but then signaled the efforts were failing. "The crew reacted to a sound that was consistent with a tire blowout," Hersman said. Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM were critically injured in the crash, but one of their doctors said Sunday he expected them to fully recover. Two of the musicians' close friends and two crew members were killed when the plane shot off the end of the runway, ripped through a fence and crossed a highway. It came to rest on an embankment a quarter-mile from the end of the runway, engulfed in flames. Hersman said no cause of the crash has been determined and the investigation is ongoing. She did say that pieces of tire were recovered about 2,800 feet from where the plane started its takeoff. The runway is 8,600 feet long. The plane was traveling at least 92 mph, its minimum takeoff speed, when the crew thought the tire burst, Hersman said. The plane was headed for Van Nuys, Calif. It is owned by Global Exec Aviation, a California-based charter company, and was certified to operate last year, Hersman said. Pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., died in the crash. Also killed were Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles. Baker was an assistant to Barker and Still was a security guard for the musician. The two musicians suffered second- and third-degree burns but had no other injuries from the crash, said Dr. Fred Mullins, medical director of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga. Barker was burned on his torso and lower body and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was burned on an arm and a portion of his scalp, according to a statement from the musicians' families released by the hospital. Such injuries can take a year to fully heal, however, Mullins said he didn't think it would take that long. Both men were in critical but stable condition, he said. Several fans visited the hospital over the weekend. One carried a sign that read: "Get Well Travis." "I was just shocked when I first heard it and I knew that I had to do something," said Ryan Meadows, a 19-year-old college student from Augusta. Barker and Goldstein had performed a together under the name TRVSDJ-AM at a free concert in Columbia on Friday night. The show, which included performances by former Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell and singer Gavin DeGraw, drew about 10,000 people to a neighborhood near the University of South Carolina. Barker, 32, was one of the more colorful members of the multiplatinum-selling punk rock band Blink-182, whose biggest album was 1999's CD "Enema of the State" and sold more than 5 million copies in the United States alone. After Blink-182 disbanded in 2005, Barker went on to form the rock band (+44) — pronounced "plus forty-four." He also starred in the MTV reality series "Meet the Barkers" with his then-wife, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler. The show documented the former couple's lavish wedding and home life. Their later split, reconciliation and subsequent break up made them tabloid favorites. Goldstein, 35, is a popular DJ for hire who at one time was engaged to Nicole Richie and dated singer/actress Mandy Moore. While he became a gossip favorite for his romances, he draws respect from music aficionados for his DJ skills. Barker and Goldstein performed as part of the house band at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080921/ap_on_en_mu/learjet_crash ************* Status: Preliminary Date: 19 SEP 2008 Time: 23:53 Type: Learjet 60 Operator: Inter Travel And Services Registration: N999LJ C/n / msn: 314 First flight: 2006 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 Total: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 6 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Columbia Metropolitan Airport, SC (CAE) (United States of America) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Executive Departure airport: Columbia Metropolitan Airport, SC (CAE/KCAE), United States of America Destination airport: Los Angeles-Van Nuys Airport, CA (VNY), United States of America Narrative: The flight was attempting to take off on Columbia Metropolitan Airport, SC (CAE) runway 11, but overran the runway. It crashed through a perimeter fence, hit an antennae array and lights, then hit an embankment along Highway 302. (aviation-safety.net) ************ FAA: DayJet parks fleet The US Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that per-seat on-demand Part 135 start-up DayJet has “parked” all of its Eclipse 500 very light jets (VLJs) except for one that will be used for executive transport. It appears that all 28 twin-jets in the fleet have been moved to the company’s maintenance base in Gainesville, Florida, the site where more than a dozen had been parked after DayJet in May failed to secure $40 million in financing and scaled back growth plans for the remainder of the year. An FAA spokesman said the company informed the Washington flight standards district office of fleet status at noon today. On a visit to DayJet in late August, Flight International was told that the company was able to complete all of its daily trips with between three and seven aircraft. DayJet president and CEO Ed Iacobucci said at the time that he was seeking additional financing, but that the company had enough cash to operate for the remainder of the year. Iacobucci said 28 aircraft had represented “close to the theoretical break-even point” for the operation, though 30-35 aircraft was the number he said he used when speaking with investors. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/09/19/316273/faa-dayjet-parks-flee t.html ************** About 30 injured on board CAL 747 Around 30 people were injured on board a China Airlines' (CAL) Boeing 747-400 when it experienced turbulence over east Malaysia. A CAL spokeswoman in Taipei says around 30 of the 339 people on board were injured and of the injured, six were sent to hospital. The incident occurred at 1125 on 20 September when a CAL 747-400, registration B-18211, was over Malaysian airspace enroute from Taipei to Bali in Indonesia, says the spokeswoman. She says the aircraft was at 33,600ft when the turbulence hit, causing the aircraft to go down 200ft. Inside the passenger cabin the 'put seat belt on' signal was switched on, says the spokeswoman. "But it happened all of a sudden and [four of] the cabin crew were injured because they were" walking through the cabin "to see that people had their seat belts fastened", she adds. Some reports say the incident occurred while the aircraft was over the east Malaysian city of Kota Kinabalu. Southeast Asia at this time of year is known to have strong winds and rains due to the Monsoon. Taiwan itself was hit by a typhoon on 13 September. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** HK Airlines 737 tries to take off from taxiway Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is investigating an incident that occurred earlier this month when a Hong Kong Airlines Boeing 737-800 tried to take off from a Hong Kong airport taxiway. A CAD spokesman in Hong Kong says on 13 September at 0414 a Hong Kong Airlines 737-800 tried to take off from a taxiway at Hong Kong airport. He says 112 passengers, five cabin crew and two pilots were on board the aircraft which was heading to do a charter flight from Hong Kong to Cheongju in South Korea. Air traffic control radioed the pilots and had them abort the takeoff. One of the pilots has reportedly claimed that he never planned to take off from the taxiway and that he was just taxiing at a very high speed. But the CAD has dismissed this claim and said the speed that the aircraft was going suggests it was trying to take off. Reportedly the two pilots have since been suspended from duty while the investigation is underway but the CAD spokesman was unable to confirm this. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Former transport minister becomes Virgin Blue director Australia's former transport minister, Mark Vaile, has become a director of Virgin Blue. Virgin Blue says in an Australian stock exchange filing that Vaile has been appointed as a non-executive independent director with effect from today. Vaile was Australia's transport minister and deputy prime minister until late last year, when a new government came to power in the country. He was a five-term member of parliament until early this year. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** FAA under scrutiny for slow response to controller complaints An outside US federal watchdog has launched criticism of FAA for inadequate responses to air-traffic controller complaints about runway safety at Memphis, Tennessee, and Newark, N.J. Special Counsel Scott Bloch, an independent monitor of workplace complaints from federal employees, is demanding DOT launch an investigation of whistleblower reports made to FAA. Bloch says there is a "substantial likelihood" that conditions at the two airports "create a substantial and specific danger to public safety". The whistleblowers who approached Bloch's office said they made internal complaints but were not satisfied with FAA's response. Their concerns centre on safety risks when an aircraft aborts a landing and begins to climb for a 'go-around.' The airports in question have intersecting runways. One of the traffic controllers who complained to Bloch has 18 years of experience. FAA assistant administrator for communications Lynne Tierney says in a statement that the Bloch letters concern "old investigations" and "old allegations". Tierney explains the "runway safety situation in both Memphis and Newark was thoroughly investigated by both the FAA's Office of Aviation Safety Oversight and by the DOT'S Inspector General. The safety data demonstrates that there are no safety issues associated with operations at either of these two airports. It is highly irresponsible of the Special Counsel to needlessly scare travelers". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** AMR still backs divestiture of American Eagle Despite freezing plans to divest regional carrier American Eagle, American Airlines parent AMR believes spinning off Eagle is in both companies interest long-term. AMR in November 2007 announced plans to spin-off its wholly-owned regional carrier. Discussions also revolved around a potential sale of its maintenance, repair and overhaul unit that performs some third-party work. Speaking yesterday about the American Eagle divestiture during the Caylon Securities Airline Conference AMR vice president of corporate development and treasurer Beverly Goutlet explained "We still think it make sense strategically to separate the two companies. Goulet reasons that would allow the regional carrier to "expand in ways it isn't able to as long as it is owned by us and obviously over time it would ensure we have market price feed". The decision to put the sale or spin-off on hold centered on the capacity cuts the carrier is making in response to record fuel prices. "Obviously Eagle is an integral part of our network and at the time we wanted to retain flexibility to be able to make the changes in our network that would best position us to move forward," says Goulet. Subsequently AMR opted to cut 37 regional jets from American Eagle's fleet along with the retirement of the carrier's Saab 340 turboprops to support 10%-11% capacity cuts in its regional operations during the fourth quarter. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Convair 580 crashed on first flight after cable-rigging check US investigators have disclosed that the Air Tahoma Convair 580 freighter which crashed in Ohio earlier this month was conducting its first flight following a C-check, part of which included flight-control cable rigging. The aircraft had been operating a post-maintenance check and training flight from Columbus Rickenbacker Airport to Mansfield, Ohio, on 1 September. But just one minute after departing on Rickenbacker's runway 5L, the crew requested a return. Air traffic control cleared the aircraft to land on the same runway but it crashed into a cornfield at 12:06, only three minutes after beginning its take-off roll. All three crew members - the only occupants - were killed in the accident. During the attempted return to the airport, they had advised air traffic control that emergency equipment was not required. While the US National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the accident, it has released preliminary information which confirms the aircraft was flying for the first time since undergoing a C-check. It states that this work "included flight-control cable rigging as part of the check", although the NTSB has not said whether this bears any relevance to the accident. The 52-year old Convair struck the ground, on a southerly heading, about 1.6km (1mi) southwest of the approach end to runway 5L. Marks in the corn indicate that the undercarriage had been lowered, and that the aircraft was on a glide path of about 10°, with its right wing slightly down, at the point of impact. From this point the debris field stretched about 200m (665ft) to a tree line, and the main wreckage was located a further 50m (160ft) south. About 3m (10ft) of the forward fuselage separated at impact. Both wings separated from the fuselage, and both engines from the wings, during the crash. The wings and fuselage sections suffered fire damage. The propeller gearboxes of both engines separated and were found near the initial impact point, although the propeller hubs were discovered 380m (1,250ft) away. All four blades from both propellers separated from the hubs and were found throughout the debris path. Both flight recorders were retrieved from the wreckage and the information they contain is still undergoing analysis. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************