23 SEP 2008 _______________________________________ *Diverted American Airlines flight rolls off runway *Mesa Flight Was Within 10 Feet of Runway Collision *NTSB INVESTIGATING RUNWAY INCURSION IN ALLENTOWN, PA. *FAA Touts Benefits Of Traffic Management Advisor *NTSB Says Blown Tire A Likely Factor In Learjet Accident *Jet runs off airstrip in Ecuador; none hurt *Thai authority further extends One-Two-Go grounding *************************************** Diverted American Airlines flight rolls off runway CHICAGO (Reuters) - An American Airlines plane rolled off the end of a runway as it landed in Chicago on Monday after it diverted from its planned destination due to electrical problems, the airline said. The plane, a Boeing Co. 757 headed for New York from Seattle, stopped just off the end of a runway at O'Hare International Airport, a spokesman for American's parent company AMR Corp said. The aircraft's landing gear came to rest in the grass. No injuries were reported. "After the Chicago Fire Department checks the airplane, the passengers will deplane using air stairs and be taken by buses to the terminal for reaccommodation," the spokesman said. AMR did not give a reason for the reported electrical problem that led to the flight diversion or the rocky landing that occurred in Chicago. A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft had tire damage that may have occurred on landing. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2247871720080922 *************** Mesa Flight Was Within 10 Feet of Runway Collision Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- A Mesa Air Group Inc. flight came within 10 feet of hitting a small Cessna plane on a runway in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a U.S. board said today, citing crew estimates. The pilots of the Mesa CRJ-700, taking off Sept. 19 for Chicago with 60 people on board, saw the Cessna on the airstrip ahead, aborted the takeoff and swerved around the aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board said. No one was hurt. The incident occurred at 7:45 p.m. when an air-traffic controller trainee incorrectly thought the Cessna had vacated the runway, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said. The Mesa crew, given clearance to take off by the trainee, heard the Cessna pilot say that he had missed a taxiway turnoff as they accelerated, the NTSB said in a statement. ``We're going to be looking closely at air-traffic control's role in this,'' NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said. The NTSB, which investigates accidents and advocates for safety improvements, has made reducing runway near misses one of its top priorities. A U.S. House panel also plans a hearing Sept. 25 on runway safety. The Federal Aviation Administration has tracked 23 serious instances in the year that will end Sept. 30 of planes coming too close together on runways, according to the agency's Web site. That's almost equal to the 24 for the previous federal fiscal year. A spokesman for Phoenix-based Mesa didn't immediately return a telephone call and e-mail seeking comment. The controller trainee cited in the air-traffic controllers' statement was certified to work in that airport tower position by himself, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. The FAA is examining the incident, she said. Cessna is a unit of Textron Inc., and Bombardier Inc. built the CRJ-700. ************** NTSB INVESTIGATING RUNWAY INCURSION IN ALLENTOWN, PA. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a runway incursion Friday evening in Allentown, Pennsylvania involving a general aviation aircraft and a Chicago-bound regional jet airliner. At 7:45 p.m. on September 19, a Cessna R172K (N736GV) was on a landing roll on runway 6 at the Lehigh Valley International Airport when the pilot was instructed to exit the runway at taxiway A4. Mesa Airlines flight 7138, a CRJ- 700 (N506MJ), already instructed to position and hold on the same runway, was then given clearance by the same controller to take off. During the takeoff roll, the Mesa crew heard the Cessna pilot say that he'd missed the taxiway A4 turnoff and ask to exit at taxiway B. The Mesa crew saw the Cessna ahead on the runway and aborted the takeoff at about 120 knots, swerving around the Cessna. The Mesa crew estimated that they missed colliding with the Cessna by about 10 feet. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and there were no reported injuries to the 60 persons aboard the jet or those aboard the Cessna. *************** FAA Touts Benefits Of Traffic Management Advisor Program Increases Airport Capacity Through Better Planning Passenger delays are being reduced thanks to a program that increases the efficient use of runway capacity at major airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency says airlines are reporting major savings in time -- and money -- because of Traffic Management Advisor (TMA), which analyzes traffic approaching an airport hundreds of miles away and calculates scheduled arrival times to maximize arrival capacity. TMA's metering capability has resulted in capacity increases of 3 to 5 percent, with some airports seeing even higher results. At Newark, where the system recently began operating, preliminary data shows TMA's time-based metering function is already helping reduce delays. One airline reports reduced flying time of four minutes per flight into Newark. TMA is also expected to be up and running at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports next year. TMA provides controllers with automated information on airport arrival demand and available capacity to improve sequencing and to better balance arrival and departure rates. Essentially, TMA evaluates the inventory that is scheduled for a particular airport. Overall, ground delays and time in the air are reduced with TMA, the FAA asserts. The benefit of TMA and its time-based metering capability can be seen mostly when demand exceeds capacity as the system calculates how best to flow traffic into an airport during each hour. Using TMA, holding patterns have been reduced going into Phoenix, according to the FAA. TMA has also been used to manage throughput for both arrivals and departures at Las Vegas. FMI: www.faa.gov aero-news.net ************** NTSB Says Blown Tire A Likely Factor In Learjet Accident Crew Tried To Abort Takeoff At Close To V1 Though a probable cause report on last week's fatal crash of a Learjet 60 as it attempted to takeoff from in Columbia, SC is at least a year away, investigators believe the plane's crew was attempting to abort the takeoff due to a suspected blown tire. National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman told the Associated Press a cockpit voice recording indicates, "The crew reacted to a sound that was consistent with a tire blowout." She added pieces of tire were recovered about 2,800 feet from where the plane started its takeoff run on the 8,600-foot runway. Hersman said an investigation is underway. As ANN reported, former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and Hollywood DJ Adam Goldstein were thrown from the plane, suffering from second- and third-degree burns. They're expected to fully recover. Both pilots and two other passengers died. It has been determined that the plane was traveling at or above its minimum takeoff speed when the crew thought the tire burst. Officials will now attempt to gain any insight into why the pilots may have decided aborting the takeoff was preferable to rotating and getting airborne. IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 999LJ Make/Model: LJ60 Description: LEARJET 60 Date: 09/20/2008 Time: 0356 Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N Damage: Destroyed LOCATION City: COLUMBIA State: SC Country: US DESCRIPTION AIRCRAFT ON DEPARTURE ROLL, WENT OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY AND CRASHED, THERE WERE SIX PERSONS ON BOARD, FOUR WERE FATALLY INJURED, TWO SUSTAINED UNKNOWN INJURIES, COLUMBIA, SC INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 4 # Crew: 2 Fat: 2 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 4 Fat: 2 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: 2 # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: WEATHER: KCAE 200556Z 06006KT 10SM CLR 18/12 A3021 OTHER DATA Activity: Unknown Phase: Take-off Operation: OTHER FAA FSDO: COLUMBIA, SC (SO13) Entry date: 09/22/2008 FMI: www.faa.gov aero-news.net ************** Jet runs off airstrip in Ecuador; none hurt QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - A passenger jet carrying more than 60 people ran off an airstrip in the Ecuadorean capital on Monday, skidding some 400 meters (400 yards) and smashing through a brick wall. None of the 62 passengers or the crew members aboard the Fokker F-28 operated by Ecuadorean airline Icaro were injured, the carrier and Civil Aviation authorities said. The flight attempted to take off just after 11:00 a.m. (1615 GMT) from Quito's Mariscal Sucre airport en route to the jungle city of El Coca, when it hit a metal antenna at the end of the runway, Ecuavisa television reported. Civil Defense chief Gustavo Bravo told Sonorama radio that airport firefighters worked to extinguish the beginnings of a fire and then attended to the passengers and crew. The airport was shut down for an hour, Civil Aviation deputy director Eduardo Larrea said in a news conference. Several flights were delayed, and two Lacsa flights to Costa Rica were canceled. The cause of the accident was not known. El Telegrafo newspaper reported that the yellow jet, painted with the logo of the Guayaquil-based Barcelona soccer team, is used to ferry the squad around the country. But there were no players on board, and it was not clear why it was being used for a regular passenger flight. Icaro and Civil Aviation did not say how many crew members were on board, but local media reported there were six. ***** Status: Preliminary Date: 23 SEP 2008 Time: 11:15 Type: Fokker F-28 Fellowship 4000 Operator: ICARO Registration: HC-CDT C/n / msn: 11222 First flight: Engines: 2 Rolls Royce 555-15P Spey Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 66 Airplane damage: Written off Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO) (Ecuador) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Coca Airport (OCC/SECO), Ecuador Destination airport: Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO/SEQU), Ecuador Flightnumber: 504 Narrative: An ICARO F-28 departed Quito (UIO) on a domestic flight to Coca (OCC). The airplane overshot the runway on takeoff, went down a grassy slope and smashed through a brick wall, stoppping a few yards away from cars. (aviation-safety.net) **************** Thai authority further extends One-Two-Go grounding Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has extended its grounding order against local low-cost carrier One-Two-Go because it has failed to meet the authority's requirements. DCA deputy director-general Wuthichai Singhamanee says the authority has issued a third 30-day grounding. "We extended it by another 30 days because" the airline still needs to lift its standards, improve quality control and ensure staff are properly qualified. In addition there are procedures in the airline's manuals that need to be revised, he says. The DCA first grounded One-Two-Go on 22 July saying it would be at least a 30-day grounding. It then extended it to 20 September and the latest grounding pushes it back to late October. But if the airline can meet all the requirements it will be permitted to fly again before the latest 30-day extension is over, adds Wuthichai. One-Two-Go has 30-40 pilots but these are only about two weeks through their pilot proficiency checks (PPC), which normally take one month to complete, says Wuthichai. These PPCs involve simulator training and One-Two-Go has had to send its pilots to a simulator centre in Madrid, Spain because the one it normally uses at Japan Airlines is unavailable, he says. Wuthichai says DCA inspectors have been accompanying the pilots on these overseas trips, Normally there is no need for inspectors to be present when the pilots are doing their simulator training but this is "a special case", he says. When the DCA first grounded One-Two-Go in July it alleged the airline falsified documents relating to PPCs. While One-Two-Go has been grounded, sister carrier Orient Thai Airlines has been permitted to continue operating. But Wuthichai says Orient Thai is only permitted to operate its Boeing 747s and is barred from operating Boeing MD-80-series aircraft, the aircraft type that One-Two-Go operates. The DCA's clampdown on One-Two-Go was sparked by findings from its investigation into last September's fatal crash of a One-Two-Go MD-82 at Phuket airport that resulted in the deaths of 90 of the 123 people on board. Wuthichai is the chairman of the sub-committee investigating the crash. He says a final report was to have been issued this month but it has yet to be completed and it might be the middle of next month. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************