03 OCT 2008 _______________________________________ *KD-Avia crew reported flap problem before gear-up landing *Jet grounded at Morristown Airport due to smoke, odor behind cockpit *Medevac Pilots Ordered To Take Test *IATA awards Mozambique airline safety certificate *Light aircraft makes emergency landing in Shannon (Citation) *Boeing Consolidates Aviation Training Organizations Under the Alteon Name *Injuries as severe turbulence hits second CAL 747-400 *KD-Avia 737 in gear-up landing identified *Moskovia An-12 crashed after fire damaged aileron controls **************************************** KD-Avia crew reported flap problem before gear-up landing Preliminary information indicates that the KD-Avia Boeing 737-300 which performed a gear-up landing at Kaliningrad yesterday had aborted its initial approach because of a flap problem. Russia's federal air transport authority Rosaviatsia states that, at 22:02, as the jet approached Kaliningrad's Khrabrovo Airport from Barcelona, the crew reported the aircraft's flaps had not deployed. The 737 aborted the approach and began circling for a second attempt and, at 22:06, the crew advised that the flaps had extended. Emergency services were alerted at 22:15 to prepare for the aircraft's arrival. The jet landed, with its undercarriage retracted, three minutes later. Neither Rosaviatsia nor the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) has given any indication as to the reason why the 737's gear was not lowered. Although the accident badly damaged the aircraft and resulted in the closure of the airport for several hours, none of the 144 passengers and crew was injured. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Jet grounded at Morristown Airport due to smoke, odor behind cockpit No injuries, fire reported after corporate aircraft turns back after 12 miles By Minhaj Hassan • Daily Record • October 3, 2008 HANOVER TWP. -- A corporate jet carrying six people turned back midway in flight from Morristown Municipal Airport Thursday after an odor and smoke were detected behind the plane's cockpit, authorities said. Firefighters were dispatched at 3:56 p.m. after a pilot reported to airport officials about a burning smell. The plane, a Bombardier Aircrafts craft, had taken off from the airport and was 12 miles out before the smell was detected, Morristown Fire Department Capt. Bob Flanagan said. Mutual aid from other fire departments was requested, but they soon turned back after it became apparent there was no major fire, Chief Bob Taylor said. The Morristown department covers the airport. When the plane landed on the runway, town firefighters removed part of the dashboard where the odor and smoke were coming from. It was determined that an electrical wiring short in the plane's audio/visual unit was the cause of the problem. No injuries were reported, and the plane was taken to Signature Flight Center, located at the airport. The airplane is owned by IMP Group Limited of Quebec. The plane's original destination wasn't immediately known. http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081003/COMMUNITIES32/810030358/1005/NEWS01 ************** Medevac Pilots Ordered To Take Test Earlier Policy Changed Ability For Pilots To Practice BALTIMORE -- The WBAL TV 11 News I-Team has learned that Maryland State Police aviation command has ordered all Medevac pilots to complete an instrument landing competency test before they can resume flying. The order for the test is in conjunction with in-flight checks of glide slope equipment in each helicopter. A glide slope assists in the pilots decent onto a landing zone. The order followed last weekend's helicopter crash that killed four people. The pilot of Trooper 2, Stephen Bunker, 59, had told the tower at Andrews Air Force Base that he was having trouble capturing his glide slope -- or in common terms, acquiring the radio signal that provides guidance to the runway. Bunker's service record and performance are part of the National Transportation and Safety Board's investigation. But pilots who recently flew Trooper 2 told investigators that the aircraft's instruments were functioning normally. The helicopter had also just undergone a 100-hour inspection. Several aviation experts who asked not to be quoted because of the ongoing investigation are questioning whether Bunker was flying too low for his glide slope to engage, I-Team reporter David Collins said. According to the NTSB, Andrews recorded the helicopter flying at 700 feet within three miles of the runway. Experts told 11 News that's too low and too close to start an instrument approach. They said the pilot should have begun the process seven miles out and at least at 1,000 feet. A neighbor of Walker Mill Regional Park told investigators he spotted the helicopter flying below the cloud ceiling. The NTSB said that just before the crash there were scattered clouds at 200 feet. The NTSB determined the helicopter's first point of impact was the top of an 80-foot tree. Experts pointed out that Bunker had other equipment on board indicating his altitude, and they also questioned whether the Andrews control tower provided a warning. The NTSB is also looking into air traffic control training. In a memorandum dated Nov. 27, 2007, state police aviation unit commander Maj. A.J. McAndrew spelled out policy changes in the pilot training plan. The four-page document said, in part, that due to the aviation command's current helicopter fleet maintenance situation, it is the intent of the new training plan to reduce flight time and provide more structured and consistent training. The memo said, "Pilots will no longer fly with each other at the section level for instrument currency," meaning that pilots couldn't practice instrument landings like they used to whenever the opportunity presented itself. Experts said the policy change could mean the difference between being proficient at instrument landing and just passing a required test to stay current to Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The memo informed pilots that aviation command would be leasing a flight simulator from American Helicopters Inc., saying, "The simulator, although not specific to the Dauphine aircraft cockpit, will be utilized in a pinch for training current and new pilots on instrument procedures." Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said that policy changes to pilot training has made the program stronger, more structured, consistent and better. State police also said that pilots are encouraged to practice instrument landing whenever they have the opportunity, and if they feel weak in any particular area, they are encouraged to go in and work with an instructor. http://www.wbaltv.com/news/17610615/detail.html ************** IATA awards Mozambique airline safety certificate APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique national airlines, LAM, has been awarded a safety certificate by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) after undergoing the Operational Safety Audit (OISA), APA has learnt here Friday. IOSA is a programme that began five years ago, and to-date 570 audits have been conducted. IATA states that IOSA “is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit principles and is designed to conduct audits in a standardised and consistent manner.” It checks 928 standards and recommended practices. Airlines that do not comply with the recommendation of an IOSA audit, risk losing IATA membership and all the benefits that go with it. Since IOSA was introduced in 2003, there has been a decline of almost 50 percent in aircraft accidents across the globe, according to IATA. “Out of the 15 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), only six (Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania) have at least one airline that is IOSA certified,” LAM said. Some national carriers, such as TAAG of Angola and Royal Swazi of Swaziland, are already banned from European airspace on safety grounds, and the same could happen to Air Zimbabwe if it does pass the IOSA audit very soon, aviation sources said. Mozambique’s national flag carrier recently announced that it will invest US$120 million in the acquisition of six aircrafts by 2011. LAM is 80 percent state-owned, with the remaining 20 percent in the hands of its employees operating scheduled services in southern Africa and one inter-continental flight to Lisbon, Portugal. The airliner, which last made profits in 1999, was established in August 1936 — making it one of the oldest existing African Airline. http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=76795 ************** Light aircraft makes emergency landing in Shannon (Citation) A light aircraft with five people on board has made an emergency landing at Shannon airport this morning. The Citation plane is understood to have suffered hydraulic problems while travelling from Gander Airport in Newfoundland to La Bourgeois in Paris. All the passengers disembarked safely after the aircraft landed safely in Shannon. No disruption was caused to other flights at the airport. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/light-aircraft-makes-emergency-landing-in-shannon-13992422.html *************** Boeing Consolidates Aviation Training Organizations Under the Alteon Name KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- The Boeing Company announced on Thursday it was combining Alteon, a wholly owned subsidiary, and existing training groups within Boeing Commercial Airplanes to form a new, unified training organisation. The new training organization retains the Alteon name as a business unit within Boeing Commercial Aviation Services. "The combined expertise of our Commercial Airplanes and Alteon teams will better serve our customers? training needs by providing them with a more comprehensive suite of aviation training and flight services," said Lou Mancini, vice president and general manager of Commercial Aviation Services in a statement issued in Seattle yesterday. "This is yet another way that Boeing is helping to ensure our airline customers operate more efficiently." The new organisation takes advantage of both Commercial Airplanes and Alteon resources to provide customers with a single integrated business that encompasses all development, deployment and delivery of aviation training and flight services. It also supports both customers who need courseware and instructor-led training as well as those who need only to rent simulator time. In addition, for those customers who have invested in their own simulators, Alteon can provide Boeing data and hardware to operate the simulators as well as updates and upgrades. "With the new organisation, we will be able to present a single face to the customer across our global network and a consistent level of excellence in aviation services," said Sherry Carbary, president of Alteon. "This consolidation reinforces our commitment to pursuing innovative solutions to meet our customers' needs by providing a comprehensive portfolio of capabilities in training and flight services delivered by our skilled and impassioned work force." The new organization includes 1,400 training professionals. Alteon serves more than 400 customers around the world, delivering 330 training programs accepted by more than 100 regulatory authorities. It has more than 100 full-flight simulators in 20 locations on six continents. http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=362430 ************** Injuries as severe turbulence hits second CAL 747-400 Twenty-one occupants on board a China Airlines Boeing 747-400 have been injured in a severe turbulence incident, the second involving CAL in less than two weeks. The Taiwanese aircraft had departed Hong Kong at 11:50, with 147 passengers and 18 crew, operating flight CI641 to Bangkok. It encountered turbulence in Thai airspace at 13:59. CAL says there was no warning, and says 16 passengers and five crew members were subsequently injured. Engineers checked the 747 after it landed in Bangkok at 14:23. CAL says it will fly back to Taipei once it has passed inspection. The airline has identified the jet as being registered B-18202. Flight's ACAS database lists the 747 as an 11-year old aircraft, with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines, owned by the carrier. CAL suffered a separate severe turbulence incident on 20 September when about 30 people were injured on board another 747-400. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* KD-Avia 737 in gear-up landing identified Images from the scene of the KD-Avia Boeing 737-300 gear-up landing in Kaliningrad have confirmed the aircraft's identity. The 20-year-old jet is registered EI-DON, serial number 23812, and is owned by lessor CIT, according to Flight's ACAS database. ACAS shows that the jet had accumulated more than 47,600 hours in nearly 40,000 cycles. It had been attempting to land at the Russian exclave's Khrabrovo Airport yesterday but suffered a technical problem which prompted the crew to abort an initial approach. The 737, powered by two CFM International CFM56 engines, was then forced to land with its undercarriage retracted. None of the 138 passengers and six crew members was injured in the accident but the aircraft, which was arriving from Barcelona, has been badly damaged. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Moskovia An-12 crashed after fire damaged aileron controls Russian investigators have concluded that the Moskovia Airlines Antonov An-12 which crashed near Chelyabinsk earlier this year had suffered loss of roll stability following fire damage to aileron controls. All nine occupants of the aircraft, bound for Perm, were killed as it struck the ground while attempting to return to Chelyabink Airport shortly after departure on 26 May. While ignition of electrical wiring in the freight hold is suspected to have caused the fire, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) admits that it is unable to pinpoint the precise source or location. The fire is thought to have caused heat damage to mechanical controls in the region of frames 23-25 in the freight cabin, and MAK believes these subsequently broke under tensile loading. Electrical power distribution systems and other equipment were badly damaged by fire following the crash and MAK says it has "not been possible" to locate a primary cause of ignition, or the precise point at which the fire started. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************