12 NOV 2008 _______________________________________ *Helicopter crash in Boynton Beach *Northwest regional jet makes emergency landing in Indy *Alaska Air jet makes emergency landing *Fighter plane in training run near-miss with private jet *Montreal pilots flashed with laser during landings *UK aviation body to assist Nigeria on air safety *Research shows pilot training is the best investment against catastrophic accident risk *************************************** Helicopter crash in Boynton Beach BOYNTON BEACH, FL -- Two people were injured early this morning, including a local traffic reporter, after a helicopter crash in Boynton Beach. The helicopter is leased by West Palm Beach television station WPEC. Boynton Beach police received calls of a helicopter down at 1000 W. Industrial Avenue at 6:11 a.m., Boynton Beach police spokesperson Stephanie Slater wrote in a press release. The pilot is identified as Takayuki Tanaka, 51, of Boca Raton. The passenger was WPEC's traffic reporter, Paul Cavenaugh, 55, of Delray Beach. Tanaka and Cavenaugh were transported to the Bethesda Hospital. Their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, according to Slater. Slater reports, witnesses told police it sounded like the chopper's engine did not have full power. When officers arrived, the pilot was out of the chopper, the passenger was getting out. A section of the rear rotor assembly was cutoff at mid-shaft, according to Chopper 5 Captain Julie Stevens, who was over the scene. The helicopter is a Bell Ranger III. The NTSB is investigating the accident, according to Slater. http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a91c83f3-0657-48b0-937b -45e912fd8fef **************** Northwest regional jet makes emergency landing in Indy A INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A Northwest Airlines regional flight landed safely at Indianapolis after a problem with cabin pressure. The Bombardier CRJ200 was en route to Detroit from Little Rock, Ark. with 26 passengers on board when it was diverted to Indianapolis this morning, according to a report from WISH (Channel 8). Indianapolis International Airport spokeswoman Susan Sullivan says fire crews were on standby as the jet landed. The jet taxied to a gate where the passengers disembarked. No injuries were reported. Sullivan says officials suspect a leak in a seal around the jet's windshield may have caused the problem. *************** Alaska Air jet makes emergency landing ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska Airlines is investigating the cause of an engine problem that led to an emergency landing of one of the newer additions to its fleet. Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Caroline Boren says one of the plane's two engines malfunctioned about 30 minutes after takeoff in Anchorage Tuesday morning. Boren says the crew of the Fairbanks-bound plane idled the engine, and declared an emergency landing as a precaution. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed normally in Anchorage 7:49 a.m. and passengers were put on a 10:05 a.m. flight to Fairbanks. Boren says there were no injuries among the 61 passengers and five crew members. She says the plane is among aircraft added to the airline's fleet in recent years. **************** Fighter plane in training run near-miss with private jet A FIGHTER plane came within 240ft of colliding with a private jet during a "most serious" near-miss. The Eurofighter Typhoon was diving on a "high angle strafe" during a training run when it shot past the Hawker Siddeley 125 coming into land at an airport on Humberside. The UK Airprox Board, which investigates near-misses between aircraft, graded the incident which happened at 8000ft as Category A, meaning "an actual risk of collision existed". http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Fighter-plane--in-training.4684730.jp **************** Montreal pilots flashed with laser during landings Pilots in Montreal say someone is trying to blind them with a laser pointer as they land jets at the city's airport, and they want to track down whoever is responsible. There have been at least six incidents at Montreal-Trudeau Airport in the past week. "We want the idiots doing this to stop immediately because it could potentially jeopardize the safety (of those on board)," Capt. Serge Beaulieu of the Air Canada Pilots Association told CTV Montreal on Tuesday. Pilots believe someone is using a high-powered green laser pointer that's popular among astronomers and amateur star gazers. A typical five-milliwatt model has a range of roughly 10,000 feet, or three kilometers, and costs about $100. More powerful pointers can generate beams at least twice that distance. Lasers beamed at cockpits can temporarily blind pilots as they try to land their planes, putting their lives -- and the lives of passengers -- in jeopardy. Crewmembers now receive specific training on how to handle such a situation. "They don't look straight at the laser because that's dangerous, it could damage the cornea and incapacitate you in some way," said Beaulieu. According to Transport Canada, the problem is widespread. There have been at least 60 such incidents nation-wide over the past year. In some cases, pilots suffered actual damage to their eyes. Last year, police in Calgary arrested a 29-year-old man for shining a laser beam at a cockpit. He was fined $1,000. Transport Canada said fines and jail time can range up to a maximum $100,000 fine for a summary conviction, and up to five years in prison. In Montreal, pilots are using Global Positioning System devices and sophisticated technology on board their planes to locate the person responsible for the latest incidents. "We have enough instruments on board that we can tell where it's coming from," said Beaulieu. "If we fly over it, we report the latitude and longitude." http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081111/montreal_pilots _laser_081111/20081111?hub=Canada **************** UK aviation body to assist Nigeria on air safety SEEKING to improve safety in the country's burgeoning aviation industry, the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAS) has pledged to collaborate with Nigeria in the area of determining the causes of aircraft accidents and how the country can minimise or eradicate them through sharing of information in the sector. The society is also ready to share knowledge on how to tackle weather-related air crashes, by way of giving weather reports to pilots at departure, en-route and on arrival. President, Royal Aeronautical Society, Captain David Rowland, spoke yesterday in London at the induction of the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, as a Fellow of the prestigious aeronautical society. Demuren becomes the third Nigerian to be bestowed with the highest aviation fellowship membership. Other Nigerians that have been so honoured by the society are Group Captain John Obakpolor (rtd) and Dr. Folasade Odutola who is now Nigeria's representative on the global aviation regulatory body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Speaking with The Guardian, Captain Rowland said he was happy Nigeria was taking positive steps in the aviation sector, adding that the country should not relent. He urged all countries to pay attention to safety detail and quality, stressing, " and if you could do that, the sky will be your limit." An elated Demuren said the development would help to create opportunities and to share information particularly on safety and security advice in aerospace. He stated that it was the best time to applaud the British who, along with both the Europeans and Americans thinking, noting "this is the era of aerodynamics, engines, structures, human factor." His words: "One other area that is of importance to me is that they are doing a lot of work on the human factor, which have been causing accidents. When an accident occurs, you say it is pilot error. We are now looking at all those segments and we need a lot of work in this area. We can tap into that and build this knowledge. They are doing a lot of work which is called the Vetting Foundation which will help in analysing the cause of aircraft accidents and learn from there. "This is very critical for us and I believe that we don't learn from our accidents. If you look at our countries in Africa, in all the last accidents, the weather has had a finger in them and we need to tackle that by giving accurate weather reports to our pilots. Abuja is a good example of airports with occurrence of wind shear. If we detect it, if air controllers are aware, we can stop that and allow the evil to pass," he added. Wind shear is the sudden change in the direction of wind, and has been reported as principally responsible for the Sosoliso plane crash in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which killed all passengers on board in 2005. Demuren, however, stated that the international community had noticed the country's efforts at bringing sanity to the industry, with the implementation of the Cape Town Convention on mobile equipment. The convention allows for easy lease of aircraft purchase and mobile equipment with the NCAA standing as guarantor. Nigeria, being a signatory to the Convention, has benefited through the acquisition of newer aircraft by the country's airline operators. The NCAA, however, said another area Nigeria urgently needed assistance was in infrastructure at both airports and air traffic management, adding "we need to improve on communication and on navigational equipment with a good surveillance." http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article03/indexn2_html?pdate=121108&ptit le=UK%20aviation%20body%20to%20assist%20Nigeria%20on%20air%20safety *************** Research shows pilot training is the best investment against catastrophic accident risk The latest global airline safety analysis by the UK Civil Aviation Authority indicates that, despite advancing technology and improved aircraft reliability, crew judgement and actions remain the most consistent causal factor in global catastrophic accidents. That situation will remain true for the foreseeable future, according to Dr Hazel Courteney, head of research and strategic analysis. For that reason, she says, quality pilot training at all levels remains the critical factor in preventing really serious accidents. Speaking at the recent Flight Safety Foundation International Aviation Safety Seminar in Honolulu, Courteney was presenting a study on prioritising strategies with the highest potential to reduce the chances of catastrophic accidents, as well as less serious safety events. Courteney revealed: "Crew-related issues dominate accident causal factors, featuring in 75% of fatal accidents." She qualified this statement, explaining: "It is important to note that this [statistic] does not imply that the pilot was at fault or to blame, because it is now well-established that 'pilot error' cannot continue to be the scapegoat for the many and various factors that can lead to the error occurring. However, it is important to include crew factors in this data [analysis] because it highlights the crucial importance of pilot performance in safety, and therefore reminds us to invest resources in anything that might support it - [for example] training and simulation facilities - and to minimise influences that might adversely contribute - time pressure, fatigue and distraction." Courteney's study comments: "Improving safety is getting harder. The easy changes have been made and the obvious lessons have been learned. Accidents are getting rare and tend to involve multiple, unique circumstances." This fact predisposes to situations that test the crew's resourcefulness, technical knowledge and skills. The CAA study has found that the three top catastrophic accident risks all involve loss of control (LOC) under different circumstances. One is LOC following a technical failure, another LOC "for non-technical reasons", and the final one is loss of control caused by icing. Following the LOC categories, Courteney says controlled flight into terrain remains the next most serious catastrophic risk, followed by post-crash fire and runway excursions and overruns. The CAA's study is continuing, says Courteney. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/11/12/318697/research-shows-pilot- training-is-the-best-investment-against-catastrophic-accident.html ****************