17 NOV 2008 _______________________________________ *NTSB: Wake Turbulence From 767 Likely Caused Mexican Lear Crash *Boeing Completes Destructive Testing On 787 Wing Box *US Airways jet makes emergency landing in Philadelphia *Another Boeing Airliner Suffers Fastener Woes *EU updates blacklist *Canadian Air Crash Kills Seven *Brazil crash report blames govt agencies *Air NZ flight in emergency landing *************************************** NTSB: Wake Turbulence From 767 Likely Caused Mexican Lear Crash CVR Records Pilots' Last Statements US and Mexican investigators speculate the downing of a Learjet 45 in Mexico City on November 4 was caused by the combination of wake turbulence from a landing airliner and the pilots’ unfamiliarity with the aircraft. The plane’s cockpit data recorder, analyzed by the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, DC, revealed the pilots' last words – "Diosito" (My little God) – in their struggle to regain control of the aircraft as it encountered severe wake turbulence. Theories of sabotage have been all but ruled out in the deaths of all nine persons on board, including Mexico's Interior Minister, Juan Camilo Mourińo, and José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, well known for his fight against drug cartels. Pilot Martín Oliva, 39, and co-pilot Alvaro Sánchez, 58, have been defended by their families as responsible, serious professionals, the Dallas Morning News reported. But at a news conference, Mexico's Communications and Transportation Minister Luis Telléz said, "The investigation revealed apparent deficiencies in the training and certification process of both [pilots]," and alleged the pilots failed to follow ATC instructions. As the Learjet approached Mexico City, it was sequenced behind a Boeing 767-300 and given instructions to reduce airspeed in order to maintain proper spacing behind the airliner, Telléz said. But the pilots took over a minute to comply with the speed reduction, putting their plane just 4 nm behind the much larger 767. Investigators said that wake turbulence from the 767 caused the Learjet to crash within 30 seconds, evidenced by the plane's Cockpit Voice Recorder: Pilot: "That one's got some turbulence." Co-pilot: "Hey man." Pilot: "Hey [expletive]." Later: Pilot: "Alvaro, what do we do, Alvaro?" Co-pilot: "Hand it over to me, hand it over to me, hand it over to me." Pilot: "It's yours Alvaro." Pilot: "[expletive]" Pilot: "No, Alvaro." Co-pilot: "Diosito." FMI: www.ntsb.gov aero-news.net ************** Boeing Completes Destructive Testing On 787 Wing Box Must Withstand Forces Up To 1.5 Times Of Highest Expected Load Boeing completed destructive testing Saturday on a full-scale composite wing box of the 787 Dreamliner, the first all-composite wing box ever built for a Boeing commercial airplane. This test is part of the certification process for the all-new jetliner. "Successful completion of the wing box destruction test marks a major step forward in highlighting the innovation on the 787," said Mark Jenks, vice president of 787 Development. "In addition to determining the strength of the structure, the test helps us verify the analytical methods we have used to calculate the loads the structure will have to carry." The wing box is a cantilevered beam that carries the wing to the fuselage and supports leading- and trailing-edge devices, control surfaces, engines and landing gear. The test piece represents a portion of the wing section that begins at about the center of the airplane and stops at approximately one-half of the span of the wing -- approximately 50 feet. The piece measures approximately 18 feet at its widest point. The upper and lower surface panels and the spars of the wing are made entirely of the same composite material being used on the fuselage. The wing ribs are monolithic aluminum structures, each machined from a single piece of aluminum plate. To meet certification requirements, the wings must withstand loads up to 1.5 times, or 150 percent, of the highest aerodynamic load that the jet could ever be expected to see in the entire lifetime of the 787 fleet. The test wing box weighs 55,000 pounds, including a great deal of test-only hardware and instrumentation. It was designed and built by a joint team of Boeing, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries. Structural testing will continue on two full-scale 787 airframes as part of the certification process for the airplane. Those tests will further demonstrate the performance of the structure through multiple lifetimes of normal operational loads and test the structure beyond the points expected to be seen in service. FMI: www.boeing.com aero-news.net *************** US Airways jet makes emergency landing in Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A US Airways Express flight made an emergency landing Sunday without its nose landing gear. No injuries were reported. The Philadelphia-bound deHavilland Dash-8 turboprop, operated by Piedmont Airlines, had taken off from Allentown at about 8:20 a.m. with 35 passengers and three crewmembers on board, according to officials of the airline and Philadelphia International Airport. Before the scheduled landing at Philadelphia, the crew got an indication that the landing gear was not down and did a flyover to confirm that it had not deployed, airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said. Fire crews spread foam on the runway as a precaution, but there was no smoke and no fire when the aircraft landed without its nose wheels at around 9:20 a.m., Lupica said. FIND MORE STORIES IN: US Airways | Allentown | Philadelphia International Airport | Piedmont Airlines Passengers were taken to the terminal by bus. The cause of the problem remained was under investigation, said US Airways spokesman Morgan Durant. Lupica said the airport had to be closed for about 25 minutes. By midday, the plane was still on the runway. The three other runways were open but the airport reported some incoming flights delayed nearly three hours because of the disruption. ************** Another Boeing Airliner Suffers Fastener Woes Nutplates Used On 737s Since August '07 Lack Anti-Corrosive Coating Boeing has announced a delay in the delivery of its 737 airliners to replace fasteners that were manufactured without a required anti-corrosive cadmium coating, and is making plans to inspect 394 of the 737s already in service with the defective parts. Boeing spokeswoman Vicki Ray told the Associated Press the uncoated nutplates have been installed on 737s since August 2007. Used to fasten bundles of wires and other items to the inside of fuselages, each plane has thousands of them. "We're replacing them as we find them," said Ray. "Also to be addressed is the in-service fleet, and we're still working on a plan for that," adding that the defective parts are not a risk to flight safety at present. Spirit AeroSystems operates an assembly facility in Wichita, KS that provides fuselage and wing components for nearly every model of Boeing aircraft. Spokesman Ken Evans said Spirit had received the fasteners from a Boeing-approved supplier, and discovered the defect in August. "Our re-work is going very well," Evans said. "We feel pretty good about it." As ANN previously reported, Boeing has been beset with various fastener problems of late. In September 2007, Boeing reported delays in the assembly of its 787 Dreamliners due to a shortage of aluminum and titanium fasteners made by Alcoa. In March 2008, a Boeing 757 enroute from Orlando to Philadelphia lost a two-by-four-foot wing panel detached from the left wing when fasteners failed due to metal fatigue. FMI: www.boeing.com aero-news.net *************** EU updates blacklist Siem Reap Airways and all Angolan airlines banned The European Commission adopted the ninth update of the so-called blacklist of airlines that are banned from flying into the countries of the European Union due to safety concerns. In addition to the previous restrictions, the Commission has imposed a ban on all operations of Siem Reap Airways International from Cambodia. At the same time, it has extended the ban on TAAG Angola Airlines to all airlines certified in Angola on the basis of "significant safety concerns" raised by ICAO in its audit report of 1st October 2008, which still remain open and affect the safety of operations of all Angolan carriers. The Commission decided to maintain the ban on all operations of Ukraine Mediterranean Airlines and Ukraine Cargo Airways as the airlines have not proven the successful implementation of corrective actions for the permanent resolution of previously detected safety deficiencies. With regard to Nouvelle Air Affaires certified in Gabon, the Commission decided to maintain the full operating ban already imposed on the air carrier. There is no evidence so far that the company's plan of corrective measures has been approved and verified by the Gabonese civil aviation authorities. (EU) (aviation-safety.net) *************** Canadian Air Crash Kills Seven OTTAWA — A Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft crashed north of Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday, killing seven occupants, the Canadian Armed Forces said. One passenger survived. The crash was the second of a Grumman Goose operated by Pacific Coastal Airlines since August, when another one went down, killing five. News reports indicated that the plane apparently flew into a hillside on an island off the province’s rugged coastline. The age of the aircraft was not known although Grumman discontinued production of the model during the 1940’s. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/world/americas/17canada.html?ref=world ************** Brazil crash report blames govt agencies RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 15 (Reuters - A 16-month investigation into Brazil's worst airline accident that killed 199 people places most blame on government agencies for failing to ensure runway safety and could lead to criminal charges against officials, Brazilian media reported. The report by the Sao Paulo Institute of Criminology into the July 2007 accident at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport will be delivered to state prosecutors. All 187 people on board and 12 people on the ground died when the TAM Linhas Aereas (TAMM4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (TAM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Airbus A320 skidded in heavy rain off a surface that had been repaved the previous month. Officials had tried to ban large jets from landing there but were unsuccessful. The crash highlighted persistent safety concerns about the short, slick runways at Sao Paulo's aging domestic airport, which sits in the middle of South America's largest city. The new surface had not been grooved to drain rainwater, prompting criticism that the airport was reopened prematurely because it is so important to Brazil's economy. The report, details of which were published late on Friday on Brazilian newspaper Internet sites, blamed Infraero, the government body responsible for airport infrastructure, for failing to ensure adequate drainage on the runway. It also blamed the National Civil Aviation Agency for not setting stricter rules for aircraft landing in the rain. "The accident was caused by various omissions and negligence by the National Civil Aviation Agency, Infraero, the airline company and the aircraft manufacturer," public prosecutor Mario Luiz Sarrubbo told Globo television. The report also blamed Airbus (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for not making obligatory an alarm warning about incorrect positioning of the aircraft's thruster controls. The botched landing was partly due to the thrusters being on opposite settings, which the report said was due to pilot error and lack of training by TAM. Brazil's public prosecution office was considering charges against 10 officials, Globo said. Neither government agency was available for comment on Saturday. Media reported TAM had asked for a suspension of the prosecution process until it was decided whether the case would be heard at the federal or state level. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN15461 33720081115 ************** Air NZ flight in emergency landing DISRUPTION: An Air New Zealand flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Palmerston North airport after an engine failed 10 minutes into a flight. An Air New Zealand flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Palmerston North airport after an engine failed 10 minutes into a flight. The Q300 plane, which had 33 passengers onboard, was flying from Napier to Wellington when one of the propeller engines malfunctioned just before midday. The pilot shut the engine down and flew to Palmerston North with a single engine. Passenger Mike Rodgers, of Gore, heard a bang when the engine shut down and saw oil seeping from the propeller. No passengers were injured but a few were shaken by the experience, he said. Fire fighters and St John ambulance crews were called to the airport but were not needed. Palmerston North airport operations manager Roy Bodell said the passengers had alternative travel arrangements made by Air New Zealand. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4763862a11.html *************