02 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *Investigators Look At Recent Paint Job In ANZ Accident *Recorders from crashed A320 'badly damaged': ANZ *TACA passengers in a fog after 9-hour flight diversion *EU-US civil aviation safety agreement ready for take-off *FAA Gives ADS-B Sat Tracking Of Aircraft The Go Ahead *NTSB: Dash-8 crew departed despite "creaking and groaning noise" **************************************** Investigators Look At Recent Paint Job In ANZ Accident A320 Had Just Been Repainted For Redelivery To Carrier Aviation accident investigators are talking a close look at whether the recent repaint of an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 contributed to a fatal crash last week that claimed the seven people onboard. As ANN reported, the A320 was nearing the end of a maintenance checkout flight November 27, when it suddenly plunged into the Mediterranean Sea while on approach to Perpignan, France. The plane was slated to be returned to owner Air New Zealand after coming off lease to Germany's XL Airways. The Australian newspaper reports a firm in Perpignan had recently painted the aircraft in the ANZ livery. Media reports indicate the accident flight was the plane's first since it was repainted... raising the possibility a static port or other sensor area may have been painted over, or was still masked off. Contrary to that theory is the knowledge the airliner apparently flew without incident two hours before it crashed into the sea. Investigators hope the plane's cockpit voice recorder will shed some light on the flight's last moments. Crews recovered the CVR this weekend, and it appears to be in good condition. Crews have also located the flight data recorder, and hoped to recover that vital equipment early this week. In related news, Air New Zealand identified their employees believed killed in the crash: pilot Brian Horrell, 52; Murray White, 37, an engineer from Auckland; and engineers Michael Gyles, 49, and Noel Marsh, 35. Civil Aviation Authority official Jeremy Cook, 58, from Wellington, was also on board the airliner, which was flown by two German pilots. FMI: www.bea-fr.org, www.ntsb.gov, www.caa.govt.nz/ aero-news.net ************** Recorders from crashed A320 'badly damaged': ANZ Both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) from the Air New Zealand (ANZ) Airbus A320 that crashed in France last week were badly damaged and will be sent to the manufacturer for an attempt at data recovery, according to the airline. ANZ says in a statement that "it is now clear both it [the FDR] and the cockpit voice recorder have been badly damaged. These will be sent to manufacturer Honeywell in North America to determine what data can be extracted". The A320 crashed into water on 27 November while conducting a pre-delivery circuit flight from Perpignan. The aircraft had been on lease to Germany's XL Airways and ANZ was preparing to take it back. All seven people on board are presumed to have died in the crash, which occurred as the aircraft was returning to the airport. The CVR was recovered at the weekend and the FDR was recovered overnight. It was originally reported by ANZ that the CVR appeared to be in good condition. ANZ says a third body was located overnight by search and rescue divers, who also located the cockpit of the A320. The airline adds that "French authorities have made it clear that they intend to continue the search and recovery operation until all bodies are found". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* TACA passengers in a fog after 9-hour flight diversion Normally, a flight from San Salvador to Los Angeles takes 4 1/2 hours. On Sunday, however, a TACA International Airlines flight took nearly 14 hours, with nine of them spent on the ground as passengers clamored for relief. Dense fog forced Flight 670, en route to Los Angeles International Airport, to be diverted to Ontario International Airport about midnight, where it sat on the tarmac until mid-morning. Just why the passengers were forced to wait for so long on the cramped aircraft remained a matter of dispute Monday. According to the air carrier, authorities at the Ontario airport did not allow the plane's 193 passengers to disembark. Local authorities, according to the TACA statement, did not want passengers to pass through customs and enter the country. Airport officials, however, gave a different story. According to a statement from Los Angeles World Airports, which operates the Ontario facility, TACA never asked that passengers be allowed to exit the aircraft. The airline planned to take off from the airport soon after it refueled, according to the airport agency. But as the plane waited for fog to clear at LAX, the airline did not request that U.S. Customs and Border Protection process passengers so they could stretch their legs or sit in the terminal. Although the airport did not have customs staff on hand to process exiting passengers, it could have summoned them, according to the airport agency. "It is also unknown why, even after suggested, TACA staff did not request clearance to have their passengers deplane for humanitarian reasons," the agency said in a prepared statement. Water and snacks were provided to passengers about 4 a.m. by airport staff, and emergency responders received "a few reports" of passenger illnesses, airport officials said. No one was hospitalized. The TACA flight's crew was changed about 7 a.m. because it had run longer than its allotted hours, Ontario airport spokeswoman Maria Tesoro-Fermin said. After a normal servicing Monday morning, Flight 670 finally departed Ontario just before 9 a.m. and landed safely at LAX nearly 30 minutes later. The TACA plane was one of three international passenger flights diverted to Ontario on Monday, said Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for LAX. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-diverted-plane2-20 08dec02,0,731311.story *************** EU-US civil aviation safety agreement ready for take-off The Transport Committee unanimously approved on Tuesday an agreement between the EU and the USA on cooperation in the regulation of civil aviation safety. By streamlining various certification procedures, it should contribute to greater efficiency in airline operations. Negotiations, which started in 2004, have recently been concluded by an agreement which settles the reciprocal acceptance of certifications in the field of civil aviation safety and environmental compatibility. Committee members believe that this agreement will facilitate operations at airports on both sides of the ocean. In a consultation procedure report drafted by Transport Committee Chair Paolo Costa (ALDE, IT), they therefore voted to approve the agreement as its stands. The agreement focuses mainly on two aspects: airline products designed, manufactured, modified or repaired under the regulatory control of the EU or US can be easily issued the necessary approvals to be registered or operated under the regularly control of the other side; aircraft registered or operated under the regulatory control of the EU or US can be maintained by organisations under the regulatory control of the other side. The agreement is based on mutual trust of each other's safety system and on the comparison of regulatory differences and is designed to work smoothly on a daily basis so as to solve technical issues. It is also stipulated that each party shall respect the other's findings on compliance with the rules. MEPs think that its implementation will improve the high degree of confidence in the airworthiness system on both sides. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/062-43351-336-12-49 -910-20081201IPR43350-01-12-2008-2008-false/default_it.htm *************** FAA Gives ADS-B Sat Tracking Of Aircraft The Go Ahead In a step that promises to greatly improve the efficiency of air transportation for millions of Americans, FAA Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell has given the green light to nationwide deployment of a system that allows aircraft to be tracked by satellite rather than radar. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) will reduce the risk of midair collisions and weather-related accidents, provide more efficient routes in adverse weather, and improve situational awareness for pilots. An executive order signed by President Bush on Nov. 18 accelerated the implementation of NextGen, stating that it is the policy of the United States to establish and maintain an air transport system that meets the present and future needs of this country. Sturgell's commissioning of essential services for ADS-B in Florida clears the way for nationwide deployment of the system by 2013. The installation of 11 ground stations in Florida gives pilots viewing ADS-B cockpit displays the same live traffic seen by controllers. Pilots also receive free, real-time weather updates from the National Weather Service, as well as critical flight information such as temporary flight restrictions and special-use airspace. These advances, in turn, will allow the United States to accommodate the increasing number of aircraft in the nation's skies, and will help to make the travel experience for airline passengers more efficient, safer and environmentally friendly. The commissioning marks a significant milestone in the FAA's aggressive deployment schedule for ADS-B. By 2013, 794 ground stations will provide ADS-B services everywhere there is radar coverage today - with further coverage in places that currently lack radar coverage, including the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Work at the sites of the next key milestones for ADS-B services - Juneau, AK, Louisville, KY, the Gulf of Mexico and Philadelphia - are scheduled for completion by the end of 2010. This will allow controllers to begin using ADS-B for aircraft surveillance or separation services. http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=608377597 **************** NTSB: Dash-8 crew departed despite "creaking and groaning noise" The crew of a US Airways Express Dash-8 that was forced to land at the Philadelphia International Airport with its nose wheel landing gear retracted on the morning of 16 November had earlier heard a "creaking and grinding noise" when taxiing out of the Lehigh Valley International Airport, say US National Transportation Safety Board investigators. In a preliminary report on the incident, the NTSB says the pilot and first officer of Flight 4551 continued with the flight to Philadelphia as they felt "this was a 'normal' noise." After takeoff, pilots reported that the nose gear took about "three or four seconds longer to retract than the main landing gear" but that the remainder of the flight was uneventful until they received a red warning light upon nose gear extension prior to landing at Philadelphia. After unsuccessful attempts to lower the nose gear in the air at Philadelphia, the pilots performed a nose gear-up landing on a foam-coated Runway 27L in the presence of airport rescue and fire fighting teams. Investigators say the aircraft skidded for 525ft along the runway once the nose touched down. The 35 passengers and three crew members then deplaned via the cabin door and were bussed to the terminal. Damage was largely limited to opened nose wheel landing gear doors. After lifting the nose of the aircraft using inflatable airbags, an FAA inspector found that the nose wheel was "canted at an angle, wedging it into the nose wheel well," the report states. Mechanics used a pry bar to push the wheel into its normal position, after which the gear dropped freely and locked into the down position. The links on top of the steering column were found to have been "broken and pushed upward and the nose wheel over steering pin was still intact," the report states. NTSB has retrieved the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder along with parts of the nose gear for further analysis. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/12/01/319598/ntsb-dash-8-crew-depa rted-despite-creaking-and-groaning.html ****************