05 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *Three Lost In Puerto Rico Turbo Commander Downing *B737-800 Incident-Windscreen Crack (Austria) *Three airlines drop self-reporting safety program *Part of D/FW's planned perimeter taxiway finally sees the light of day *Judge fines, grounds Lee's Summit helicopter dealer *Boeing may delay first 787 delivery by 6 more months: report *************************************** Three Lost In Puerto Rico Turbo Commander Downing Wreckage Located, But Terrain Hampers Recovery Efforts Search teams climbed up a treacherous mountainside Wednesday to find the wreckage of a Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander reported down east of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Associated Press reports the aircraft impacted the side of El Yunque mountain while on approach to land in San Juan. The accident flight departed from Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. Three people were reported onboard, pilot Ken Webster and two unidentified American tourists. Puerto Rican Police Agent Carmen Quinones said the plane was "totally destroyed... "I don't think there are any survivors." Search crews had to turn back after a five-hour hike in rain, fog and soggy underbrush to the accident site, due to a steep upslope that blocked their path. They were able to spot pieces of wreckage, but no sign of survivors. "We saw pieces of wing and other plane parts," said Jose Escobar of the Rio Grande civil defense force, adding rescuers called out for survivors, but heard no answer. Witness Jose Saldana said he heard a plane flying low over his restaurant, followed shortly after by two loud explosions. "First it was an impact like when somebody slams the door of a car, and then I heard another boom," Saldana said. IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 318WA Make/Model: 690B Description: ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL 690B Date: 12/03/2008 Time: 1213 Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N Damage: Destroyed LOCATION DESCRIPTION AIRCRAFT, INBOUND ON DESCENT, CRASHED INTO MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, THE THREE PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, NEAR RIO GRANDE, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 3 # Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 2 Fat: 2 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: WEATHER: TJSJ 031556Z 07011KT 10SM FEW030 SCT070 28/18 A3000 OTHER DATA Activity: Unknown Phase: Descent Operation: OTHER FAA FSDO: SOUTH FLORIDA, FL (SO19) Entry date: 12/04/2008 FMI: www.faa.gov aero-news.net ************** B737-800 Incident-Windscreen Crack (Austria) Date: 05-DEC-2008 Time: ca 0840 Type: Boeing 737-800 Operator: Lauda Air for Austrian Airlines Registration: OE-LNQ? C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 135 Airplane damage: Minor Location: Vienna Schwechat Airport (VIE) - Austria Phase: Initial climb Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: VIE Destination airport: TFS Narrative: turned back 30 minutes after take-off because of a crack in the cockpit windscreen (OS9253) (aviation-safety.net) ************** Three airlines drop self-reporting safety program Several leading safety experts and the FAA's acting chief criticized the companies and unions in recent days, accusing the two sides of letting politics and bargaining get in the way of safety. By Alan Levin, USA TODAY Three large airlines have abandoned a safety program credited with helping to lower accident rates, prompting criticism of the airlines and unions by safety advocates and government regulators. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Comair have dropped programs that encourage pilots to come forward and report their own mistakes without fear of being punished. Known as the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), the program has helped airlines and regulators uncover scores of potentially dangerous situations and make fixes before they caused crashes. ASAP depends on a consensus among pilot unions, airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), any of which can halt the agreement by refusing to participate. Union leaders have charged that airlines have gone back on their word and unfairly punished pilots who voluntarily disclosed problems. The airlines insist that they have treated employees fairly. FIND MORE STORIES IN: Federal Aviation Administration | Delta Air Lines | Air Line Pilots Association | Comair | Allied Pilots Association | Flight Safety Foundation | Bill Voss Several leading safety experts and the FAA's acting chief criticized the companies and unions in recent days, accusing the two sides of letting politics and bargaining get in the way of safety. "There are at least two sides to every story, but I couldn't care less about either," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation. "Safety systems do not belong on the bargaining table. There is simply no excuse." FAA acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell called the breakdown "disheartening," in a speech last week. National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said the shutdowns represent a troubling trend. "The relevant players need to do whatever is necessary to ensure that these programs remain active and vital safety tools," Sumwalt said. American, the first carrier to start ASAP 14 years ago, suspended its program in October after talks with the Allied Pilots Association (APA) broke down. APA's safety chief, Mike Michaelis, said the program broke down because of a lack of trust. Capt. Billy Nolen, American's flight safety manager, said the company wants to renew a program that has operated for years. Delta halted its program in November 2006 over disagreements with the Air Line Pilots Association. Comair, whose pilots are represented by the same union, suspended its ASAP last October. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-04-airsafety_N.htm **************** Part of D/FW's planned perimeter taxiway finally sees the light of day D/FW AIRPORT - Supposedly, it's a $260 million project that began as a doodle on the back of a napkin. It was the early 1990s, and the federal government wanted the Federal Aviation Administration to do something about making runways safer. In 1990, the National Transportation Safety Board had named runway safety to its inaugural "most wanted" list. So one late night, Ronnie Uhlenhaker, an FAA manager, and Jim Crites, an executive with American Airlines, devised the simplest of ideas: If an airport had enough land, you could build the taxiways around the airport and runways and eliminate the complicated network of crossings that can make airfields so confusing. On Thursday, there they were, Uhlenhaker and Crites, shaking hands in congratulations nearly two decades after that initial conversation. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport held a ribbon cutting for the $67 million southeast quadrant of its perimeter taxiway project. (The FAA paid 75 percent of the project, D/FW the remainder.) Earlier in the morning, the D/FW Airport Board spent $2.9 million to hire a designer for the northeast quadrant. Construction on the northeast quadrant will likely take two years. Work on the two western quadrants will take an additional two years, officials said. Teri Bruner, the FAA's Southwest region administrator, stood at a podium set on the chilly taxiway and recounted the "urban legend" of the napkin. So, did it really happen? Yes, said Crites, now D/FW's executive vice president of operations. "It was a beer napkin," he clarified. Perimeter taxiways Because of D/FW's runway configuration, aircraft are often called upon to cross active runways. Typically, an aircraft will land on one of D/FW's outboard runways, the two outermost of the parallel north-south runways. The planes must then cross at least one active runway to get to the terminal area. Perimeter taxiways around the entire airfield allow a plane to land, taxi to the outer loop and use it as a traffic-free road to the terminal area. As the most congested part of the airfield, the southeast quadrant of D/FW's new taxiway went first. "This is truly a milestone day in the life of D/FW Airport, because the opening of the first perimeter taxiway marks the beginning of a new era of safety and efficiency for our great airport," D/FW CEO Jeff Fegan said. Early talk While construction of D/FW's east runway speeded up air traffic in 1996, planes had to cross two runways to reach the terminals, raising the possibility of delays and, in the worst case, a collision. The FAA proposed a perimeter taxiway to circle the south end of the east runways. Some pilots remained unconvinced that the new configuration would be a benefit. But the airport staff said they would look at the possibility. By 1998, D/FW's customer-service reputation was spiraling down because of taxi-related delays. At that point, airport executives included perimeter taxiways in their master plan, although construction on those projects, which also included an international terminal and a people-mover, would be hung up for more than two years by a legal dispute over expanding service at Dallas Love Field. Expanded capacity In addition to improving safety, the perimeter runways would expand the airport's capacity as much as 30 percent without requiring the construction of an eighth runway. http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/1076099.html *************** Judge fines, grounds Lee's Summit helicopter dealer Kansas City Business Journal A federal judge ordered a Lee's Summit helicopter dealer to pay fines and restitution and liquidate his business for selling defectively repaired helicopter engine components. Robert Schlotzhauer must liquidate any assets that are tied to either of his companies, Falcon Helicopter Inc. and Lee's Summit Turbine LLC, for reselling damaged helicopter equipment after misrepresenting the extent to which the engines were defective. He pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud and money laundering tied to his actions. In two separate instances in 2001, Schlotzhauer was accused of rebuilding or extracting parts from engines that had been submerged in water after accidents and selling them back to consumers. It's against federal law and Federal Aviation Administration regulations to recycle components of engines that had been submerged in water. "Schlotzhauer recklessly jeopardized the lives of pilots and passengers through this fraud scheme," John Wood, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said in a release. "In order to boost his own profits, he flouted federal requirements for inspecting and repairing the damaged helicopters that he sold. He now faces a stiff fine and the loss of his business, but we are just thankful there were no injuries or fatalities as a result of this scheme." Schlotzhauer must pay $550,000 in fines, $63,854 in restitution and spend a year of home confinement at his own expense. http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/12/01/daily34.html *************** Boeing may delay first 787 delivery by 6 more months: report Boeing is considering pushing back first delivery of its 787 by at least six more months, according to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper is citing people familiar with the situation as saying Boeing officials are expected to announce later this month that first deliveries may not occur until as late as summer 2010, in part because of the recent two-month machinists' strike and ongoing supplier and other problems. The 787 programme has already faced multiple delays and first delivery was originally due to have taken place to launch customer All Nippon Airways in May this year. If deliveries are pushed back to summer 2010 this will represent a delay of more than two years from the original plan. Last month Boeing said a year-end target for first flight of the 787 would not be met as a result of the 57-day strike by machinists. It said new first flight and first delivery target dates would not be set until a full assessment of the programme's post-strike status took place. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************