08 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *Four Lost In Mid-Air Collision Over Florida Everglades *Airlines' Move Away From ASAP 'Disheartening' *Brazil blames U.S. pilots in Gol crash: paper *LI pilots dispute Brazilian agency findings in crash *Investigators to release final report into Amazon collision *Deadly air ambulance crashes hits record in '08 *Airplane lands safely after mechanical failure *NetJets, FAA Sign NextGen Agreement *Crashed Twin Otter's cables partly worn by jet blast: BEA **************************************** Four Lost In Mid-Air Collision Over Florida Everglades Skyhawk, PA-44 Collide On Training Flights Near FLL All four occupants of two light aircraft were killed in an apparent mid-air collision Saturday afternoon, about 20 miles west of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The planes were reported overdue Saturday evening, and Sunday morning the Broward County Sheriff's Office called in the US Coast Guard to assist in the search. Hampered by early morning fog, a US Coast Guard helicopter dispatched from Miami spotted the wreckage of the planes just before 9 am Sunday morning in a marshy area about three miles southwest of Everglades Holiday Park. The remote crash area was reachable only by airboat. Preserving the wreckage sites as a crime scene, the Sheriff's Office was keeping both air and boat traffic well away from the area, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel reported. Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said, 'It's too soon to speculate what happened. There are no survivors. "It's terrible, I'm sure family members were expecting these four people to return home safely," Coleman-Wright said. "It's unfortunate their adventure turned deadly." One of the dead has been tentatively identified by a relative as Stuart Brown, 27, an instructor with Pelican Flight Training based at North Perry Airport (HWO), The Miami Herald reported. Meg Fencome, vice-president of PFT, confirmed Sunday that Brown was an instructor with the school. He had taken off from HWO with a student at about 3 pm in a 1979 Cessna 172R and headed for a practice area in western Broward County. 'We are not going to release any more information until tomorrow," Fencome said. Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the other plane was a 1997 Piper PA-44 Seminole with two people onboard. It took off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) at about 3:30 pm Saturday and was also headed for the same practice area. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board on scene Sunday expected to return Monday to continue their investigation. FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.faa.gov aero-news.net ***** Date: 06-DEC-2008 Time: 15:30 approx Type: Piper PA-44-180 Seminole Operator: Airline Transport Professionals Corp. of USA Registration: N118TP C/n / msn: 44-7995065 Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 2 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Alligator Alley, West of Ft. Lauderdale Florida - United States of America Phase: Unknown Nature: Training Departure airport: FLL Destination airport: Narrative: Mid-air collision with a Cessna 172 - 2.7 miles SW of Everglades Holiday Park, both aircraft reported missing on Saturday, found at 0900 Sunday morning in Florida Everglades. (aviation-safety.net) *************** Airlines' Move Away From ASAP 'Disheartening' American, Delta, and Comair Drop Program, Draw Fire The withdrawal by three major airlines from a proven safety program has drawn recent criticism from the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Flight Safety Foundation. The Aviation Safety Action Program promotes safer flight through encouraging pilots to report mistakes and incidents without fear of reprisal, allowing regulators and the airlines themselves to take corrective measures. Participation in the ASAP is voluntary, and hinges on agreement between the FAA, pilot unions and the airlines. Allied Pilots Association safety chief Mike Michaelis blamed the break down of the program on a lack of trust; the stumbling block is that unions allege their members have been punished for disclosing problems, while airlines maintain their treatment of pilots has been fair. USA Today said disagreements between pilot unions and the airlines have turned the ASAP into a bargaining chip, prompting criticism toward both sides from others who strongly believe that nothing should get in the way of safety. In a recent speech, acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell decried the failure of cooperation in the ASAP as "disheartening." Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation said, "There are at least two sides to every story, but I couldn't care less about either. Safety systems do not belong on the bargaining table. There is simply no excuse." Robert Sumwalt, National Transportation Safety Board member and spokesman said, "The relevant players need to do whatever is necessary to ensure that these programs remain active and vital safety tools." Three major airlines have suspended their participation in ASAP. Delta Air Lines withdrew in November 2006, with its Comair regional subsidiary following last October. As ANN reported, American Airlines -- the first airline to implement ASAP 14 years ago -- suspended its program in October. FMI: www.delta.com, www.comair.com, www.aa.com, www.alliedpilots.org, www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov, www.flightsafety.org aero-news.net *************** Brazil blames U.S. pilots in Gol crash: paper SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The Brazilian Air Force will release a report next week blaming U.S. pilots who operated a Legacy jet that collided in mid-air with a Brazilian Gol commercial airliner for causing Brazil's second-worst air disaster, a local paper said on Saturday. O Estado de S. Paulo daily, which had access to details of the report, said pilot error in the Embraer Legacy jet, operated by Long Island-based ExcelAire, was the "central point in a chain of errors" that caused the Gol plane to crash in the jungle killing 154 on board in 2006. David Rimmer, executive vice president of ExcelAire, said later on Saturday that the newspaper's portrayal of a 300-page report to be released on Wednesday was "a gross misrepresentation" of the Air Force's investigation. The newspaper said the report focused blame on one of the U.S. pilots who "inadvertently turned off" the Legacy's transponder, which would have prevented the Legacy's winglet from slashing through the larger Gol airliner, sending it hurtling 37,000 feet to the jungle floor. The Legacy managed an emergency landing with minor damage on a remote airstrip. The paper said the report also faulted local air traffic control, which failed to properly advise the Legacy jet on its cruising altitudes, and also said there was miscommunication from one controller to another during a shift change about the Legacy's altitude and a failure to communicate between control and the Legacy pilots. "The transponder is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is air traffic control put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour," Rimmer said. "We have no proof of how the transponder was turned off and no evidence to suggest it was inadvertently turned off by the pilots." He said the Brazilian Air Force in its investigation of its own management of air traffic control during the time of the accident did not fully explore the transponder failure but "relied on theories rather than conducting in-depth testing of equipment." The report on the Gol disaster comes a few weeks after local investigators blamed government agencies, pilot error and company policy for a TAM airliner crash that killed 199 in 2007. ID:nN15461337 The occurrence of two major airline accidents within a year has triggered efforts to reform Brazil's military air traffic control system that are still underway. Rimmer said by phone that part of the problem with the Brazilian Air Force's investigation was the threat of criminal prosecution, especially of the air traffic controllers. "This tends to hamper information-gathering, which could help us avoid similar disasters in the future," he said. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4B51BF20081206 ************** LI pilots dispute Brazilian agency findings in crash Two Long Island pilots involved in a 2006 collision over the Amazon are disputing the reported findings of a Brazilian air force investigation that casts blame on the pilots and Brazilian air traffic controllers. Speaking on behalf of the pilots, attorney Joel Weiss yesterday questioned the objectivity of the Brazilian air force report, which concluded that a switched-off transponder in the pilots' ExcelAire plane contributed to the crash, Brazilian media reported yesterday. The body that probes Brazilian air crashes is a branch of the country's air force, "and they are dealing with a string of utterly catastrophic errors of air traffic control, another branch of the Brazilian Air Force," said Weiss, of Uniondale. "Air traffic control put and kept these two planes on a collision course," he said. "Any report that the pilots are at fault for that is nonsense." Weiss said pilots Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, could not speak to a reporter because their trial is pending. The Estado de São Paulo and Folha de São Paulo newspapers reported that air force investigators determined that pilots had inadvertently placed the transponder and the collision-avoidance system on standby before colliding with a jetliner on Sept. 29, 2006. The newspapers said the air force also concluded that flight controllers failed to alert the pilots that they were on a collision course and did not notice the transponder was turned off. The air force did not return calls yesterday. The report is to be released Wednesday. A Gol airlines Boeing 737 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet owned by Ronkonkoma-based ExcelAire Service Inc. All 154 aboard the Boeing died; the Legacy landed safely. Three flight controllers and the two U.S. pilots have been indicted on charges similar to involuntary manslaughter that carry up to three years in prison. A fourth flight controller is charged with gross recklessness and could face up to 35 years in prison, Weiss said. The pilots have denied turning off the transponder and have said they were at an altitude the controllers designated. "The transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour," ExcelAire executive vice president David Rimmer said yesterday. He said flight controllers failed to "recognize the transponder failure and to provide increased separation between the two jets, as required by international aviation regulations." http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-liair5955923dec07,0,1733920.sto ry *************** Investigators to release final report into Amazon collision Brazilian investigators are to release a final report into the Amazonian mid-air collision on 10 December, having found little evidence of technical failure in collision-avoidance or air traffic control systems. Crash investigation agency CENIPA will disclose its conclusions 27 months after the 29 September 2006 accident between a Gol Boeing 737-800 and an Embraer Legacy business jet. The aircraft collided at flight level 370 on an airway between Brasilia and Manaus, killing all 154 occupants of the 737. Inquiries have focused on the loss of a transponder signal from the Legacy, which left its collision-avoidance system unable to provide prior warning, to either aircraft, of the impending conflict. In a statement the Brazilian air force's brigadier Antonio Carlos Moretti Bermudez does not give any specific conclusions from the report - which will initially be shown to victims' relatives - but reiterates the main evidence from the inquiry. There were "no errors", he says, in the design or integration of the Legacy's communications equipment, transponder or collision-avoidance system. But he adds that the Legacy's pilots maintain they did nothing intentional to deactivate the jet's transponder. There is "no indication" of the accident's being influenced by radar coverage, deficiency of air traffic control communication or surveillance equipment. "Certain rules and procedures were not properly followed which has led the commission to examine the reasons, with the intention of developing recommendations for flight safety," he adds. Sixty safety recommendations had emerged from the inquiry, according to a previous statement which had accompanied submission of the draft final report to interested US and Canadian parties. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Deadly air ambulance crashes hits record in '08 HOUSTON — Medical helicopter crashes that have killed 28 people so far this year and made 2008 the deadliest on record for such accidents mostly occurred in flying conditions long known by the government to be dangerous, a newspaper reported Sunday. Yet the risky air ambulance takeoffs continue without better evaluation measures or stricter flight rules supported for years by federal investigators, the Houston Chronicle found. Bad weather and night flights were common factors in the 65 fatal crashes investigated by the National Transportation and Safety Board since 1989, according to the newspaper. Two of the deadly crashes that happened this year killed seven people in Texas. The two flights were at night, and both pilots faced reduced visibility. In October, the NTSB called Federal Aviation Administration progress on recommendations for tougher flight protocols and safety measures "unacceptable" and placed air ambulance safety on its priority list. The FAA, which has regulatory power over the air ambulance industry, supports the enhanced safety recommendations but has yet to require them. "Rulemaking is often, literally, a yearslong process," said Les Dorr, an FAA spokesman. "We have a long history of working with the industry to help them voluntarily improve safety and remain committed to getting these things into the cockpit as quickly as possible." In February, three people aboard a medical helicopter on a flight from Harlingen to South Padre Island died after meeting strong winds and crashing into a bay. Four others in June died in a Huntsville crash that happened less than two hours after a different crew aborted the same mission because of low clouds. Air ambulances have been credited with saving countless lives. Yet, each time the decision to dispatch one is made, operators face the critical task of balancing the welfare of the patient with the safety of the pilot and medical personnel. Those pressures have been ratcheted up by the explosion of operators available to fly for any given call. The air ambulance ranks have swelled from some 100 nationally in the 1980s to more than 900, operated by hospitals and independent companies, industry groups say. "There is a pressure for things to happen quickly when people are dying," said Gary Sizemore, a Florida-based pilot and spokesman for the National EMS Pilots Association. "But there also is a competitive pressure with the greater number of (helicopters) out there." A June 2006 report by the NTSB found that dozens of lives could have been saved under tighter restrictions. Next year, the NTSB plans to gather data on ambulance crashes and fatality rates in comparison to EMS helicopters. "People are dying," board member Debbie Hersman said during the meeting. "Some of these recommendations, if implemented, could have prevented these fatalities. So, there needs to be a sense of urgency and I just don't see it here." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6151803.html *************** Airplane lands safely after mechanical failure A Boeing 737 whose pilot reported a mechanical problem made a safe landing this afternoon at Palm Springs International Airport. Alaska Airlines Flight 387 was en route from San Francisco to Palm Springs when the pilot reported the wing flaps would not fully extend, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration. Emergency crews were standing by when the pilot made a successful landing at 2:46 p.m., Gregor said. The cause of the mechanical problem was under investigation. http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081205/NEWS01/81205027/0/rss *************** NetJets, FAA Sign NextGen Agreement NetJets Aviation Inc. has signed a wide ranging agreement with the FAA that will place the fractional jet operator in the forefront of the transformation of the U.S. air transportation system under the NextGen modernization program. NetJets officials and FAA managers from a range of the agency's functional areas will meet later this month to begin working out the details. NetJets plans to run some test programs in various parts of the U.S. by equipping some of the 550 to 600 aircraft it manages for fractional owners in the U.S. with the required avionics. Tests may involve the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, area navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) and possibly the use of electronic flight bags. Netjets may also form a joint venture with Jeppesen to develop custom RNP procedures for its use, but the company has developed some of its own custom procedures by itself in the past. Some of the NextGen tests will probably occur at Teterboro and Westchester County Airports and others at East Coast facilities where air traffic is congested such as in Florida. Netjets will provide data on the tests to the FAA which will then share conclusions on the results of the tests with the aviation community, says Vicki Cox, the FAA Senior Vice President of NextGen and Operations Planning. "We have the ability to equip the proper aircraft the right way and channel them into the test area to gather the data the FAA needs," explains James C. Christiansen, President of Netjets Aviation Inc. The FAA has a number of partnerships in the works to advance its NextGen program with airlines, airports and aerospace companies that supply ATC equipment to it. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=busav&id=ne ws/NET12058.xml&headline=NetJets,%20FAA%20Sign%20NextGen%20Agreeement **************** Crashed Twin Otter's cables partly worn by jet blast: BEA Investigators have concluded that on-ground jet blast contributed to the gradual failure of elevator cables in the Air Moorea de Havilland Canada Twin Otter which crashed in French Polynesia last year. The French Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses (BEA) has recommended a ban on stainless steel cables on the type, as well as better awareness of the potential risk of jet blast. BEA had already determined that the Twin Otter crashed, killing all 20 occupants, after the pitch-up control cable failed shortly after departure from Moorea on 9 August 2007. But in a final report into the accident it attributes the failure to a chain of events centred on three phenomena. These comprised significant wear on the cable's outer strands, on-ground failure of several strands - probably from heavy aircraft jet blast - and in-flight loading of the elevator when the flaps were retracted after take-off. Six new safety recommendations are included in the final report, including those on the steel cable ban and jet-blast risk awareness. BEA says crews lacked information and training on loss of pitch control and that the manufacturer and aviation authorities failed to take full account of the wear phenomenon. It adds that the operator omitted special inspections of the aircraft. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************