15 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *Pilots fired after take-off blunder *Jet makes emergency landing at Phila. airport *Helicopter pilot feared dead in crash off Texas *Flight ban may be lifted as early as March (Indonesia) *IATA Unveils Plans To Push Aviation Safety to Next Level *Emergency Landing Update *Embraer's Phenom 100 Executive Jet Receives U.S. FAA Type Certificate *Oil-rich Angola launches direct flight to China *DC-9 depressurised after ramp crew covered up tug strike *China Eastern undergoing management change *Airbus testing rules tightened after Etihad A340-600 smash *FAA mandates 747 flap inspections *Uncorrected poor technique led trainee to land A320 hard **************************************** Pilots fired after take-off blunder Two pilots with a Hong Kong airline have been sacked for trying to take off in a plane carrying 122 passengers from a taxiway rather than a runway, the airline said yesterday. Hong Kong Airlines captain Indra Santrianto and his Argentinian First Officer Diego Martin Chiadria were dismissed over the incident Boeing 737 at Hong Kong International Airport on Sept. 13. An air traffic controller raised the alarm when he saw the plane bound for South Korea speeding along the taxiway and alerted the cockpit crew in time for them to abort take-off. Santrianto, an Indonesian, told his company he was merely travelling at speed on a taxiway on his way to the north runway and that air traffic controllers had mistaken his approach for an attempted take-off. However, an investigation by Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department concluded the pilot was attempting a take-off and said the incident was caused by “temporary loss of situation awareness” on the part of the flight crew. Taxiways at Hong Kong International Airport run the length of the runways but are narrower, have distinctive green lighting and, unlike runways, no center lighting. A report by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) recommends improving the airline’s standard operating procedures and action to “enhance flight crew situation awareness and alertness.” The report also recommends improvements to taxiway lighting and ground marking systems at the airport. Hong Kong Airlines spokesman Alex Au confirmed that the two pilots had been dismissed. “It is a fair report,” he said. “We have already released the two pilots, and we are implementing the recommendations that the CAD made regarding procedures.” Hong Kong Airlines, which with sister airline Hong Kong Express flies to 30 cities across Asia, fired a number of senior expatriate pilots early this year. “I would urge the Civil Aviation Department to take a long, hard look at what is going on at Hong Kong Airlines,” said John Findlay, general secretary of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association. “The numbers of highly qualified pilots who have been terminated for no apparently justifiable reason is alarming. Public confidence in Hong Kong Airlines has to be assured,” he said. However, Au said claims that the September incident indicated general poor standards at Hong Kong airlines were “grossly unfair and inappropriate.” “It is not just the pilots but the environment and the circumstances which led to the incident,” he said. There have been two previous incidents involving planes attempting to take off from taxiways rather than runways at Hong Kong’s 11-year-old international airport. Action was taken by the Hong Kong Airport Authority to improve lighting and markings on the airport apron following an incident last year. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2008/12/15/2003431142 *************** Jet makes emergency landing at Phila. airport PHILADELPHIA (AP) - US Airways officials say a commuter jet with landing gear trouble has made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport, and no injuries have been reported. US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant says the US Airways Express flight originated in Norfolk, Va., on Sunday. He says the jet had something wrong with its landing gear and made an emergency landing around 5:30 p.m. Philadelphia Fire Department Lt. Michael Grant says the jet's left landing gear was not down when the plane skidded to a stop on the runway and was sprayed with fire-retardant foam. Durrant says no passengers were onboard, and the jet's two pilots and flight attendant reported no injuries. Grant says the incident closed the airport for nearly two hours. ***** Date: 14-DEC-2008 Time: 17:22 Type: Canadair CRJ-200 Operator: Air Wisconsin for US Airways Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Philadelphia Intl (PHL) - United States of America Phase: Approach Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: ORF Destination airport: PHL Narrative: "declared emergency after the crew could not deploy the left main gear (...) touched down on runway 27L on its right main gear, nose gear and left wing (...) and skidded to a halt" (US3918) Sources: http://avherald.com/h?article=411c1586&opt=0 (aviation-safety.net) *************** Helicopter pilot feared dead in crash off Texas Quincy man works for WCVB-TV Joe Laugelle, a part-time helicopter pilot for WCVB-TV, was at the controls of a helicopter carrying four passengers to an oil platform 18 miles off the coast of Sabine Pass, Texas, for another job, when it crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a co-worker at the local news station. Coast Guard officials have recovered three bodies, along with debris from the crash site, but continue to hold out hope that the other two passengers will be found alive. Officials would not disclose the identities of the bodies that had been found. "We are treating this as an active search-and-rescue case," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Renee C. Aiello. Laugelle, 43, traveled between Texas and Massachusetts every two weeks for work, said Michael Young, a fellow pilot at WCVB. Laugelle is married with children ages 7 and 9, Young said. "He's a family man," Young said today in a phone interview. "He went down there to help support his family." Laugelle, who had flown part time for WCVB for more than a year, had extensive experience flying in the Gulf, Young said, adding that he had to travel for work because there are limited opportunities for pilots in New England. "He was adventurous, a free spirit, but also very kind," Young said. "He would give you the shirt off his back. He was a great friend to me." Laugelle's father, Joseph Sr., said his son was a veteran pilot with thousands of hours of experience flying helicopters, jets, and other aircraft, and that he was at a loss as to what might have happened. "He loved to fly," he said. "He had 3,500 hours of platform training." Officials believe that the helicopter crashed about 2 miles offshore, near the Texas-Louisiana border, Aiello said. Water temperatures have been below 60 degrees. The Coast Guard was notified at 9:47 Thursday morning after the helicopter crew missed scheduled radio check-ins with officials at Rotorcraft Leasing Co., a Louisiana firm that provides helicopter service to the oil and gas industry. The helicopter took off in a snowstorm, but a Rotorcraft official told a Texas newspaper weather was not a factor in the crash. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/13/helicopte r_pilot_feared_dead_in_crash_off_texas/ ***** Date: 11-DEC-2008 Time: 1325 UTC Type: Bell 206-L4 Jet Ranger III Operator: Rotorcraft Leasing Co Llc Registration: N180AL C/n / msn: 52104 Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 6 miles from Beaumont, TX - United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: A Bell 206 rotorcraft crashed under unknown circumstances in the Gulf of Mexico. Sources: FAA http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/36014604.html (aviation-safety.net) *************** Flight ban may be lifted as early as March: Official (Indonesia) Indonesian airliners may be allowed to fly in European airspace by as early as March next year, with the government claiming of making significant improvement in safety measures as required by the European Commission, an official said Sunday. "We hope the European Commission meeting in March next year can (lead to the lifting) of the flight ban," Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, the Transportation Ministry's director general of air transportation, said at a press conference. The EC imposed the flight ban in mid-2007 on all Indonesian airlines due to safety concerns, following a series of fatal accidents involving Indonesian airplanes. In response, Indonesia decided to delay signing a much-anticipated partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) with the EU, and a comprehensive partnership agreement with the Netherlands. The EC is the EU's executive branch, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the EU. Recommendations from two EU countries are sufficient to impose a flight ban, but approval from all 27 member states is needed to lift a ban. According to Budi, 69 of 121 EU findings on the Indonesian aviation industry were related to air safety. "We are confident about settling all of the findings before March next year," Budi said. He added five major EU countries had announced their commitment to help lift the ban. "Germany, France and the Netherlands will help us improve aviation safety, while the UK will advise us on regulatory systems, and Sweden on aviation industry planning," he said. However, the Transportation Ministry has rejected calls by the EU to turn its air safety directorate into an independent agency to help the nation's aviation safety become more professional. The Air Safety Certification Directorate (DSKU) currently falls under the ministry's directorate general for air transportation. The EC says its current ban on Indonesian airliners from European airspace has a lot to do with shortcomings in terms of safety standards, in particular the country's air safety regulator. Meanwhile, the ministry remains upbeat the local airline industry can still record high growth of 10 percent in terms of passengers next year, despite a slowdown in the global economy. "Indonesian airlines have been able to maintain their load factor by an average of 80 percent this year despite rising ticket prices," Budi said. Indonesia currently has 14 airlines operating 739 airplanes, a 36.3 percent increase on the 542 planes recorded in 2007. The airlines serve 167 domestic routes connecting 87 cities. The ministry forecasts domestic passenger numbers this year to reach 46.34 million, up by 18.3 percent from 39.2 million last year. Overseas passenger numbers are predicted to rise by a slight 5.64 percent to 3.37 million this year, from 3.19 million last year. Emirsyah Satar, president director of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, said the industry was forecast to book 10 percent growth in revenue next year, compared to the usual 15 percent. Garuda is eyeing Rp 15 trillion (US$1.28 billion) in revenue and around $300 million in operating profits this year. (hwa) http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/15/flight-ban-may-be-lifted-early -march-official.html *************** IATA Unveils Plans To Push Aviation Safety to Next Level The International Air Transport Assn. is preparing initiatives to achieve a further jump in the level of aviation safety, both in the air and on the ground. For instance, carriers will be pressured to upgrade aircraft with enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS) and phase out airliners that can't handle the equipment. The global air transport industry is on track to beat last year's safety performance, but airline officials believe experts need to know more about the causes of accidents in order to achieve a significant breakthrough in reducing hull losses further. With that in mind, next year IATA plans to launch the Global Safety Information Center, says Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general. The center will bring together the vast amount of information airlines already collect, including from flight data recorders, safety reports and other sources such as audits. That data, which is anonymous to protect those involved, will now be mined to identify safety trends and threats to "achieve the next leap" in aviation safety, says IATA's senior vice president for safety, operations and infrastructure, Gunther Matschnigg. The association is working with the International Civil Aviation Organization on the effort. After continued decline, hull losses of Western-made jets have leveled off at around 0.7-0.8 per 1 million flight hours. Through November, the industry recorded a loss rate of 0.77, compared with 0.82 for the same period in 2007. The rate was 0.75 for the full year. IATA members, as usual, outperformed the average, with a rate of 0.47 for the first eleven months of 2008. The poorest-performing region includes Russia and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, with four hull losses, representing a rate of 7.92. There were no such losses last year. While IATA concedes the CIS statistics fluctuate year by year, 2008's performance is a concern because of the small number of Western aircraft in service there. The rate for the Middle East and North Africa was up to 2.22 hull losses from 1.18 last year, and Latin America also saw an increase to 2.77 from 1.76 last year. Europe and North America saw a slight increase in loss rates to 0.45 and 0.48, respectively. The best performance was in northern Asia, which had no hull losses in 2008, compared to a rate of 0.97 in 2007. The Asia-Pacific region's rate has fallen to 0.32 from 3.01 last year. IATA is working with Indonesia in particular to improve performance in this region, Bisignani says. To help put pressure on carriers to focus more on the issue, this year the association made mandatory the passing of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) . IATA may be forced to dismiss 20 airlines from its ranks next year for not meeting that safety standard. The likely dismissals are spread around the world, with Africa dominating slightly, but airlines in Asia, the Middle East, former Soviet states and Latin America are also at risk, Matschnigg notes. IATA dropped from its ranks six airlines which didn't meet a 2006 requirement to commit to IOSA, and another six departed the association for not performing an audit last year. Furthermore, the airline group wants to give member airlines incentive by strengthening IOSA. Some aircraft on carriers' registries are now excluded from the safety standard, mainly old, Soviet-era airliners. The goal is to force some of those to be fitted with EGPWS to improve safety. The number of affected aircraft is small, only around 0.1% of the fleet of IATA members. Eventually, IATA is likely to issue a mandate to phase out aircraft that can't be upgraded. Although a timeline for that hasn't been set, it probably will not happen until after 2012. The European Aviation Safety Agency also is looking to use IOSA as it expands its mandate to approving third-country operators flying into Europe in 2010. Additionally, IATA is finishing a runway safety toolkit it plans to roll out in the first quarter of next year. Matschnigg notes that 48% of accidents in 2008 took place during landing, and runway excursions dominated. The toolkit is being developed in conjunction with the Flight Safety Foundation. IATA is ramping up its Safety Audit for Ground Operations as well, to reduce the $4 billion in annual costs to the industry from such damage. Since May, 28 audits have been conducted of the 43 targeted for this year. Next year, IATA plans to do 80 audits. A few airports have made the audit mandatory for handlers at their facilities, IATA says. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=new s/aw121508p3.xml&headline=IATA%20Unveils%20Plans%20To%20Push%20Aviation%20Sa fety%20to%20Next%20Level **************** Emergency Landing Update FALLS CREEK, CLEARFIELD COUNTY - Police say early investigations into that landing aren't answering any questions. The emergency landing happened early Monday morning. A Continental Airlines flight was approaching a runway in Franklin. The front landing gear wouldn't come down. The flight went back to DuBois to land. The plane landed without that front landing gear. No passengers or crew members were hurt. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating. http://wearecentralpa.com/content/fulltext/?cid=48971 *************** Embraer's Phenom 100 Executive Jet Receives U.S. FAA Type Certificate First deliveries begin next week SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, Dec 15, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Embraer's Phenom 100 entry level executive jet was certified today by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). All design goals were met or even surpassed. First deliveries begin next week. "We are thrilled to announce that the Phenom 100 is certified by the FAA, as planned, confirming all of the exceptional performance characteristics previously approved by ANAC," said Luis Carlos Affonso, Embraer Executive Vice President, Executive Jets. "U.S. certification validates the jet's design and its suitability for one of the most important business aviation markets." The FAA granted U.S. Type Certificate based upon Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency's (Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil - ANAC) Type Certificate issued on December 9. EASA certification is expected for the second quarter of 2009. *************** Oil-rich Angola launches direct flight to China LUANDA (AFP) — Angola has launched a flight linking it to China, which has sent thousands of citizens to work on the reconstruction of the continent's fastest growing economy following its 27-year civil war. The first direct 14-hour flight from Luanda's Fourth of February Airport to Beijing's Capital International Airport left on Saturday. "The flight will run twice a week on a Boeing 777-200 ER," said a spokesman for TAAG, Angola's national airline. It is being launched on a charter basis but if the market reacts positively, we'll pass to a scheduled service," he added. Chinese money and manpower have played a key role in the reconstruction of Angola since the end of its 27-year civil war in 2002. Tens of thousands of Chinese workers are employed on building and roads projects across the west African country. Last year more than 22,000 Angolan visas were issued to Chinese passport holders. Credit lines from China to the former Portuguese colony are believed to exceed four billion US dollars. Many of these loans are oil-backed and Angola is now China's largest supplier of crude oil. "The opening of a direct air link has been planned for a while -- and is needed because of all the Chinese construction workers in Angola," said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at the London-based thinktank Chatham House. "As long as large Chinese construction projects continue in Angola, a direct air link between China and Angola will be profitable." The new Luanda to Beijing route comes in the same week TAAG announced it was halting flights to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Pointe Noire in Congo (Brazzaville). Citing "serious safety concerns," the European Union last month renewed its ban on TAAG flights and extended the restrictions to all Angolan Airlines. The Angolan government responded by sacking TAAG's board and creating a commission to run the airline and investigate the safety issues. It was also revealed that TAAG had lost 70 million dollars in the last year and was ranked 122 in a list of 124 world airlines. Angolan Transport Minister Augusto Tomas said: "It is important that TAAG's performance is in line with Angola's current economic development." Angola is one of the world's fastest-growing economies and has overtaken Nigeria as sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer with Luanda growing as key destination for many international airlines. Lufthansa, British Airways, Brussels Air, Air France, Portugal's TAP and South African Airways (SAA) are just some of the major carriers running flights in and out of the country. Flights are usually full and often overbooked. One-way tickets can sell for up to 5,000 dollars on some routes due to the demand from the growing expatriate community of oil and construction workers enjoying Angola's post-war boom. Lufthansa spokeswoman Karin Webr said: "In terms of revenue, this is one of our best performing flights, and there is certainly a potential to increase the frequency of the flight to more than once a week." "As well as the oil traffic, we are seeing a demand from the Asian market using Frankfurt to transfer into Luanda from China and other parts of the region." Next year Delta hopes to become the first American airline to run a scheduled service from the United States. A company spokeswoman confirmed the flight was awaiting approval from the Angolan government but the plan was to operate from Atlanta to Luanda, via Cape Verde. Thousands of Americans work in Angola for oil companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron and BP and there is also a large diplomatic and NGO presence in the country. Currently the only direct route to the United States is via a charter service limited to oil workers and their families. ************** DC-9 depressurised after ramp crew covered up tug strike US investigators have determined that ground staff covered up an accident in which a vehicle damaged a McDonnell Douglas DC-9's fuselage, and allowed the jet to depart for a flight during which it depressurised. The Northwest Airlines jet was being attended in daylight on the ramp at Syracuse, New York, by Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation personnel ahead of operating a flight to Detroit on 18 May last year. As the ground crew were dealing with baggage, the engine of their belt-loader stopped operating and a senior ground agent decided to use a luggage tug to push the loader away from the aircraft. The tug drove within the safety-clearance zone - against regulations - and during the effort to push the loader away, the tug's cab contacted the fuselage. In a probable-cause statement on the event, the National Transportation Safety Board says: "The senior ground agent then advised, 'Don't say anything' to one of the other ground agents who was working the flight with him." The extraordinary decision to allow the DC-9 to depart led the jet to suffer cabin depressurisation as it climbed through 20,000ft. It performed an emergency descent to 10,000ft and diverted to Buffalo. Inspection of the aircraft revealed a 12in-by-5in (30cm-by-13cm) tear in the right side of the fuselage, about 6ft (1.8m) ahead of the forward cargo door. There was also a crease in the skin ahead of the tear. Marks on the tear were consistent with the damage having been caused by the tug. The jet, 38 years old at the time, had passed an airworthiness inspection the day before. Two weeks after the accident the ramp-handling company reminded personnel of safety-zone regulations and underlined the importance of reporting immediately any damage to aircraft. It also issued additional training materials. None of the 95 passengers and four crew members on board the DC-9 was injured during the depressurisation and diversion. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** China Eastern undergoing management change China Eastern Airlines is having a management shake-out following a government-sponsored financial bailout. The Shanghai-based carrier says in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that China Southern Airlines' chairman Liu Shaoyong will be appointed director of China Eastern replacing the carrier's chairman Li Fenghua who will be resigning. It also says the deputy general manager of China National Aviation (CNAH), Ma Xulun, will become president replacing Cao Jianxiong who will be resigning. China Eastern says its parent, China Eastern Airlines Holdings (CEAH), is responsisible for the changes. The move comes after state-owned CEAH announced earlier this month it will be injecting fresh capital into the airline thanks to a government bailout. China Eastern has been losing money and last year tried to sell a stake to Singapore Airlines but rival carrier Air China blocked it. The Shanghai carrier's owners are now negotiating to merge China Eastern with Shanghai Airlines. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Airbus testing rules tightened after Etihad A340-600 smash Airbus has tightened its procedures after the testing accident in November last year which destroyed a brand-new A340-600 days before delivery to Etihad Airways. In the wake of the accident, in which the aircraft collided with an enclosure wall during engine runs, the airframer has revised test requirements in its customer acceptance manual. The revision insists on installation of chocks before the wheels of the main landing-gear, as well as centre main-gear assemblies if applicable, and sets specific personnel requirements for tests. Testing of four-engined aircraft must take place only with two symmetrically-opposite engines running simultaneously. Airbus has also introduced stricter radio controls for traffic operations at its Toulouse and Hamburg facilities, to ensure aircraft chocks are confirmed as being in place before engine tests start. The French investigation agency Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses adds that the airframer has been drawing up a new operations manual for ground testing, while technicians' training will be reinforced during refresher sessions. BEA found that the accident occurred as the aircraft, with all four engines running at high thrust, overcame its braking resistance - probably due to vibration from engine power plus weakening friction as fuel-burn lightened the airframe. Surveillance video footage of the 30kt collision, says the BEA, shows the aircraft moving slowly forward before accelerating sharply, drifting to the right before striking the northern wall at about a 30° angle. Its forward fuselage rises, falls on the wall and breaks, and flames appear around the two left-hand engines, damaged in the impact. "Looking at shots recorded several days before the accident, we can see that some tests are carried out with wheel chocks and not others," adds the BEA. Both right-hand engines continued running and could not be stopped immediately. Ingestion of projected water and foam eventually stopped the outboard engine 2hr 46min after the collision. The inboard engine's proximity to the wall meant it could not be stopped the same way, and it continued to run for another 6hr 37min until its fuel was exhausted. Four of the nine people on board were seriously injured in the 15 November 2007 accident. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** FAA mandates 747 flap inspections US regulators are requiring operators of 190 US-registered Boeing 747 family aircraft to perform repetitive inspections for cracks or fractures of certain attach points and flanges for the widebody's inboard and outboard trailing edge flaps. FAA says the airworthiness directive (AD) results from a "detailed structural analysis of the flap attach structural and fail-safe components, accomplished as a result of a dynamic stability and control analysis, which could not demonstrate continued safe flight and landing of the airplane after the loss of a trailing edge flap." In the worst case, cracks or fractures could result in the loss of a flap during takeoff or landing, "reducing flightcrew ability to maintain the safe flight and landing of the airplane," the agency explains. Frequency of inspections was outlined in a 21 February 2008 Boeing service bulletin on the topic. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Uncorrected poor technique led trainee to land A320 hard Inquiries into a serious hard-landing accident by a MyTravel Airways Airbus A320 in Greece have revealed that instructors had repeatedly expressed concerns over a trainee co-pilot's landing techniques in the weeks before. In the wake of last year's incident at Kos, the operator - now Thomas Cook Airlines - introduced additional specific simulator training, focusing on landing techniques, and a tighter review process for assessing students' progress. It also requires training captains to undertake specific landing handling training before instructing relatively-inexperienced student pilots. During a VOR/DME approach to Kos on 5 July 2007, the aircraft flared late and struck the runway hard, with a deceleration that registered 3.15g. After the initial contact, the captain immediately took over but the aircraft bounced another three times before settling. Both main-gear assemblies were damaged and subsequently replaced. While sloping terrain before the runway can make the Kos approach deceptive, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) points out that the trainee pilot - who had 381hr, with 147hr on type - had previously come under scrutiny for poor landing technique. The pilot had started commercial jet training, under a scheme affiliated with the carrier, six months before the incident. During extensive A320 simulator work his landing abilities became "recurring theme of concern", but the AAIB adds: "Although instructors identified that more time needed to be spent training the co-pilot to land, this time was not found and the training was repeatedly deferred." Doubts persisted through base training and then line training, and relevant landing technique notes were made a "number of times" with many earlier comments being repeated. "The aircraft demands a relatively high level of 'assured' skill from the trainee their ability to land the aircraft correctly, consistently, should not be in doubt before base training commences and certainly not in doubt during line training where passengers are carried," says the AAIB's inquiry. Flight-data monitoring in May and June 2007 showed that the co-pilot was involved in further firm landings, and he underwent additional training. After the Kos accident, the airline's flight safety department found that, during line training, the captain had intervened in a third of the co-pilot's 28 landings. The AAIB's inquiry, while acknowledging issues with the Kos approach, concentrates heavily on the co-pilot's training, pointing out that detailed analysis of his landing technique was not recorded until after several sessions of formal simulator training, long after instructors were aware of a strong need for improvement. It also states that his line training deviated from guidelines in the carrier's operations manual, with respect to the consistency of instructor and aircraft type, and the proportion of daylight landings. "Many of the factors relevant to this serious incident were discussed at an operator's training meeting, slightly more than a week before the accident," says the AAIB. "It is very possible that, had the accident not occurred so soon after this meeting, the operator would have had time to put measures into place addressing many of the factors associated with this event." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************