22 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *Continental 737 Goes Off Runway On Takeoff In DEN *5 Still in Hospital After Denver Jet Crash *NTSB dispatches team to investigate Denver 737 accident *Airline flight makes emergency stop *FAA changes Israel's aviation safety rating to Category 2 *Wall Street still flying corporate jets *NTSB weighs in on US carrier suspension of voluntary reporting *************************************** Continental 737 Goes Off Runway On Takeoff In DEN NTSB Sends Go Team To Investigate The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a Go Team to Denver, CO to investigate the crash of a Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500 on takeoff Saturday night. NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Bill English is the Investigator-in-Charge for the team of approximately a dozen investigators. NTSB Member Robert Sumwalt is accompanying the team and will serve as principal spokesman for the on-scene investigation. The Go Team is expected to arrive in Denver late Sunday morning. As noted in ANN's earlier story, Flight 1404 to Houston exited the side of runway 34R on takeoff at approximately 6:20 pm MST Saturday. Passengers onboard the aircraft told The Associated Press the aircraft's nose raised into the air, then dropped suddenly back down before the aircraft exited the runway, its right wing on fire. "Everybody was yelling, 'The plane's going to blow up, the plane's going to blow up!' The plane was on fire -- the engine was, anyway," Gabriel Trejos told KUSA-9 in Denver. Alex Zamora described a chaotic scene as people struggled to exit the airplane. "There was already smoke in the cabin and people were jumping over seats," he recounted to KMGH-7. "Everyone was pushing and shoving and everyone was falling a little because the wing was smashed on the side, so people were slipping, but most of us got out OK." Images of the wreckage show the 737 sitting at the bottom of a wide, shallow ravine, the top of its fuselage cracked aft of the wing box. The right wing is bent sharply upward inboard of the engine pylon, with the right engine nacelle still attached. The plane's left nacelle was sheared off, as was the plane's landing gear. Local media reports as many as 58 injuries among the 110 passengers (revised from 107 -- Ed.) and five crewmembers onboard the airliner, with two in critical condition. The accident closed the west portion of DEN's sprawling airfield for several hours. At this writing, runway 16L/34R remains closed. Runway 7/25, which lies south of the accident site, reopened about two hours after the accident, and officials in DEN expect to reopen runway 16R/34L later Sunday. The accident aircraft, N18611, was built in 1994. aero-news.net ************** 5 Still in Hospital After Denver Jet Crash By MATTHEW L. WALD WASHINGTON - Five people remained hospitalized on Sunday in Denver with injuries they sustained when a Continental Airlines jet ran off a runway on Saturday night while trying to depart on a flight to Houston. About 33 others who were aboard the jet were treated at area hospitals and released, the authorities said. The jet, a fully loaded Boeing 737-500, was carrying 110 passengers and 5 crew members when it veered off the runway and ran into a ravine, shedding its left engine and both main landing gears, and catching fire. Ground crews quickly extinguished the fire. "It's down in a hole," said Robert L. Sumwalt III, the member of the National Transportation Safety Board at the scene. Mr. Sumwalt said the airplane had left "good, solid witness marks" on the pavement, showing its path. Some investigators said they believed the pilot was trying to abort the takeoff. One aviation official said that the way the plane had veered off the runway suggested several possibilities: that engines were operating at different thrust levels; that brakes on the two main landing gears were operating with different effectiveness; or that thrust reversers on the engine had not deployed symmetrically. Investigators with the safety board had not interviewed either of the two pilots as of Sunday evening, so it was unclear which of them was in command at the time of the crash. One of the pilots was taken to a hospital, but it was not clear if that pilot was among those who had been treated and released or if he was still hospitalized. It was also not clear if the plane was ever airborne; the airport manager said it ran into the ravine about 2,000 feet down the length of the 12,000-foot runway. The runway was free of snow and dry at the time of the crash, 6:18 p.m. on Saturday, Mountain time, officials said. The ravine was near an airport fire station. The fire that followed the crash was so hot that it melted some overhead luggage bins, firefighters said, but it was not clear if any of the passengers suffered burns or smoke inhalation. Most of the injuries were broken bones or bruises. The National Transportation Safety Board said the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were both recovered. They were "a bit sooted," said Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the board, but technicians expressed optimism that they would produce good data. One passenger told a Denver television station, KUSA, that the plane's seats had come loose. In 2005, the Federal Aviation Administration mandated stronger seats for new planes but did not require retrofits on the older ones. On Sunday, Continental operated a special flight to Houston for the passengers on the accident flight, Flight 1404, who still wanted to go, and flew some relatives of passengers to Denver. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/us/22crash.html?ref=us *************** NTSB dispatches team to investigate Denver 737 accident US investigators have opened an inquiry into yesterday's departure accident involving a Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500 at Denver. Regional investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are already on-scene and the organisation has dispatched a 'go-team' - expected to arrive today - to co-ordinate the inquiry. The NTSB team comprises around a dozen personnel and is headed by senior air safety investigator Bill English. Continental flight CO1404 had been taking off for Houston but veered off the runway and caught fire. There were no fatalities among the 115 occupants but dozens of people were taken to hospital with injuries. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Airline flight makes emergency stop JUNEAU - An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency stop in Juneau Saturday morning when an equipment malfunction led to four people needing treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning. A ground heating unit used to prepare the runway for Flight 73 from Sitka to Anchorage pushed fumes into the plane before it departed, forcing the aircraft and its 83 passengers to stop in Juneau. Capital City Fire and Rescue met the plane at the Juneau Airport and treated four people, three of them Alaska Airlines employees, for carbon monoxide poisoning before taking them to Bartlett Hospital for further tests, according to a report by KINY radio. The status of the individuals is unknown. Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Caroline Boren confirmed that three employees were treated by emergency responder, though she said Alaska Airlines' investigation into the fumes is still ongoing and the airline "can't verify carbon monoxide poisoning" at this time. She said the report of carbon monoxide poisoning had come the first responders. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/122108/reg_369923677.shtml *************** FAA changes Israel's aviation safety rating to Category 2 The U.S. FAA changed Israel's aviation safety standard rating to Category 2 following an assessment made last July of the country's civil aviation authority. The rating is not related to security issues. With a Category 2 rating given by the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, Israeli air carriers will not be allowed to establish new service to the United States. The civil aviation authority of Israel is addressing the items identified, including working with the FAA on an aggressive action plan to correct all areas of concern so that their safety oversight system fully complies with standards and practices set by the ICAO. (FAA) (aviation-safety.net) ************** Wall Street still flying corporate jets NEW YORK (AP) - Crisscrossing the country in corporate jets may no longer fly in Detroit after car executives got a dressing down from Congress. But on Wall Street, the coveted executive perk has hardly been grounded. Six financial firms that received billions in bailout dollars still own and operate fleets of jets to carry executives to company events and sometimes personal trips, according to an Associated Press review. The jets serve as airborne offices, time-savers for executives for whom time is money - lots of money. And some firms are cutting back, either by selling the planes or leasing them. Still, Wall Street's reliance of the rarified mode of travel has largely escaped the scorn poured on the Big Three automakers. Insurance giant American International Group Inc., which has received about $150 billion in bailout money, has one of the largest fleets among bailout recipients, with seven planes, according to a review of Federal Aviation Administration records. "Our aircraft are being used very sparingly right now," AIG spokesman Nicholas J. Ashooh said. "I'm not saying there's no use, but there's very minimal use." To cut costs, AIG sold two jets earlier this year and is selling or canceling orders for four others. Five other financial companies that got a combined $120 billion in government cash injections - Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley - all own aircraft for executive travel, according to regulatory filings earlier this year and interviews. A cross-country trip in a mid-sized jet costs about $20,000 for fuel. Maintenance, storage and pilot fees put the cost far higher. Many U.S. companies are giving up the perk. The inventory of used private jets was up 52 percent as of September, according to recent JPMorgan data on the health of the private aircraft industry. A few big U.S. companies have shunned jet ownership. Chip maker Intel Corp., for example, requires executives and employees to fly commercial. Intel occasionally charters jets for executives on overseas trips for security reasons, though. For automakers, the public relations nightmare exploded last month when the chief executives of Ford, GM and Chrysler were criticized for flying on corporate jets to Washington to ask Congress for federal bailout money. "Couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled, or something, to get here?" Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., asked the CEOs. When the executives went back to Capitol Hill two weeks later for a second round of hearings, they traveled by car. So why were Wall Street executives spared from the corporate-jet backlash? One reason is that they didn't have to go before Congress to request bailout money, so no one asked how they traveled to Washington. But an AP review of Securities and Exchange Commission filings and FAA records offers a glimpse of Wall Street firms' ownership and use of private aircraft. Among the findings: . CITIGROUP: Has a wholly owned subsidiary, Citiflight Inc., that handles air travel for executives. Citi spokeswoman Shannon Bell refused to comment on the size of the firm's fleet but said it has been reduced by two-thirds over the past eight years. FAA records show four jets and a helicopter registered to the company. In 2007, then-CEO Charles Prince used company aircraft for personal trips for security reasons. Those trips cost the company $170,972 for that year. Current CEO Vikram Pandit began reimbursing the company for all personal travel on company planes since being appointed in November 2007. Use of Citigroup's aircraft currently is confined to a "limited number of executives," Bell said. "Executives are encouraged to fly commercial whenever possible to reduce expenses." . MORGAN STANLEY: Has reduced its executive jet fleet size from three planes to two since 2005, company spokesman Mark Lake said. FAA records show two Gulfstream G-Vs as registered to the company. In 2007, CEO John Mack's personal use of company aircraft totaled $355,882, according to a February proxy filing. Mack is required to use company aircraft for personal trips for security reasons. . JPMORGAN: Registered as the owner of four Gulfstream jets, including a 2007 ultra-long range flagship G550 model, FAA records show. A G550 ordered for delivery that year would have cost roughly $47.5 million. CEO Jamie Dimon is required to use company aircraft for personal trips; In 2007, his personal use of company jets totaled $211,182, according to a May filing with the SEC. Company spokesman Joe Evangelisti refused to comment on whether the bank has changed its policy on corporate aircraft use since accepting $25 billion in TARP money. . BANK OF AMERICA: Registered as the owner of nine planes, including four Gulfstreams, FAA records show. Company spokesman Scott Silvestri refused to say whether the company has changed its policy on corporate aircraft use since taking $15 billion in bailout money. CEO Kenneth Lewis, also required to use company aircraft for personal trips, racked up $127,643 in such travel last year, according to a March filing with the SEC. . WELLS FARGO: Owns a single jet that "is strictly for business purposes under appropriate circumstances," spokeswoman Julia Tunis Bernard said. "No (government) funds will be used for corporate jet travel," she added. SEC rules require publicly held companies to disclose executives' personal use of corporate aircraft. But there's "a lot of gray area" in how they do it, said David Yermack, a finance professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University who has studied the matter. "If you use the plane for a personal trip but make one business call, should you report it?" he said. "Or if you're playing golf with potential business partners, does a company report that as business or personal?" As mounting losses force companies to cut costs, some are becoming stingier about personal use of the company plane. Merrill Lynch & Co., for example, has banned such trips, according to company filings. Experts say other companies that took bailout money will probably follow suit. "The personal use of these planes is virtually indefensible at this point," said Patrick McGurn, special counsel at shareholder advisory firm RiskMetrics Group. "Once you're on the federal dole, the pressure is going to become immense on these firms to cut these costs." Private jet manufacturers say the debate over executive travel has been overblown. "What people don't understand is that business jets are mobile offices," said Robert N. Baugniet, Gulfstream's director of corporate communications. "If time has any value to you, then you'll understand why people use business jets." He said the dustup hasn't hurt orders for new planes. Still, some firms have avoided corporate jet ownership. Goldman Sachs Group, whose executives in past years have been among the highest-paid in the industry, has never owned its own aircraft since going public in 1999, spokesman Michael DuVally said. The company does make private planes available to some executives through a fractional jet agreement, a timeshare-style arrangement, according to filings. Duvally refused to say how much the company spends on its fractional agreement. Wary of being perceived as opulent, most companies fly in unmarked jets. Aviation buffs can usually track planes over the Internet using aircraft tail numbers. But many companies, including AIG and Citigroup, have blocked the public's ability to do so for security reasons. Some corporate chieftains make no excuses for flying the private skies. After years of railing against such costs, billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffet broke down in 1989 and bought a Gulfstream IV-SP using $9.7 million in company funds. He named the aircraft "The Indefensible." *************** NTSB weighs in on US carrier suspension of voluntary reporting US safety officials are publicly expressing their concern over the suspension of voluntary safety reporting programmes by four of the country's airlines. The Aviation Safety Action Programme (ASAP) has officially been suspended at Delta Air Lines and its wholly-owned regional Comair, American Airlines and US Airways. An Aviation Safety Action Programme (ASAP) is an agreement between an airline labour group, FAA and carrier management that generally frees employees from penalties when they report incidents or safety concerns. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) today said: "These programmes identify and correct safety issues before they cause accidents." NTSB believes the information provided by ASAP is used in developing methods to improve safety, and "their elimination could put aviation safety at risk". In 2007 the board said it issued a recommendation to FAA strongly encouraging ASAP adoption among US regional carriers. Delta pilots suspended the carrier's ASAP programme in December 2006. Both American and US Airways pilots allowed their progammes to lapse this year. American pilots suspended ASAP after determining a proposal offered by management in the renewal process would put the carrier's pilots at greater risk for discipline. US Airways this month terminated the carrier's 10-year ASAP programme after pilots failed to expand immunity to events not previously covered under the agreement. Recently Delta's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (APLA) said it hoped to reach an agreement with management regarding ASAP soon. NTSB, meanwhile, "strongly urges all parties to do what is needed to reinstate proactive safety programmes and keep existing programmes viable and fully functioning," says board Chairman Mark Rosenker. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************