30 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *Circumstances Surrounding Air NZ A320 Downing Trouble Airlines *Pilot Lost In North Carolina Harrier II Downing *Airline flight-tests biofuel in a jet's engine *ANZ says biofuel test flight a success *FAA, Southwest still negotiating on safety penalty *Milwaukee flight makes emergency landing *Flight crew put on oxygen masks before diverting to GSP, report says *Fedex receives approval for first Boeing 777F simulator *2008 Press Releases **************************************** Circumstances Surrounding Air NZ A320 Downing Trouble Airlines Investigation's Slow Pace 'Troublesome' The global airline community anxiously awaits investigators' findings in the November 27 crash of an Air New Zealand Airbus 320 on approach to Perpignon, France. Although Airbus has refused to speculate on the cause of the accident, The New Zealand Herald reports the incident may be the third in three months stemming from a defective flight control computer. As ANN reported, seven people were lost when the A320 suddenly dove and banked into the Mediterranean near the end of a post-maintenance ferry flight... the third instance in as many months that an Airbus had maneuvered erratically while in flight. Airbus released a service bulletin shortly after a Qantas A330 dropped about 650 feet within seconds while flying over Australia in early October. That SB advised operators of the advanced widebody airliner -- and its larger A340 sibling -- to be aware of an apparent glitch in air data computers manufactured by Litton Industries, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. In that case, a preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau determined one of the A330's three Air Data Inertial Reference Unit sent incorrect information to the aircraft's fly-by-wire flight control system, which caused the autopilot to disconnect due to warnings of an imminent stall. The flight data computers on the Air New Zealand aircraft were manufactured by another company, Honeywell. Pieces of the destroyed airliner are now being collected in a large hangar in Perpignon for forensic analysis. Although no one doubts the importance of conducting a methodical investigation, many are dismayed at the delay in extracting information crucial to determining the cause of the accident from the two recovered flight data recorders. Tim Burfoot, New Zealand's chief investigator from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, made clear the need to establish the cause of the crash in a timely fashion to prevent its repetition. Burfoot said, "It is important that we are able to draw some lessons from this accident." Coping with the painstakingly slow process, he said the European investigators were "going through protocols to comply with French law" before releasing the flight data recorders for analysis to Honeywell, their manufacturer. "If there's any information on them, Honeywell will have the technology to get it," Burfoot said. "But if we can't get anything off them, it will be a very drawn-out process of trying to piece together information from the remains of the aircraft." According to a report from the New Zealand Herald, an Air New Zealand spokeswoman defended the ongoing investigative process, saying that speculation was neither helpful nor comforting to those involved. "The French authorities have spared no effort or expense, and we fully acknowledge that they have a due process to go through to determine the cause of the accident," she said. FMI: www.airbus.com, www.airnewzealand.com, www.taic.org.nz Aero-news.net ************** Pilot Lost In North Carolina Harrier II Downing Was Returning To Base Following Training Op The Marine Corps pilot of a single-seat AV-8B Harrier II that crashed Monday in eastern North Carolina was killed in the accident, USMC officials confirmed. The accident occurred at about 12:30 pm EST as the jet returned to base following a training operation. The jet impacted in an unpopulated area about one mile east of MCAS Cherry Point. The pilot's name was withheld pending notification of relatives, reports the Charlotte News & Observer. The accident is the second involving a Harrier from Cherry Point this year. Original Report 1345 EST: Rescue crews are responding to the scene of what is believed to be the downing of an AV-8B Harrier near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC. Local media reports officials at the Marine base confirmed a military aircraft had gone down at around 12:30 pm local time near the Cherry Branch subdivision, but they would not state what type of aircraft it was. They also had no word on the pilot's condition. At this point, there's little additional information available. The National Weather Service reports rain and fog in the general area of the accident site. MCAS Cherry Point is home to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, which flies a variety of Corps fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft types. Aero-News will have more on this developing story as information becomes available. Stay tuned. FMI: www.cherrypoint.usmc.mil/ aero-news.net *************** Airline flight-tests biofuel in a jet's engine Air New Zealand conducted a two-hour test flight Monday in which one of four Rolls-Royce engines on a jetliner was powered by a biofuel blend, another step down the long path the airline industry is taking to reduce carbon emissions. Engine No. 1 of the Boeing 747-400 that departed Auckland International Airport was fueled by a 50-50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel - effectively kerosene - and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from Jatropha oil, which comes from a shrub that grows in tropical and subtropical areas and is largely used as a hedge plant. Air New Zealand's chief pilot, Capt. David Morgan, said the flight went without incident, additional evidence for sustainable sources of oil being used by an industry that produces up to 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. "We accomplished everything we set out to do," Morgan said in a post-flight interview. "It was a very successful test flight, and Jatropha is a reliable second-generation biofuel going forward." The test flight, over the Hauraki Gulf of the North Island of New Zealand, was a joint effort between Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP, a Honeywell refining technology company. Morgan took the airplane up to 35,000 feet, to test acceleration and to see if friction of the fuel slows down its flow to the engine. The engine was shut down twice in descent, then restarted. It was shut down and restarted again while taxiing on the tarmac. "Today we stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and an important moment in aviation history," said Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe. In a number of test flights being watched worldwide, particularly by the airline industry, carriers want to know if the performance of engines powered by biofuel is indistinguishable from those that are using traditional jet fuel. If so, the industry may be moving closer to achieving cleaner air. On Feb. 24, Virgin Atlantic set an aviation milestone by flying the first commercial aircraft powered by biofuel in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. A Boeing 747 made the 90-minute flight from London's Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport with one of its four main fuel tanks filled with a blend of 80 percent jet fuel and 20 percent coconut and babassu oil. The babassu tree is a species of palm that is native to Brazil's Amazon rain forest. On Jan. 7, Continental Airlines will conduct the first biofuel-powered demonstration flight of a U.S. commercial airline. It will be using a blend of 50 percent traditional jet fuel and 50 percent biofuel from algae and Jatropha plants in one of two engines of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft departing Houston for a two-hour flight. The U.S. Air Force, on Dec. 17, 2007 - the 104th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight - flew a C-17 Globemaster III coast to coast using a synthetic aviation fuel derived from natural gas. (Environmentalists were less than enthusiastic about that test. The Natural Resources Defense Council called it the "path of least resistance to make synthetic fuel from other fossil fuels.") Other environmental groups have hailed these efforts, although Friends of the Earth said that any carbon savings from crop-based fuels would be negligible and that efforts should instead be made to reduce air travel. The group has said that the carbon savings will be erased by growth in the aviation industry. In Burlingame, David Cush, the president and chief executive officer of Virgin America, the only airline based in California, said he would welcome a world in which airlines could make maximum use of biofuels. But he said economic circumstances must be in place before floors for energy prices will work. Cush said jet biofuel can be refined at $3 per gallon, which looked good in July when jet fuel was $4.50 per gallon. It doesn't look so good in December, he said, when the industry is paying $1.40. "Unfortunately, for biofuel-makers, those economic circumstances that existed several months ago have now gone away," Cush said. In Houston, Susannah Thurston, a Continental Airlines spokeswoman, said some forecasters are predicting fuel costs will rise again and the airline is also concerned about fuel availability "and about the impact of traditional fuels on the environment." She added, "Exploring alternative energy sources is as valid as working toward improved fuel efficiency. While use of transportation fuels can be expected to grow in the future, reducing carbon emissions per unit of travel, by any means, delivers environmental benefits that otherwise would not be achieved." Part of the clean air effort likely will play out in court. In December 2007, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, four other states, the city of New York, the District of Columbia and the South Coast Air Quality Management District filed petitions with the Environmental Protection Agency seeking the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/29/BUK4150KDU.DTL *************** ANZ says biofuel test flight a success Air New Zealand (ANZ) is reporting a successful first test flight of a Boeing 747-400 powered in part by the biofuel jatropha. The flight was conducted today from Auckland International Airport and took around 2hr, during which more than a dozen performance tests were carried out. ANZ says the biofuel blend of 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel was used to successfully power one of the Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on the 747-400. "We undertook a range of tests on the ground and in flight with the jatropha biofuel performing well through both the fuel system and engine, just as laboratory tests proved it would," says the Star Alliance carrier's chief pilot, Capt David Morgan. "To complete our testing programme our engineers will over the next few days be thoroughly assessing the engine and fuel systems looking for any changes as a result of the use of biofuel. Together with our partners on this project we will then review all the results as part of our drive to have jatropha certified as an aviation fuel." Jatropha is a plant that produces seeds which contain inedible lipid oil. ANZ says jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions which can leave prime areas available for food crops. The test flight was carried out in partnership with Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell's refining technology subsidiary UOP, with support from Terasol Energy. ANZ says tests were carried out at various altitudes under different operating conditions to measure the biofuel's performance through the No 1 engine and fuel system. It says there was a typical full-powered takeoff and as the aircraft was between 20,000ft and 25,000ft the No 1 engine fuel pump was switched off to check for fuel lubricity. At 35,000ft, while the aircraft was at cruise height, engine pressure ratios and other performance parameters were checked. Deceleration and acceleration tests were then carried out, followed by "windmill start" and starter-assisted relight tests during the aircraft's descent. A missed approach was then simulated with a go-around carried out at 8,000ft to test engine performance at maximum thrust, followed by a normal landing including full reverse thrust on touchdown. The engine was then shut down and restarted successfully after the aircraft had touched down. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** FAA, Southwest still negotiating on safety penalty DALLAS - Southwest Airlines is still negotiating with the Federal Aviation Administration over alleged safety violations four months after regulators gave the airline a deadline to pay a $10.2 million penalty. Southwest hopes to reduce the penalty that the FAA proposed for operating thousands of flights with planes that had missed inspections for cracked fuselages. The airline says it doesn't deserve such a large penalty, partly because it reported the missed inspections to regulators and has improved safety procedures. Southwest has set up an independent division to oversee compliance with safety rules and hired an outside company to audit maintenance procedures, a spokeswoman said Monday. "We're looking for a solution that is fair and reasonable given the facts," said Beth Harbin, the Southwest spokeswoman. Harbin said there is no timetable for settling the issue, although back in late August the FAA gave Southwest a deadline to pay or face referral of the case to the Justice Department for legal action. FAA spokesman Les Dorr confirmed that agency officials are "still discussing the amount" with Southwest, and called it part of the normal negotiations over such an action. "We try to take into account an air carrier's attitude and the real improvement they make in a program when we decide what a penalty should be," Dorr said. The Southwest case, and testimony by whistle-blowing FAA inspectors, led critics in Congress to charge that the agency has been too cozy with the airlines it regulates. Shortly after the missed inspections at Southwest came to light, American Airlines was forced to ground its fleet of MD-80 aircraft and cancel more than 3,000 flights because electrical wiring on the planes hadn't been packed according to FAA standards. The FAA said the wiring raised the risk of fire near the planes' fuel tanks. Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said the airline has added new training for mechanics to comply with safety orders called airworthiness directives, which can be highly technical documents. "We've been educating our mechanics that our relationship with FAA has changed and they have to work precisely to the airworthiness directives because the FAA can punish them individually and the airline," Wagner said. Unlike the case at Dallas-based Southwest, the FAA hasn't announced a civil penalty nor given American any indication that one is coming, Wagner said. He declined to say whether Fort Worth-based American, a unit of AMR, has received letters of investigation or concern, which could be a precursor to a penalty, and the FAA declined to comment on potential penalties. American's vice president of line maintenance retired this month and was replaced by a regional maintenance executive. Wagner said the retirement was voluntary and not related to the FAA issues. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-12-29-faa-southwest-safety_N.htm *************** Milwaukee flight makes emergency landing MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Midwest Connect flight made an emergency landing at General Mitchell International Airport on Monday night after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. Midwest spokesman Michael Brophy said the pilot returned to the Milwaukee airport and landed without incident. None of the 40 passengers was injured. The plane was bound for Flint, Mich., when it turned back about 10 minutes into the flight. Some of the passengers got on a later flight Monday night. The others were to fly out Tuesday morning. *************** Flight crew put on oxygen masks before diverting to GSP, report says A Delta flight crew that was on its way to Atlanta with 148 passengers donned oxygen masks and goggles after detecting smoke in the cockpit and diverting to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport earlier this month, according to a federal report released Monday. Flight 1102 was about 150-175 miles north of Atlanta on Dec. 11 when the crew noticed smoke with an electrical odor which appeared to be coming from the area of the co-pilot's glare shield, according to the preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The plane landed at GSP, where an emergency evacuation was performed, according to the report. No injuries were reported among the 148 passengers, three flight attendants, pilot and co-pilot. Delta spokesman Brian Kruse said the company declined comment on the report. The report didn't say what the cause of the smoke was. A final report could take six to nine months, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson has said. The Boeing MD-88 was on a flight from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Hartsfield International Airport, according to the report. The report listed the time of the incident as 5:12 p.m. http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20081229/NEWS01/812290320/1069/YOURU PSTATE01 ************** Fedex receives approval for first Boeing 777F simulator FedEx has gained FAA approval for the first of two Boeing 777-200LR freighter full-motion simulators at its Memphis hub in advance of pilot training in the second quarter and first operations of the new model by the end of calendar 2009. The company placed its order for the 15 777Fs, with options for an additional 15, in 2006 after cancelling its order for 10 Airbus A380-800 freighters. Fedex has opted to defer the 777F delivery timeline by as much as 17 months for some aircraft compared to earlier plans for 14 of the 15 freighters to be delivered by mid-year in 2011. A FedEx spokesman says the cargo carrier will receive its first three 777Fs in calendar year 2009, followed by five in 2010, three in 2011 and four in 2012. Fedex's 2009 deliveries are scheduled for September, November and December. The company's fiscal year runs 1 June through 31 May, so the first three technically arrive at the carrier in fiscal 2010. FedEx, in its 19 December quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said the Boeing deferral would allow it to move $275 million in 2009 commitments "to future periods". Pilots should start training following the approval of the second simulator in February 2009. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************