17 FEB 2009 _______________________________________ *Thirteen Lost In Chilean Helicopter Accident *Jet aborts take-off in San Jose after hitting birds; no injuries *Vulture Shatters Plane's Windshield During Takeoff *Upgraded! Bruce Landsberg Named President Of Air Safety Foundation *Sea-Tac Airport installs nation’s first bird radar *South African Airways Crew Held in U.K. Over Cocaine *Fifteen crew arrested in second SAA Heathrow drug bust *NTSB aims to shift Colgan Q400 wreckage within two days *NTSB: Colgan 3407 pitched up despite anti-stall push *Probe into Virgin A340 bar fire finds wire protection missing *************************************** Thirteen Lost In Chilean Helicopter Accident Impacted Mountain While Transporting Fire Crews Chilean authorities have located the victims of an apparent CFIT helicopter accident in the Andes Sunday. CNN reports Eduardo Canala Pecchenino, a Chilean air force commander who until December served as the pilot for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, was transporting 12 firefighters when the helicopter, type unreported, impacted a fog-and-smoke-obscured mountain in central Chile. All 13 persons onboard were killed in the Sunday afternoon accident. Local fire crews battling a series of forest fires in central Chile were the first responders to the scene. "The helicopter was totally disintegrated and scattered and the engine was on fire," department commander Carlos Penailillo told El Universal. "Everyone was dead. There were three bodies still inside the cabin, and the rest were spread in the surrounding area, including over some thickets." The helicopter was owned by Chilean paper company CELCO, and operated by a company referred to as Flight Service in news reports. Canala had served as presidential pilot since 2000, flying former president Ricardo Lagos until Bachelet's election in 2006. He was slated to report to the Chilean air force war college upon leaving that detail, but had been granted permission to work for the fire crews before starting his next assignment. "He was a man with much experience, with more than 20 years in the air force and whom I knew personally," federal aviation investigator Sergio Sepulveda told La Nacion. FMI: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ci.html aero-news.net *************** Jet aborts take-off in San Jose after hitting birds; no injuries A Denver-bound jet thundering down the runway at San Jose airport this morning aborted take-over after striking a flock of seagulls. None of the 97 passengers was injured, and the plane taxied back to the terminal on one engine. According to the Mercury News and The Associated Press, United Airlines Flight 1220 was traveling almost 140 mph when the pilot aborted the 7:15 a.m. PT take-off after hitting the birds. He shut down one engine and returned to the gate, an airline spokeswoman said. Mechanics are repairing the damaged engine. Passengers were bussed to San Francisco International Airport for later flights. The incident comes a month after the miraculous Hudson River splashdown of the US Airways jet whose engines were knocked out when the Airbus 320 hit a flock of Canada geese after take-off. All 150 passengers and five crewmembers survived. http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/02/jet-aborts-take.html ************** Vulture Shatters Plane's Windshield During Takeoff A turkey vulture burst through the windshield of a twin-engine prop plane just as it took off from Fort Lauderdale International Airport on Monday. The pilot, who wasn't named, was able to land the plane safely. The Cessna 402 had just taken off from airport runway 27L and was headed west when the pilot saw a flock of large turkey vultures ahead, the pilot told officials. He was 600 feet in the air when a 20-pound vulture smashed through the Cessna's windshield and hit him in the face. Its bloody body stayed in place, impaled by the shattered polycarbonate plastic - a material often used for football helmets. The pilot told his supervisors at Air Flight Incorporated that he preferred to not speak with reporters about the incident, but co-owner Lisa Donovan said blood splattered all over the cockpit when the ungainly fowl crashed through the plastic and hit the pilot's head, cutting and bruising him. After he radioed in, firefighters rushed to the airport to await his landing. Minutes later, the pilot safely landed the plane back at the airport. The pilot had minor injuries. Air Flight has been in business for 23 years without ever hitting a turkey vulture, Donovan said. Several pilots in the area say there's a growing buzzard problem. Donovan said she spoke to another pilot who said he was dodging turkey vultures while flying near the airport Monday. The relationship between birds and planes most recently made headlines across the country after the miraculous landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in New York's Hudson River after several birds made their way into the plane's jet engines. http://www.theledger.com/article/20090216/NEWS/902160339/1021/LIFE?Title=Vul ture_Shatters_Plane_s_Windshield_During_Takeoff *************** Upgraded! Bruce Landsberg Named President Of Air Safety Foundation Has Been With ASF For 17 Years In recognition of 17 years' effort, AOPA Air Safety Foundation Executive Director Bruce Landsberg was named President of the foundation on Friday, Craig L. Fuller, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, announced. "During his time at the Air Safety Foundation, Bruce has shown tremendous capability to develop industry-leading safety training programs and to raise the money necessary to provide those programs free of charge to all pilots," said Fuller. "His efforts have made the AOPA Air Safety Foundation the first stop for general aviation pilots who are striving to become safer pilots." During Landsberg's tenure, the Air Safety Foundation has continued to develop and host in-person safety seminars that reach tens of thousands of pilots annually at hundreds of locations across the United States. ASF has also expanded its scope and reach with a vigorous online education effort that now reaches hundreds of thousands of pilots each year. In addition to his public speaking efforts and contributions to AOPA publications, Landsberg also serves on numerous committees and boards. He works with the FAA, NTSB, National Weather Service, several colleges and universities representing general aviation safety, along with the Air Safety Foundation’s and AOPA's interests. He holds Airline Transport Pilot and Certificated Flight Instructor certificates and has more than 6,000 flight hours. The AOPA Air Safety Foundation, the world’s largest non-profit general aviation safety organization, was founded in 1950 solely to help general aviation pilots improve flight safety. Since that time, the general aviation total accident rate has dropped by more than 90 percent despite a large increase in general aviation flight hours. ASF produces live seminars, online interactive courses, videos, written Safety Advisors and other aviation safety materials for free distribution to all general aviation pilots. FMI: www.aopa.org/asf aero-news.net ************** Sea-Tac Airport installs nation’s first bird radar In the wake of last month’s dramatic landing of U.S. Airways plane in New York City, after the plane reportedly struck a flock of birds and the pilot was forced to ditch the plane in the Hudson River, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport says it’s the first airport in the country to use an avian radar system to track bird movements. According to airport officials, the three experimental radar systems, mounted on top of the airport office building, “are an important tool for testing and developing best management practices to reduce potentially hazardous bird activity on and near the airport.” Airport officials said the bird radar is a joint research effort with the University of Illinois using Federal Aviation Administration grant money. The research, the airport says, will “determine how an airport operator can best use this technology as an early-warning-detection system against collisions between aircraft and birds.” In addition to the near-tragic crash of the U.S. Airways jet last month in New York City, estimated damages to aviation from wildlife strikes exceed $300 million annually, according to Sea-Tac officials. Sea-Tac airport also said it was the first U.S. airport to hire a full-time biologist in the 1970s, to concentrate on airplane safety and to protect wildlife. http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/16/daily2.html ************** South African Airways Crew Held in U.K. Over Cocaine, AFP Says Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- A South African Airways plane crew was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport after British customs officials seized cocaine valued at 250,000 pounds ($360,000) on a flight from Johannesburg, Agence France-Presse reported. The 15 crew members were detained today after officials found 5 kilograms of cocaine, AFP cited an unidentified customs spokesman as saying. It was the second time in four weeks that one of the airline’s flight crews was arrested following the discovery of drugs coming into Heathrow. The official said it is unusual for two separate crews to be arrested in such similar circumstances within a short period of time, according to the report. In January, a 15-member South African Airways crew was detained after 50 kilograms of marijuana, with a street value of about 150,000 pounds, and four kilograms of cocaine, worth about 160,000 pounds, were found on their flight. ************** Fifteen crew arrested in second SAA Heathrow drug bust Another South African Airways crew has been arrested at London Heathrow following the seizure of drugs by border-control authorities. The UK Border Agency retrieved about 5kg of cocaine during the operation, which led to the arrest of 15 crew members from the airline. Extraordinarily the seizure yesterday came just four weeks after Heathrow law enforcement officials arrested another 15 South African Airways crew, after recovering 50kg of cannabis on 20 January. In a statement on yesterday's event, the UK's HM Revenue & Customs says: "The crew were arrested after [Border Agency] officers discovered the drugs in a piece of baggage that had arrived on a South African Airways flight from Johannesburg." HMRC says that enquiries are continuing. "Crew members are subject to the same customs checks as any other person when entering the UK," the organisation adds. "Those arrested are now being held in custody and will be interviewed by HMRC investigation officers." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** NTSB aims to shift Colgan Q400 wreckage within two days US National Transportation Safety Board investigators have cleared around half the wreckage of the crashed Colgan Air Bombardier Q400 from the impact site, and aim to have the rest cleared within two days. Both Pratt & Whitney PW150 engines have been recovered for transport tomorrow and the agency has retrieved all six propeller blades from each powerplant. NTSB member Steven Chealander says preliminary examination shows the engine condition is "consistent with high-powered flight" at the time of the accident. Other sections of the aircraft recovered include five of the six de-icing valves, the control columns, and the de-icing boots. Chealander says the NTSB has retrieved "good boots" and is confident of being able to determine whether they were working. Investigators have obtained the flight plan and other documentation, a total of 30 pages, but the NTSB is yet to download the on-board aircraft communications and addressing system (ACARS) records to establish how much in-flight weather information the crew had available. Chealander says the crew's intended landing configuration was with 15° of flap, and that initial calculations put the Q400's weight at 55,000lb (24,950kg) with a reference speed of 119kt - this rose to 139kt as a result of the precautionary activation of a switch to increase stall margins by 20kt. Preliminary flight-data evidence puts the aircraft's calibrated airspeed at 134kt, but Chealander warns against reading too much into the early figures. Manufacturer Bombardier, he says, claims that the Q400 is "not susceptible" to tail stall. While forecasts on the night of the accident, 12 February, indicated an 80% probability of icing conditions from the surface to 8,000ft, the only pilot report on severe icing was relayed from Dunkirk, some 50km southwest of Buffalo. Chealander states that a second Colgan Air aircraft, which departed for Buffalo 27min behind the accident flight, experienced moderate icing between 4,000-2,500ft but arrived without incident. But the NTSB is seeking more information on weather experienced by pilots on the night of the crash, and is to issue a questionnaire in order to gather data over the next few weeks. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** NTSB: Colgan 3407 pitched up despite anti-stall push Flight data recorder information shows the Colgan Air Q400 that crashed in Buffalo Thursday night pitched 31 degrees nose-up after stick shaker and stick pusher systems activated at the start of the instrument approach. The events occurred as the crew began configuring the twin-engine turboprop for landing in light to moderate icing and snow conditions. According to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Steven Chealander, data shows that the stick shaker and stick pusher activated roughly 34 seconds after the landing gear was deployed and as the wing flaps transitioned between 5 and 10 degrees down. The pilots had commanded the flaps to the 15 degree down position. A "reference speed increase" switch that increases by 20kt the speed at which the stall warning system activates had been set to the ON position by the pilots as called for in icing conditions, says Chealander. The crew turned on the aircraft's automatic de-icing system shortly after departure from Newark. Flight 3407, flying as Continental Express, crashed into a house about 5mi from the airport, killing all 49 on board and one person in the house. Chealander says aircraft had been flying in autopilot mode until the stick shaker activated, an action that automatically disengaged the system. The stick pusher follows the stick shaker if the aircraft continues to approach an aerodynamic stall, driving the control column forward to decrease the angle-of-attach and wing loading. The stick pusher is designed so that pilots can overpower it however. While the NTSB has recommended that pilots hand flying their aircraft in icing conditions to get a better sense for trim changes, Chealander says the US Federal Aviation Administration has not mandated the practice, in part due considerations over pilot workload in such conditions without the use of autopilot. Further, he says that Bombardier, the manufacturer of the Q400, recommends hand flying only if icing conditions are severe. "From what we've seen so far, we haven't determined there was severe icing," he says. Investigators are still in the process of determining what the aircraft's stall speed would have been for its weight and configuration, says Chealander. Flight data recorder (FDR) information shows the aircraft was flying at a calibrated airspeed of 134kt just before the landing gear was deployed. Following the initial pitch upset to 31 degrees nose up, Chealander says the aircraft experienced a nose-down pitch of 45 degrees with a roll to the left of 46 degrees. The Q400 then rolled right to 105 degrees. Engine power was increased to full-power about 6 seconds after the upset. The pilots had commanded the flaps and landing gear to retract after the upset. The last data point from the FDR, captured when the aircraft was approximately 250ft above the ground, showed a heading of 53 degrees (magnetic), a 26-degree right roll, 30 degree nose-down attitude and a speed of 100kt, says Chealander. Radar data from air traffic control showed a descent rate of 9,600fpm between approximately 1,150ft and 350ft above the ground. Chealander says the G-forces during the final minute of the flight ranged from 0.75G to 2G. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Probe into Virgin A340 bar fire finds wire protection missing Initial inspection of Virgin Atlantic's long-haul Airbus fleet, after a fire emergency on an A340-300, has found a number of aircraft missing wiring-protection components in the area of their on-board bar units. The 11-year old A340 involved had been en route from London Heathrow to Chicago O'Hare last month when it diverted to Shannon with a small fire and electrical arcing in the waste-bin storage compartment in the first-class bar area. Ireland's Air Accident Investigation Unit discovered that a 10-wire cable loom for the bar's 'mood lighting' had been completely severed, with evidence of contact from the bar's metal waste-bin. Two runners are supposed to keep the bin away from the wiring loom, which is also meant to be protected by a metal cover. Neither of the components was found by investigators. "Initial inspection indicated the possibility that they were never fitted," says the AAIU, which points out that the bar unit is a specific modification to the Virgin long-haul fleet. Inspection of the carrier's other A340-300s and -600s found that another aircraft had damaged to the wiring loom, and that "a number" of the jets also had problems relating to missing covers, runner screws and cable routing in the bar area. While a similar bar unit is fitted to Virgin's Boeing 747s, the electrical cable routing architecture differs from the A340s', and precautionary examination indicated no concerns on the 747 fleet. In its preliminary findings into the 11 January incident, the AAIU says it is looking into "significant" other issues. In addition to the design of the modification, and related standards, these issues the difficulties faced by the crew in isolating the damaged circuits and the emergency checklist. None of the 143 passengers and 13 crew members was injured, and the damage to the aircraft was minor. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC