05 MAR 2009 _______________________________________ *FAA Announces Changes At Aviation Safety Organization *Norwalk Airline Under Scrutiny Again *Investigators Cite Faulty Altimeter As Factor In Amsterdam Accident *Boeing Issues Reminder After Netherlands Crash *Turkish 737's thrust fell after sudden altimeter step-change *The Association of Relatives and Friends of Gol's Flight 1907 Victims Hire Roberto Peterka *KYRGYSTAN'S MANAS INT'L AIRPORT IMPROVES FLIGHT SAFETY *CAL grounds three 747 freighters amid export slump *ASA CRJ remains grounded after Tallahassee fire *AAIB: prelim report on control problems during maintenance check flight *Jet officials in 2005 NJ crash plead not guilty *Air Canada pilots report being flashed by laser *Nanostitching' Could Strengthen Airplane Skins, More *Russian inquiry: Wing ice caused Yerevan Belavia CRJ crash *Bird flock scuttles US Airways Orlando departure *Naming FAA head still key priority for Secretary LaHood *Fokker 50 fix aims to stop in-flight idled-throttle accidents **************************************** FAA Announces Changes At Aviation Safety Organization Gilligan Named New Associate Administrator Of ASO Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acting Administrator Lynne A. Osmus announced Wednesday several key personnel changes in the agency's aviation safety organization. Peggy Gilligan was named the new associate administrator for aviation safety. Gilligan has served as deputy assistant administrator for aviation safety since July 1995. Previously, she was chief of staff for four FAA administrators, served in the chief counsel's office, and was an attorney in the FAA's Eastern Region in New York. Gilligan has been the government co-chair for the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) since July 2001. She also provided support to the US Secretary of Transportation's Rapid Response Team on aircraft safety following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. . John Hickey, director of FAA's Aircraft Certification Service since 2000, will replace Gilligan as deputy assistant administrator for aviation safety. Other changes include: Dorenda Baker, deputy director of the Aircraft Certification Service, replaces Hickey as director. Kalene (KC) Yanamura, deputy regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration's Northwest Mountain Region, becomes the new deputy director for the Aircraft Certification Service. John Allen moves from deputy director to director of the Flight Standards Service. John McGraw, manager of the FAA's Flight Technologies and Procedures Division, becomes the new deputy director for flight standards policy. Doug Dalbey, flight standards division manager for FAA'S Western Pacific Region, becomes deputy director for field operations for the Flight Standards Service. Tina Amereihn has been named director of the Office of Quality, Integration and Executive Services after serving as deputy director. Hooper Harris, manager of accident investigation, is serving temporarily as acting director of the Office of Accident Investigation. The FAA's Aviation Safety organization oversees compliance with Federal regulations as applied to airmen, manufacturers, repair and maintenance facilities, aviation schools, operators, aviation agencies, individuals and organizations. It is composed of the Flight Standards Service; Aircraft Certification Service; Office of Aerospace Medicine; Office of Rulemaking; Office of Accident Investigation; Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service; and the Office of Quality, Integration, and Executive Services. With a budget of $1 billion, the organization employs 6,800 people in the FAA's Washington headquarters, nine regional offices, and more than 125 field offices throughout the world. FMI: www.faa.gov aero-news.net *************** Norwalk Airline Under Scrutiny Again by christine negroni. A small Connecticut-based airline best known for triggering the international Iran Contra scandal, has been ordered to pay $400,000 for violating Federal Aviation Regulation rules. Southern Air Transport, based in Norwalk, was found to have retaliated against an employee who complained that the airline was violating federal rules intended to insure that flight crews get adequate rest. The story was first reported by Rich Lee in the Norwalk Advocate. An aviation geek like me finds just that tale interesting enough but wait, it gets better. Southern Air Transport had a long history supporting government intelligence operations. The most famous episode occurred in October 1986 when one of the airline's planes was shot down over Nicaragua. Everyone on board was killed with the exception of a cargo handler Eugene Hasenfus. As the story is told, Hasenfus, then 46, promptly told his captors he worked for the CIA. Thus was unraveled a clandestine U.S. government program to violate a congressional ban by sending supplies to the contras in Nicaragua using money generated by the sale of arms to Iran and donations from foreign countries and wealthy Americans. The story really gets juiced up then because in an attempt to hide the truth about what Hasenfus and Southern Air had been hired to do and more significantly, who at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue knew about it, senior advisors to then-President Reagan, including Vice President George Bush created a web of lies essentially pinning responsibility for the plan on Oliver North and National Security Advisors John Poindexter and Robert McFarlane. Since those exciting times, Southern Air has undergone some changes. In the late 1990s I'm told it was rescued from bankruptcy by James Neff. Then in late 2007, a majority share in the airline was purchased by the investment group Oak Hill Partners with offices in Stamford, New York and Menlo Park, California. On Oak Hill's website Southern Air is described as a low cost cargo carrier. It uses a mixed fleet of about a dozen Boeing 747 and 777 wide-bodies for its air cargo operations. It's still involved in government work, with contracts with the Department of Defense. But getting back to the news at hand, last year a member of the airline's flight staff was fired after complaining to the FAA that crew rest rules were being violated. The unidentified employee took the case to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and after review the government agreed the employee's firing was retaliation. "Employees have a strong and clear right to raise legitimate safety and health concerns about their working conditions without fear of termination or reprisal," said Marthe Kent, OSHA's New England regional administrator, in a press release announcing the airline would have to pay lost wages and compensatory damages as well as legal fees. Curiously, the employee was not reinstated. And to be sure that Southern Air takes some lesson from the episode, OSHA is requiring something else from the airline, it must post FAA whistleblower and OSHA employees' notices for all Southern Air employees to see. *************** Investigators Cite Faulty Altimeter As Factor In Amsterdam Accident Instrument Showed Plane Near Ground, Was Actually About 2,000 Feet Above Dutch investigators believe an erroneous altimeter indication played a role in last week's downing of a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. According to the BBC, Dutch Safety Board chairman Pieter van Vollenhoven told reporters the aircraft's autopilot was flying the approach to Schiphol. Investigators believe a problem with the altimeter led to a loss of airspeed, which in turn caused an approach stall. Van Vollenhoven said the plane's altimeter showed the aircraft at ground level, when it was actually about 1,950 feet above. The autopilot, responding to the altimeter reading, throttled back the plane's engines in preparation for the landing flare and touchdown. "The crew initially did not react to these events," van Vollenhoven said. When a condition warning sounded, he added, the crew attempted to throttle the engines back up. "But the plane was too low at 150 meters," he said. "As a consequence the plane crashed 1 kilometer before the runway." The Associated Press adds investigators also found the flight crew had noticed an error with the altimeter, but did not consider it to be a problem. Boeing had previously issued a warning about potential problems with the altimeters. As ANN reported, nine people onboard were killed when the aircraft impacted a field short of the runway at Schiphol. The aircraft hit the ground tail first, and broke into three pieces from the force of the impact. Fatalities included the captain and two other members of the flight crew. Dozens of the 127 people onboard were severely injured in the February 23 crash. Investigators also noted a report by Turkish Airlines, stating the plane had been taken out of service two days before the accident due to problems with the aircraft's Master Caution Light program. Dutch authorities do not believe that problem was causal to the accident, however. FMI: www.safetyboard.nl, www.ntsb.gov, www.thy.com aero-news.net *************** Boeing Issues Reminder After Netherlands Crash Altimeter Showed Plane Was Far Closer to Ground Than It Actually Was Before Crash Boeing Co. today reminded airline pilots who operate the world's most popular commercial plane to monitor their flight altitude instrumentation after Dutch investigators announced that a faulty altimeter played a role in last week's crash of a 737 in Amsterdam. Investigators say a faulty altitude reading caused the plane to lose power. More PhotosBoeing asked operators of the world's nearly 6,000 737 airplanes "to carefully monitor primary flight instruments during critical phases of flight." The Turkish Airways plane that crashed one week ago in the Netherlands had a faulty altimeter that indicated the aircraft was much lower to the ground than it actually was, according to a report released today by Dutch investigators. Watch "World News With Charles Gibson" tonight at 6:30 ET for the full report The Dutch Safety Board today said the altimeter was a factor in the crash that killed nine of the 135 passengers and crew onboard. The Boeing 737-800 plane crashed Feb. 25, within a mile of the runway, while trying to land at Amsterdam's Polderbaan of Schiphol Airport. Another 80 were injured in the accident. Boeing's reminder applies to all the 737 planes it manufactured, not just the kind involved in the crash. Events of the flight's final moments became clearer today, with the release of the preliminary accident report. 4 Americans Among Dead in Dutch CrashPHOTOS: Plane Crashes in AmsterdamDeadly Crash-Landing at Amsterdam AirportAt 1,950 feet above the ground, the altimeter showed the plane to be at negative-8 feet instead, according to safety board chairman Pieter van Vollenhoven. As a result, the plane's automatic pilot system responded as though the plane were landing, reducing power the way it would if it were nearing the ground. The crew apparently failed to notice that the airspeed was dropping dramatically, according to the report. The plane's ability to fly continued to deteriorate for more than a minute and a half without the pilots taking action. Today ABC News aviation consultant John Nance said he was surprised by that chain of events. "You can hear it, and you can feel it," Nance said. "It's rather astounding that this crew was so fixated on running a check list or whatever else they were doing that they did not pick this up. They were not aware of it." "The actions of the crew here bespeak a cockpit culture, at least at this point, that really is substandard with what we know of how to get a good result out of every single landing," Nance added. The airspeed dropped 46 mph below the appropriate speed. At 450 feet above the ground, the plane's systems warned of an imminent stall, prompting the pilots to apply full power, according to the report. But there was too little time to correct the situation. "When the crew of the Turkish Airlines noticed what was going on, it was already too late to intervene effectively," today's news release from the Hague said. The Dutch Safety Board, in turn, issued a warning to Boeing, alerting it to possible problems with the radio altimeters on its 737-800 planes. Boeing said today in a statement provided to ABC News that "erroneous radio altimeter readings are detectable and recoverable. Should a radio altimeter failure occur, anomalous readings would be detected by monitoring systems or be apparent through flight deck effects." http://www.abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=7007306&page=1 ************** Turkish 737's thrust fell after sudden altimeter step-change Investigators of the Turkish Boeing 737-800 approach crash at Amsterdam have found that a sudden reduction in engine thrust coincided with a step-change in the reading from one of the aircraft's two radio altimeters. The Dutch Safety Board, in preliminary findings released today, adds that a similar problem had occurred twice during landing in the course of eight previous flights contained on the 737's flight recorders. It states that the "irregularity" on the fatal 25 February approach to Amsterdam Schiphol occurred at 1,950ft, as the aircraft descended to runway 18R after an otherwise-normal flight from Istanbul. The left-hand radio altimeter suddenly changed its reading from 1,950ft to minus 8ft, and transmitted the information to the autopilot which was engaged at the time. "This change had a particular impact upon the automatic throttle system which provides more, or less, engine power," says the inquiry board. Cockpit-voice recorder information shows that a landing-gear warning alerted the crew to the malfunctioning altimeter. Initial indications, says the inquiry board, suggest the warning was not regarded as a problem. But it states that the aircraft responded to the step-change as if the jet was just a few metres above the runway, and engine power reduced. "It seems that the automatic system - with its engines at reduced power - assumed it was in the final stages of the flight," says the board. "As a result, the aircraft lost speed." The crew comprised a captain, a first officer for whom the flight was a training exercise, and another first officer behind. "Initially the crew did not react to the issues at hand," says the board. But as the aircraft's speed fell, and it approached possible stall, the stick-shaker activated at 150m (490ft) and the throttle immediately increased to full power - too late, however, to arrest the descent and recover the aircraft. The jet, travelling with a forward speed of just 95kt, struck the ground with its empennage first and rapidly decelerated, breaking into several sections. Investigations are to concentrate on the functioning of the radio altimeters and their connection to the autothrottle. The Dutch Safety Board says the recorded data shows no evidence of deviating readings from the 737's right-hand altimeter. It says "extra attention" should be paid to the role of the radio altimeter when using the autopilot and autothrottle, and the board is requesting greater emphasis in the 737 operating manual that the autopilot and autothrottle should not be used for landing if the connected altimeter is faulty. Turkish Airlines did not make any mention of the altimeters in an earlier statement about recent maintenance performed on the aircraft. Five passengers and four crew on board the aircraft were killed in the crash, and 28 of the 80 passengers injured remain in hospital. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** The Association of Relatives and Friends of Gol's Flight 1907 Victims Hire Roberto Peterka Roberto Peterka Analyzed the Official Reports and the Information of the Jet's Black Box CURITIBA, BRAZIL - The Association of Relatives and Friends of Gol's Flight 1907 Victims have hired Roberto Peterka, an expert in aviation accidents, who analyzed the official reports and the information of the jet's black box. The evidence raised by the Peterka, after four months of analysis of the information retrieved from the black box of the Legacy jet, show that the plane's TCAS (Traffic and Collision Avoidance System) remained deactivated from take-off until shortly after the crash. Peterka remembers that a piece of information contained in one of the criminal court records, where the pilots are the defendants, show that when the Commander of the air traffic control center Cindacta IV, contacted them via telephone in the Cachimbo airport, where they were able to land the jet, Mr. Lepore said three times that the TCAS was turned off and, right after, stated that it was connected (pages 906 of the records - Volume IV and 59 and 75 of the expert report). He only stated that the equipment was connected after someone by his side made a remark in English. The information regarding the fact that the TCAS was turned off is also present in the jet's black box, where at 19:59:13, Jan Paladino, the co-pilot asks: "Dude, do you have the TCAS turned on?" and at 19:59:15 the pilot replies: "Yes, the TCAS is off." After this dialog, the co-pilot, who had taken control and was manipulating the plane's controls, expressed twice (19:59:25 and 19:59:31) his concern with additional possible traffic as the automatic TCAS warnings were not available at that moment. 11 seconds later, at 19:59:42 the MFD of the co-pilot started showing the co-pilot's TCAS screen. 8 seconds later, at 19:59:50, the secondary radar screen of the ACC-AZ (Control Center) established contact with the Legacy's plane transponder. In the records analysis in page 910 it is highlighted that "...the information retrieved and discussed in chapter V.3.1 show that the pilot's MFD did not show at any time during flight the TCAS screen, whereas the co-pilot's MFD started showing the screen at 19:59:42, after the collision and it remained doing so until the time of landing. This way, up until the collision only the PFD and RMU screens showed the functioning state of TCAS," in other words, the status of the TCAS was "TCAS Off." In closing the analysis about the activation of TCAS, Roberto Peterka analyzed the files "selec.csv," "todos1.csv" and "todos2.csv" of the digital attachment cited by the expert of the National Institute of Criminology, on page 878 of the records, in addition to the jet's FDR (Flight Data Record) files. "With all this, after all data analysis of the equipment and cross checks, we emphasize that there is no indication that TCAS was tested before the plane went into the runway, as the pilots declare before the Investigation Commission and that the TA/RA mode was selected. Besides, there is no indication that the same was activated," says the expert, Robert Peterka. He also highlights that all the aviation equipment of the Legacy had passed exhaustive testing and research in Cachimbo and in the test data of the manufacturers, and that nothing was confirmed regarding failures or malfunctioning of TCAS, as pointed out in the Aviation Authority report, produced by Cenipa. A familiar member of the association, Rosane Guthjar, believes that the official reports will be included in the Brazilian criminal court in the next months. The Association of Relatives and Friends of Gol's Flight 1907 Victims hope that the evidence analyzed by Peterka will be allowed in court proceedings. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29510044/ *************** KYRGYSTAN'S MANAS INT'L AIRPORT IMPROVES FLIGHT SAFETY BISHKEK March 5, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) of Kyrgyzstan, the first phase of the air navigation equipment's modernization in Kyrgyzstan's Manas international airport in Bishkek will soon be completed. As a result, the airport will be able to receive airplanes in more extreme weather conditions, classified as the second category of difficulty. Manas International Airport (MIA) is a national corporation, which was established in order to ensure the safety and regularity of flights and to interact with other airports. MIA opened in May 1975 with the first regular flight from Moscow to Frunze (present day Bishkek). Today, it is one of Central Asia's most advanced aviation centers. MIA JSC consists of 15 airports including airports in the Kyrgyz cities of Osh and Karakol. The company's aircraft fleet includes planes of all types, such as Russia's Il-76, Il-62, Il-18, Tu-154, Tu-134, Yak-40, An-24, An-26 and helicopters of all types, as well as A320, B737 and B747 aircraft. Every year, the airport serves over 600 thousand passengers and transports about 18.8 thousand tons of cargo. US $7.4 million will be allocated from the State budget for the modernization of the air navigation equipment of the Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya National Enterprise. The Enterprise will use these funds for the further modernization of air navigation equipment in Manas, Osh, and Issyk-Kul airports. Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya manages air traffic and the technical maintenance of ground facilities, including the radio engineering operations and telecommunications, of Kyrgyzstan. The modernization of air navigation equipment at Osh airport, located in the south of the country, has been completed. The instrumental landing system will improve flight safety during the landing at the airport in bad weather conditions. This will greatly reduce the delays and disturbances of flights due to weather conditions. Also, there are plans to modernize the terminal at Osh airport. Another measure, initiated by MTC, will also serve to improve flight safety; from 2010, aircraft operating in Kyrgyzstan will have to be less than 25 years old. From 2008, Kyrgyzstan had banned operation of aircraft older than 40 years. Having become a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Kyrgyzstan has adopted an ICAO strategy on aircrafts safety, and the introduction of ICAO standards in the development of air navigation systems. Air navigation systems aim to safely and effectively manage aircrafts which arrive and depart from the airport. Modern navigation equipment allows international airports to be part of a common network, which includes several countries and ensures the safety and effectiveness of the international aviation system. The state aircraft fleet is extending. US$13.3 million was allocated from the state budget for the purchase of a new airplane for the transportation of VIPs. Kyrgyzstan is also planning to purchase two ERG 145 airliners, produced by the Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, to supplement the civil aviation fleet. http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/03/04/4029579.htm *************** CAL grounds three 747 freighters amid export slump Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) has grounded three of its 20 cargo aircraft because of the sharp down-turn in global cargo traffic. A spokeswoman in CAL's Taipei headquarters says the carrier grounded two Boeing 747-400 freighters in January and a third in February and the plan is to have these grounded for one year. The airline's other 17 freighters are still flying, she says, adding that it decided to ground three because of the decline in international cargo traffic. Global cargo traffic has dipped sharply in recent months. Taiwan has been hit particularly hard because it has an export-driven economy with an emphasis on tech exports to the USA. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** ASA CRJ remains grounded after Tallahassee fire Staff from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continue to investigate an Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) CRJ200 that caught fire as the captain and one flight attendant readied the aircraft at the gate for a flight to Atlanta from Tallahassee on 1 March. According to the NTSB preliminary report, the CRJ (N830AS), operating as Delta Connection flight 5533, caught fire in the cockpit area "shortly after external power was applied to the airplane in preparation for flight". The pilot and flight attendant on board exited the aircraft using the air stairs and were not injured, after which airport fire and rescue teams extinguished the blaze. The fire burned an 0.5m (18in) hole in the left upper cockpit crown skin, says the NTSB. ASA says the CRJ remains grounded as airline and NTSB teams investigate. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** AAIB: prelim report on control problems during maintenance check flight The U.K. AAIB issued a preliminary report regarding their investigation into a serious incident in January 2009. A Boeing 737-73V, G-EZJK, experienced a violent pitch down during a combined maintenance check and customer demonstration flight. Vmo was exceeded by 100 knots, and a 10,000 foot loss of altitude occurred. The aircraft recovered from the maneuver and landed safely. Four flight crewmembers were on board, and there were no passengers. None of the flight crewmembers were injured. (AAIB) (aviation-safety.net) ************* Jet officials in 2005 NJ crash plead not guilty NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Two officials of a Florida-based charter jet company charged in connection with a 2005 crash at Teterboro Airport pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday. Joseph Singh and Brien McKenzie were the first of six former officials of Fort Lauderdale-based Platinum Jet Management to make court appearances in New Jersey since being indicted last month. The remaining four are scheduled to be arraigned later this month. Platinum is accused of repeatedly violating federal aviation rules and lying to federal investigators. In the February 2005 Teterboro crash, the Bombardier Challenger CL-600, a corporate jet operated by Platinum as a private charter, failed to take off and crashed through a fence, clipped a car at a busy intersection and smashed into a warehouse, causing a fire. No one was killed, but about 20 people were taken to hospitals and 11 were injured, two seriously. The crash prompted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport 10 miles northeast of Newark, to speed up the installation of barriers at the end of the runway. Singh, who served as Platinum's director of charters, and McKenzie, the company's director of maintenance, each face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Singh also faces four counts of making false statements. U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz set bail for McKenzie at $350,000 and for Singh at $100,000, both secured by property. In a separate proceeding in front of U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr., attorneys for both men entered not guilty pleas. "My client is looking forward to being exonerated," Mark Berman, representing McKenzie, said. Singh's attorney, Mark Douglas, declined to comment. According to the indictment, Platinum officials routinely filed paperwork that falsely claimed the planes being flown by the company were up to 1,000 pounds lighter than their actual weight, a violation of Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The reason for understating the planes' weight, prosecutors allege, was to allow the company to over-fuel the planes at airports that offered cheaper fuel without going over federal weight limits. Federal investigators concluded that the flight crew did not properly calculate the plane's center of gravity and that a decision to top off its fuel tanks moved the center of gravity too far forward. The FAA prohibited Platinum from operating as an air carrier a month after the crash and levied nearly $2 million in civil penalties against the company. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jyOTUJR7pV8WIGlGU_Obyjks0f RQD96NCH700 *************** Air Canada pilots report being flashed by laser A laser beam was aimed at the cockpit of an Air Canada jet several times as it was about to land at Pearson International Airport this morning. Theflight, AC 754, left San Francisco International Airport at around 11:30 p.m. last night and was scheduled to land in Toronto at about 6 a.m. But as the plane descended, the cockpit crew reported being flashed by a green beam from the Downsview area. The conversation between the pilots and the Pearson control tower was captured by LiveATC.net. "We just had two laser hits," a male pilot can be heard saying. After a short pause, the man reports more information. "Where (Highway) 400 joins (Highway) 401, say, about three blocks northeast of that," he says. An air traffic controller confirms that he received the report and can be heard relaying the information to a lieutenant. Later, the pilots report seeing at least three more flashes as they descended. In November, Canadian pilots called for better labelling on laser pointers and tougher penalties for those caught beaming the blinding lights at planes after similar incidents doubled across the country in the past year. There have been 106 occurrences reported since 2005, 42 in Ontario alone, said Maryse Durette, a spokesperson for Transportation Canada. For 2008, there were 70 occurrences nationally, 26 in Ontario. "It has the same effect as a very bright light on the eye so the effect on the eye is sun-blinding," Durette said. "You know the degree of awareness that they (pilots) need to exercise when landing or taking off . . . then we consider that a very concerning issue." Durrette added that the number of incidences are increasing. There have already been six incidents in Ontario this year. In November, Capt. Barry Wiszniowski of the Air Canada Pilots Association told the Star that most troublemakers favour the newer green laser pointers that have a range of more than 3,000 metres and are considered more dangerous than the more common red pointers. Only one person has ever been convicted of shining a laser beam into the cockpit of a plane in the air over Canada. Last summer, David Mackow of Calgary pleaded guilty to endangering a flight after he admitted to shining a green laser from his downtown apartment at an Air Canada Jazz flight. When caught, he told police he was "just having some fun." He was fined $1,000 and was ordered to forfeit his laser pointer. Such incidents are an offence under the Aeronautics Act and, if convicted, offenders can face a fine of up to $100,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/596520 *************** Nanostitching' Could Strengthen Airplane Skins, More Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are using carbon nanotubes to stitch together aerospace materials in such a way that airplane skins and other products could be 10 times stronger with only a nominal increase in cost. The use of advanced composites reinforced with nanotubes could also protect aircraft from lightening, as the material is one million times more electrically conductive than their counterparts without nanotubes. Conventional aerospace materials are composed of layers of carbon fibers held together with polymer glue - glue that can crack over time. The MIT researchers decided to try reinforcing the layers with carbon nanotubes. They heated the glue between two carbon-fiber layers, causing billions of nanotubes positioned perpendicular to each carbon-fiber layer to be sucked into the glue on both sides. According to Brian Wardle, a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a co-author of the study, "...we're putting the strongest fibers known to humankind [the nanotubes] in the place where the composite is weakest, and where they're needed most." Adding nanotubes to the composite should result in only a small percentage increase in cost and add substantial improvements in bulk multifunctional properties, said Wardle. http://www.merid.org/NDN/more.php?id=1750 *************** Russian inquiry: Wing ice caused Yerevan Belavia CRJ crash Russian investigators have formally attributed the take-off crash of a Belavia Bombardier CRJ100LR, one year ago in Armenia, to ice build-up on the wing before departure. The aircraft, departing the Armenia capital Yerevan for Minsk, started banking left after lifting off the runway. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK), in a review of air safety last year, states that the jet experienced "stalling on take-off from icing on the ground". The aircraft's left wing contacted the runway, before the jet rolled back onto its undercarriage and, as it travelled along the ground, continued to roll right, destroying the right wing before coming to rest inverted. MAK believes differences in temperature between the outside air and the fuel in the wing tanks resulted in frost coating the wings. Despite the outbreak of fire, all 21 passengers and crew survived the accident. MAK claims that five similar accidents have occurred in the past five years on similar aircraft types, where a supercritical wing has stalled on take-off in icing conditions. It states that "special attention" is necessary to de-ice such wings, because they are "sensitive even to slight icing". MAK also says that an aggressive rotation during take-off could "aggravate" the situation. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Bird flock scuttles US Airways Orlando departure US Airways has confirmed that a Philadelphia-bound Airbus A321 departing Orlando on the morning of 28 February was forced to return to the airport after striking birds. An airline spokesman says Flight 1624 hit "multiple medium-sized seagulls on various areas of the aircraft" on departure from runway 18L, and reportedly ingested one bird into its right engine. "The crew immediately decided to return to Orlando and put the right engine in a low power setting," the spokesman explains, adding that no emergency was declared. The twin-engine jet landed without incident. Birdstrikes have garnered increased scrutiny after US Airways Flight 1549 struck Canadian geese and ditched into the Hudson River in New York on 15 January. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Naming FAA head still key priority for Secretary LaHood Selecting the next FAA Administrator remains a key effort by new DOT Secretary Ray LaHood as he seeks to reverse labour discord within the agency. During a recent regular employee update COO of the FAA Air Traffic Control Organization Hank Krakowski said LaHood was working on finding an administrator. "There is a name that is being vetted that's been in the press," he says. "We'll see what happens." It has been widely reported that former Eastern Airlines pilot and previous head of the Air Line Pilots Association Randy Babbitt was the leading candidate for the position. Babbitt is currently an industry consultant. Krakowski highlights a priority for the administration of US President Barack Obama is resolution of labour disputes within the FAA, with the most protracted being the sour relationship between FAA management and air traffic controllers. During his confirmation hearings Secretary LaHood told members of Congress he aimed to find the most talented administrator to resolve the dispute between controllers and the agency. In 2006 FAA took advantage of an existing law that allowed the agency to impose its version of a contract on the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) after negotiations reached an impasse. NATCA since that time has been lobbying Congress to re-open contract talks. LaHood, meanwhile, has spent time collecting the history of the labour dispute. Krakowski says the secretary has heard the perspective of labour, and is now "getting to understand our point of view". As LaHood broadens his understanding of the labour issues Krakowski says one thing is absolutely certain. "We do have to fix this. We have to get the labor-management relationship on an even keel here at FAA and do it this year." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Fokker 50 fix aims to stop in-flight idled-throttle accidents Operators of Fokker 50 turboprops are being instructed to modify the engine controls to help reduce the likelihood that pilots will inadvertently move the throttle levers to a dangerously low setting while still in flight. Retardation of the levers below 'flight-idle' - to a position normally used only to taxi on the ground - has contributed to two fatal Fokker 50 approach accidents over the past seven years: the loss of a Luxair turboprop in 2002 and a Kish Air aircraft in 2004. In a newly-issued airworthiness directive, the European Aviation Safety Agency says: "It has become clear that, in general, flight crews attempt to make power-lever selections below 'flight-idle' more frequently than anticipated." While it concedes that human factors are "primarily" responsible for such occurrences, EASA states that it considers corrective action through the directive to be "justified". Its instruction to operators is based on a Fokker Services modification, covering installation of an automatic flight-idle stop control and associated changes for additional monitoring and crew alerting. EASA says the directive aims to improve reliability of the flight-idle stop system and make it "less sensitive" to inadvertent low-power selections. It says operators should complete the installation and modifications within two years. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC