11 MAR 2009 _______________________________________ *Small corporate jet slides off runway at Midway *FAA issues directive to prevent Boeing 737 pilot-induced oscillations *Indonesia Lion Air MD-90 skids off Jakarta runway *Investigation shows errors rampant in FAA airport runway safety database *American Flies First Revenue Flight With Winglet-Equipped 767-300ER *Spanish investigators issue safety recommendation after Spanair MD-80 crash *Indonesian authorities ground Lion Air MD-90's *Alaska calls for transparency in Virgin America ownership *Cory Lidle's Family Sues Airplane Maker For $45 Million in Lost Wages *************************************** Small corporate jet slides off runway at Midway No one was injured Tuesday afternoon when a small corporate jet slid off the runway at Midway International Airport. The twin-engine aircraft landed on Runway 31C and slid off the area where the runway and taxiway meet into a grassy area about 3:45 p.m., according to city Department of Aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham. No injuries were reported, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis. The plane, a Piaggio P-180, originated from Omaha, Neb., Cunningham said. It had one passenger and two pilots aboard. Because of the position of the plane, Runway 31C remains closed as of 4:35 p.m., but Runway 22L is open, Cunningham said. Officials do not expect the incident to affect any flights. Related Blog Posts http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/1469639,w-small-jet-runs-off-run way-midway-031009.article *************** FAA issues directive to prevent Boeing 737 pilot-induced oscillations Material defects in one batch of wire that Boeing purchased to make springs is at the root of a proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for dozens of next generation Boeing 737 models issued by the US FAA today. The springs were used to build "rudder feel and centering" (RFCU) units on approximately 70 Boeing 737 NG models sold in the US. The devices are meant to artificially create rudder pedal forces that are representative of aerodynamic loading on the rudder. The AD results from reports of low rudder pedal forces from operators, problems that were traced to a broken inner spring in the RFCU. FAA says a broken inner spring combined with a broken outer spring "could result in increased potential for pilot-induced oscillations and reduce the ability of the flight crew to maintain safe flight and landing of the airplane." Along with repetitive inspections or force measurements on the RFCUswithin 30 days of aircraft identified by Boeing as possibly having the defective springs, FAA is also mandating replacement of the spring assembly in the RFCU within three years of the effective date of the AD. Replacing the springs will cost less than $4,000 per aircraft, says FAA, and will remove the need for further inspections. The agency is also seeking to prevent the suspect springs from being retrofitted into other next generation 737 aircraft in the future. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Indonesia Lion Air MD-90 skids off Jakarta runway One of Jakarta airport's runways remains closed because authorities are having trouble moving a Lion Air Boeing MD-90 that skidded off yesterday afternoon. "The aircraft is still blocking the runway so all flights to terminal one [have been] moved to terminal two", says a Lion Air spokeswoman in Jakarta. She says the MD-90 skidded off one of the runways yesterday at around 15:37 when it landed at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatti International Airport during windy and rainy conditions. None of the 166 passengers or six crew on board the flight, from Makassar, were injured but the aircraft damaged its landing gear and now has some cracks to the left wing, she says. The incident is subject to investigation and the aircraft is stuck in ground off the runway, she adds. Lion's spokeswoman says the MD-90 has registration PK-LIL and according to Flight's ACAS database Boeing Capital owns this aircraft which was built in 1997. ATI in December 1997 reported that PK-LIL lost the casing to one of its engines while taking off from Jakarta airport. Lion mostly operates Boeing 737-900ERs and is phasing out its older aircraft. Last month another Lion MD-90 was damaged when it landed at Indonesia's Batam airport without its front landing-gear extended. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Investigation shows errors rampant in FAA airport runway safety database A new audit by the US Transportation Department's inspector general (IG) faults the FAA's airports organization for poor bookkeeping in its effort to track improvements to runway safety areas (RSAs) at a large number of commercial service airports. According to a 3 March report, investigators reviewing data records for 163 RSAs found at least one error in 64 RSA records, a 38% error rate. The one-year audit set out to determine the FAA's progress in upgrading hundreds of RSAs to comply with FAA standards, a process the US Congress has mandated for completion by 2015. The IG found that the FAA had made "significant" progress on the effort since 2000, with 327 of the 454 "priority" RSAs improved to date. Lacking, however, was the "data quality" of the FAA's records and its progress in removing certain navigational aids like runway lights and landing guidance systems from the safety areas. RSAs are designed to provide an obstacle-free area on each end of a runway in case an aircraft over- or under-runs the runway. Ideally, the overrun area will measure 305m (1,000ft) in length and 152m in width, centred on the runway. Navigational aids (navaids), if required to be in the area, must snap off with the immovable portion not exceeding 7.6cm (3in) in height above the ground. In cases where the airport cannot for a variety of reasons provide the clear area, the FAA allows for use of engineered arresting systems (crushable concrete) that stop an aircraft in less distance, though in about 2% of cases, "improvements are so expensive that the FAA does not require further action", says the IG. Of the 163 RSAs reviewed, investigators determined that 67 contained navigational aids that needed to be moved or made snappable (frangible), though FAA airports officials and field offices "rarely" coordinated on the efforts. Further, inspectors found that the FAA did not have a nationwide plan to correct RSA navaids, including at 11 of the 30 largest airports. "Given the large number of passengers these airports serve, it is critical that FAA and airport sponsors expedite ongoing efforts to achieve needed improvements," the report states. In some cases, issues had been corrected but the RSA inventory database did not reflect the status. Investigators found data records of two non-compliant instrument landing system towers at the Los Angeles and Sacramento airports, though the equipment had already been relocated. Other database errors included a record that one RSA at the Dulles International Airport was obstacle-free when in actuality an instrument landing system tower needed to be relocated and an entry calling for $39 million for a major runway and RSA project at Los Angeles that had been completed a year earlier. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** American Flies First Revenue Flight With Winglet-Equipped 767-300ER Blended Winglets Save Up To 500,000 Gallons Of Jet-A Annually American Airlines and Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) announced this week the first revenue flight of a Boeing 767-300ER with APB's Blended Winglets, days after the winglet installation received Supplemental Type Certification from the FAA. American Flight 78 left Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Sunday, March 8, at 8:35 pm with 204 passengers onboard and arrived ahead of schedule at London Heathrow Airport on Monday, March 9, at 10:26 am. "We are pleased that APB chose to partner with American to develop and install these Blended Winglets, and we are especially happy that we also operated the first flight with customers onboard a winglet-equipped 767-300ER," said Bob Reding, American's Executive Vice President - Operations. "The fuel savings and emissions reductions that we will achieve are one more step in our efforts to both moderate costs and shrink the impact we have on our environment - two goals that go hand-in-hand." The increased lift provided by the winglets, without a corresponding increase of engine power, improves fuel efficiency. Each airplane equipped with the winglets is expected to save up to 500,000 gallons of fuel annually depending on miles flown, according to APB. American plans to install winglets on its entire 58 aircraft fleet of 767-300ERs, which could result in a total savings of up to 29 million gallons of fuel per year. That represents a significant potential increase to the 111 million gallons of fuel that American currently saves through its Fuel Smart efficiency program. In addition to the fuel cost savings, this 767-300ER fuel efficiency improvement will result in a reduction of up to 277,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually, according to APB. The 11-foot high winglets could also extend the range of an aircraft by as much as 360 nautical miles and improve take-off performance, providing as much as 12,000 pounds of additional payload. The winglet installation work was accomplished by American's Maintenance & Engineering organization at its maintenance base in Kansas City, MO. American expects to modify all of its 767-300ER aircraft by 2011. American has already completed Blended Winglet installation on its fleets of 124 Boeing 757s and 77 Boeing 737s. FMI: www.aa.com, www.aviationpartnersboeing.com/ aero-news.net **************** Spanish investigators issue safety recommendation after Spanair MD-80 crash On 20 August 2008 a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 operated by Spanair, was involved in an accident immediately after takeoff at Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain). The aircraft was destroyed as a consequence of the impact with the ground and the resultant fire. There were 154 fatalities. Prior to takeoff the crew reported a problem with the RAT probe heater and returned to the stand. Once the aircraft returned to the stand, maintenance personnel verified the fault described in the ATLB, checked the Minimum Equipment List under the appropriate section for the Rat probe heating, and proceeded to open the circuit breaker that supplied electrical power to the heater of the probe. Once this was done, it was proposed and accepted that the airplane be dispatched. Upon completion of this action, the aircraft was cleared for takeoff and, once airborne, reached a height of 40 feet above the ground before descending and impacting the terrain. Although the accident investigation has not yet been concluded, all available data show that flaps and slats were not set in takeoff configuration, resulting in the failure of the airplane to climb properly after takeoff. It also shows that the cockpit crew did not receive the automated takeoff configuration warning during the takeoff roll. The RAT temperature probe has a heating system that should be inhibited while the aircraft is on ground. The way the airplane detects that it is in ground or in flight is by means of a switch connected to the nose landing gear that provides a ground signal when the strut is compressed, and a flight signal when it is extended. This ground-flight signal is sent to a set of relays. Each of these relays provides a ground-flight signal to various systems that require it for proper operation. In accordance with the manufacturer's Wiring Diagram Manual (WDM), in the case of the RAT probe heater, its associated relay is R2-5 which, in addition to heating, also supplies information to a.o. the Take Off Warning System (TOWS). Although no determination has yet been reached as to why the TOWS did not sound and/or whether there was a fault with the R2-5 relay, the investigation has focused on the relationship between the R2-5 relay, the high temperature indication while the airplane was on the ground, and the failure of the TOWS to sound during the takeoff roll. It is recommended that the FAA and EASA require the manufacturer, Boeing, to include in its Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) for the DC-9 and MD-80, the Troubleshooting Manual for the MD-90 and the Fault Isolation manual for the 717 series of airplanes, specifically identified instructions to detect the cause and to troubleshoot the fault involving the heating of the RAT temperature probe while on the ground. (CIAIAC) (aviation-safety.net) **************** Indonesian authorities ground Lion Air MD-90's The Indonesian government decided to temporarily stop the operation of all MD-90 type aircraft belonging to Lion Air as of 11 March 2009. This decision was taken following a runway excursion of an MD-90 at the Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta Airport March 9th. The Ministry of Transportation will check all five MD-90 planes as well as the way Lion Air manages the safety of this aircraft type. (Ministry of Transportation) (aviation-safety.net) ****************** Alaska calls for transparency in Virgin America ownership Alaska Airlines continues to press the US Department of Transportation to investigate Virgin America's US citizenship status. In February Seattle-based Alaska asked the agency to examine its rival's ownership structure, citing media reports that US investors may sell their shares back to the Virgin Group. Alaska and Virgin America compete in markets primarily on north-south corridors on the US West Coast. Previously, Alaska executives have said Virgin America's fares were way below both Virgin America and Alaska's costs. Alaska CFO Glenn Johnson today during a presentation at the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference said that Alaska's request was less about competition and more about transparency. If reports about US investors attempting to put their Virgin America stake back to Virgin are credible, Johnson says it is "all the more important" for DOT to examine the carrier's ownership structure. Johnson says if the scrutiny shows that Virgin America is not majority-owned by US stakeholders than the carrier is not eligible for an operating certificate. "We'll let DOT decide." Virgin America has previously dismissed Alaska's argument as meaningless, noting it is full compliance with US law and DOT regulations. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Cory Lidle's Family Sues Airplane Maker For $45 Million in Lost Wages Cory Lidle, who passed away in a tragic plane accident in New York City in 2006, is now the subject of a lawsuit relating to his personal plane that crashed into a New York City apartment. His family is, according to a lawsuit filed by his agent, seeking more than $50 million in damages against Cirrus Design Corporation. Cirrus is the maker of the private plane that Lidle flew into an Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, and his family believes that the $50-plus million would be equivalent to Lidle's career earnings. As Josh Alper phrased it at NBC New York, Jordan Feagan, Lidle's agent must have an "inflated sense of his own abilities as an agent," because, with all due respect to the late baseball player and his family, the logic that Lidle would have earned that amount of money seems a touch difficult to believe. That doesn't mean Lidle's family is wrong for seeking damages though. There is a distinct possibility that this lawsuit is essentially an alternate form of a counter-claim or third party complaint that simply does not involve the exact same plaintiffs as another related suit; Lidle's family has been named in a civil case in California which seeks compensation from them for the damages caused during the accident. The unfortunate reality, regardless of how this plays out, is that two lives were tragically lost and at the same time a significant amount of property was damaged. Those circumstances almost never end well in the court of public opinion, much less the court of law. http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/03/09/cory-lidles-family-sues-airplane-maker-fo r-45-million-in-lost-wages/ *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC