15 APR 2009 _______________________________________ *FAA urged to ground type of small sports aircraft *ANSV Italy investigates 737-800 landing on taxiway at Cagliari *Ryanair taxiway landing inquiry examines NOTAM evidence *Kenya: Passengers Left Stranded After KQ Flight Mishap *Cockpit voice recorder from crashed Chinese helicopter retrieved *EADS confirms Uebber as new chairman *Brisbane Airport defers plan for new parallel runway *FedEx Cuts 14 Aircraft To Reduce Overcapacity **************************************** FAA urged to ground type of small sports aircraftStory Highlights National Transportation Safety Board questions safety of the Zodiac CH-601XL Officials: Six planes have broken up in flight in past three years, killing 10 people Zenair, designer of plane, has said proper cable tension addresses issue FAA had no immediate response to the safety board's recommendation WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal safety officials want the Federal Aviation Administration to immediately ground a type of small sports aircraft, saying six of the planes have broken up in flight in the past three years, killing 10 people. The National Transportation Safety Board questions the safety of the Zodiac CH-601XL. In an urgent letter to the FAA, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board says there is "substantial circumstantial evidence" that aerodynamic "flutter" preceded some, if not all, of the fatal accidents, and that more accidents are likely to occur if action isn't taken. Flutter is a condition in which airflow around the plane causes unsafe structural vibrations. The vibrations can quickly cause the plane to break up if it is not sufficiently dampened, the safety board said. The aircraft involved is the Zodiac CH-601XL, a single-engine, two-seater that was designed by Zenair Inc. It is built by various manufacturers and also sold as a kit. In making its recommendation, the safety board said it reviewed six fatal accidents, including crashes in Spain and the Netherlands, and said flutter is the likely cause of the accidents. The board said it also considered other incidents that did not result in deaths. The NTSB said two other countries, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have already grounded the aircraft. The FAA had no immediate response to the safety board's recommendation. A Zenair official did not immediately return a reporter's phone call. But the NTSB letter says Zenair contends that the flutter problem can be addressed by proper cable tension, and asserted that a November 2005 certification flight test confirmed the plane is protected from flutter. But the safety board said the type of testing used may not be adequate to uncover all susceptibility to flutter. The NTSB said the FAA certified the CH-601XL as a Special Light Sport Aircraft in 2005. This type of certification does not require that the FAA approve the airplane's design. Instead, the airplane model is issued an airworthiness certificate if the manufacturer asserts that the plane meets industry-accepted design standards and has passed a series of ground and flight tests. The safety board is asking the FAA to prohibit further flight of the Zodiac CH-601XL until the board can determine that the airplane is no longer susceptible to aerodynamic flutter. "The NTSB does not often recommend that all airplanes of a particular type be prohibited from further flight," NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said in writing comments. "In this case, we believe such action will save lives. Unless the safety issues with this particular Zodiac model are addressed, we are likely to see more accidents in which pilots and passengers are killed in airplanes that they believed were safe to fly." The safety board also found that the stick-force gradient -- a measure of the force applied to the control stick and the increase in lift that results -- was not uniform throughout the range of motion, particularly at high vertical accelerations or increased gravitational forces. The lessening of the gradient at high gravitational force could make the airplane susceptible to being inadvertently over-controlled by the pilot, which could create a condition in which the airplane is stressed beyond its design limits, leading to an in-flight structural failure. *************** ANSV Italy investigates 737-800 landing on taxiway at Cagliari The Italian accident ingvestigation board ANSV launched an investgation into a serious incident at Cagliari-Elmas Airport (CAG/LIEE). On April 12, a Boeing 737 landed on a taxiway after a flight from Girona. The airplane involved was EI-DCE, operated by Ryanair. The main runway had reopened April 8 after having been NOTAMed closed from 20 December 2007 to 8 April 2009. During that period, the taxiway was used as runway. (ANSV) (aviation-safety.net) *************** Ryanair taxiway landing inquiry examines NOTAM evidence Italian investigators have pointed out that NOTAM information warned of normal runway operations being restored at Cagliari Airport before a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 mistakenly landed on a taxiway on 12 April. The country's Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) says it is obtaining the air traffic control transmissions as well as the on-board recordings from the aircraft, identified as EI-DCE, in order to "correctly understand the dynamics" of the incident. Italy's aeronautical information publication included a supplement, effective 20 December 2007, detailing changes at Cagliari to allow maintenance on the main runway 14/32. This runway was closed and renamed taxiway J, while the parallel taxiway E was redesignated as a temporary operational runway, 14L/32R. The two strips are separated by about 180m (590ft). Aircraft conducting an instrument landing system approach to Cagliari followed largely the same flight path but, shortly before touchdown, performed a side-step manoeuvre to line up with 14L/32R. ANSV says that NOTAMs referred to the supplement remaining in effect until 8 April. The main runway 14/32 re-opened on 9 April. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Kenya: Passengers Left Stranded After KQ Flight Mishap 48 passengers on a Kenya Airways flight from Bangkok, Thailand, were left out after one of the emergency exit doors opened accidentally, releasing the escape slide. Those affected had seats adjacent to the emergency exit. The plane with 219 passengers was about t o take off from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport en route to Hong Kong, where it was scheduled for a stopover. Some passengers missed their connecting flights from Hong Kong because of the delay. Kenya Airways communications manager Victoria Kaigai confirmed the incident and attributed it to a "technical fault." She said:"We left the passengers behind as a safety precaution." One of the passengers said the mishap was caused by a flight attendant who accidentally pressed a wrong button near the door, causing it to open. The door had to be taped shut for the flight to Hong Kong. Kaigai dismissed this, saying a steward could not open the chute as it was only the pilot who had access to the switches that opened the emergency doors. KQ operates four weekly flights to Thailand. The plane involved in the mishap was a Boeing 767, which is one of the models whose lease is nearly coming to an end. KQ said it will compensate those who missed their interconnecting flights. "We are bound by the IATA rules of compensation to do so, and we will follow the rule," Kaigai said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200904140191.html *************** Cockpit voice recorder from crashed Chinese helicopter retrieved SHANGHAI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation authorities said Wednesday they had retrieved the cockpit voice recorder of a helicopter that crashed near Shanghai Sunday after taking off from China's Antarctic exploration ship, Xuelong. "The recorder has been found and authorities are decoding and analyzing the data hoping to pinpoint the cause of the crash," said a spokesman with the East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). A joint investigation team of the CAAC and domestic aviation companies found the device in the wreckage of the helicopter Tuesday, he said. The cockpit voice recorder is part of the black box and records voices of the crew, conversations between the crew members and air traffic controllers on the ground, as well as abnormal voices in the cockpit. The helicopter was not equipped with a flight data recorder, another crucial component of the "black box", the spokesman said. Four crew members, all men, were aboard the helicopter when it crashed in the East China Sea near the estuary of the Yangtze River at midday Sunday. Three were rescued, but mechanic Yang Yongchang is missing. The search for Yang was continuing Wednesday. The ship-born helicopter flew more than 153 hours during a 173-day Antarctic expedition before arriving in Shanghai on Friday. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/15/content_11189093.htm ************** EADS confirms Uebber as new chairman Airbus parent company EADS has confirmed that Bodo Uebber has been appointed as chairman. Uebber, who has been a member of the EADS board of directors since 2007, succeeds Rudiger Grube, who is taking over as CEO of German rail company Deutsche Bahn. EADS has proposed Wilfried Porth, a member of Daimler's management board, to fill the remaining vacancy left by Grube's departure. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Brisbane Airport defers plan for new parallel runway Brisbane Airport in the eastern Australian state of Queensland has pushed back plans for a new parallel runway by at least two years as a result of the effects of the global economic downturn. The airport's operator says in a statement that the new parallel runway, which was originally expected to be completed around 2017, is now due for completion around 2019 or 2020. It says the deferral is the result of "the recent softening of passenger numbers and a flat outlook for the coming year". It adds that "while Brisbane Airport continues to show positive growth in passenger numbers, this growth has slowed in the past 12 months, resulting in a re-forecasting of future passenger numbers and a revised Brisbane Airport business plan for 2009-10". Brisbane is the base of Virgin Blue, Australia's second-largest airline group. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** FedEx Cuts 14 Aircraft To Reduce Overcapacity FedEx is culling 14 aircraft from its Express fleet as part of the freight company's ongoing attempts to limit the adverse effects of excess capacity in world airfreight. The cuts include 10 A310-200s and four MD-10-10s, as well as an unspecified amount of excess engines. All these cuts will be made in FedEx's fiscal fourth quarter, ending May 31. The company's 670-strong aircraft fleet includes 66 A310-200s and -300s and 61 MD-10-10s. In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, FedEx noted, "This decision reflects management's ongoing efforts to optimize the company's express network in light of continued excess aircraft capacity due to weak economic conditions and the expected delivery of newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft in fiscal year 2010. As a result of this decision, a noncash charge of approximately $180 million for impairment of the value of the aircraft and engines will be recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009." These new aircraft include additional Boeing 757s and the introduction of the U.S. manufacturer's 777 freighter. "A limited amount of the company's total aircraft capacity remains temporarily grounded because of network overcapacity. Any future decisions to further alter our networks by eliminating additional aircraft may lead to additional asset impairment charges," FedEx added in its SEC filing. http://www.aviationweek.com ************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC