01 JUL 2009 _______________________________________ *5-Year-Old Child Survives Airbus Downing *Yemenia Update: Conflicting Reports On Yemen Airline Disaster Survivor *Teen plane crash survivor 'didn't feel a thing' *Yemeni Crash Boosts Scrutiny of Air Safety in Emerging Nations *Blacklist threat forced Yemenia to overhaul safety procedures *NTSB investigating two runway incursions at Cleveland (CLE) *Bird Strike Endangers LaGuardia Plane Again! *Human factors emerge as trend in air crashes: expert *EASA Suspends Eclipse 500 Type Certificate *ANA orders five more 787s *FAA Aviation News Spotlights Light-Sport Aviation **************************************** 5-Year-Old Child Survives Airbus Downing No Other Survivors Found In Yemenia Airliner Crash A Yemenia Airbus A310-300 has ditched in the Indian Ocean off the archipelago of Comoros, and the only apparent survivor is a 5-year-old child. The flight, which originated in Paris, was on approach to the Comoros Islands in what is reported as bad weather about 12 miles off the coast of Grande Comore island. The Australian Broadcasting Company and Reuters report witnesses said they saw the aircraft attempt to land, then turn away before it disappeared. It is the second time in a month that an Airbus airliner has gone down in the ocean. French authorities told the ABC that the plane had been under surveillance, and that problems had been reported with the aircraft, though they are unspecified at this time. French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said during a recent inspection numerous faults had been noted on the Yemenia jet and the airline was being closely monitored by EU authorities. "The A310 in question had been inspected in France in 2007 by the DGAC [French civil aviation authority] and a certain number of faults had been noted," Mr Bussereau said. However, Yemen's transport minister said the aircraft had undergone a thorough inspection in May under Airbus supervision. "It was a comprehensive inspection carried out in Yemen ... with experts from Airbus," Khaled Ibrahim al-Wazeer said. "It was in line with international standards." The flight originated in Paris using an Airbus A330, and had traveled from there to Marseille and then Sanaa. There, passengers boarded the A310 and flew to Djibouti before heading to the Comoros capital, Moroni. There were 142 passengers and 11 crew on board. So far authorities report 5 bodies have been recovered, as well as the one, unidentified surviving child. "Bodies were seen floating on the surface of the water and a fuel slick was also spotted about 16 or 17 nautical miles from Moroni," senior Yemeni civil aviation official Mohammad Abdel Kader said. Mr Kader said the wind was blowing in gusts of up to 71 miles per hour, nearly hurricane strength, when the disaster happened. "Weather conditions were bad," he said. "The sea was rough." French authorities have sent two nearby naval vessels to the area to assist in rescue efforts. FMI: www.aviation-civile.gouv.fr, www.yemencivilaviation.com/ aero-news.net **************** Yemenia Update: Conflicting Reports On Yemen Airline Disaster Survivor Now Saying The Only Surviving Passenger Is A 14-Year-Old Girl Multiple news soruces are now reporting that the sole survivor from the Yemenia A310 that went down in the Indian Ocean Tuesday is a 14-year-old girl, not a five-year-old as originally reported. Comoros Communications Minister Abdourahim Said Bakar said earlier reports that the rescued child was five were wrong. "A doctor from the military hospital aboard one of the rescue boats called the Mitsamiouli hospital to tell them a child had been rescued alive," Halidi Ahmed Abdou, a doctor at a medical center opened for survivors, told Reuters. The girl is reportedly from a village in the centre of the Indian Ocean archipelago. The International News Service AFP is also reporting the survivor is a teenage girl. "She is conscious, she is speaking.... but we are not asking her too many question as not to tire her," Ada Mansour, the doctor who treated the girl at the hospital, told AFP The girl was transferred to an intensive care unit. Multiple news services are also reporting that the Airbus A310 that went down had been banned from European airspace, though Yemenia Airlines was allowed to fly to European cities. FMI: www.aviation-civile.gouv.fr, www.yemencivilaviation.com/ aero-news.net ************** Teen plane crash survivor 'didn't feel a thing' Teenager recovers in hospital after surviving plane crash off Comoros islands 13-year-old, who lives in Marseille, France, escaped without serious injuries Girl was spotted in rough sea among bodies and plane debris in darkness (CNN) -- The father of a teenage girl who remarkably survived a plane crash off the Comoros has described how his daughter was ejected from the plane into the Indian Ocean. Relatives react at Marseille airport in France after being informed of the list of the passengers' names. "She didn't feel a thing. She found herself in water," Paris-based Kassim Bakari told French radio RTL after speaking to his 13-year-old daughter Bahia who was recovering Wednesday in hospital in Moroni. "She could hear people talking, but in the middle of the night she couldn't see a thing. She managed to hold on to a piece of something," said the Comoran, whose partner was also on board the doomed flight and is presumed to be among the 152 victims. "She said she was ejected from the plane," Bakari said, according to Agence France-Presse. Bahia, who lives in Marseille, escaped with just cuts to her face and a fractured collar-bone as the Yemenia Airways Airbus A310 tried to land at Moroni airport at the end of a four-stage flight from France. A local surgeon said Bahia was doing well in hospital. "Her health is not in danger. She is very calm given the shock she suffered," Ben Imani told Reuters.com at Moroni's El Marouf hospital. The girl is expected to be flown home to France on a ministerial plane, AFP reports. Earlier Kassim Bakari told France Info, a French radio network, that his wife and daughter were flying to Comoros to visit relatives. "When I had her on the phone, I asked her what happened and she said, 'Daddy, I don't know what happened, but the plane fell into the water and I found myself in the water ... surrounded by darkness. I could not see anyone,'" Bakari said. French junior foreign minister Alain Joyandet met the girl in hospital on Wednesday and heard how she was pulled from the sea. The head of the rescue team in the Comoros also told RTL the teenager survived astonishing odds. "It is truly, truly, miraculous," said Ibrahim Abdoulazeb. "The young girl can barely swim." Another rescuer told France's Europe 1 radio the girl was spotted in the rough sea among bodies and plane debris in darkness about two hours after the crash. "We tried to throw a life buoy. She could not grab it. I had to jump in the water to get her," the rescuer said, according to AFP. Watch as airline describes child's rescue » "She was shaking, shaking. We put four covers on her. We gave her hot, sugary water. We simply asked her name, village." Bakari said he had no hope of seeing his partner or daughter again after learning of the crash. "She is a very, very shy girl. I would never have thought she would have survived like this. I can't say that it's a miracle, I can say that it is God's will," he said. Kassim Bakari said his daughter had been told her mother survived the crash. "When I spoke to her she was asking for her mother. They told her she was in a room next door, so as not to traumatize her. But it's not true. I don't know who is going to tell her." Former pilot and aviation analyst John Cox said the girl's discovery reminded him of the 1987 crash of Northwest Flight 255 in Detroit, Michigan, in which only a 4-year-old girl survived, while 156 others died. ************** Yemeni Crash Boosts Scrutiny of Air Safety in Emerging Nations July 1 (Bloomberg) -- The fatal crash of a Yemeni Airbus jet into the Indian Ocean is heightening scrutiny of the safety standards of developing nations and their airlines. The European Union said it will assess whether to add Yemen to a list of countries with unsafe airlines that includes Swaziland and Indonesia, following the accident yesterday involving a Yemenia Airways Inc. Airbus SAS A310 carrying 153 people. A teenage girl was the only survivor found in initial rescue operations. France has had the carrier under “strict surveillance” since an inspection of the A310 in 2007 found unspecified faults. Airlines on the EU’s banned list include Kazakhstan’s Air Company Kokshetau and Ukraine’s Motor Sich Airlines, both added in April. “Some of these airlines are essentially operating without any type of oversight, and travelers need to be aware,” Jim Hall, former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said in an interview. “You don’t have any way of knowing what type of oversight or supervision you’re getting on some of these airlines. With some of them, it’s very minimal.” While airlines in developing nations are considered the most risky by regulators, some of the deadliest crashes happen with first-world carriers. The Air France crash on June 1 that killed 228 people involved a larger Airbus model, an A330-200. Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Swaziland are among more than 20 countries that don’t meet the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s safety standards. Those countries also have airlines on the EU’s banned list, created in 2006 with more than 90 carriers, mostly from Africa. Bangladesh to Uruguay The EU splits its ban into three groups: all carriers in certain countries, specific carriers in some nations, or parts of fleets of certain airlines. The ban covers carriers from nations including Angola, Liberia and Rwanda. The FAA bans by country. Nations the agency says aren’t meeting minimum standards include Bangladesh, Belize, Croatia, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kiribati, Nauru, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines and Uruguay. Global air safety standards are set by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization. The group audits how well-equipped countries are to establish airworthiness of planes and conduct oversight, said Denis Chagnon, a spokesman. It doesn’t enforce or implement actual procedures, he said. “ICAO sets the standards, and the states must implement them,” Chagnon said. “It’s not our job to tell states what to do.” Assessing Safety Yemenia had met safety program standards of the International Air Transport Association trade group and was added to its registry in May 2007, said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the Montreal-based organization. A renewal audit of the carrier’s operational management occurred in February 2008, and the carrier is due for its next audit in 2010, Lott said. Airline crashes in 2004 and 2005 that killed hundreds of Europeans prompted the EU to seek a uniform approach to airline safety through a common blacklist. The list is updated four times a year and is based on deficiencies found during checks at airports, antiquated aircraft and shortcomings spotted by non-EU airline regulators. Regulators in developing nations “tend to be under- supported by the governments, therefore there’s nobody enforcing the standards,” William Voss, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation, told reporters in Washington. EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said the group will assess the safety level of Yemenia and propose a worldwide blacklist for some airlines. Yemenia isn’t on the EU’s current list. The next update of the list is due in about two weeks. “To reinforce security around the world, we have to have a global blacklist,” Tajani told reporters in Brussels. One Survivor The A310 jet, built in 1990 and no longer produced, plunged into the sea near the Comoros Islands, Yemenia officials said. Half the passengers were from France. The airline said the cause of the accident was “purely weather,” with winds gusting as strong as 113 kilometers (71 miles) per hour, and that they’ve never had problems with the plane. Yemen isn’t on the FAA’s lists, probably because there are no flights between the U.S. and the nation, Alison Duquette, an FAA spokeswoman, said. The FAA rates a country as not meeting minimum standards should it lack laws, technical expertise, recordkeeping and resources to ensure adequate safety oversight, according to the agency’s Web site. The agency focuses on countries, not specific carriers. Carriers in countries that receive the low rating are allowed to keep serving the U.S., though under heightened federal surveillance, according to the FAA. If carriers do not yet have service to the U.S. at the time they receive the rating, they may not begin the flights. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aw0W49DK4.TU ************** Blacklist threat forced Yemenia to overhaul safety procedures Loss of a Yemenia Airbus A310 off the Comores follows an overhaul of safety procedures at the airline, carried out in a bid to avoid being blacklisted by the European Union. The airline has been scrutinised in the past two years after concerns emerged during ramp inspections of its aircraft in Germany, France and Italy. Yemenia drew up a corrective plan in May last year, according to European Commission records, but this initially did not satisfy European authorities - notably in the areas of maintenance and flight operations - and the carrier had to undertake a revision. In a subsequent assessment last July the Commission said the carrier had an "effective" structure and organisation, and could "ensure an overall adherence" to safety policy. It added that it had an agreement with Airbus under which the airframer would provide training and monitoring for maintenance and aircraft operations. The Commission acknowledged Yemenia's efforts to correct its safety deficiencies and, citing evidence of improvement during inspections, ruled that it should not be included on the blacklist of carriers banned from operating to Europe. In an update in November 2008 the Commission revisited the situation at Yemenia and stated that the airline had been implementing corrections in maintenance and operational discipline "in a sustainable manner to avoid the recurrence of significant safety deficiencies", and concluded that no further action was necessary. Yemenia is also included on IATA's registry of carriers which have passed the association's operational safety audit. The airline's registration expires in June 2010. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** NTSB investigating two runway incursions at Cleveland (CLE) The NTSB is investigating two runway incursions that occurred at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, OH (CLE). The most recent occurred at 08:56, June 26, 2009. Express Jet flight 2426, an Embraer ERJ-145, was cleared by the tower developmental controller to cross runway 24L at taxiway S in order to depart from runway 24R. Approximately 19 seconds later, the same controller cleared CommutAir flight 8717, a DHC-8, for takeoff on runway 24L. The Express Jet flight crew saw the departing airplane and advised the tower controller they would not cross the runway. CommutAir 8717 rotated about 1,500 feet from where Express Jet 2426 was positioned. The incident is the second of its kind at CLE in three weeks. On June 3, 2009, at 15:15, a runway incursion occurred in which a Boeing 737 was cleared by a developmental controller to taxi into position the same runway on which an Embraer ERJ145 was cleared and entering for take-off. The ERJ145 crew saw the 737 and queried the tower controller. The two flights came within 500 feet of each other on runway 6L. This was the same developmental controller involved in the June 26 incident. (NTSB) (aviation-safety.net) **************** Bird Strike Endangers LaGuardia Plane Again! Plane lands safely, no one hurt The pilot flying this American Airlines jet reported a bird strike as the jet began its descent into LaGuardia Airport today. The strike caused a hydraulic leak, but no one was injured. A bird strike has once again endangered a plane flying near LaGuardia Airport -- an incident that recalls the near-disaster celebrated as "The Miracle on the Hudson." Fortunately once again, the pilot in today's bird-struck plane also managed to land his without anyone getting hurt. The aircraft, American Airlines Flight 1256 from Miami to LaGuardia, was just about to touch down when the pilot reported a bird strike. One bird struck the front landing gear of the plane at about 1200 feet, causing hydraulic fluid to leak from the Boeing 737-800, according to American Airlines. None of the 140 people -- 135 passengers and 5 crew -- on board were hurt. The passengers hadn't known a bird struck the plane until they were safely on the ground, the airline said. The aircraft had to be towed to the gate after it reported trouble with the nose gear. New York City attempted to reduce the danger of bird strikes this month by rounding up thousands of them to be gassed. The six-week plan seeks to trap Canada geese during their molting season, when they can't fly, which has outraged some animal-rights activists. But the mayor has said the city hasn't found any other effective means of controlling the goose population. Bird strikes have been a hot topic since a flock of migrating Canada geese collided with US Airways Flight 1549 in January, killing the thrust in both engines and sending the just-airborne craft on a collision path with the Hudson River. Pilot Chesley Sullenberger miraculously landed the aircraft safely on the water and all 155 people on board survived. At a recent National Transportation Safety Board hearing on Flight 1549's emergency water landing, witnesses said there was nothing the airport could have done to prevent the collision that brought down the plane. The airliner was climbing at about 2,800 feet and was nearly five miles away from the airport when it struck the birds. Airports don't have much ability to control birds and other wildlife beyond their property boundaries, experts said. Experts on bird-plane collisions told the board that LaGuardia has significantly reduced bird strikes on or near the airport in recent years, partly by killing geese on nearby Rikers Island. There were 87 reported strikes near LaGuardia last year. Most caused no damage. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Birds-Strike-Again-at-La-Guardia-.html **************** Human factors emerge as trend in air crashes: expert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Human factors are emerging as a worrisome trend in global air crashes and other incidents as fatigue, complex flight systems, inconsistent training and regulation pose new challenges to airlines, a leading safety advocate said on Tuesday. Bill Voss, president of the U.S.-based Flight Safety Foundation, a watchdog and advocacy group, told industry and government officials that 2009 could be the worst year in a decade for major commercial aviation accidents. There have been 12 crashes this year through June and carriers globally are on pace to equal the 10-year high of 24 crashes in 1999, according to safety foundation figures. There were 16 crashes last year. This year's total would include a Yemeni airliner with 153 people that plunged into the Indian Ocean on Tuesday and the Air France crash in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil on June 1 that killed 228 passengers and crew. Both crashes involved Airbus jetliners and are under investigation. "We've seen an increase in loss of control," Voss said of reported in-flight mishaps linked to turbulence or other unexpected situations that usually do not result in crashes. "We're back in the human factors business." Crews losing control of aircraft accounted for 13 percent of accidents internationally, according to 2008 figures compiled by the International Air Transport Association. "Systems don't always act the way you expect them to," Voss said. The ill-fated Air France flight, an Airbus A330, apparently hit severe turbulence before experiencing a rapid succession of technical problems and possibly breaking apart en route from Rio De Janeiro to Paris. Voss said airlines and other aviation system operations are trying to quickly adapt to highly technical and automated aircraft and flight systems with varying resources, some of them inadequate. For instance, roughly half of 190 regulatory agencies reviewed by the International Civil Aviation Organization had insufficient numbers of inspectors for safety oversight, Voss said. Latin America, Africa, Russia and the former Soviet Republics pose the most concern for all types of severe accidents, Voss said. Rapid industry expansion in the middle of the decade put financial pressure on countries trying to develop more robust aviation systems, he said. Available capital to maintain new planes, training and oversight has been a serious question in some developing countries. ************** EASA Suspends Eclipse 500 Type Certificate The European Aviation Safety Agency earlier this month suspended the European type certificate (TC) held by bankrupt Eclipse Aviation. The company was granted the EASA type certificate on Nov. 21, 2008, and four days later it filed for bankruptcy. Attempts are currently under way by interested parties to purchase what remains of Eclipse’s assets, but the bankruptcy court has thus far accepted none of the bids. The suspension of the EASA TC “is an issue,” one of the bidders told AIN, “and would reduce the value of the assets [and] intellectual property. According to an EASA spokeswoman, “The suspension of the Eclipse EA500 type certificate is the result of the TC holder’s failure to fully comply with its administrative obligations towards EASA. EASA is listed as a creditor in the Eclipse Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy filing, and although the spokeswoman could not confirm that EASA is owed money by Eclipse, she said that “administrative obligations” could include failure to pay certification fees. Once the failure is remedied, the TC can be reinstated. The TC suspension has no effect on European Eclipse operators because, as she added, “currently, there are no Eclipse EA500 aircraft on EASA member state registers and none that conform to the EASA type certificated standard.” http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/easa-suspends-eclipse -500-type-certificate/ ************** ANA orders five more 787s All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to raise as much as ¥183 billion ($1.9 billion) by selling new shares in the company and it will use the proceeds to fund its aircraft acquisition programme that sees it increasing its Boeing 787 order to 55 aircraft from 50. The Star Alliance carrier says in a statement that the sale of up to 537.5 million new shares will raise as much as ¥183 billion. This will be used for "capital expenditure including the acquisition of aircraft," it says. Details in the statement show ANA has increased the number of 787s on order to 55 from 50. It did this at the end of May by switching some 767-300ERs on order to 787s, an ANA spokesman in Tokyo tells ATI. Last September ANA announced it had ordered nine 767-300ERs from Boeing as interim lift but the ANA spokesman says this order has since been cut to four. ANA says the economic outlook remains uncertain and the international swine flu outbreak has "presented another market shock". "In particular demand for business travel has dropped more than expected," it adds. ANA domestic passenger traffic fell 14% and 13% in April and May respectively and international passenger traffic is down 10% and 17% for April and May, it says. "We may see revenue decreases at the end of the first quarter of this year amounting to approximately ¥30 billion" so results for the first fiscal quarter, three months ending 30 June, are expected to be harsher than 2008's fiscal fourth quarter, it adds. "To recover approximately ¥30 billion," the company will reduce capacity in line with demand, delay the introduction of widebody cargo aircraft, introduce one-month unpaid leave for staff, introduce cost cutting measures, make improvements to procurement procedures and introduce more "value-added charged services" on flights, says ANA. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** FAA Aviation News Spotlights Light-Sport Aviation The latest issue of FAA Aviation News focuses on the exciting opportunities that light-sport aviation offers to today's pilot, including a look at sport-pilot certificate privileges, training tips, and maintenance requirements. The link to the online edition is: http://www.faa.gov/news/aviation_news/. FAA Aviation News is the safety policy voice for the non-commercial general aviation community. The magazine's objective is to improve safety by making the community aware of FAA resources, helping readers understand safety and regulatory issues, and encouraging continued training. **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC