02 SEP 2009 _______________________________________ *1 FAA employee dies when copter hits Miss. duplex *Airbus A320 Tailstrike (Italy) *NTSB Issues 19 Recommendations For Medical Helo Safety *FAA Issues SAIB For Eurocopter Emergency Floats *Airbus mulls two aircraft to replace A320 *Runway incursion technology deployed at Boston Logan *************************************** 1 FAA employee dies when copter hits Miss. duplex JACKSON, Miss.(AP) — A pilot's proficiency check went tragically wrong Tuesday, killing one Federal Aviation Administration employee and critically injuring another when their helicopter crashed into a Mississippi duplex, officials said. No one on the ground was hurt. "One pilot was giving the other pilot what we call a proficiency check, and the accident occurred," FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. Jack Mazurak, a spokesman for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said the injured person, Larry Wells, was in critical condition and the other person on board had died. Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart did not immediately return a call about the identity of the person killed. Police said it appeared no one was in the duplex, in a residential neighborhood, when the helicopter hit it. A renter who lives there came home later in the afternoon but declined to talk to reporters. The crumpled red helicopter sat nose-down near the wooden porch, and a piece of one of the rotor blades pierced the porch roof. Bergen said the helicopter, a Robinson R-44, went down about 2:30 p.m. CDT about a half-mile east of Hawkins Field, a municipal airport. Ardell Williams, 71, lives across the street and was standing outside talking to a postman when he saw the helicopter fall from the sky and clip a pine tree. "I said look, look, look, look, that helicopter fell on that house over there," Williams said. They walked over and found the helicopter jammed up against the back porch. He said when the emergency crew arrived EMTs put a blanket over one of the crash victims and gave the other oxygen. Jackson Police Department spokesman Jeffrey Scott said the two-man crew was practicing aerial maneuvers when the helicopter crashed. ***** Date: 01-SEP-2009 Time: about 2:30pm Type: Robinson R44 Operator: Registered Owner: Webb Group FLP Registration: N33PX C/n / msn: 1684 Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: KHKS Hawkins Field - United States of America Phase: Unknown Nature: Training Departure airport: KHKS Destination airport: KHKS Narrative: Two FAA employees aboard on a "currency" training flight. Coroner reported "passenger" died. Other person listed in critical condition. Aircraft impacted the back porch of a residence in Jackson that was apparently vacant at the time. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=68117 *************** Airbus A320 Tailstrike (Italy) Date: 01-SEP-2009 Time: Type: Airbus A320-211 Operator: Air Vallée (Balkan Holidays Air) Registration: LZ-BHC C/n / msn: 349 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Verona Airport (VRN/LIPX) - Italy Phase: Take off Nature: International Non Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Verona Airport (VRN/LIPX) Destination airport: Roma-Fiumicino Airport (FCO/LIRF) Narrative: The airplane suffered a tailstrike during takeoff from Verona. Flight DO 5379 was operating on a flight to Rome-Fiumicino and Hurghada Airport (HRG/HEGN), Egypt. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=68118 *************** NTSB Issues 19 Recommendations For Medical Helo Safety Pilot Training, Night Vision, Improved Data Collection Among The Issues Addressed The NTSB Tuesday issued 19 recommendations regarding Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS). These recommendations address various safety issues including pilot training; safety management systems to minimize risk; collection and analysis of flight, weather, and safety data; flight data monitoring; development of a low altitude airspace infrastructure; and the use of dual pilots, aatopilots, and night vision imaging systems (NVIS). HEMS operations include an estimated 750 helicopters, 20 operators, and 60 hospital-based programs. They transport seriously ill patients and donor organs 24 hours a day in a variety of environmental conditions. "The pressure on HEMS operators to conduct their flights quickly in all sorts of environments makes these types of operations inherently more risky than other types of commercial flight operations," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman. "Operators need to every available safety tool to conduct these flights and to determine when the risk of flying is just too great." For the HEMS industry, 2008 was the deadliest year on record with 12 accidents and 29 fatalities. In response to this increase in fatal accidents, the NTSB placed the issue of HEMS operations on its Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements. Last February, the NTSB conducted a 4-day public hearing to critically examine the safety issues concerning this industry. The hearing, which included testimony by expert witnesses representing HEMS operators, associations, manufactures, and hospitals, explored the increasingly competitive environment of the HEMS industry and provided a more complete understanding of why this industry has grown rapidly in recent years. As a result of recent accident investigations and testimony presented at the hearing, the NTSB made recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Systems (FICEMS) and 40 government-operated or public HEMS operators. The 19 recommendations issued today include 10 recommendations to the FAA to address the issues of improved pilot training; collection and analysis of flight, weather, and safety data; flight data monitoring; development of low altitude airspace in infrastructure; and the use of dual pilots, autopilots, and NVIS. The two safety recommendations to the CMS are to evaluate the current HEMS reimbursement rate structure and its relationship to patient transport safety. Two recommendations are to FICEMS to address coordination and integration of helicopter emergency medical transport into local and regional emergency medical systems and selection of the most appropriate emergency transportation mode for victims of trauma. Finally, five recommendations are to public operators to improve pilot training, flight data monitoring; and the use of dual pilots, autopilots and NVIS. Original Report 1230 EDT The NTSB is expected to release recommendations for changes in equipment and procedures Tuesday in an effort to improve safety for medical helicopter operations. The Wall Street Journal reports that the recommendations will likely include additional training for pilots of at least some medical helicopters, as well as expanding the use of dedicated airways and improved flight data collection. Weather forecasting is also expected to be among the factor cited as needing improvement in the report. The Board is also expected to once again call for more use of night vision goggles by medical helicopter pilots. The flight data recording provision may prove particularly problematic because of the rotary wing environment. The paper reports The Flight Safety Foundation announced Monday it would partner with several manufacturers for testing of equipment that could operate effectively on helicopters, and while flight data recorders are offered as a factory option on some aircraft, but the challenge is to make them rugged and inexpensive enough to encourage wide adoption of the devices as retrofits. Tuesday's expected announcement comes 7 months after the NTSB highlighted the high fatality rate in medical helicopter accidents. In 2008, 12 fatal accidents were responsible for 29 deaths. FMI: www.ntsb.gov aero-news.net *************** FAA Issues SAIB For Eurocopter Emergency Floats Incorrect Systems May Have Been Installed The FAA has released a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alert for owners and operators of Eurocopter France (Eurocopter) model helicopters of the potential of having the incorrect emergency float system installed on a helicopter that has been converted to a Model AS350BA. Eurocopter has issued Service Bulletins that allow either a Model AS350B or AS350D to be converted to a Model AS350BA. This conversion increases the maximum gross weight from 4,300 lbs. to 4,630 lbs. There is concern that some operators may have converted their aircraft to the Model AS350BA, which has a higher gross weight, and did not change the emergency float system. Landing in the water with an aircraft weighing 4,630 lbs. on a float system designed for 4,300 lbs. could cause the aircraft to be unstable in the water. For aircraft that have been converted to the model AS350BA and have emergency floats installed, the float system needs to be approved for the Model AS350BA in order to conform to Type Design. AS350B File Photo The FAA recommends that owners/operators of Eurocopter Model AS350BA helicopters that were converted from a Model AS350B or AS350D check their emergency float system and ensure that it is approved to the Model AS350BA Type Design. Eurocopter has issued Alert Service Bulletin No. 01.00.59, dated November 20, 2008, related to this subject. FMI: www.faa.gov aero-news.net **************** Airbus mulls two aircraft to replace A320 (MarketWatch) -- European aircraft maker Airbus is mulling launching two new aircraft, a single-aisle and a wide-body, to replace its best-selling A320, French newspaper La Tribune reported on Wednesday without citing its sources. The latter model, featuring two aisles, is being considered in response to the needs of low-cost airlines, which are keen to board and disembark passengers as quickly as possible to improve their turnaround time and their profitability. The wide-body plane could be made in Toulouse, France, while the single aisle would be manufactured in Germany, the report said. Airbus is an EADS /quotes/comstock/23r!pead (FR:EAD 14.04, -0.16, -1.09%) company. **************** Runway incursion technology deployed at Boston Logan Boston Logan International airport is among the latest facilities to begin using airport surface detection equipment model-X (ASDE-X) designed by Sensis to prevent runway incursions and allow ground traffic to operate more efficiently. Boston marks the 19th airport to receive the technology through the FAA's ASDE-X program, and Sensis technology will be in place at 35 airports by 2011. ASDE-X combines surface movement radar, multilateration and automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) to supply air traffic controllers with accurate, real-time positioning of all aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface. The Sensis system also offers advanced runway conflict detection and alerting technology, which features complex algorithms to alert controllers of potential incursions. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC