27 OCT 2009 _______________________________________ *Report: Stray jet's pilots were on laptops *NTSB: Overfly pilots immersed in scheduling discussion on laptops *Delta Air Lines Issues Statement on Northwest Flight 188 Investigation *Planes Comes Within 100 Feet on L.A. Airport Runway http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/27/xin_5521006271716031323535.jpg *Five killed in private jet crash near Minsk *France to Renew Search for Plane’s Data Recorders *A Fire Risk That Clears Security *Southwest Airlines settles lawsuit with investors for $3.5M over safety problems *Boy's TV interfered with aircraft *Boeing completes detailed design of 787 wing fix *EASA clears A380's brake-to-vacate and overrun protection *************************************** Report: Stray jet's pilots were on laptops (CNN) -- The pilots of the commercial jetliner that last week overshot its destination by about 150 miles have said they were using their laptops and lost track of time and location, federal safety officials said Monday. The Airbus A320 was flying at 37,000 feet over the Denver, Colorado, area at 5:56 p.m. Wednesday when it last made radio contact, the safety board said. Northwest Flight 188 had departed San Diego en route to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport carrying 144 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants. Northwest recently merged with Delta Air Lines. "Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination," Delta said Monday in a statement. Pilot Timothy B. Cheney, 53, was hired in 1985 and has more than 20,000 hours flight time; First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, was hired in 1997 and has about 11,000 hours of flight time, the report said. Neither pilot reported having had an accident, incident or violation, neither had any ongoing medical conditions and neither said he was tired, it said. They each had a 19-hour layover in San Diego; neither said he had slept or argued during the flight, but both said "there was a distraction" in the cockpit, according to the report. The pilots said there was "a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls" from air traffic control, though both said they heard conversation on the radio, the report said. Neither pilot said he noticed messages sent by company dispatchers, it added. It said the men were talking about the new monthly crew flight scheduling system put into place in the wake of Northwest's merger with Delta Air Lines. "Each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure," the report said. "The first officer, who was more familiar with the procedure, was providing instruction to the captain."Neither pilot said he was aware of where the plane was until a flight attendant called the cockpit about five minutes before the plane was to have landed and asked their estimated time of arrival, the report said. "The captain said, at that point, he looked at his primary flight display for an ETA and realized that they had passed" the airport, it added. After 78 minutes of radio silence, the pilots re-established radio contact with air traffic controllers, it said. After landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul, both voluntarily underwent alcohol breath tests, which proved negative, the report said. The safety board said its investigators interviewed the pilots separately Sunday in Minnesota for more than five hours combined. The investigation will include scrutiny of the flight and voice data recorders, it said. An airline spokesman said Monday the company has sent the passengers on the plane $500 travel vouchers to compensate them for their inconvenience, and that the pilots have been suspended until the conclusion of the investigations. The NTSB on Monday interviewed the three flight attendants who were on the plane, a spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants said. The lead flight attendant told officers she was unaware there had been an incident aboard, according to the report. Police who met the wayward jet said the pilots were "cooperative, apologetic and appreciative." The NTSB is hoping the plane's cockpit voice recorder either will confirm the pilot's account or provide evidence of another possible explanation, including whether the captain and first officer fell asleep. The voice recorder is capable of recording only 30 minutes of audio, federal accident investigators said. The plane was in the air for another 45 minutes after radio contact was restored, meaning that if the recorder was working properly, anything the pilots would have said during the time they weren't answering radio calls would have been recorded over. But a former accident investigator said the voice recorder may still provide valuable information, because the pilots could have discussed the earlier events on the way back to Minneapolis after overshooting the airport. The flight data recorder also could prove valuable because it would have recorded actions taken by the pilots during the 78 minutes they did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers, the ex-investigator said. Meanwhile, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which scrambled fighter jets for the wayward plane but did not launch them, said it was reviewing procedures for launching the fighters to track potentially hijacked or suspicious aircraft. At issue is the Federal Aviation Administration's apparent delay in notifying NORAD the Northwest jet was not in contact with controllers, according to a senior U.S. official directly familiar with the timeline of the incident. Watch how the military is looking at a possible FAA delay The official, who declined to be identified because the military and the FAA are reviewing the incident, said the FAA's request for military involvement came after the plane passed the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. NORAD scrambled fighter jets at two locations. But as they approached the runway for takeoff, the FAA reported being back in contact with the Northwest flight, and the fighters stayed on the ground. "My real question is why we did not know of the 'radio out' situation from the FAA sooner," the official said. "The FAA is also looking into that." Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, NORAD has regularly launched fighter jets to track aircraft in unusual situations such as when they deviate from flight plans, lose radio contact or enter restricted airspace. According to a second U.S. official, NORAD is in constant contact with the FAA so it can respond when situations arise. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/26/airliner.flyby/index.html **************** NTSB: Overfly pilots immersed in scheduling discussion on laptops US NTSB investigators say the two pilots on a Northwest Airlines A320 (N02374) that was out of radio communications with air traffic controllers for more than an hour the night of 21 October were immersed in a discussion of new scheduling procedures as the aircraft overflew its destination airport by more than a hundred miles at cruise altitude. According to NTSB interviews held on 25 October with the captain, age 53, and first officer, age 54, fatigue and sleep were not issues during the flight from San Diego to Minneapolis-St. Paul that day, nor had there been a "heated argument". According to an earlier NTSB report, the pilots had told the FBI and airport police after landing that evening that they had been in a "heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness." Rather, the pilots said they had been involved in a "concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from (air traffic control) even though both stated they heard conversation on the radio. Also, neither pilot noticed messages that were sent by company dispatchers," says the NTSB. In particular, the discussions focused on a new monthly crew flight scheduling system put in place after the merger of Northwest and Delta Airlines, with each pilot using a personal laptop computer as part of the discussion. "The first officer, who was more familiar with the procedure was providing instruction to the captain," says the NTSB, adding that the "use of personal computers on the flight deck is prohibited by company policy." The pilots said neither was aware of the aircraft's position until a flight attendant called about five minutes before they were scheduled to land and asked about the estimated time of arrival (ETA). "The captain said, at that point, he looked at his primary flight display for an ETA and realized that they had passed MSP," the NTSB reports. "They made contact with ATC and were given vectors back to MSP." Though flight data recorder information is available for the entire flight, the cockpit voice recorder covered only the final 30min of the flight, starting from the final approach. "Investigators are examining the recorded parameters to see if any information regarding crew activity during the portion of flight where radio contact was lost can be obtained," says the NTSB. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************ Delta Air Lines Issues Statement on Northwest Flight 188 Investigation ATLANTA, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today issued a statement regarding the company's cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the investigation of Northwest Flight 188. Delta and its Northwest operating subsidiary continue to openly and fully cooperate with the NTSB and FAA to complete the investigation. The pilots in command of Northwest Flight 188 remain suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into this incident. Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination. Delta CEO Richard Anderson said: "Nothing is more important to Delta than safety. We are going to continue to cooperate fully with the NTSB and the FAA in their investigations." The NTSB earlier today issued a public release highlighting the initial findings of its investigation into the incident, including evidence that the pilots involved said they were distracted at cruise altitude between San Diego and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The NTSB's press release stated that the pilots said in interviews that "there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from ATC even though both stated they heard conversation on the radio ... neither pilot noticed messages that were sent by company dispatchers ... both said they lost track of time ... (and) each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure." SOURCE Delta Air Lines ************** Planes Comes Within 100 Feet on L.A. Airport Runway LOS ANGELES — Officials say a taxiing passenger jet and a departing airliner came within 100 feet of each other on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport. The Daily Breeze of Torrance reports on its Web site Monday that Midwest Express Flight 1503 landed at 2:20 p.m. Sunday and turned onto a taxiway but failed to follow orders to stop at that point. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the jet went beyond a hold point 200 feet from the edge of the next runway where Northwest Airlines Flight 623 was taking off. Gregor says a controller told the Midwest Express jet to stop. Gregor says the jets were within 100 feet, but the exact distance is still being determined. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569706,00.html?test=latestnews ************** Five killed in private jet crash near Minsk No survivors were found at the crash site of a Russian business jet carrying at least five people near the Minsk airport, an official in Belarus said Tuesday. A Hawker-125 executive jet flight took off Monday from the Vnukovo airport in Moscow and disappeared from radar screens on approach to the Minsk international airport. 'The emergency services are working at the crash site. An investigation into the causes of the crash will involve an S-Air representative,' the official from the Belarusian emergencies ministry told RIA Novosti. The Moscow-based S-Air company, the operator of the jet, said there were six people on board, including three passengers and three crew members. However, Russian air traffic control officials claim that there were only two passengers on board because the third missed the flight. According to preliminary information, the plane failed to make the landing from the first attempt and was lost by traffic controllers following the second attempt to land in normal visibility and satisfactory, although rainy, weather conditions. The wreckage of the plane was found four km from the runway. The CEO of the S-Air airline, Marat Romashkin, was reportedly on board the plane. S-Air is a small private company, which provides charter services to top-level executives and government officials. Its fleet comprises several Yak-42D, Tu-134, Yak-40, Hawker-125-700B and Hawker-125-800B planes. http://sify.com/news/five-killed-in-private-jet-crash-near-minsk-news-international-jk1l4bieafg.html *************** France to Renew Search for Plane’s Data Recorders PARIS — France is preparing to spend as much as €20 million next year on a renewed search for the flight data recorders and undersea wreckage of the Air France A330 jetliner that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in June, killing all 228 people aboard, the new head of the French agency charged with investigating the accident said Monday. The news comes amid mounting tension within Air France as the airline prepares for an external audit of its flight safety procedures next month. The agency, the Bureau of Investigations and Analyses, has begun preparing for a third attempt to locate the black boxes of Air France Flight 447 that it expects will begin early next year, with the support of experts and specialized equipment from the United States, Britain, Brazil and Russia, said Jean-Paul Troadec, who took over as head of the agency this month. The agency, which has already spent roughly €10 million, or $15 million, scouring the ocean floor for clues to what caused the accident, plans to spend an additional €10 million to €20 million for the next phase of the search, Mr. Troadec said. Air France Flight 447 left Rio de Janeiro and was en route to Paris when it went down on June 1 during strong thunderstorms in an area about 960 kilometers, or 600 miles, off northern Brazil. Search teams recovered over 600 pieces of debris from the ocean, representing about 5 percent of the airframe, investigators have said. The bulk of the wreckage has not been found and is presumed to be lying on the mountainous seabed, deep below the ocean surface. Investigators have yet to pinpoint the cause of the disaster, although they suspect that a malfunction of the aircraft’s speed sensors may have contributed to the crash. A preliminary report published in July said an examination of the floating debris indicated that the plane had hit the water intact. “We still don’t know what happened in the cockpit, and we will need to find and analyze the recorders to understand,” Mr. Troadec said at the agency’s offices in Le Bourget, near Paris. “Our knowledge of this accident does not allow us to develop a scenario.” But he did say that autopsy reports recently received from Brazilian medical examiners appeared to confirm that the crash victims died “on impact with the water.” In December, the agency plans to publish a second intermediate report that will include detailed analysis of the evidence gathered so far as well as some recommendations about how to improve the storage and transmission of flight data to aid future crash investigations, Mr. Troadec said. Investigators in July abandoned an audio search for the flight recorders’ “pingers,” which are designed to emit a signal for 30 to 40 days. A second phase of the hunt, using diving equipment and sonar scanners towed by a French frigate, ended in September without success. Mr. Troadec there had been no further search activity. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/world/europe/27iht-crash.html *************** A Fire Risk That Clears Security By CHRISTINE NEGRONI Battery fires in personal electronic devices can be scary. But if a battery ignites on a plane, the risks are much greater. With more people traveling with an assortment of portable electronics — sometimes a plane has more devices than passengers — fires are occurring on airliners with increasing frequency. More than half of the 22 battery fires in the cabin of passenger planes since 1999 have been in the last three years. One air safety expert suggested that these devices might be “the last unrestricted fire hazard” people can bring on airplanes. This month, the Federal Aviation Administration along with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued special advisories to airlines about yet another gadget: the credit card readers that many have begun to issue to flight attendants to ring up sales of food, drinks and other amenities. While airlines have used portable credit card readers for several years, the F.A.A. said earlier this month that they needed approval from the agency’s hazardous materials division. Like the majority of hand-held consumer electronic devices, the readers are powered by rechargeable lithium batteries, which the government considers hazardous. “The carriers came and asked if we would allow them to have the credit card readers on aircraft and they wanted spare lithium batteries to allow them to switch out the batteries,” said Christopher Bonanti, director of the F.A.A. office of hazardous materials. “I was concerned about having spare lithium batteries, and I asked them not to do that.” Some airlines have agreed to special training for handling batteries and were allowed to carry spares, Mr. Bonanti said. But other airlines, like Delta and JetBlue, figured it was safer to avoid carrying extra batteries altogether. “They’re not charged onboard the aircraft and batteries aren’t removed from these devices while onboard,” Bryan Baldwin, a JetBlue spokesman, wrote in an e-mail message. While no fires from credit card readers have been reported, the list of spontaneous combustion events with other devices reads like a thriller. Last month, a portable DVD player was dropped on an American Airlines flight, causing a fire. In March 2008, a United Airlines employee placed a flashlight in the storage compartment of a Boeing 757 at the Denver airport. A report said the flashlight exploded “like gunshots,” turning the on-off switch into a projectile. On a flight to Miami that same month, eight people were injured when a small battery fell against a metal seat frame. In the ensuing explosion, debris singed a passenger’s ear and hair and the smoke sickened seven crew members. In 2004, an ABC News camera exploded on a plane being used by the presidential candidate John Edwards. A seat caught fire, causing an emergency return to the airport. Even more events go unreported, the authorities said. “If you have an issue in the air there’s not a whole lot you can do to recover from it,” said Gerald McNerney, a vice president at Motorola, which provides hand-held devices to airlines. “You put your brand at risk if one of your devices has an issue with the battery. What we’ve done is look at creating backups, duplicity in development so that you’re not going to have an explosion.” Figures from the Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site show that at least 400,000 portable device batteries have been recalled so far this year, an indication that manufacturing problems are sometimes to blame. Batteries are also becoming more powerful, so that even the smallest have the potential to unleash a lot of heat. “The battery industry is trying to squeeze more juice into these batteries for longer life,” said Joe Delcambre, a spokesman for the hazardous materials agency. “Smaller battery, more life, with a terminal that can overheat the product — it’s a risk.” Considering that problems with batteries are occurring on passenger planes at a rate of one every four months, Merritt Birky, formerly a fire and explosions expert with the National Transportation Safety Board who is now a private consultant, suggests they should be kept where passengers can keep an eye on them and out of overhead storage bins. “Any time you have a fire on board it’s alarming, especially in the overhead bin,” Mr. Birky said. “That area is chock full of luggage and coats so you have lots of fuel for a fire and it’s going to go undetected for quite some time.” The Transportation Department has created a Web site that includes the rules on traveling with lithium batteries, and it works with the manufacturers of portable electronic devices to spread the word about the hazards. But the transportation safety board estimated that only one person in every 170 to 190 travelers had actually visited the Web site. “Most air passengers and flight crews are likely unaware of the fire risks posed by rechargeable lithium batteries,” the board wrote in 2008 in recommending a more aggressive approach to educating the public. The F.A.A. plans to follow that suggestion when it begins broadcasting public service announcements in airports next year, Mr. Bonanti said. “There’s a whole slew of things that can go wrong with a lithium battery,” he said, adding that no matter how comfortable people are with their devices, caution is the best course of action. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/business/27fires.html ************** Southwest Airlines settles lawsuit with investors for $3.5M over safety problems Southwest Airlines has reached a $3.5 million settlement with investors who filed a lawsuit. Investors filed a lawsuit in August 2008, a few months after the FAA proposed a civil penalty for failing to comply with an Airworthiness Directive (AD) that required repetitive inspections of certain fuselage areas to detect fatigue cracking. The investors, including Carbon County, Pennsylvania, and Employee Retirement System, contended that Southwest officials breached their fiduciary duties by allowing the airline to fail to meet FAA safety standards. AboutLawsuits.com reports that a hearing is scheduled for December 9 before state District Judge Carlos Cortez for approval of the settlement. (AboutLawsuits.com) (aviation-safety.net) **************** Boy's TV interfered with aircraft A signal booster on the television set of a Bedfordshire boy has been found to be interfering with aircraft. The aerial on 12-year-old Nicky Chamberlain's bedroom TV was disrupting communications between pilots and air traffic control at Luton airport. Communications regulator Ofcom traced the problem to the home in Knaves Hill, Linslade, 18 miles from the airport. Nicky's dad, Dave Chamberlain said: "I got rid of the booster and put it in a landfill site." Mr Chamberlain said: "I came home to find an Ofcom engineer parked outside the house. 'Interfering with radio' "It was bizarre. I had never heard of anything like this before. "Nicky had the booster for a couple of years and there had been no problem. Recently they changed the flight-path and that must have caused the problem with pilots talking to the airport." He added: "We are decorating Nicky's bedroom now and when that's finished we will get him a new aerial that does not interfere with passing planes." A spokesperson for communications regulator Ofcom said: "It is not common for something like this to happen. "We have field engineers who go around the country investigating for radio interference. In this case the faulty aerial booster was found to be interfering with the pilot's radio." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/8327549.stm **************** Boeing completes detailed design of 787 wing fix Boeing engineers have completed detailed design and computer validation of the final aspects of the 787 wing fix, the company says.The the final parts are currently being fabricated for the side of body modification that has kept the 787 grounded. Once complete, the parts will be shipped to Everett for installation aboard the static test airframe followed by full-scale validation. Installation is also currently progressing on the first 787, ZA001, as well.Boeing declined to say how long the final fittings would take to fabricate, but that they would be ready "soon".The company will continue subcomponent testing of the wing fix through the full-scale validation process, but adds that the data collected on the reinforcement so far has provided positive results.Programme sources tell ATI affiliate FlightBlogger that Boeing engineers were troubleshooting detailed design issues with the four highest-load stringers at the aft of the wing as recently as ten days ago, but Boeing's detailed design completion appears to signal the design obstacles have been overcome.The company has maintained that the first 787, currently being modified inside Paint Hangar 45-04 at Boeing's Everett facility, is on track for first flight by the close of 2009. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** EASA clears A380's brake-to-vacate and overrun protection Lufthansa and Air France are set to introduce two landing systems on the Airbus A380, one designed to increase runway efficiency and the other to prevent overruns. Both systems - brake-to-vacate and runway overrun protection - have been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Brake-to-vacate combines satellite positioning with the aircraft's on-board airport database and flight-control systems to provide crews with braking distances to their preferred runway exit. Once the pilot has selected a runway exit point, the system manages the deceleration - taking into account runway surface conditions - in order to ensure the jet reaches the exit at the correct vacate speed. Airbus says this cuts wear on brakes and lowers the need for thrust-reverser use on dry runways, and contributes to a smoother overall landing. It also claims that the system increases runway efficiency, by minimising occupancy time, and allows up to 15% more departures to be scheduled. The second system, runway overrun warning and protection, is a complementary function that calculates operational landing distances and alerts the pilot if the remaining available runway distance becomes too short. Airbus says the system takes into account several elements - not just the aircraft's speed and position but also the temperature, wind and runway elevation. Even if the runway distance is initially considered acceptable, the system will continue to monitor it in real time and warn the pilot if there is a risk of overrun - if the aircraft, for example, is likely to overshoot the touchdown point. Airbus says that pilots would then execute a mandatory go-around. Should the pilot be unable to conduct a go-around, says the airframer, the system includes an override option. An automatic overrun protection function would then engage to bring the aircraft to a halt in the shortest possible distance, using maximum braking and reverse thrust if necessary. "The pilot has the authority to disengage the runway overrun protection at any time," says Airbus. Air France and Lufthansa are launch customers for the systems. Air France is to take delivery of its first A380 this week, while Lufthansa will receive its aircraft next year. Airbus says that the two systems will be standard features on its A350 XWB twin-jet. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC