02 NOV 2009 _______________________________________ *No survivors as Il-76 crashes in eastern Russia *Brazilian Indians find plane survivors *Some passengers faint on Newark to London flight *FAA mulls GPS interference detector, corrector *FAA: Pilot performance questioned in upset recovery training *American Eagle, union tout airline's efforts to promote safety *Brazil report: Pilot error likely in 2007 crash *2 injured in helicopter crash over Gulf *Plane lands safely after bird strike *After 82 years, Israel to get an aviation law *************************************** http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5iTufssgDAM_7cXKpVb-jeWjMo6kg ?size=s2 No survivors as Il-76 crashes in eastern Russia None of the 11 occupants of an Ilyushin Il-76 has survived after the heavy transport crashed after departure from Mirny in the Sakha republic. The jet had been heading for Irkutsk when it came down about 1.5km from the runway, says the Russian emergencies ministry. It says that the accident occurred at 07:49 local time. The aircraft was carrying seven main crew members and four additional personnel. "There were no passengers or cargo on the aircraft," says the emergencies ministry, which states that the aircraft caught fire after the crash. "The aircraft crash occurred in an uninhabited area, so damage on the ground was avoided." While the air temperature in Mirny was cold, around minus 25°C, meteorological data for the departure time shows no significant weather conditions. The specific airframe has yet to be identified but the Il-76 had reportedly been operating on behalf of the Russian interior ministry. Firefighters found six victims in the wreckage initially and the remaining five after the fire was extinguished, says the emergencies ministry. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ****** Status: Preliminary Date: 01 NOV 2009 Time: 08:49 Type: Ilyushin 76 Operator: Russian Ministry of Interior Registration: RF-76801 ? C/n / msn: First flight: Crew: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 Passengers: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Total: Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 1,5 km (0.9 mls) from Mirnyy Airport (MJZ) (Russia) Phase: Initial climb (ICL) Nature: Ferry/positioning Departure airport: Mirnyy Airport (MJZ/UERR), Russia Destination airport: Irkutsk Airport (IKT/UIII), Russia Narrative: An Ilyushin 76 transport plane, owned by the Russian Ministry of Interior, was destroyed when it crashed immediately after takeoff from Mirnyy Airport (MJZ), Russia. The flight took off from runway 24 at Mirny on a positioning flight to Irkutsk Airport (IKT). News reports indicate that the airplane climbed to a height of 20-30 metres. It banked right and crashed about 1,5 km from the runway. Unconfirmed reports indicate RF-76801 was the airplane involved in the accident. Weather reported about the time of the accident (23:49 UTC) was: UERR 312330Z 22005MPS CAVOK M24/M26 Q1030 NOSIG RMK QFE741 24450245= [Wind 220 degrees at 10 knots; temperature -24 deg C; ceiling unlimited, QNH 1030 mb] (aviation-safety.net) ************* Map Brazilian Indians find plane survivors (CNN) -- Indigenous Indians located nine survivors of a plane that crashed in a river in the Amazon rain forest with 11 people onboard, according to the Brazilian air force. The nine passengers were in good health, the air force said Friday. Of the two people missing -- a passenger and a crew member -- one is believed to be dead. The air force did not provide further details. The plane was on its way to deliver health supplies Thursday when it crashed. It had taken off from Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre state and was headed to Tabatinga in Amazonas state. The plane landed in the Itui River between the tribe settlements of Aurelio and Rio Novo. Indians of the Matis tribe, who live in Aurelio, initially located the plane and alerted the Brazilian air force, which sent search planes to the site. Before the passengers were located, at least eight aircraft had been dispatched for the search operation, the air force said. Members of the Matis, an indigenous tribe of about 300, live deep in the rain forest. Other area tribes were helping in a search for the two missing passengers along the shores of the Itui. **************** Some passengers faint on Newark to London flight LONDON (AP) — Six people fainted on board a British Airways flight from Newark Liberty Airport to London's Heathrow Saturday, prompting emergency crews to check the plane for hazardous materials. Police said nothing suspicious was found on board after the jet was searched by emergency teams in protective gear. Ambulance personnel said the six people were treated on board the plane and allowed to continue travel. No one required hospitalization, they said. The plane landed at Heathrow's Terminal Five shortly after 6 a.m. and was boarded by emergency teams, including fire brigades, that had been notified about the unusual onboard illnesses. British Airways officials said the medical teams were called as a precaution. Officials said the cause of the fainting has not been determined. The Boeing 777 aircraft carried 216 passengers and 14 crew. ************** FAA mulls GPS interference detector, corrector The US FAA is studying the possibility of deploying a nationwide network of GPS interference detectors that would be placed on cellular communications towers to "mitigate interference in order to protect air navigation system". Protecting GPS signals from jamming, whether intentional or unintentional, will be a critical aspect of the next generation air transportation system (NextGen) as the industry transfers from ground-based networks to GPS for navigation guidance. The FAA plans to issue a contract to Alcatel-Lucent, provider of voice, data and video communications services, to study the feasibility of a "limited demonstration system" and its potential for "expansion into a nationwide or global system", according to a 28 October federal business announcement. The demonstration would use data from GPS receivers located on Alcatel-Lucent cellular communications towers in the US. "Alcatel-Lucent has access to a large portion of the nationwide cellular grid, density of coverage, and has the ability to modify the proprietary equipment to provide government access to the GPS data without compromising subscribers privacy," says the FAA, adding that the company as of late 2007 had 47% of the worldwide market for the communications equipment used in 3G wireless communications systems. "Also Alcatel-Lucent has extensive experience in using GPS to detect an locate interference," the FAA writes. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** FAA: Pilot performance questioned in upset recovery training A recent study by the US FAA's Office of Aviation Medicine reveals a "large disparity" between how pilots with aerobatic backgrounds perform compared to those with only ground-based simulator experience when recovering an aircraft from an upset state. Upsets are linked to loss-of-control events, which the FAA says was the leading cause of hull losses and passenger fatalities in air transport operations worldwide between 1998 and 2007, causing 25% of all crashes and nearly 40% of all fatalities. "Air transport training programs typically contain a module instructing pilots how to recover an airplane from an upset," the authors of the study say. "However, the effectiveness of such simulator-based training remains uncertain." The finding is significant given the decreasing numbers of military-trained pilots, who are versed in aerobatic manoeuvres during training, say the authors of the study, which evaluated transfer of upset-recovery knowledge. "For military trained pilots there are no unusual attitudes, only unexpected attitudes," the report, published in September, concludes. "By contrast, most air transport pilots flying today have never experienced the extreme pitch and bank angles and high G forces associated with severe airplane upsets. Indeed, most have never been upside-down in an airplane even once." The original premise of the study was that pilots trained in ground-based simulators that can induce continuous G-loads (centrifuge simulators) would fare better during an in-flight test in a single-engine aerobatic aircraft than pilots who had been trained to recover from the same upsets using only a fixed-based desk-top computer. Performance was based on altitude loss, G-forces imparted on the aircraft and other factors. Airline pilots are traditionally taught upset recoveries on the ground using motion-based hexapod simulators, which can produce certain G-forces for a short duration while moving in three rotational and three translational axes. For the study, the performance of both groups was compared to a third "control group" that received no training prior to the aerobatic flight. "Although we conducted flight testing in a general aviation airplane, our research has important implications for heavy aircraft upset-recovery trainers," the authors say. While both the desk-top computer-trained pilots and the G-based centrifuge-trained pilots outperformed the control group, and the G-based group did somewhat better than the desk-top group, what surprised researchers the most was that a separate group of pilots trained in "all-attitude manoeuvring in actual airplane" scored "far smaller" altitude losses when recovering the aircraft in flight trials. Further, the authors say informal conversations with current airline pilots suggest that "while virtually all regard the company-provided upset training they receive as useful, a significant number also perceive it as a pro forma approach to a serious safety problem - better than nothing but far from what would be desirable if training costs were not a paramount consideration." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** American Eagle, union tout airline's efforts to promote safety American Eagle Airlines' management and its union counterpart agree the carrier is taking big steps to enhance a safety culture that they feel is already among the strongest in the regional industry. Airline officials and members of the Air Line Pilots Association chapter at Eagle meet monthly on a fatigue review board. Pilots can ask to be taken off a trip they believe they're too tired to fly; the board reviews the circumstances and can remove the fatigue notation from a pilot's attendance record if it agrees with the pilot's call. That board isn't common in the industry, said Jim Winkley, Eagle vice president of flight operations, and Dave Ryter, vice chairman of Eagle's ALPA master executive council. "If you're fatigued, you're fatigued, and we're going to take you off that trip," said Winkley, who is also a pilot. "It's not considered a negative against the pilot." The issue for the fatigue review board is whether the pilot can get paid, Ryter says. The union wants the airline to let pilots use accrued sick time to cover fatigue pay. "We want our pilots to have the ability to make this decision without worrying about other factors such as whether or not they lose the money," he said. The fatigue board plus a program that lets pilots self-report unsafe actions by themselves or others have helped build a safe culture, Ryter said. Eagle has also started a program in which data recorders on the planes track how they fly and how pilots perform. Both ALPA and Eagle like its progress so far. The data from the recorders gets "de-identified" so management doesn't know which pilots are at the controls. The information then gets analyzed to spot potentially unsafe flight approaches or conditions among the carrier's flights. The next step for Eagle is starting a cutting-edge program with the Federal Aviation Administration to train pilots in simulators. Eagle just applied to start the program, and it has the union's backing, Ryter said. "I really do feel we have the finest, best-trained pilots in the industry," Winkley said. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-pilotsidebar_01bu s.ART.State.Edition1.4f15b5e.html ************** Brazil report: Pilot error likely in 2007 crash RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A military investigation into Brazil's deadliest air disaster reached no conclusion on blame, but officials said Saturday that pilot error rather than mechanical failure was the more likely cause. A separate police investigation into the 2007 jetliner crash that killed 199 people blamed government and airline officials and recommended charges against 10 people — a case that is still tied up in courts. Air Force Brigadier Jorge Kersul Filho said that in the report "we're not blaming or holding responsible anyone for this event." He said the purpose of the air force investigation was to search for causes to help prevent future accidents, not lay blame for criminal proceedings. The deadly accident occurred when TAM Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, tried to land in driving rain at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport in July 2007, speeding down the runway and crashing into a gas station and air cargo building at 109 mph (175 kph). All 187 people aboard and 12 people on the ground died. The police report blamed government officials for the failure to set stricter rainy-day landing rules for Congonhas' short runway or to fully repair its drainage system. Airline officials were cited for poor pilot training. The police report also confirmed that one of the plane's thrust reversers — which help slow aircraft upon landing — was not functional. The air force report said the thruster problem could have been caused by a mechanical failure or by pilot error. TAM has said it had allowed planes to fly without a thrust reverser based on government-approved safety measures. It also said it followed Airbus maintenance rules that said the plane was safe to fly. Regardless of that problem, the air force report said, the mechanical condition of the plane and the weather were good enough to allow for a safe landing, given the jet's weight and the ability of pilots to manually land the aircraft. "This aircraft was within the parameters to operate at Congonhas," said Col. Fernando Camargo, a member of the investigative team. More than once during Camargo's presentation of the report, he stressed that Flight 3054's acting co-pilot "didn't have experience" in that position and normally was a lead pilot. He said the lead pilot on the plane was normally a co-pilot. There was no immediate explanation for why the two were switched. Calls to TAM Linhas Aereas SA on Saturday were not immediately returned. Agencia Brasil, the government-run news agency, reported the air force investigation described the pilot as having "average" skills and said he had a flight history of "minor difficulties in critical operational situations." The report also hypothesized that landing in heavy rains could have caused anxiety in the pilot's "psychological state," the Agencia Brasil said. The air force team concluded TAM was not giving its pilots enough training. Camargo added that investigators found TAM pilots bypassed landing at alternative airports in bad weather to avoid "creating problems for the company and the passengers." The reluctance to deviate from flight plans "could have influenced the decision to land at Congonhas," he said. Sao Paulo has another airport — Guarulhos International, which has longer runways with better drainage. **************** 2 injured in helicopter crash over Gulf Two men were injured after their helicopter crashed off the Galveston coast Sunday morning, authorities said. Coast Guard crews received a call at around 10:50 a.m. from the helicopter's leasing company, Rotorcraft, reporting that one of its helicopters had crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 75 miles off Galveston, authorities said. The crew of a nearby offshore supply ship took the injured pilot and passenger aboard the vessel. Coast Guard authorities sent a medical helicopter to take the men, both of whom suffered severe back injuries, to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. No further information was immediately available. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6697890.html **************** Plane lands safely after bird strike MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A Northwest Airlines flight en route to Las Vegas was forced to return to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport after hitting a flock of pigeons, officials said. Flight 195 collided with an estimated 15 pigeons shortly after takeoff Saturday, shaking the plane and leaving bird blood and feathers on a wing and around the engine, witnesses told KMSP-TV, Minneapolis, in a story Sunday. The pilot suspected engine damage and made the decision to return to the airport, an airline spokeswoman told the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. The plane landed safely and no one was hurt. Later in the day, the passengers were put on other planes en route for Las Vegas, the spokeswoman said. ***************** After 82 years, Israel to get an aviation law After 82 years, Israel may soon have a law governing aviation in its skies. Yesterday the ministerial legislative committee approved a draft Aviation Law, which will replace the regulations inherited from the British Mandate and enacted in 1927. Enactment of an Aviation Law would be a major step to regaining high security clearance from the United States. In 2008, citing a lack of proper supervision from civilian authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration downgraded Israel's Aviation Safety ranking to 2 - the level typically given to Third World countries. The FAA cited enactment of an aviation law as central to restoration of Israel's status to Category 1. Advertisement A Category 2 rating from the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment body meant that Israeli air carriers were not allowed to establish new lines to the U.S. The new law would adapt Israel's aviation system to the Chicago international aviation treaty, lay down the supervisory and enforcement powers of the civilian authorities, regulate coordination between civilian and military aviation, and so on. The Israel Airports Authority has set up a special administration to handle restoring Israel to Category 1 ranking. While this body is working closely with the FAA, a return to the higher ranking is not expected to happen this year. Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said that with the blessing of the ministerial legislative committee, the draft Aviation Law can be brought before the Knesset for voting into law immediately. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125273.html **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC