23 DEC 2009 _______________________________________ *Dozens hurt as plane runs off end of runway at Jamaican airport *AAL 737 Involved In Runway Overrun In Jamaica, 40 Injured *Accident Preliminary Information *Ryanair jet slides off Glasgow Prestwick airport runway *U.S. Helped Delta Insurers Pay $264 Million Crash Settlements *Air safety improves in 2009: IATA ***************************************** Dozens hurt as plane runs off end of runway at Jamaican airport (CNN) -- Ninety-one people were taken to a hospital Tuesday evening after an American Airlines plane overran a runway near Kingston, Jamaica, during bad weather and crashed into a fence, officials said. None of the injuries were critical, officials said. Flight 331 from Miami, Florida, was carrying 148 passengers plus six crew members when it landed in Kingston, according to a statement from the airline. The incident took place around 10:20 p.m., Omar Lawrence, operations coordinator at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. Send your images and video of plane incident to CNN iReport. Tim Smith, an American Airlines spokesman, denied reports that the Boeing 737 broke into pieces but did say that there was damage to the fuselage, some cracks and the landing gear on one side of the plane collapsed. "The care of our passengers and crew members is our highest priority ,and we will offer all the assistance necessary," said Gerard Arpey, the airline's chairman and chief executive officer. Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz said most of the 91 injured passengers had been released from hospitals. Four passengers may have to stay overnight at the hospital, Vaz said. "The majority of injuries are broken bones and of course cuts and bruises and badly shaken up," Vaz said. The flight originated from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area before landing in Miami and then heading to Jamaica, the airline said. A Radio Jamaica reporter, Kirk Abraham, said it had been raining in the area when the plane failed to stop and ran into the fence past the end of the runway. **************** AAL 737 Involved In Runway Overrun In Jamaica, 40 Injured Tuesday Evening Accident Occurs in Jamaica An American Airlines 737 has been involved in a late Tuesday evening accident, injuring some 40 people, but thus far is reporting no fatalities. The Boeing single aisle airliner reportedly has broken up into at least three major sections as a result of the landing accident at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica just minutes after 2200 local time, Tuesday. The flight was enroute from Miami and had been carrying a compliment of 148 passengers and 6 crew. The flight encountered significant turbulence and thunderstorm activity while inbound form Miami and is reported to have "bounced" or otherwise had difficulties in the landing, which resulted in a runway overrun which out the aircraft through a fence and cross a road after exiting the confines of the runway environment. Some media reports are attributing a 'skid' during the landing to passengers who were on the flight. Photos form the scene shows the stricken aircraft coming to a rest just yards from the Caribbean Sea... and a far more complicated/risky potential for hazard to crew and passengers if the flight had continued. Weather reports during the time of the approach indicated that there was heavy rain in the area. American Airlines officials have reported that the flight involved was American Airlines Flight 331, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The flight "overran the runway on landing at Kingston, Jamaica's Norman Manley International Airport. The flight originated out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, operated into Miami International Airport, and then operated into Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport." Additional Details Released By American Airlines American Airlines has confirmed that two passengers were admitted for observation and treatment at area hospitals; all other passengers that had been taken to local hospitals were treated and released. The aircraft was carrying 148 passengers and a crew of six. American has activated its family assistance CARE Teams to immediately help those affected by this incident. "The care of our passengers and crew members remains our highest priority, and we are grateful for the professionalism of our crew members who safely evacuated the aircraft," said Gerard Arpey, Chairman and CEO of American Airlines. ANN is researching additional details and will report them as they are verified... FMI: www.aa.com, www.ntsb.org aero-news.net *************** Status: Preliminary Date: 22 DEC 2009 Time: 22:22 Type: Boeing 737-823 (WL) Operator: American Airlines Registration: N977AN C/n / msn: 29550/1019 First flight: 2001-11-30 (8 years ) Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-7B27 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 148 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 152 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Kingston-Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) (Jamaica) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Miami International Airport, FL (MIA/KMIA), United States of America Destination airport: Kingston-Norman Manley International Airport (KIN/MKJP), Jamaica Flightnumber: 331 Narrative: A Boeing 737-823, registered N977AN and operated by American Airlines, sustained substantial damage in a runway excursion accident on landing at Kingston-Norman Manley International Airport (KIN), Jamaica. The six crew members and 148 passengers survived the accident. Flight AA331 operated on a scheduled service from Washington-Ronald Reagan National Airport, DC (DCA) to Kingston with an intermediate stop at Miami International Airport, FL (MIA). The flight left Miami at 20:52. Initial reports indicate that the plane suffered a runway excursion on landing during a rainstorm. The plane skidded across a road and came to rest on a beach. The plane's fuselage was cracked, its right engine broke off from the impact and the left main landing gear collapsed, according to an airline spokesman. Weather reported about the time of the accident [22:22 local, 03:22 UTC] MKJP 230300Z 32008KT 33000 +SHRA BKN014 FEW016CB SCT030 BKN100 21/20 Q1014 RETSRA (Wind 320 degrees at knots, heavy rain showers, ceiling at 1400 feet, broken clouds, few clouds with cumulonimbus 1,600 ft, scattered clouds 3,000 ft., broken clouds 10,000 ft; temperature 21 degrees C, dew point 20 degrees C, QNH 1014 mb) Weather: MKJP 230430Z 34011KT 44000 RA BKN014 FEW016CB BKN100 21/13 Q1013 RESHRA MKJP 230400Z 32014KT 11500 +SHRA BKN014 FEW016CB SCT028 BKN090 21/18 Q1013 RERA MKJP 230300Z 32008KT 33000 +SHRA BKN014 FEW016CB SCT030 BKN100 21/20 Q1014 RETSRA MKJP 230228Z 31009KT 5000 TSRA BKN014 FEW016CB SCT030 BKN100 22/19 Q1013 MKJP 230200Z 30012KT 5000 SHRA BKN014 SCT030 BKN100 22/20 Q1013 RERA MKJP 230100Z 040033KT 5000 SHRA BKN016 SCT030 BKN100 23/20 Q1013 RERA MKJP 230000Z 32004KT 9999 FEW016 BKN030 BKN100 24/19 Q1012 MKJP 222300Z 00000KT 9999 VCSH SCT016 SCT030 BKN100 24/20 Q1011 (aviation-safety.net) ************** Ryanair jet slides off Glasgow Prestwick airport runway No passengers or crew injured in accident caused by icy weather conditions A Ryanair jet slid off the runway at Glasgow's Prestwick airport this morning but there were no casualties among the 129 passengers and cabin crew. Treacherous conditions saw the Boeing 737-800 slide on to a grass verge of Glasgow's second-largest airport as it taxied to the terminal. "When you come on to the runway it's full of black ice," Ryanair passenger Alex Paton told the BBC. Prestwick was closed temporarily while emergency services attempted to remove the jet. A Ryanair spokesman said passengers and crew on the Dublin-to-Gatwick service were bussed to the terminal after leaving the aircraft routinely, albeit on to a muddy patch of grass rather than the tarmac. "Ryanair engineers are at the aircraft, which appears to have suffered no damage, and they are working with Glasgow [Prestwick] to return the aircraft to the stand area so that the runway can be reopened with minimum delay," the spokesman said. The airport reopened at 11am. YouTube footage after passenger evacuation The accident added to problems for air passengers attempting to reach Scotland's largest city this morning, with Glasgow airport also suffering delays owing to the weather. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/23/ryanair-jet-glasgow-prestwick -airport *************** U.S. Helped Delta Insurers Pay $264 Million Crash Settlements Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. taxpayers paid a fifth of the $264 million to resolve lawsuits against Delta Air Lines Inc.'s Comair regional carrier, after a safety board partly blamed federal regulators for a Kentucky crash that killed 49. Insurers for Delta's Comair Inc. paid to settle 45 lawsuits, and taxpayers contributed $58 million, or 22 percent, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show. Aviation settlements not involving the government are typically secret. U.S. safety investigators said pilot errors, compounded by a Federal Aviation Administration lapse, caused the crash. "That amount is a lot of money for the settlement of 45 passengers, which suggests the government was concerned about its liability exposure," said Phillip Kolczynski, a Los Angeles aviation attorney who formerly worked for the FAA and the U.S. Justice Department. "That's a significant payment. This is not a nominal settlement." Comair Flight 5191, bound for Atlanta from Lexington, crashed just before dawn on Aug. 27, 2006, after pilots used an unlit runway that was too short for a safe takeoff, the National Transportation Safety Board found in 2007. The FAA contributed by failing to require that pilots get air-traffic control approval before crossing runways, the board said. The lone controller working in the Lexington airport's tower that morning cleared the plane for takeoff and then turned his back to work on administrative duties, according to the report. The plane ran off the end of the runway, tore through a perimeter fence, hit trees, crashed and caught fire. Fatalities The dead included Paige Winters of Kansas, a 16-year-old equestrienne, and Thomas Fahey, her 26-year-old riding instructor. They were headed home after traveling to Kentucky to buy a horse. Joan Winters, the girl's mother, was bumped from the flight and was at the airport when the plane crashed, according to an attorney for both families, Douglas Latto of Baumeister & Samuels in New York. Comair and Delta's liability was covered by U.S. Aircraft Insurance Group, according to a Justice Department claim form. USAIG is a pool of insurers including General Reinsurance Corp. and Wesco Financial Corp., both owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.; Liberty Mutual Group Inc.; and Ace Ltd., according to the USAIG Web site. The settlements, averaging $5.9 million per passenger, varied by the age, income, dependents and home state of passengers, according to lawyers representing victims. Direct comparisons to settlements in other crashes aren't possible because virtually all are sealed. $7.1 Million Verdict In the lone case to go to trial, federal jurors in Lexington on Dec. 7 ordered Comair to pay $7.1 million to the family of passenger Bryan Keith Woodward. A judge ruled Woodward's family can seek punitive damages next year at trial. Such damages are meant to punish a company for bad conduct and deter others. "The individual settlements -- each of which is unique given the specific circumstances of that particular case -- provide fair and reasonable compensation to the families," said Comair spokeswoman Christine Wever. The threat of punitive damages increased the settlement amounts, according to Latto. "The egregiousness of that accident was certainly part of the driving force behind those numbers," Latto said. An August 2008 agreement between Comair and the Justice Department, which represented the FAA, required the government to cover 22 percent of any award in settled cases and 18 percent for verdicts. Comair and the government didn't admit liability in the agreement, which was undisclosed before its release by the Justice Department. 'Shared Responsibility' "The agreement between Comair and the U.S. ensures that both parties contribute toward our shared responsibility," Wever said. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown declined to comment. Insurers for Atlanta-based Delta, the world's largest carrier, and Comair had to pay individual claims before getting reimbursed by the government, according to Justice Department documents. Spokesmen for Ace and Liberty Mutual declined to comment, as did Jeffrey Jacobson, chief financial officer of Wesco. A voicemail left for the assistant to General Reinsurance General Counsel Damon Vocke wasn't returned. The claim manager was U.S. Aviation Underwriters Inc., a New York-based company owned by Berkshire, according to the form. It wasn't clear from the Justice Department documents how much individual insurers paid. Dennis Doody, an executive vice president at U.S. Aviation Underwriters, declined to comment. 46 of 47 Cases Settled Comair settled 46 of the 47 cases brought by families of passengers on the plane. The Justice Department provided a list of 45 passengers with their settlement amounts blacked out. It wasn't clear why one settled case wasn't on the list. The Comair pilots erroneously used a 3,501-foot runway intended for smaller planes instead of a 7,003-foot runway for commercial aircraft, the safety board found. The pilots failed to use lights, signs and other aids to identify their location and improperly chatted for 40 seconds about co-workers' efforts to get jobs while taxiing the plane, the board said. The controller wasn't required to give a special clearance for the pilots to cross the shorter runway on the way to the longer one, the board said. Had the clearance been required by the FAA, as the NTSB recommended six years before the crash, the pilots' mistake may have been prevented, the board concluded. Possible Losses Airline insurers, a group that includes units held by Berkshire and Allianz SE, may lose money this year, said broker Aon Corp., citing costs from crashes of planes flown by Air France-KLM and Colgan Air, a unit of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. Insurers will collect about $1.9 billion in premiums for hull and liability coverage this year, and have incurred $2.26 billion in claims so far, Aon said. Berkshire, based in Omaha, Nebraska, sells the most U.S. aircraft insurance, with 14 percent of the market, according to 2008 data compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Allianz ranks second and American International Group Inc. is third. **************** Air safety improves in 2009: IATA GENEVA: India witnessed only one air accident -- the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and four others -- this year, a period that saw airlines improve their safety record, says IATA. Globally, there were 73 accidents as of November 30 compared to 109 a year ago. "If you were to fly once per day, it would take 4,807 years for an individual to be involved in an accident," IATA's Senior Vice President (Safety) Gunther Matschnigg told PTI here. "This is the best accident rate ever recorded." Though the number of fatal accidents was reduced by 30 per cent over 2008, the total fatalities this year were more than last year, he said. As on November 30, there were 16 fatal accidents against 23 in 2008, but the total number of deaths was 680 compared with 502 last year. Noting that runway excursions were a major cause of accidents, he said out of the 73 accidents recorded this year, 19 were due to runway excursions or when airplanes skid out of runway. Between 2004 and 2008, 139 out of 501 total accidents or about 28 per cent were runway excursions. In the Asia-Pacific region, there were three accidents, including a fatal one that involved aircraft of Lion Air, Aviastar Mandiri (both Indonesian carriers) and Myanma Airways of Myanmar. Not a single Indian carrier was involved in accidents where fatalities and hull losses occur, the data showed. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/air lines-/-aviation/Air-safety-improves-in-2009-IATA/articleshow/5369984.cms ************* Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC