30 DEC 2009 _______________________________________ *Jamaican Officials Probe AA331 Touchdown Point *Worn steering cable blamed for Airlink J41 runway excursion *In-Flight Regulations To Be Determined By Pilot *Mil Mi-8T Helicopter Accident (Russia) *Failed attack on jet renews concerns over lack of TSA chief *Colgan seeks rights to operate Q400s to Mexico *FAA awards Dallas airport $2.3 million for runway improvements *NTSB: Complex error chain preceded Delta 767 taxiway landing *Aeroflot to set up Airbus training venture with CAE **************************************** Jamaican Officials Probe AA331 Touchdown Point http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091229/business/images/Layout1_1_P3 U6MplanemovAM.jpg Christopher Read An American Airlines plane that careened off the end of a runway, crashing and breaking into three pieces, landed approximately 4,000 feet down an 8,900 foot runway, investigators in Jamaica said Monday. Investigators are now trying to determine why the pilots flew over nearly half of the runway before first setting the wheels down, leaving significantly less distance to bring the jet to a stop. Jamaica's Director of Civil Aviation, Col. Oscar Derby, told NBCDFW that investigators are also looking into what role tailwinds, and a rain soaked runway may have played in the crash. "We are looking at all of the indicators to to figure out what the main contributor was to the runway excursion", Derby said. Flight 331 landed in rainy weather, shortly after a thunderstorm passed over Kingston, Jamaica, on Dec. 23. Dozens of people on board the plane were injured, but there were no fatalities. Stronger than expected tailwinds, equipment malfunctions, or pilot error could all be contributing factors, investigators said. The 737-800 involved in the crash is equipped with a "heads-up" display system designed to help guide the plane in for landing within the first 1,000 feet of the runway in inclement weather, if the system is functioning properly. It's not clear whether the pilots were using that system at the time of landing. The union that respresents the American Airlines pilots would not comment on the specifics of the investigation, but defended the pilots actions. "The landing overrun accident was a scary event in challenging weather conditions, said Scott Shankland, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. "We remain confident our pilots did everything possible to try and stop the aircraft before the end of the runway", he said. Shankland added that the union believes crew's actions in evacuating the plane after the incident saved lives. U.S. sources familiar with the investigation said the plane was carrying extra fuel for the return trip to Miami, a practice known as "ferrying fuel". The weight of the extra fuel may have made the plane harder to stop. It was still moving fast, at a rate of about 60 knots, when it left the runway, sources said. The asphalt runway surface at the Kingston airport does not have grooves to collect and disperse standing water in heavy rain, a feature that's common at many large U.S. airports. "We're looking into that as well, Col. Derby said, we don't know the extent to which it would have contributed." Fort Worth-based American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said he could not comment, because of the on-going investigation involving Jamaican authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board. http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Investigators--AA-Plane-Landed-Nearly- Half-way-Down-Runway-Before-Jamaica-Crash-80278032.html ***************** Worn steering cable blamed for Airlink J41 runway excursion http://www.jetphotos.net/news/media/userfiles/6644681905.jpg.400.jpg South African investigators have determined that slippage of a worn nose-gear steering cable led to an Airlink British Aerospace Jetstream 41's veering off the runway during take-off from Port Elizabeth last month. The aircraft, bound for East London, had travelled around 400m along Port Elizabeth's runway 08 and reached a speed of about 70kt when it started heading to the left. It came off the runway and stopped about 35m from the left-hand edge. In the early stages of take-off the aircraft is normally steered through a self-centring tiller, which connects to the nose-wheel through a gear and a steering cable. Once the aircraft reaches about 70kt, the rudder gains sufficient authority to take over from the tiller as the primary steering control. Inspection of the aircraft, says the South African Civil Aviation Authority, discovered that the steering cable was kinked - possibly during installation - and that it had worn against the steering gear, eventually resulting in intermittent slippage. The CAA says the maintenance manual specifies that the tiller mechanism and cable is provided as a single unit, but adds: "However, as the vendor for the tiller mechanism is no longer able to provide it as a complete unit, industry practice has become to only replace the cable." Wear on the gear teeth remains present, it states, and can only be detected once play appears with tiller movement. None of the 29 passengers and three crew members was injured in the incident, on 18 November, but the event added to concerns over Airlink operations, which had already been under examination following a Jetstream accident in September. Airlink has since grounded its Jetstream 41 fleet while it addresses a technical issue relating to the type's engines. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** In-Flight Regulations To Be Determined By Pilot Airline passengers at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens are now subject to new in-flight regulations imposed at individual pilots' discretion, following last week's attempted attack of a Detroit-bound plane. Captains can now decide whether passengers can have access to carry-on luggage, blankets or other items, or if they can leave their seats the last hour of flight. Restrictions have also been lifted on in-flight screens that show the plane's path. Some passengers said Tuesday that they were concerned that the captain would have to focus on something other than flying the plane. "I think it should be uniform throughout. I don't think it should be at the captain's discretion," said one traveler. "I think everyone should be under the same rules." "I think he should have say if he's alerted by his crew that there's something suspicious, but why should he get involved in the screening process," said another. "I'm sure he's got other responsibilities. But if his crew said there's a problem, he should listen to his crew. You have to follow your gut." "I would be interested in knowing what the captain's discretion is based on," said a third. "What is he really judging against? He's up there in the cockpit. How does he know it's safe to loosen up the restrictions or not?" A number of passengers said they would prefer that the government concentrate more on improving security at airport checkpoints, and leave regulations in flight more relaxed. Airline security has been tight since the Christmas Day incident, when a Nigerian man attempted to detonate an explosive strapped to his body during the flight, leading to several delays and long lines at airports worldwide. But many of the extensive pat-downs and luggage examinations depend on the airport. Travel experts say the inconsistency in rules may be deliberate, to confuse potential terrorists. Travelers are still being urged to show up an extra hour early for flights into and out of New York. "Obviously security is the number one priority, but it was pretty annoying," said one traveler of the new restrictions. "You definitely felt a lot more security around," said another. Governor David Paterson said that 80 extra National Guard troops will be at JFK and LaGuardia Airports during peak travel times this week. The guard will also patrol ground transportation hubs on New Year's Eve. An official in Yemen said the suspect in the Christmas incident, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, spent time in that country on two separate occasions, from 2004 to 2005, and again from August to early December of this year. There also appear to be Internet postings, possibly from Abdulmutallab, in which a user named "Farouk1986'' posts about his alienation from his family and hopes that a "great jihad'' will take place across the world. As of Tuesday, officials had not verified if these postings were written by Abdulmutallab. An al-Qaida faction in Yemen claimed responsibility Monday for the attempted attack, saying it was retaliation for a U.S. operation against the group. It also said the bomb was made by al-Qaida members. U.S. officials have yet to authenticate the claim. Abdulmutallab is being held in a federal prison in Michigan on charges of trying to destroy an aircraft. New York Representative Peter King called for Abdulmutallab to be tried by a military tribunal rather than a civilian court. The leading Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee said it will be more difficult for authorities to get useful information from the suspect if he is given the legal rights afforded to typical defendants. The government was expected to request a DNA sample from him at a court hearing Monday, but the hearing was postponed until next week. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that initial reviews of the nation's terror watch list system and its safety regulations are due by New Year's Eve. "The reviews I've ordered will surely tell us more, but what already is apparent is that there was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security," said the president. "We need to learn from this episode and work quickly to fix the flaws of our system because security is at stake and lives are at stake." Questions have been swirling over why Abdulmutallab was allowed to board Northwest Airlines flight 253, even though his name was in a database of people with suspected terrorist ties. U.S. intelligence officials have said they didn't have enough information to place him on an official terror watch list or no-fly list. Investigators are also trying to figure out why Abdulmutallab was allowed to have a valid U.S. visa, despite warnings from his father about his extremist views. New York Senator Charles Schumer called for stronger security measures at home and overseas Tuesday. Schumer said Obama should conduct a review of security measures at foreign airports as well as those in America, and that huge loopholes in security have to be closed. He also said lax measures and communication lapses led to last week's botched attack. "When someone buys a one-way ticket to the United States with cash, bells should be going off," said Schumer. "When that person is already on one of our lists of someone who might be dangerous, lots of red flags should pop up. That should happen whether that person boards a plane here in America or boards on plane anywhere else in the world." Schumer said there should be "more boots on the ground," and said there should be more TSA representative at foreign airports to ensure strict guidelines are followed. The senator said there currently 21 representatives around the world, and that any foreign government that does not comply should face sanctions. Meanwhile, there is controversy swirling over high-tech security scanners that some say would have detected the explosive powder that was smuggled onto the plane. So far, only 19 U.S. airports have the machines. Critics say the scanners violate privacy because screeners can see through a passenger's clothing. But advocates say security is more important. http://ny1.com/8-queens-news-content/top_stories/111155/in-flight-regulation s-to-be-determined-by-pilot ***************** Mil Mi-8T Helicopter Accident (Russia) http://www.aviationnews.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Mi-8.jpg Date: 29-DEC-2009 Time: 12:03 LT Type: Mil Mi-8T Operator: Koryak Airlines Registration: RA-24209 C/n / msn: 98730181 Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 70 km north of the Anavgai, Kamchatka - Russia Phase: Landing Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Anavgai Destination airport: Tigil Narrative: During the emergency landing the helicopter collided with the ground. (aviation-safety.net) *************** Failed attack on jet renews concerns over lack of TSA chief The failed terrorist attack on a packed airliner on Christmas has renewed concerns about the lack of stable leadership at the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. agency on the front lines in preventing exactly that kind of incident. The TSA has been operating without a permanent top official for almost a year, a result of months of delay by the Obama administration and a political power play by a Republican senator opposed to collective bargaining by government workers. The result, according to some transportation and security analysts, is an agency unable to muster the political will to make the alterations necessary to adapt to changing international threats. "What doesn't get done as well is leadership and confident direction-setting," said Stewart A. Baker, who was a top official at the Department of Homeland Security in the Bush administration. "There are plenty of competent people at TSA. But when you are not a political appointee, you have to walk on eggshells a little." Baker and others say they do not think the security failure of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 would have been avoided if President Obama's nominee -- former FBI agent and police detective Erroll Southers -- had been on the job Friday. But they say they doubt that Acting Administrator Gale D. Rossides, a Bush appointee, has the political connections within the Obama White House and the Democratic Congress to reinvent the agency in ways that get ahead of terrorists. "She's competent and knows the system well," said one transportation expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he regularly works with TSA officials. "But she doesn't want to rock the boat. She's basically there to keep the trains on the tracks." Several analysts said Tuesday that the events of the past week highlight the need for a permanent TSA administrator to move quickly in a number of areas. They say the TSA must find the resources -- financial and otherwise -- to design a "checkpoint of the future" that anticipates emerging threats and to phase out metal-detector technology that dates to the early 1980s. The agency also needs to design better ways to share and interpret the mountain of passenger data collected by U.S. and foreign agencies, they said. The suspect in Friday's incident, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, would not have been allowed to board the flight if warning signs about him had been properly shared, Obama said Tuesday. And some experts say the new TSA administrator must be deeply knowledgeable about security and terrorism, and more willing to be aggressive in shaking up a seven-year-old bureaucracy that does not respond nimbly to current threats. "It's critical," said Michael Boyd, an airline consultant based in Colorado. "We need an [H. Norman] Schwarzkopf type there who's going say, 'I'm going to start thinking like a terrorist.' We don't have that." A spokesman for the TSA declined to comment on the critique. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer defended Rossides on Tuesday but reiterated the administration's demand that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) stop blocking Southers's nomination. "The acting TSA administrator is very able, and we have a solid team of professionals at TSA," Pfeiffer said. "But Senator DeMint and others should put their short-term political interests aside and allow the Senate vote on the confirmation of the president's nominee to head the agency." Obama nominated Southers on Sept. 11, nearly eight months after taking office, a delay that White House officials say was necessary to identify "the appropriate candidate" for the job. In the wake of Friday's incident, Republicans have criticized the TSA and the Obama administration. But one of their own has single-handedly prevented new leadership at the agency. DeMint has refused to allow a vote on the nomination as long as Obama insists on permitting TSA workers to participate in collective bargaining negotiations, as other unionized government workers do. In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," DeMint accused the administration of being intent on "unionizing and submitting our airport security to union bosses [and] collective bargaining." Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) criticized Republicans on Tuesday, accusing them of "playing politics with national security" by stalling the nomination. "Despite his qualifications and being reported out by two Senate committees earlier this year, Republicans have decided to play politics with this nomination by blocking final confirmation," Reid said in a statement. "Not only is this a failed strategy, but a dangerous one as well with serious potential consequences for our country." Reid vowed to force the nomination to a vote next month. But until that happens, or DeMint relents, the top TSA post will go unfilled. In addition, the Senate has yet to decide when it will vote on Obama's choice to head the Customs and Border Protection agency, another key post in the fight against terrorism. Longtime observers of airport security say the TSA vacancy will complicate efforts to implement effective procedures against efforts by terrorists to breach the system. "During a time when security is so important and we need to think about the strategy going forward, we need to push politics aside," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/29/AR2009122902 768.html ***************** Colgan seeks rights to operate Q400s to Mexico http://airlinersgallery.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/continental-connection-c olgan-dhc-8-400-n200wq-91apr-dca-bmlr.jpg Regional operator Colgan Air aims to launch twice daily service between Houston and Monterrey, Mexico, in 2010 on behalf of partner Continental Airlines. The Continental Connection service will begin during the second quarter "depending on the time required to secure the necessary authority in Mexico", Colgan says in a filing with the US Department of Transportation. Colgan plans to place 74-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft on the route, which Continental Express operator ExpressJet currently serves using Embraer 50-seat jets, according to schedules in the Innovata database. Colgan currently operates 14 Q400s for Continental, and plans to start deliveries of 15 additional aircraft in August 2010. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** FAA awards Dallas airport $2.3 million for runway improvements The US FAA has given the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport a $2.3 million grant to rehabilitate one of the facility's runways. The funds are being supplied through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which FAA says has funded 360 projects, 60 more than its original target due to lower-than-anticipated construction bids. FAA says $1.1 billion has been made available under the ARRA to both urban and rural US airports to fund a variety of projects including facility construction, safety enhancements and the rehabilitation of runways, taxiways and other infrastructure. The project in Dallas is scheduled to start in January and includes restructuring various concrete slabs and joint repairs on a 4,084m (13,400ft) runway. The airport features seven runways. FAA says the project will "help enhance safety by eliminating the opportunity for debris to develop along the runway surface". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** NTSB: Complex error chain preceded Delta 767 taxiway landing A series of atypical circumstances preceded an early morning taxiway landing of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 at the Atlanta Hartsfield International airport from Rio de Janeirio on 19 October, according to a preliminary incident report published by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on 23 December. None of the 182 passengers or 11 crew on Delta Air Lines Flight 60 were injured in the incident, which occurred in pre-sunrise darkness and good weather at 06:05 EST that morning, nor was the aircraft damaged, according to the NTSB. The chain of events that led to the incident appears to have begun during cruise flight, when a check airman in the cockpit became sick and was relocated to the main cabin. While the nature of airman's medical problem was not identified, the NTSB says the crew notified Delta dispatchers of the situation "and a medical emergency was declared to air traffic control via the company". A decision was made to continue to Atlanta with the remaining two pilots, the NTSB continues. Inbound to the airport, the air traffic controller handling the flight offered to switch the aircraft's landing runway from 27L to a parallel runway, 27R, via a "sidestep" manoeuvre in order to put the aircraft closer to the terminal for a planned medical evacuation of the sick check airman. The pilots accepted the modified clearance. With a sidestep, pilots can fly the instrument approach to 27L, manoeuvring to the line up with 27R after sighting the runway visually on the approach. The instrument landing system for 27R was not operating as it was not the baseline runway for the approach that night. Approach lights for runway 27R were also inoperative due to maintenance being performed. "The crew landed on taxiway M, located 200ft north of runway 27R," says the NTSB. "After landing on the taxiway, the flight crew taxied to the ramp without further incident." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Aeroflot to set up Airbus training venture with CAE Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot is intending to set up a joint venture with the Canadian flight simulator specialist CAE to train air crew and ground engineering personnel for Airbus types. The airline already operates 63 leased Airbus A320s and eight A330s and is to acquire more Airbus aircraft over the next year. Sources at the carrier say the planned joint venture will aim to train about 2,000 people per year for Aeroflot and other carriers. Aeroflot will hold 51% of the enterprise and contribute to its charter capital in the form of land rights and buildings worth Rb522.5 million ($17.8 million). CAE, which will own the rest of equity, is to supply three A320 full-flight simulators and take responsibility for marketing. Airbus Moscow representative Vadim Vlasov says the airframer is prepared to sponsor the project for $4 million, given the growing need for personnel in the former Soviet states qualified to handle its aircraft types. He expects the region's combined Airbus fleet to increase from 237 to 387 units over the next five years. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC