03 JAN 2010 _________________________________________ *FAA Puts American Airlines Under Close Scrutiny *Boeing 727-231F Runway Excursion/Substantial Damage (Congo) *Air Berlin 737 overruns on take-off at Dortmund *Smoke Smell Sends NYC-Bound Jet Back to Boston *Poor airmanship led Aviastar 146 to collide with high terrain *GCAA announces launch of 'Reporting of Safety Incident' program (UAE) ****************************************** FAA Puts American Airlines Under Close Scrutiny Three Incidents In December Leads To Increased Oversight After having three landing incidents in quick succession, American Airlines (AAL) is now under investigation by the FAA. Pilot training, fatigue, and weather-related landing procedures are all likely to receive an in-depth review in addition to increased FAA inspections. "In situations where there may be several incidents involving a single carrier over a short period of time, FAA inspectors increase their oversight, which we're doing now, and conduct a review of those events to determine whether they might be indicative of a larger issue," FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said in a statement released Friday. AAL's string of incidents started when an MD-80 landed erratically at CLT on Dec 13, leaving the runway and then striking the right wingtip. As ANN reported, there were no injuries though pilot fatigue was being investigated. On December 22, AAL flight 331 overran the runway at KIN in Jamaica during heavy rains. The fuselage of the B737 broke into three pieces with reports that many of the 148 passengers were injured. Another AAL MD-80 struck a wingtip while landing at AUS on Dec 24. No injuries were reported. AAL spokesman Tim Wagner told The Wall Street Journal that the three incidents will be investigated separately. "We take each event as an individual event" he said. As for the result of the FAA's investigation, Lunsford noted that "the FAA communicates its findings to the air carrier and assists in the development of the appropriate corrective action." FMI: www.FAA.gov, www.aa.com aero-news.net **************** Boeing 727-231F Runway Excursion/Substantial Damage (Congo) 9Q-CAA by superspotter. Accident: Compagnie Africaine Aviation B722 at Kinshasa on Jan 2nd 2010, veered off runway on landing A Compagnie Africaine Aviation Boeing 727-200, registration 9Q-CAA performing a freight flight from Kinshasa to Kananga (Democratic Republic of Congo), suffered a hydraulics problem shortly after takeoff prompting the crew to return to Kinshasa's Ndjili Airport. After touch down on Ndjili's runway 06 in heavy rain with water standing on the runway the airplane veered left off the runway and came to a stop with all gear collapsed. No injuries occurred, the airplane received substantial damage. http://avherald.com/h?article=42523ef2 ***** Status: Preliminary Date: 02 JAN 2010 Time: morning Type: Boeing 727-231F Super 27 Operator: Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation - CAA Registration: 9Q-CAA ? C/n / msn: 21986/1580 First flight: 1980 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport (FIH) (Congo (Democratic Republic)) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: ? Destination airport: Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport (FIH/FZAA), Congo (Democratic Republic) Narrative: A Boeing 727, operated by Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation - CAA, sustained substantial damage following a runway excursion on landing at Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport (FIH), D.R. Congo. The airplane reportedly landed in very heavy rain and substantial standing water on runway 06 and slid off the side of the runway. The identity of the plane has not been confirmed, however, fleet lists suggests 9Q-CAA (ex-N54354) was the only Boeing 727 in the CAA fleet. Weather reported during the morning of the accident was: FZAA 020600Z 27008KT 2500 TSRA SCT014 SCT028CB OVC100 22/22 Q1014 BECMG 1000= FZAA 020700Z 09004KT 3000 -TSRA FEW016 FEW026CB OVC100 22/21 Q1015 SECT CB NW-W BECMG 6000= FZAA 020800Z 09008KT 4500 -TSRA FEW016 FEW028CB OVC100 22/22 Q1015 SECT CB W NOSIG= (aviation-safety.net) **************** Air Berlin 737 overruns on take-off at Dortmund http://www.wingipeg.de/_wings/D-ABKF_B738.JPG Passengers on board an Air Berlin Boeing 737 have escaped uninjured after the aircraft overran the runway during take-off at Dortmund. The aircraft was operating flight AB2450 to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Images from the scene show that the aircraft has come to rest apparently with its nose in contact with the ground. Dortmund Airport's operator says that all 165 passengers were unharmed in the incident, which took place at 07:05. But it adds that flights have been disrupted while recovery efforts take place. Meteorological data for Dortmund at the time shows snowy weather conditions. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***** Date: 03-JAN-2010 Time: 0605Z Type: B737-800 Operator: Air Berlin plc & Co KG Registration: D-ABKF C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 165 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: Dortmund - Germany Phase: Take off Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: DTM Destination airport: TFS Narrative: Overshot runway during takeoff abort. No PAX or Crew injured. (aviation-safety.net) *************** Smoke Smell Sends NYC-Bound Jet Back to Boston (AP) NYC-bound jet returns to Boston after pilot smells smoke in cockpit minutes after takeoff A New York-bound plane has returned safely to Boston's Logan International Airport after a pilot smelled smoke in the cockpit minutes after takeoff. Airport spokesman Matthew Brelis says Flight 1379 landed safely Saturday and returned to the gate under its own power. Delta spokesman Carlos Santos says the airline was investigating the cause of the smoke smell Saturday. In the meantime, Santos says the plane's passengers were rebooked for an early afternoon flight. Brelis said the Flight 1379 took off for LaGuardia Airport in New York at about 10:45 a.m. carrying 34 people, including crew. He says a pilot turned back about eight minutes into the flight. The Boston area was being hit by a moderate snowstorm as the plane landed Saturday morning. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9464658 *************** Poor airmanship led Aviastar 146 to collide with high terrain Adrian Romang Indonesian investigators have detailed the poor airmanship and lack of training which led a British Aerospace 146-300 freighter to strike a mountain while attempting a go-around at Wamena, killing all six crew members. The Aviastar aircraft was conducting a right-hand circuit, at about 150-350ft above the airport elevation, after aborting an approach to runway 15. But despite the surrounding high terrain, the cockpit-voice recorder showed that the crew failed to respond to nine aural alerts from the enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS) during the downwind leg, and another nine on the base leg. The aircraft initially banked into the base turn at 30° but as individuals in the cockpit voiced apprehension about the presence of nearby peaks the captain increased the bank to 41°. "During the base leg turn, the co-pilot became increasingly concerned about the way the [captain] was handling the aircraft," says the National Transportation Safety Committee. "The concerns were made with increasing levels of anxiety." The captain rolled the aircraft to the left and its nose began to drop. As the EGPWS signaled warnings about the aircraft's height, bank angle and sink rate, the bank angle increased to 49°. Flight-data recorder information shows that the aircraft's landing-gear began to retract but was only part-way through the cycle when the 146 hit Pikei Hill on Tengah Mountain, about 3.5nm northwest of the airport. The NTSC says that the captain's "disregard" for the EGPWS warnings was "in non-conformance" with the instructions in the company operation manual. "Had the [captain] executed the appropriate responses to those EGPWS alerts it is unlikely that the impact with the terrain would have occurred," it adds. Neither pilot had received sufficient EGPWS training. The enhanced 'look ahead' function on the EGPWS, adds the NTSC, appears to have been inhibited at the time of the accident on 9 April last year. "Had the flight crew carefully planned the second approach, and closely co-operated with each other, they may have achieved a safe approach and landing," it states. "The flight crew's disregard of the published procedures bypassed the safety criteria and in-built risk treatments in the design of those procedures." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** GCAA announces launch of 'Reporting of Safety Incident' program (UAE) Ismail Mohammed Al Balooshi, Director Aviation Safety at the GCAA. Ismail Mohammed Al Balooshi, Director Aviation Safety at the GCAA United Arab Emirates: The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE launched an air safety incident-reporting program, the Reporting of Safety Incident (ROSI) Program, on 1 January 2010 as part of its new mandate to centralize aviation safety incident reporting across the UAE. "We recognize the need to constantly improve processes and systems for managing risks effectively; a centralized reporting will ensure effective communication and coordination necessary for higher records of successful incident management," said Ismaeil Mohammed Al Balooshi, Director Aviation Safety at the GCAA. With the unprecedented growth seen in the country's aviation industry, the new program underlines the GCAA's commitment to deliver both safety and quality processes of world-class standards. In recent years, several key initiatives and programs have been introduced by the GCAA to ensure safety of air transportation both in the UAE and across the region's aviation industry. However, experts in aviation safety programs believe the new centralized reporting program (ROSI) is a milestone achievement in raising air safety standards across a region that is set to record further rapid growth in coming years. The program includes reporting of safety incidents through GCAA website using ROSI form. The GCAA introduced the role of Duty Inspector on 24 hour/ 7 days a week availability to act as a focal point for receiving information about critical or high profile accident/incident over telephone. The launch of this position coincides with the introduction of the ROSI program to facilitate the effectiveness of the program and a centralized air safety reporting system. Al Balooshi added: "Along with high levels of growth and expansion comes increased challenges that require effective regulatory responses. The introduction of a centralized air safety incident reporting program will contribute to our efforts in maintaining a successful aviation transport safety record as a country, it will also allow us to monitor trends in the reports which will help in identifying possible risks to the safety of aviation in the UAE " To introduce recent initiate on the centralized reporting of safety incident (ROSI), Capt Saeed Rahman, ROSI Development Team Leader at GCAA, presented a session about ROSI program on December 28 at the Emirates Aviation College Auditorium, Dubai. The session was attended by about 75 representatives of the aviation industry who are involved in safety incident reporting. The highlights of the presentation were, the importance of centralized incident reporting and the procedures to report through GCAA website. http://www.ameinfo.com/220171.html ******************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC