12 JAN 2010 _________________________________________ *NTSB Publishes New Accident, Incident Reporting Rules *Safety Officials Order Boeing Jet Inspections *Prosecutors to appeal against let-off for Garuda pilot *TSA: Passenger Carries Ammo on Plane in Milwaukee *FAA alerts Embraer, ATR operators to FMS nuance ***************************************** NTSB Publishes New Accident, Incident Reporting Rules Five Reportable Incidents Added To Notification Requirements The NTSB is amending its regulations concerning notification and reporting requirements regarding aircraft accidents or incidents. In particular, the NTSB is adding regulations to require operators to report certain incidents to the NTSB. The NTSB is also amending existing regulations to provide clarity and ensure that the appropriate means for notifying the NTSB of a reportable incident is listed correctly in the regulation. On October 7, 2008, the NTSB published an NPRM titled "Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and Overdue Aircraft, and preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo, and Records" in the Federal Register. This NPRM proposed, and the final rule codifies the addition of five reportable incidents, the reporting of which the NTSB believes will improve aviation safety. The operator of any civil aircraft, or any public aircraft not operated by the Armed Forces or an intelligence agency of the United States, or any foreign aircraft shall immediately, and by the most expeditious means available, notify the nearest National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) office when an aircraft accident or any of the following listed serious incidents occur: . Failure of any internal turbine engine component that results in the escape of debris other than out the exhaust path. .In-flight fire. .Aircraft collision in flight. .Release of all or a portion of a propeller blade from an aircraft, excluding release caused solely by ground contact. .A complete loss of information, excluding flickering, from more than 50 percent of an aircraft's cockpit displays known as Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) displays, Engine Indication and Crew Alerting system (EICAS) displays, Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) displays, or other displays of this type, which generally include a primary flight display (PFD), primary navigation display (PND), and other integrated displays. .Airborne Collision and Avoidance System (ACAS) resolution advisories issued either when an aircraft is being operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan and compliance with the advisory is necessary to avert a substantial risk of collision between two or more aircraft, or to an aircraft operating in class A airspace. .Damage to helicopter tail or main rotor blades, including ground damage, that requires major repair or replacement of the blade(s). .Any event in which an aircraft operated by an air carrier lands or departs on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area not designed as a runway, or experiences a runway incursion that requires the operator or the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate corrective .action to avoid a collision. The final rule was published in the Federal Register January 7th, and the revisions and additions published in this final rule become effective March 8, 2010. FMI: www.ntsb.gov aero-news.net ***************** Safety Officials Order Boeing Jet Inspections By ANDY PASZTOR Federal air-safety regulators have ordered enhanced structural inspections of more than 130 older Boeing 737 jetliners, six months after a Southwest Airlines Co. plane developed a one-foot-wide hole in its main body in midflight. The Federal Aviation Administration's safety directive, slated to be published on Tuesday, calls for stepped-up inspections to find possible cracks in the fuselage skin of more than 130 Boeing 737 aircraft. According to the agency's final rule, undetected cracks 'could result in sudden fracture and failure of the fuselage skin panels, and consequent rapid decompression." The mandatory directive comes four months after manufacturer Boeing Co. issued a voluntary service bulletin and the FAA proposed similar maintenance rules to address the hazards. In July, a Southwest jet carrying 126 passengers made a safe emergency landing after a one-foot-wide hole opened up in its aluminum skin while flying to Baltimore from Nashville. The hole, located at the top of the fuselage, occurred while the plane was cruising at about 30,000 feet. As the cabin rapidly lost air pressure and oxygen masks deployed, the jet landed in Charleston, W. Va. Nobody was hurt. The incident prompted renewed concerns about the structural integrity of older jetliners, and sparked the interest of the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA is requiring inspections roughly every few months, unless certain strengthening metal parts are installed around the suspect areas. The agency said the safety board supports the stepped-up inspections. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704055104574652492848717858.ht ml?mod=googlenews_wsj **************** Prosecutors to appeal against let-off for Garuda pilot INDONESIAN prosecutors will try to get the conviction and prison sentence reinstated for the Garuda pilot at the controls of a plane that crashed at Yogyakarta's airport, killing 21 people, including five Australians. Officials at the Australian embassy yesterday confirmed the fresh appeal by prosecutors but declined to comment on whether it was the result of any pressure from the Australian Government. Captain Marwoto Komar was given a two-year sentence in April last year after being found guilty of criminal negligence for his role in the incident. But he successfully appealed against the verdict last month. The decision was met by outrage from the families of the victims, Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish, Australian Federal Police officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, Ausaid official Alison Sudrajat and diplomat Liz O'Neill. ''I'm really surprised. I thought the case was done and dusted,'' said Caroline Mellish, the sister of Mr Mellish. She said pursuing Captain Marwoto was important to ensure the spotlight was kept on Indonesian air safety standards, as much as justice for those badly injured in the accident and the loved ones of those who died. ''You would hope that other pilots would think twice about their actions and that Garuda itself would take some responsibility,'' she said. In the immediate lead-up to the 2007 crash, Captain Marwoto ignored 15 automated warnings to abort the landing as the passenger jet approached the runway at twice the recommended speed. He first said poor weather conditions were responsible for the incident, but then changed his story to blame mechanical problems with the jet for causing the crash. The initial guilty verdict for criminal negligence found him at fault for not alerting Yogyakarta airport authorities and fire crews about an impending disaster. The Boeing 737 slammed into the runway, skidding into a nearby rice field before exploding into flames. Captain Marwoto's successful appeal meant that he was to be allowed to fly again, although Garuda, Indonesia's national carrier, insisted he would not be reinstated. Unions representing pilots and air traffic control personnel have strongly backed Captain Marwoto, saying it is unfair to prosecute a pilot for an accident. They have argued it contravenes international airline accident protocols that give pilots immunity from prosecution in the interests of ensuring they give a candid assessment of what went wrong. http://www.theage.com.au/national/prosecutors-to-appeal-against-letoff-for-g aruda-pilot-20100111-m2od.html **************** TSA: Passenger Carries Ammo on Plane in Milwaukee MADISON, Wis. - A passenger inadvertently carried shotgun shells onto a Dallas-bound Midwest Airlines plane at Milwaukee's airport on Monday before he realized his mistake and alerted flight attendants, authorities said. The man, who was not identified, did not mean any harm, saying he had forgotten that the ammunition was in his carryon bags when he boarded the flight, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Jim Fotenos said. TSA agents turned the ammunition over to local police and sent the man back for another security search. They then allowed him to reboard and the plane left for Dallas later Monday. "The passenger was interviewed and rescreened with negative findings," Fotenos said in a statement. "The passenger stated that he inadvertently brought the prohibited items onboard the plane and self-disclosed them when he realized they were in his possession." Fotenos said the TSA is reviewing how the passenger got the ammunition through pre-boarding security searches. He declined to identify the man or comment further. TSA policy prohibits passengers from having firearms or ammunition in their carryon luggage. Oak Creek, Wis. based-Midwest Airlines declined to comment. The incident comes less than a week after a grand jury indicted Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with trying to use chemical explosives stashed in his underwear to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane as it landed in Detroit on Christmas Day. Since then, the TSA and airlines have boosted security in airports in the U.S. and around the world. Another passenger on Monday's Midwest Airlines flight 1669, Doug Bell, 50, of Hales Corners, Wis., said the plane was pushing back from the gate around 8 a.m. when the pilot came on the intercom and said there was a security problem and the plane had to return to the gate. The pilot said a passenger had notified a flight attendant he was a gun dealer and had shells in his bag, Bell said. "There was a murmur on the plane," Bell said. "The whole plane was wondering what was going on. It isn't everyday the pilot tells you somebody got on the plane and brought shells with him. ... I couldn't believe it." The man got off the plane and a TSA agent searched the luggage compartment above his seat, Bell said. The man then got back on board, and the plane took off after about an hour's delay, he said. Bells said he was shocked TSA agents didn't search the entire plane because the man could have dropped off something in another seat as he walked back to his during boarding. "Thankfully the man was an honorable man," Bell told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after the plane landed. (But) what if he wasn't so honorable? I'm telling you, security isn't working." The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department patrols General Mitchell International. Department spokeswoman Kim Brooks didn't immediately return a message. Airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe referred questions to Fotenos. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582803,00.html **************** FAA alerts Embraer, ATR operators to FMS nuance The US FAA is alerting operators of some popular regional jets and turboprops that input errors on certain Honeywell-built flight management systems on the aircraft could cause an aircraft to unexpectedly alter its course. Prompting the warning was an unidentified incident involving a flight crew performing a standard terminal arrival route (STAR) to the Salt Lake City International airport. Air traffic control uses STARs to help sequence aircraft for instrument approaches. At some point during the area navigation (RNAV) arrival in question, the pilots reprogrammed the aircraft's flight management system (FMS) with a different landing runway, causing the aircraft's autopilot to reverse course back to the initial starting point for the STAR, a navigation facility more than 50nm behind the aircraft. The special airworthiness information bulletin (SAIB), issued on 7 January, informs owners and operators of the ATR42 turboprop and Embraer ERJ and E-170/190 aircraft to "ensure that their flight crews are familiar with" a Honeywell service information letter published in October 2009, after the Salt Lake City incident. The SAIB also targets operators of a large number of business jets with the Honeywell equipment. Honeywell and FAA during the joint investigation of the incident determined that "due to pilot workload in [the approach] phase of flight, a more detailed explanation [in the FMS operating manual] was required to alert flight crews on how FMS software is designed to handle such changes". In particular, crews are now instructed to place the autopilot in "heading" mode with the aircraft's current heading until the FMS flight plan has been modified to match the current aircraft position in the procedure. FAA says the issue, at this time, is not "an unsafe condition" that would warrant an airworthiness directive. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC