22 JAN 2010 _________________________________________ *Landing Cargolux 747 hits van on Luxembourg runway *US FAA sends temporary ATC tower to Haiti *Embraer ERJ-145LU Runway Excursion (Mexico) *Gulfstream 200 Runway Excursion (New Jersey) *US jet lands when religious item mistaken as bomb *Bahrain Selects SITA Data Link Systems To Enhance Air Traffic Safety *President Nominates Weener for NTSB *International Accident Investigation Forum ***************************************** Landing Cargolux 747 hits van on Luxembourg runway Investigators are trying to establish why a landing Cargolux Boeing 747-400F struck a vehicle as it touched down yesterday at the freight carrier's Luxembourg base. The incident, which occurred at 12:53, occurred on runway 24 as the jet, operating as flight CV7933, was arriving from Barcelona. Cargolux says that the aircraft - identified as LX-OCV, serial number 29731 - was landing in low-visibility conditions, and hit an empty maintenance van with its main-gear tyres. "There was no-one in the van, and no-one was injured," says a spokesman for the carrier. "The aircraft made a safe landing and was checked." There appears to be no damage to the 747, he adds. Meteorological data from Luxembourg Findel Airport at the time confirms fog, with visibility of 100m and a runway visual range of 350m. Investigators have opened an inquiry into the incident, says the spokesman, but no explanation for the van's presence has yet been given. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** US FAA sends temporary ATC tower to Haiti The US FAA has responded to a request from the Haitian government to dispatch a portable air traffic control tower to Haiti to help with aircraft operations at Port au Prince International airport. Haiti is still recovering from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on 12 January, which rendered the airport tower unusable. FAA says the portable tower is being transported on a large chartered cargo aircraft, and agency technicians will install and prepare it for service, which should take 48h. The tower is 44ft (13m) long, 4m (13ft) high and 2m (8ft) wide with weight of 11,350kg (25,000lb), says the US Department of Transportation (DOT). It features two diesel fuel tanks and tools and other support equipment for installation and maintenance. In the aftermath of the disaster FAA sent a seven member team to Haiti to work with its government and the US Department of Defense to supply technical assistance for air traffic management. Since the earthquake controllers supplying terminal air traffic control services have worked outside at a folding table, says DOT, using military radios to handle 160 flights per day. Tower controllers provide service to arriving and departing flights in the immediate area of the airport, and serve as ground controllers for movements on the airport's surface. DOT says the FAA also has an airports division team on the ground to evaluate the physical condition of the runway at Port au Prince as it handles high volumes of heavy military transport and cargo aircraft. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Embraer ERJ-145LU Runway Excursion (Mexico) Date: 21-JAN-2010 Time: Type: Embraer ERJ-145LU Operator: Aeromexico Connect Registration: XA-VLI C/n / msn: 145574 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 39 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Tijuana Mexico - Mexico Phase: Landing Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: MTY Destination airport: TIJ Narrative: ERJ 145 Aeromexico Connect departed runway into soft ground due to winds (aparently). The left main gear dug in. (aviation-safety.net) ************** Gulfstream 200 Runway Excursion (New Jersey) Date: 21-JAN-2010 Time: 09:33 Type: Gulfstream 200 Operator: Flight Works Registration: N90FT C/n / msn: 209 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: Teterboro Airport, New Jersey - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: KJAX Destination airport: KTEB Narrative: Gulfstream 200 operating as flight FWK90 arriving from Jacksonville, landing on 6,000 foot runway 06 at Teterboro, rolled off the runway, possible off the side of the runway, at low speed. Aircraft sank in the mud and became stuck. Arriving Citation and C441 were put into turns and the airport closed for several minutes. No injuries report to passengers or crew. (aviation-safety.net) *************** US jet lands when religious item mistaken as bomb PHILADELPHIA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A US airways (LCC.N) passenger plane was diverted to Philadelphia on Thursday after a religious item worn by a Jewish passenger was mistaken as a bomb, Philadelphia police said. A passenger was alarmed by the phylacteries, religious items which observant Jews strap around their arms and heads as part of morning prayers, on the flight from New York's La Guardia airport heading to Louisville. "Someone on the plane construed it as some kind of device," said officer Christine O'Brien, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia police department. No one was arrested or charged, O'Brien said. The plane landed without incident and the passengers and crew were taken off the plane, a spokesman for US Airways said. Phylacteries, called tefillin in Hebrew, are two small black boxes with black straps attached to them. Observant Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm each weekday morning. Thursday's incident was the latest of several false alarms on U.S. flights since the Dec. 25 incident in which a Nigerian man attempted to detonate a bomb in his underpants from materials he smuggled onto the plane just as his flight was about to land in Detroit, authorities said. The device did not explode and only burned the man, who was pounced on by fellow passengers. Since then several flights have been diverted by security scares that have turned out to be harmless. **************** Bahrain Selects SITA Data Link Systems To Enhance Air Traffic Safety Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs (BCAA) has contracted SITA to deliver air/ground data link systems aimed at enhancing air traffic safety at Manama International Airport and in airspace under its control. The first SITA system to be delivered will enable text based Departure Clearances to be issued by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to departing aircraft via SITA's AIRCOM data link service and is being deployed in response to ICAO recommendations to enhance ATC operations at airports. The system minimizes the risk of any misunderstanding between ATC that may occur with today's voice-based delivery of departure clearances. The second SITA system to be delivered, known as "FANS 1/A", will enable en-route air traffic controllers to exchange text based communications with pilots operating aircraft in Bahrain's upper airspace and will also enable air traffic controllers to contract the aircraft to downlink its position information on a periodic basis via SITA's AIRCOM Satellite data link service as a means to achieve airspace surveillance in areas beyond radar coverage. The FANS system is being deployed in response to Bahrain's commitment to support the Arabian Civil Aviation Conference FANS Implementation Group (AFIG) which is coordinating the implementation of these services across the ACAC region. Ali Ahmed Mohammed, Director of Air Navigation, Civil Aviation Affairs said, "This initiative comes in the context of our efforts to continuously keep our controlled airspace safe and efficient for the travelling public and our customer airlines. By complementing our existing Digital Airport TerminaI Information Service with Departure Clearance at Bahrain International Airport and FANS services at our en-route air traffic control centre we will be offering a state-of-the-art service enabled by SITA's data link communications service. "These services will significantly enhance the services provided by the CAA to aircraft flying in our controlled airspace and comply with the recommendations of the Middle East ICAO Planning and Implementation Regional Group." Akhil Sharma, SITA's Head of Air Traffic Management said: "With the increase in air traffic movements in this region significantly outstripping the global average Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs is to be complimented for their foresight in implementing the complete set of current digital data link air traffic systems. These services will contribute to enhancing air traffic safety in Bahrain airspace and set the standard for the region as a whole." http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Bahrain/259782 **************** President Nominates Weener for NTSB http://www.hollandsentinel.com/archive/x190609315/g12c00001b97b7ef27c6ede260 b1ddff46a641a0ca634c9.jpg White House picks former Boeing engineer, fellow at Flight Safety Foundation President Obama on Wednesday nominated Earl F. Weener for a seat on the National Transportation Safety Board. Weener is a fellow at the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va. While a member of the foundation, he worked on runway safety, ground accident prevention, approach and landing accident reduction. Before his retirement from Boeing in 1999, Weener's positions included chief engineer for airworthiness, reliability, maintainability and safety; chief engineer of systems engineering; and chief engineer for safety technology development. Weener is also a licensed commercial pilot, and flight and ground instructor. He received a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan. http://www.joc.com/node/416161 ************* International Accident Investigation Forum The Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore is organizing an International Accident Investigation (IAI) Forum at the Singapore Aviation Academy on 21 to 23 April 2010. The theme of the IAI Forum is "Investigation In the new State Safety Programme Environment" The topics that will be discussed are: . Updates from ICAO, including follow-up to the recommendations of the AIG Divisional Meeting 2008, USOAP Annex 13 audit, and Amendment 12 to Annex 13 . International cooperation in challenging major investigations, e.g. in sea search and recovery of flight recorders (like in the AF447 case) . Lessons learnt from bird strike and aircraft ditching (as was the case with US Airways Flight 1549), e.g. certification issues relating to aircraft integrity against bird strike and ditching, operational issues relating to aircraft ditching, bird detection and avoidance . Aircraft manufacturers' support for investigations in the area of new technologies . Protection of safety information ICAO, ISASI, FSF, ECAC, Australian ATSB, China CAAC, French BEA, Hong Kong CAD, Japan JTSB, New Zealand TAIC, AAIB UK, US NTSB, etc., have already expressed support for the IAI Forum. Ms Nancy Graham, Director of ICAO Air Navigation Bureau will be the keynote speaker for the opening of the IAI Forum. For information on the programme and registration, please email David Lim at MOT_IAI_FORUM@mot.gov.sg or visit the following website address: http://www.saa.com.sg/saa/en/News_And_Events/Events/saa_events_article_0031. html?__locale=en ***************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC