January 28, 2010 No.023 In This Issue Recorders From Ethiopian Crash Jet Found Near Beirut, BBC Says Flight recorders from crashed Ethiopian airliner located under the sea off Lebanon Air France safety panel begins review Jet makes emergency landing in Myrtle Beach Military plane crash in Philippines kills 8 Are you ready to fly on a Russian regional jet? Miners propel safer aviation standards FAA: Remedial training programs now in place Iranian Government to ban acquisition of ageing aircraft Obama administration wants to outsource U.S. space flight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recorders From Ethiopian Crash Jet Found Near Beirut, BBC Says Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The "black box" flight recorders from the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after takeoff from Beirut Jan. 25 have been found, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing Lebanese security officials. The recorders have been located 10 kilometers west of Beirut and a search team is trying to retrieve them, the BBC said ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flight recorders from crashed Ethiopian airliner located under the sea off Lebanon BEIRUT - A U.S. Navy vessel has detected the flight recorders from a crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet at some 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) under the sea, the Lebanese army said Thursday. The plane went down early Monday just minutes after takeoff from Beirut in a fierce storm. All 90 people on board were feared dead. It was not immediately clear how long it would take to retrieve the plane's flight recorders, which were located late Wednesday. The Lebanese army said in a statement that the USS Ramage and a civilian ship from Cyprus were scanning the area. Rescue teams have recovered some bodies and pieces of the plane, but hope for finding any survivors has faded. There are conflicting numbers of how many bodies have been found, although at least a dozen have been pulled out of the chilly waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The flight recorders are critical to determining what caused the crash. Lebanon's transportation minister has said the plane made a "fast and strange turn" after takeoff, and weather experts said lightning struck in the flight path around the time of the crash. The Lebanese army and witnesses reported the plane was in flames as it went down. Health officials have handed over to families the remains of four victims who were identified using DNA, including a 2-year-old girl, Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife said. Searchers have fanned out for 18 miles (30 kilometers) along Beirut's coast, and about 5 miles (8 kilometers) out to sea, according to a Lebanese army official. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air France safety panel begins review An eight member safety panel hired by Air France to perform an extensive review of the airline's safety practices will begin key interviews with company officials next week at the airline's home base in Paris, a source close to the group tells ATI. Headed by former Boeing human factors expert Curt Graeber, the group also includes former FAA associate administrator for safety, Nicholas Sabatini, Qantas head of safety Geoff Sartori and Ohio State automation expert David Woods. Next week's meeting, the second for the group, is to include interviews to gather details on the safety culture within the airline, following up from a two day kickoff meeting in December where the experts defined their strategy for the year-long effort. Though launched in the wake of the mysterious loss of an Air France A330 over the Atlantic in June, the team is not charged with studying the accident. Air France instead launched the independent review in early December to obtain an in-depth assessment of its company in terms of operations, safety management and reliability. "This safety review will cover all internal operating methods, decision-making processes and practices which could have an impact on the safety of Air France's flights," the carrier has previously said. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jet makes emergency landing in Myrtle Beach http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2611240867_63e94ebf64.jpg [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102970686278&s=6053&e=001yc_F8kHYfCRgg8ESph4-0Ac3_VXTp2y5tzit-RnmrPGzqr9WMLBZTvlq4abxezgAhLCPsJcebrF--_dBb3awb4WBbujTz_q6Yo8-AaIQc8T00z5AZgLkHqAEKABpZrdClIA7gm7G4EN6rzV-w8bVIe8YqEF-DTXl2ZnEP8oWXfNmQ24fpA212Lp9uIgJlKAC8fyoS4zAc4pDh6GFxU5dnkTeSwGo7pstScJYRGy1v1LvVCGh4cQxIw==] A flight from New York to Charleston made an emergency landing in Myrtle Beach Wednesday afternoon. The Delta commuter jet with 19 people onboard landed after a smoky odor in the cabin. Delta says the plane was a Comair commuter jet. No one was injured. The passengers were taken by taxi to Charleston. Among the passengers, MSNBC hosts, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. They are scheduled to moderate the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial debate Thursday in Charleston. http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=408117 [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102970686278&s=6053&e=001yc_F8kHYfCR9hbG7EzaAlzKNDiiMFKf2-CrAnjbXpyea8DFhfAw43C9C7QkszoSZH72sfbxl2pRK9wCk5B--OMSYeRo8EwxHBPuDyxhoWu6Xz3jEkNdgBKb6EQGIyWEof5ympQM0btj4aFR9DXhnjGa0odIgYv_6] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Military plane crash in Philippines kills 8 (CNN) -- A Philippine Air Force plane carrying military officials crashed in a residential area outside Manila on Thursday, killing at least eight people, CNN affiliate ABS-CBN reported. The plane went down about 11:30 a.m. in Cotabato City and crashed into several homes before bursting into flames, said Lt. Col. Raymundo Ferrer, a military spokesman. Among the dead was Maj. Gen. Butch Lacson, commander of a division of the Philippine Air Force, the affiliate said. Two pilots and five crewmen were also killed in the accident. Lacson had attended a meeting of air force officials in Davao City on Wednesday, Ferrer said. The plane left Davao City Thursday morning and had dropped off a tactical operations group at Awang Airport in Cotabato City. The aircraft went down shortly after takeoff. It was headed to Zamboanga city when it crashed. ***** Date: 28-JAN-2010 Time: 11:30 am Type: GAF N22 Nomad Operator: Philippine Air Force Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 Other fatalities: 1 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Cotabato City - Philippines Phase: Initial climb Nature: Military Departure airport: Awang Airport - RPMC Destination airport: Zamboanga Int. Airport - RPMZ Narrative: Crashed in a residential area shortly after takeoff (aviation-safety.net) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Are you ready to fly on a Russian regional jet? A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 The Sukhoi "Superjet" could be flying for commercial airlines by mid-year, according to The Associated Press. The news agency writes " Russia's much-anticipated regional passenger aircraft, the Sukhoi Superjet, should be given flight certification by the summer, officials reportedly said Wednesday. The Superjet, produced by Russian airline maker Sukhoi in association with Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, has been widely seen as Russia's chance to gain a competitive foothold in the international passenger airline market." AP adds "the jet, which seats 75 to 95 people, has a range of about 2,500 miles and is priced at $29 million a piece. Superjet is designed compete against other regional craft such as the Embraer E-Jets and the Bombardier CRJ program. Locally, it will replace Russia's aging fleet of Soviet-designed Tu-134s and Yak-42s in moving people across Russia's vast spaces." So far, all of the 122 orders for the jets have come from Russian and European customers. The biggest? AP says that would be Russian flag carrier Aeroflot, which "recently withdrew its creaking, Soviet-era Tu-154 fleet from service." Sukhoi officials say they expect the first Superjets to be delivered to customers about in mid-2010, according to AP. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=76144.blog [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102970686278&s=6053&e=001yc_F8kHYfCRHObYA4Ak9yV30nLFMOBOPt4lXFzkskN3Js31WbrMCT7vcPXttrbqnsxxnQIe3fZCz9vx-YRGEwJ2IWQb6cTEebdxyKoGYWhS0AD4d_NSDXu92wUP7qDx8DWNz3p-jxHFxvN6RzfpI0W9qe9YDn-jtsQLK4Zf_aqcvGIcZ0TUlGqapP2e482V9wGbtrLUBfaNom2WEU45UUzyoUAq8VeFY] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Miners propel safer aviation standards AIRCRAFT operators who service the mining industry will be required to meet stricter standards under an initiative led by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. They have combined with the Flight Safety Foundation, the global independent body for aviation safety, to streamline reporting, auditing and accreditation in an effort to improve safety standards in Australia and overseas. The foundation, which will launch the standard today, told BusinessDay that operators that did not comply would lose their contract to service fly-in-fly-out operations. Under the Basic Aviation Risk Standard, operators will avoid undergoing multiple audits, with the foundation to accredit auditors to comply with the standard. The foundation will also collect and analyze safety data to uncover any recurring issues. Aviation co-coordinators from mining companies that opt in will be trained to receive a basic understanding of aviation and how the standard operates around the world. The foundation's global chief executive, Bill Voss, said the standard would have broader applications than just the resource sector. ''A few days ago I left Rome, where I met with the World Food Program. They run a major aviation operation and make up a large percentage of the air traffic in Africa,'' he said. ''They are head over heels for this, because they see it as an important tool for them to upgrade those operators. So humanitarian efforts will benefit as a result of this.'' Paul Fox, executive director of the Australian Flight Safety Foundation, said the standard was ''home-grown'', created in collaboration with the Australian resource sector, but set to be introduced worldwide. ''What the resources guys were saying to us is that 12 times the audits does not mean 12 times the safety,'' he said. ''Australia itself is quite a safe area from a resources perspective but that standard will improve as well. Where this is going to bite is internationally: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Africa, South America.'' BHP, Rio, Lihir Gold and Minerals and Metals Group are the foundation signatories to the standard. The foundation expects dozens more to sign up within months. http://www.smh.com.au/business/miners-propel-safer-aviation-standards-20100127-mz1u.htm [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102970686278&s=6053&e=001yc_F8kHYfCSXPAsOrWax48I-0pA2-LVxI1nEzA_dN0lSF4L5uPvl78jg6sR3BwEJVejPAiww0z3YC3UDkNXPQAeeDXvVD8_BCeExp8DFyDzOMce-MzaoTJ3dV8YvQFwnSrtAeO7dAKm9Cq2ZhPPexKjErL8ZbMp7bocAcAxO_bGvbd8v9PYETAqR8MuIisu4NV3BG-AXvgo=]l ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA: Remedial training programs now in place US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt says all 85 air carriers the agency inspected in the aftermath of the February 2009 Colgan Air Q400 crash now have remedial training in place, and programmes designed to "identify, track and manage low-time flight crew members and those who have failed evaluation events or demonstrated a repetitive need for additional training". Testimony from a May public hearing held by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the Colgan crash showed that the aircraft's captain had failed several flight tests while at Colgan, and other checks before he was employed there. The crash killed 49 passengers and crew on the aircraft and one person on the ground after the aircraft stalled at low altitude and impacted the ground on approach to Buffalo, New York at night. The FAA in June launched a broad "Call to Action" review of the industry to investigate issues brought to light in the Colgan investigation, including pilot flight time, rest, fatigue, qualifications, training, records and professionalism. As part of the review, FAA inspectors over a four month period in the latter half of 2009 conducted two-part "focused" reviews of flight crew training, qualification and management practices at 85 air carriers, including a check of whether carriers had put in place the voluntary remedial training programmes. Fourteen other air carriers were assumed to have remedial tracking in place as part of their advanced qualification programmes (AQP), a voluntary programme that lets carriers customize their training regimes with FAA oversight and certain reporting requirements. In its latest update of the Call to Action programme, published 26 January, the FAA stated that eight carriers "lacked any component of a remedial training system and have received additional scrutiny". The agency did not provide the names of the airlines. At a press conference today however, FAA administrator Randy Babbitt said all eight airlines had voluntarily put in place remedial training programmes. Babbitt says the FAA would publish this spring a proposed pilot flight time, rest and fatigue rule and a supplement to a 2008 proposed rulemaking related to pilot training. Babbitt says the FAA decided to supplement the original document based on the 3,000 comments it received on the proposal. Babbitt says the FAA will also publish an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on minimum qualifications for pilot ratings, which he says will likely see a boost from the 250h minimum flight time experience needed to qualify for an FAA commercial pilot certificate. The 250h minimum is currently the requirement for first officers in an airline operations. "What I've said before is that the commercial certificate maybe should be 750h instead of 250h, with exposure to a variety of commercial aircraft systems and operations," says Babbitt, adding that the hike would not immediately affect the supply of pilots needed by the industry. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iranian Government to ban acquisition of ageing aircraft Iran preparing to change its regulations for aircraft acceptance, to ensure that new additions to airline fleets are no older than 2000 vintage. The new rules will be introduced in a few days, according to the Iranian transportation ministry, which says that it will revise current regulations allowing purchase of aircraft dating back to 1995. Its decision follows the loss of a Tupolev Tu-154 at Mashhad on 24 January. The Soviet-era jet was from the Russian Kolavia fleet, operating on behalf of Taban Air. Iranian carriers have suffered other major accidents recently involving older types, including the loss of a Caspian Airlines Tu-154 and an Aria Air Ilyushin Il-62 in July last year. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ares V & Ares I [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102970686278&s=6053&e=001yc_F8kHYfCRcN1QwVvnxRzwdMYZGv8M92-pIIWerAzs1xKP6kRNlxRTUVvw9_menrLI0As4EYFM4zADaFsIoopjCjwEp9YQ_FmkJbUhzETAOrdQmiIqsTixQC5H3IiVz5s6-RJz2Ndko2yZD3yzFIaCDp1RY9Mx7FxhcaxU4bDJSKZasftDMnHC0wF1tOxcAapHaShsPJfqYCVWEc6Wn9A==]Obama administration wants to outsource U.S. space flight A report in the Orlando Sentinel states that the Obama administration's coming budget does not include funding for the Constellation program, moon bases nor lunar landers. The Constellation program included the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule and the Altair Lunar Lander. Constellation was supposed to replace the retiring Shuttle program, which will fly its last missions this year. In between projects, NASA was going to buy rides on the Russian Soyuz vehicles at $51 million per seat. However, with the impending new budget on the horizon, it seems as if the U.S. will find itself with no space transportation. Another alternative, would be to take contracts out with private companies who will build capsules and rockets to be used as 'space taxis'. The Orlando Sentinel reports that the budget will include funding these contracts but this would be a huge change in how NASA has operated since its inception 50 years ago. According to the Sentinel, NASA contractors have been quietly getting ready for the scrapping of Ares I because they claim that NASA is years behind schedule on the program and has already gone way over budget. However, NASA's budget is anticipated to rise in 2011, according to Space.com. Although the amount is less than anticipated by NASA's contractors. Additionally, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel advises the U.S. not to stop working on Ares in order to turn to commercial alternatives that are not proven. http://www.examiner.com [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102970686278&s=6053&e=001yc_F8kHYfCRgg8ESph4-0Ac3_VXTp2y5tzit-RnmrPGzqr9WMLBZTvlq4abxezgAhLCPsJcebrF--_dBb3awb4WBbujTz_q6Yo8-AaIQc8T00z5AZgLkHqAEKABpZrdClIA7gm7G4EN6rzV-w8bVIe8YqEF-DTXl2ZnEP8oWXfNmQ24fpA212Lp9uIgJlKAC8fyoS4zAc4pDh6GFxU5dnkTeSwGo7pstScJYRGy1v1LvVCGh4cQxIw==] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC