Flight Safety Information

February 10, 2010  No.032

In This Issue

American scrutinized in report, may face civil penalty
Southwest Facing Another Safety Probe
UK / AAIB: Final report on B777 loss of engine power
Authorities investigating Thai aircraft engine fire
Huge Russian jet lands at Fairbanks airport
Airbus: Expect To Deliver Over 100 Aircraft To China This Year
Japanese plane seat maker admits falsifying safety data

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American scrutinized in report, may face civil penalty
A government report expected in the next
week will scrutinize the way American Airlines and the Federal Aviation
Administration have handled maintenance problems, particularly related to
improper wiring repairs of American's MD-80 fleet in 2008.
And American could be facing a $10 million
to $20 million civil penalty related to the MD-80 issue, which resulted in the
cancellation of thousands of flights, according to The Wall Street Journal.
An article in the newspaper said the FAA
was close to levying the civil penalty, which would be the largest against an
airline.
However, other industry sources following
the issue said that a penalty is not imminent as far as they were aware.
American spokesman Tim Wagner declined to
comment on any possible civil penalty but said the company is proud of its
safety record and employees' commitment to safety.
In spring 2008, American was ordered to
ground its MD-80 fleet after the FAA determined that ties securing wiring
bundles in aircraft wheel wells were not properly spaced.
American had to cancel thousands of flights
as it brought aircraft in for inspections and repairs.
At the time, the company said the
inspections "are related to detailed, technical compliance issues and are
not safety-of-flight issues."
But the MD-80 maintenance issue also
prompted the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General to
conduct an investigation into American's handling of maintenance issues and FAA
oversight of the Fort Worth-based carrier.
The department's report was initially
expected to be released this week, but with back-to-back snowstorms in
Washington, D.C., forcing government offices to stay closed, the report is not
likely to be made available to the public until next week.
The report is expected to criticize the
FAA's Southwest Region Certificate Management office in Fort Worth and will
make recommendations on how the agency can more closely monitor American's
maintenance work.
Wagner said the carrier is aware of the
report, and its responses will be included in it.
"It would be inappropriate for
American to comment on the report's findings until the DOT officially releases
it," Wagner said.
The Transport Workers Union, which
represents American's mechanics and ground workers, said it has worked with
American to correct maintenance problems.
"As far as I can tell, these are all
past issues," said John Conley, director of the union's air transport
division. "The TWU has worked hard to correct those issues, and they are
not present today."
According to the Journal
report, federal regulators are also examining reports of faulty
repairs of engine-start systems, deferrals of other repairs, and mechanics
signing off on work without the necessary authority.
http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1958235.html [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103025810695&s=6053&e=001-da5SOPYrDE4Gmf7YUZP2sWcgGjQll7ozX9_7veXVDj6Phc0YfushN_7loRUiQmNpPQyc3jNhQFE4_8bNWEdYKFvAdg5G5yE7KsaUse1yGHaoMKUllBkLCMA70vvmotHpsqHCoFg_a-Zba8Mg383IW6lYhTuoPfP]
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Southwest Facing Another Safety Probe
Wed, 10 Feb '10
Third FAA Investigation Of The Airline In Two Years
The FAA has launched an investigation into possible violations of safety
directives by Southwest Airlines, the third time the agency had looked into the
carrier's safety practices in two years.
The investigation is a repeat of
the probe two years ago that again looks at how the airline complies with FAA
directives that keep older airplanes safe. It also has similarities to last
years' case in which Southwest used unapproved parts on 82 airplanes.
The Dallas Morning News reports
that Southwest could face tens of millions of dollars in fines because more
than 100,000 flights have been conducted using 44 airplanes that may be out of
compliance. FAA inspectors are looking into allegations that Southwest and a
Seattle-area repair station did not conform to federally approved procedures
when making fuselage repairs.
The FAA said it could not offer details about an ongoing investigation.
Southwest spokesperson Beth Harbin said "All of our maintenance operations
promote aviation safety by working in coordination with the FAA, equipment
manufacturers and aircraft maintenance organizations in every effort to ensure
that our fleet is maintained in accordance with applicable regulations and is
aligned with best practice in the industry."
The case will focus on work
performed by Aviation Technical Services in Everett, WA. The company was
contracted to replace skin panels in order to satisfy safety directives
requiring repeated inspections that stemmed from cracks in the skins of some
older B737's. The company said it could not perform the work as mandated, and
suggested its own solution to the problem. The FAA says Southwest approved
those changes without seeking federal approval.
Under federal regulations, the
airline is legally responsible for flying aircraft which are determined not to
be airworthy even if repair and inspection work is contracted to another
company.
FMI: www.faa.gov [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103025810695&s=6053&e=001-da5SOPYrDE9RTzkfdi9ks-8EtvyEPSeGo_VdUwaKwXT8Pb7ZLm1zsyfa4hd0mn3ISwWmv6ChnVCCrXMyAXzFeoNWCnM7TCOLORXGCVtCwI=],
www.southwest.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103025810695&s=6053&e=001-da5SOPYrDFY8zHf6_kxlXWr9QbECYYGvUkPNcYb6WGr2zEkNedmjaGbHoTNmjTKUQ1cUUTBYEuds_aCedvm1lx6CU5srUuemx3RmZh4QuVa7bt8oxh8lA==]
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Air Accidents Investigation Branch (UK)/AAIB: final report on B777 loss of engine
power and
crash-landing
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) released
the final report of their investigation into the accident involving a Boeing
777 at London-Heathrow Airport in January 2008.
Whilst on approach to London (Heathrow) from Beijing, China, at 720 feet agl,
the right engine of the B777 ceased responding to autothrottle commands for
increased power and instead the power reduced to 1.03 Engine Pressure Ratio
(EPR). Seven seconds later the left engine power reduced to 1.02 EPR. This
reduction led to a loss of airspeed and the aircraft touching down some 330 m
short of the paved surface of Runway 27L at London Heathrow. The investigation
identified that the reduction in thrust was due to restricted fuel flow to both
engines.
It was determined that this restriction occurred on the right engine at its
FOHE. For the left engine, the investigation concluded that the restriction
most likely occurred at its FOHE. However, due to limitations in available
recorded data, it was not possible totally to eliminate the possibility of a
restriction elsewhere in the fuel system, although the testing and data mining
activity carried out for this investigation suggested that this was very
unlikely. Further, the likelihood of a separate restriction mechanism occurring
within seven seconds of that for the right engine was determined to be very
low.
The investigation identified the following probable causal factors that led to
the fuel flow restrictions:
1) Accreted ice from within the fuel system released, causing a restriction to
the engine fuel flow at the face of the FOHE, on both of the engines.
2) Ice had formed within the fuel system, from water that occurred naturally in
the fuel, whilst the aircraft operated with low fuel flows over a long period
and the localised fuel temperatures were in an area described as the 'sticky
range'.
3) The FOHE, although compliant with the applicable certification requirements,
was shown to be susceptible to restriction when presented with soft ice in a
high concentration, with a fuel temperature that is below -10°C and a fuel flow
above flight idle.
4) Certification requirements, with which the aircraft and engine fuel systems
had to comply, did not take account of this phenomenon as the risk was
unrecognised at that time. (AAIB)
AAIB Report 1/2010 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103025810695&s=6053&e=001-da5SOPYrDGvNSphU2ts52q43OiTOdG21zSjSybXFklqZRJz0bQBLSK3-6C5x9SL_T4zaIlG0yn1DPTWdT5R6Cr4ZVm6wdyGaTXBYxu6sPRQ-yRviUDqSwY0jU5FLd5-pNuuosSFIv6ZYEMrxeJSls0FuAUWObyabzHIteM7uD7VPWAqEM7ZAzrh7cI6ms6V9H8wqM0ky7Uo55JBEs-UmqXk2sp9VN2ChgbuxCj9e-k=]
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Authorities investigating Thai aircraft engine fire
Ghim-Lay Yeo, Singapore (10Feb10, 03:20)
Thai authorities and representatives from Boeing and General Electric
(GE) are investigating an incident last week involving an engine fire on a Thai
Airways International aircraft.
The Boeing 747-400 took off from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport
for Chiang Mai on 3 February, but was forced to return to Bangkok 10mins after
take-off when an engine fire broke out. No injuries were reported.
Thai has since grounded the aircraft, registration HS-TGB, says an
airline spokeswoman.
The aircraft is powered by GE CF6-80C2B1F engines and was built in
2001, says Flightglobal's ACAS database.
An investigation team, led by the Thai government, is looking into
the cause of the fire, says the spokeswoman.
"We do not wish to speculate [on the cause] until we get the
results of the investigation team," she adds.
The team includes engineers from the government, and
representatives from Thai, Boeing and GE, says the spokeswoman.
A representative from the US National Transportation Safety Board
has been invited to be part of the team, she adds.
The incident has been classified as "serious" according
to ICAO regulations as there was fire, says the spokeswoman.
Results of the investigation should be available within two weeks,
she adds.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
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Huge
Russian jet lands at Fairbanks airport
by Jeff
Richardson /
FAIRBANKS
- Burnie Hall has seen a few airplanes in his time, but nothing quite like the
Antonov AN-225 that touched down in Fairbanks on Tuesday.
Hall, the owner of the local ground support company Omni Logistics, craned his
neck to look up at the monstrous Ukrainian cargo plane as it came to a halt
near the south passenger terminal at Fairbanks International Airport.
The AN-225 boasts six jet engines, a 290-foot wingspan and landing gear with 32
tires that come up to crew members' chests. The barrel-shaped body is capable
of carrying more than 50 vehicles, with a total cargo capacity of more than 250
tons.
Not only is it the biggest functioning airplane in the world, the Soviet-era
plane is the only one of its kind.
"I don't care what anybody says," Hall said. "That's an impressive airplane."
The AN-225 touched down in Fairbanks at about 10:15 a.m. for a layover to
refuel and rest the crew. The plane is on a trip from Narita, Japan to Haiti
with a load of earthquake disaster relief equipment.
The beefy cargo plane has never been in Fairbanks before, and the novelty
wasn't lost on airport employees. Dozens of people wandered outside the
terminal to take pictures or pose in front of the AN-225, while civilians
crowded behind a nearby gate to get a closer look at the airplane.
The AN-225 is scheduled to remain in Fairbanks until 11 p.m. tonight, when it
will resume its trip with a nonstop flight to Miami.
http://newsminer.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103025810695&s=6053&e=001-da5SOPYrDGz5Zv-GVSF3eY08bHa9cZOG4b-wBZoWAevfjtxFfd73O5Xy1YxdwifY6BkCUQpgVwvSSwTq_ZbqZj3F9gngvxYyO-LKADSj4LJaPhp4uVDGvx6qsKZrS9uT3-aREAO8WJg8V7hxflinCbP2FvZdMFRt0bf8NSOtM0BqDDfrbRi3cXzR7YYEGqolTbTYqao8b7Ph2HHFUC6N1g7KYPAnkCg1yH-y_Vx78se1pnCIvvGpnI0OwdkJ0nV]
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Airbus: Expect To
Deliver Over 100 Aircraft To China This Year
BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Airbus said Tuesday it
expects to deliver more than 100 aircraft to China in 2010, after delivering 78
jets to the country last year.
The company said in a statement last year's
deliveries to China accounted for 16% of its deliveries worldwide. Most of the
deliveries were from the A320 range.
Airbus said as of the end of December it had
a market share of 41%, or 537 jets, of China's total fleet of commercial
aircraft that have more than 100 seats.
"Airbus is optimistic about the air
transport industry in the new year as the world economy recovers slowly,"
it said. "In particular, the Chinese airline industry performed better
than the rest of the world."
The European aircraft maker said it is working
with Chinese regulators and China Southern Airlines Co. (ZNH) to deliver the
first A380 jet to China in 2011. China Southern ordered five A380s in 2005,
Airbus said.
"Airbus continues to expand its
activities in China and expects to develop not just manufacturing but also new
business and services in fields such as connectivity, air traffic management,
aviation finance and environmental protection," the statement said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100209-706232.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103025810695&s=6053&e=001-da5SOPYrDFAepwsujr4YwoDUMSsBlABzC2z5O_c-kiZ7-QkP58_0RyYsvQAOmDxg2XEYOA6e0CvAzsbgdwi161Tp4VZglV6G__IYssXajrqCNftwc8Zva70a0F4EJ2YC5r9Cju1gPjlIwPRVQLkcTlxopwVrqNUQZHExpnG4EB9FuUr9rIleKFBg7iNzgKGkJlmXy7fsMg=]
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Japanese
plane seat maker admits falsifying safety data
TOKYO
- Japan's Koito Industries has admitted to fabricating safety data for seats in
more than 1,000 aircraft used by 32 carriers, striking another blow to
corporate Japan's image of reliability.
The
Yokohama-based company used fake strength test data for more than 150,000 seats
used in the Boeing and Airbus aircraft of customers including Air Canada, KLM,
Scandinavian Airlines and Singapore Airlines.
Among
the affected aircraft were some 300 jets of domestic carriers Japan Airlines
and All Nippon Airways (ANA).
Transport
minister Seiji Maehara rebuked Okito for its way of handling the trouble,
calling it "vicious."
Japan's
transport ministry has already instructed the company to improve its business
operations, but stressed there was no problem with the planes continuing to
fly.
The
manufacturer omitted part of a test process and used figures from past tests,
the ministry said, adding that the data falsification could have been going on
since the mid-1990s.
"That
the company had intentionally fabricated data was extremely vicious,"
Maehara told reporters late Tuesday. "It's shameful that Japanese
companies fabricate data. Koito must face some stern social punishment."
The
nation's largest plane seat maker was ordered by the ministry to retest the
products to confirm their safety and would fix them if necessary, the company
said.
"I
deeply apologise," company president Takashi Kakegawa told a news
conference late Monday. "The whole section in charge was systematically
involved in it," he said, explaining that the company had been worried
"that we would delay our delivery if we failed in tests."
The
seat maker is a subsidiary of Koito Manufacturing, an auto parts maker
affiliated with Toyota Motor, which is now under fire over recalls of millions
of vehicles worldwide due to problems with gas pedals and brakes.
Toyota
Motor has no direct equity stake in Koito Industries.
A
transport ministry official said on condition of anonymity that the authorities
had been alerted to Koito's problem after they "received several reports
from insiders" over the company's data fabrication.
"We
will make copy samples of already delivered products, retest the safety
standard and possibly decide on a recall if the samples fail to meet the
standards," said Koito spokesman Yoichiro Kuroiwa.
The
data-cooking scandal has delayed deliveries of seats for two of ANAs' Boeing
737-800 planes, a spokeswoman of the carrier said, adding that the company
would continue flying its aircraft as usual.
"About
26,000 seats are subjected to safety checking by the ministry and Koito,"
said ANA spokeswoman Nana Kon.
"But
it will not affect our current flight schedule as the authorities have decided
it would not cause an immediate safety concern."
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Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC