Flight Safety Information February 18, 2010 No.038 In This Issue Plane crash kills 3 Tesla Motors employees Status: Cessna 310R American Eagle, Flying Planes With Known Safety Problems FAA oversight of American Airlines criticized in report New search for Air France jet clue Air France probe narrows search area Fewer airline crashes in 2009, but more deaths Aircraft Accident Rate Drops In 2009 Airport Efforts to Detect Explosives Expand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plane crash kills 3 Tesla Motors employees, striking fear in East Palo Alto neighborhood A fog-shrouded East Palo Alto neighborhood was thrown into chaos Wednesday when a twin-engine Cessna crashed shortly after an early-morning takeoff, spilling wreckage and bodies onto a quiet bayside street - and triggering a massive outage that turned high-tech Palo Alto into a powerless island for 10 hours. The pilot and two passengers - all employees of Tesla Motors - were killed and three houses were damaged, including a home day care center. The plane brought down a high tension transmission tower, then broke apart in a dramatic and terrifying descent over the East Palo Alto neighborhood. A wing slammed into the day care, landing gear smashed into a garage, an engine careened into a carport and the fuselage skidded to a halt in the middle of Beech Street. Flames shot out from houses and debris. Miraculously, nobody on the ground was injured. Pamela Houston and six others fled from the day care as the plane came crashing down shortly before 8 a.m. "I grabbed the baby, and we ran into the street," she said. "We were all crying; we were screaming. There is not any word to describe the feeling.'' Authorities had not released the identities of any of the victims by late Wednesday. Authorities have also yet to identify who was piloting the plane, but the Cessna 310R was registered to a former Santa Clara company that was started by Doug Bourn, a Tesla engineer. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board said it's too early to say whether the plane struck power lines or a 60-foot transmission tower. At the time the plane took off, visibility was so poor - only one-eighth of a mile, and only 100 feet above the ground - that flights had been canceled or delayed at the Bay Area's three major airports. Yet others speculated that the plane's unusual veering path suggested a mechanical failure. Investigators said it will be at least five days before they finish a preliminary probe and months after that for an official report into what happened. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said taking off in bad weather is left up to the discretion of the pilot, whether it be a commercial or private plane. The Palo Alto Airport's control tower opened at 7 a.m., and the Cessna was the only plane to take off between then and around 8 a.m., Gregor said. He added that most commercial airlines have policies to follow before a pilot decides to fly. On the ground, the fog added to the confusion - and fear. Residents on Beech Street described waking up to explosions; some of them told of watching parts of the plane fall from the dense fog that blanketed the area. And saddest yet, a young girl and 10-year-old boy described seeing the bodies. Ten-year-old Luis Ramirez Sandin said he was in his front yard, getting ready to go to school, when he saw the blue-and-white plane descend, rock from side to side and then suddenly veer toward his home. It plunged to the street, striking several vehicles and bursting into flames, he said. "There was no way to get near to help out,'' said his father, Benjamin Ramirez, through a translator. "It was too hot, with tall blue flames. Everybody kept telling us to run. They told us not to get near it." "The first thing I thought about was my daughters," said Leslie Ramos of Menlo Park who was driving down Beech Street to pick up her two girls, ages 3 and 6, just as the plane was crashing. "I left my car in the middle of the street and ran to the house." When she was reunited with her daughters a few minutes later, the youngest was crying. Others ran into the street to find thick smoke rising from three houses. Many feared the worst for the children at the in-home day care center, but it was too early for them to have arrived, and the people living in the house managed to escape out the back. "Some neighbors ran to the house to help,'' said Houston, one of the people at the day care center. Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said he believes the plane clipped a power line on a PG&E high-tension transmission tower shortly after lifting off from the Palo Alto Airport runway just before 8 a.m., headed for Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Southern California. Moments after the crash, the power went out in neighboring Palo Alto. The city relies on PG&E's transmission lines to feed its city-run utility. Schools stayed open with teachers' improvising with no computers and principals using airhorns instead of class bells. Stanford Hospital resorted to backup power and diverted all nonemergency calls to hospitals outside the city. Businesses throughout the city were either forced to close or count cash the old-fashioned way. Some merchants took to the sidewalks to hawk coffee, sandwiches and pastries. But many blacked out of Palo Alto's high-tech offices left for Menlo Park and Mountain View to crash at Wi-Fi cafes. "I shudder at the thought of what it's going to cost in losses for these retailers," said Sherry Bijan, president of the Palo Alto Downtown Business and Professional Association. When the Cessna took off, 16 Southwest Airlines flights out of Mineta San Jose International Airport already had been canceled because of the fog. In foggy or cloudy weather conditions, planes taking of from Palo Alto Airport go straight down the runway and then turn 60 degrees to the right toward the bay at 1,000 feet, said Ken Gottfredson, who owns Advantage Aviation, a flying school and club for pilots that operates out of the Palo Alto Airport. "He was off to the left of center by half a mile," Gottfredson said. "He should have been over the bay." John Ferrell, a Los Altos Hills resident, who flies out of the airport three or four times a week, said he arrived there just after the ill-fated plane took off. "You couldn't see 100 yards in front of you," Ferrell said. He noted that under those conditions, a plane can take off but not land because the runway isn't visible. Despite speculation about the fog, Ferrell also suggested the plane's left engine may have gone out at takeoff, causing it to veer sharply to the left. "Even in the best weather, if you lose an engine on takeoff, it's very difficult to overcome it," Ferrell said. "You have to level the wings. You have to feather the engine." Bourn, an experienced pilot, has commercial and multiengine pilots licenses. An online bio from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers said he helped design and test the power electronics module for the Tesla Roadster. A graduate of Stanford University, Bourn enjoys "motorcycling, sky diving, flying and teaching others how to fly." No one was home Wednesday morning at his single-story house in Santa Clara, where two motorcycles and a Lexus were in the driveway. Neighbors said he lives alone. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14422231?source=most_emailed [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7saByuvEKMrG6st_nnZjCaUBeRJy2CNju9QnocYcXZMdnK8xQDik4K8dElzQgIECeDbVa2gP477YgP1paK9rCuwI0l_mfGI3impVY9RD8X5lZoHU1ywQVNX9InUXuqW1f_N8aGh1jNN1EtCcnEFG_MfFOqMelcmSzsM=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Status: Cessna 310R Date: 17-FEB-2010 Time: 07:45 Type: Cessna 310R Operator: Air Unique, Inc Registration: N5225J C/n / msn: 310R0807 Fatalities: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: East Palo Alto, CA - United States of America Phase: Take off Nature: Private Departure airport: KPAO Destination airport: Hawthorne, CA Narrative: Aircraft hit powerlines on departure and crashed into several houses. The three occupants in the aircraft sustained fatal injuries. No injuries on the ground as yet reported. Considerable damage to several houses and electical power interrupted. FAA now on scene. Update (10:50): 4 homes destroyed and 2 damaged. Parts from High Tension tower and power lines imbeded in burnt=out fuselage. Aircraft turned left upon departure instead of standard departure's right turn for yet undetermined reasons in IMC, dense fog. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ American Eagle, Flying Planes With Known Safety Problems I'll grant that math was never my strongest subject, so correct me if I'm wrong here. But after reading the Federal Aviation Administration [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sZ5R7CBKgWi6lDE5XeclGC504tkhNGMS-e6jfN9OeA4r1N6bXSNBRx-YJ9LJoO6OFaGbRwrO_O-hP6F1ZwubMOk2zzCRK3deXw=]announcement today that it will fine American Eagle $2.9 million for failing to comply with an airworthiness directive, I got out my calculator to see just what this fine really represents. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sZBnc1_QmlSM7cEvQ5RHKJMgmzL_11rx9dSY7hHCfa-06pinSFGqLjjvrYRNbHspc9TpSdF5PGPJtJUGCbozm38qwZVF1-FzjWnPvH6a3BFd20jjh3wmu6V]characterization notwithstanding, it doesn't sound so "stiff" to me. But first some background: Over the past few years aviation safety authorities have issued a few directives to both the private and commercial operators of Bombardier [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sZDmo4MSr7_-wTerUGsphGXtF3QLMRZ8exrSL9UfC-JAyz87SP09QnFJMvuXq9kxjI7LX6_ATv05ZkLa9UdxjW5BvRhp-RmhUypvTA1QPU88axFOsK2aEfnQemjbkcHMfU=]aircraft regarding landing gear and gear doors. It suffices to say there have been problems. Air travelers will be most familiar with the Bombardier CRJ-700, a 70-seat regional jet with a $35 million price tag. American Eagle owns two dozen of them and you'll see them in service at mid-sized airports and throughout the Caribbean. After a main landing gear door flew off an airplane in flight, the FAA, in the summer of 2006, ordered all airlines operating the CRJ 700 to inspect the gear doors [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sZMnGkwiqNJhv8JmugXiOwwwB0ruOqV4xtPDVTreyy8IGWXdOFPI9Qx-oaqkKnOJgnuq6LI7CF1NZS9TlFelbLR5rLcSrzF9HgRF7xf5jlFno4kHEYVdqWsUp1si4N2cEyGAxeeaYhT-pspV7h-xikpIyPTO20Z8gMczYh8yPtH8kCWMwgWUX3cs6eLirg2xh1FPr-Nwv1KMw==]for cracks as well as loose or missing fasteners. Airlines had plenty of time to do this inspection which the feds estimated would cost about $65 per airplane. Nevertheless, according to the FAA in 2008, American Eagle flew four airplanes with gear door problems on more than 900 flights. Even after discovering the flaws, American Eagle failed to fix the problems in the manner dictated by the directive. On the one hand, we've got to give credit to the FAA for fining American Eagle. What should be given the fisheye, is the size of the penalty and that's where the math comes in. For ignoring an order that airplanes with a safety problem be inspected and properly repaired and instead putting fare paying passengers on those airplanes more than one thousand times, American Eagle is being asked to pay what amounts to $2,461 per flight. That's why I'm having difficulty accepting Secretary LaHood's statement, "Airlines must know [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sZLGincLiBqQFKrcnl0_K2T8KLoZ4TYbL7Ktqre_vmzuyeVEvQJ7o69lyYxNbsLO6DZ81xwTmD1MpI2luYspmcBz7JMtpsa0KS4I2IeL3XMbCN6-dcJ0pErU3Zn-wP1Xl393zBJrPV9sHXgvJb-xDZSwrXB2xtmKq9uJk7hKLv8t49Zju8gkaWw]that if safety is compromised, they will be subject to stiff fines." When safety is compromised how about a fine slightly larger than the price of a first class domestic ticket? It has been my experience that the FAA proposes a fine but at the end of the process, the airline pays far less. I call your attention to the phrase, "proposed civil penalty," and the concluding sentence in the FAA's press release. "American Eagle has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's civil penalty letter to respond to the agency." Earlier this month, the FAA proposed [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sYJNB6mNDVwDN2mny3cK2gjYaITzspYO_qOoYJioYSFeGXu-1dQdCmIVaO9_zKkv8GiawagIBLH9_h2P9Qz6GrxjJllfbXCzLov-w5ETIbuHQhgKD5zuZ3wUeKL_qbpWY0NfqqcOTgHYax6y4h24hcnwyYqPFf369SnQ0rp7p6Rqg==]American Eagle pay $2.5 million for misstating cargo weights on more than one hundred flights. This isn't like lying about a pound or two when visiting the doctor's office. Determining actual aircraft weight is critical to safety. When asked about this, a spokeswoman for American Eagle told the Washington Post, the paperwork wasn't accurate but the computer tracked weight used by pilots was. As for the FAA's proposed penalty, she called that "excessive and inappropriate." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-negroni/american-eagle-flying-pla_b_466409.html [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sYs3JdkM8aqbuoL6kewLKRL2LLpV2b01onMjR2MN6XAS3X2pq9aL7IMVb-ZJWzYYw5Q3RZ2G-0QtY280A50iYwfVU0-QAMyvwNnFJFOv3eSg4Wn2GsUqtUzDsrOWe8io114x853wZr5EUZRabQY31iY6P2NxPVV5oxJSW-SjX7qwDrDHekpBm6rtH1ExX0bsGc=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA oversight of American Airlines criticized in report 12:44 AM CST on Thursday, February 18, 2010 By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News dmichaels@dallasnews.com The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON - Federal regulators have failed to correct mounting and long-standing maintenance deficiencies at American Airlines despite receiving detailed complaints about the carrier's problems, according to a federal investigative report due to be released today. The investigation, by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general, didn't identify any "immediate" flight-safety risks but concluded that American's operational reliability has decreased since 2004. The inspector general wrote that trend "increases the risk of serious incidents." While the inspector general's report faulted American, which has been under closer federal scrutiny for nearly two years, it blamed the Federal Aviation Administration for failing to inspect the carrier's increased maintenance deferrals and what the inspector general called American's "history of noncompliance" with required inspections. "Although various factors underlie each of American Airlines' maintenance-related events, a lack of adequate FAA oversight is a critical thread," the inspector general wrote, according to a copy obtained by The Dallas Morning News. In its response to the report, which has been anticipated by American for weeks, the FAA said it already identified "many of the same weaknesses." The regulator said it has been working with American to "elevate its maintenance practices" and was strengthening its oversight of other carriers. "While not described in the (inspector general's) report, the actions on these measures have either been completed or are underway," the FAA wrote in its response to the investigation. American declined to comment Wednesday on the report's findings. However, an American spokesman said that the carrier remains "very proud of our safety record and our employees' commitment to safety every day when operating American's 3,800 takeoffs and landings." Some of the problems highlighted by the inspector general echo failures uncovered by a 2008 congressional investigation of Southwest Airlines' maintenance lapses. Southwest later agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine to settle the FAA investigation of those lapses. For two years, FAA inspectors didn't perform required oversight of American's key system for identifying maintenance deficiencies that could cause accidents, according to the investigative report. A separate investigation last year in response to an engine fire aboard an American flight in 2007 said "repeated maintenance discrepancies" weren't detected by that system. The inspector general conducted its review after receiving a detailed complaint in February 2008 about maintenance problems at American. The same allegations were sent to the FAA, which assigned teams to review the allegations, the inspector general's report says. But they reached "faulty conclusions" because their review was too narrow and, in the case of one team, "performed hastily over one weekend," the investigative report says. The FAA office that directly oversees American, based in Fort Worth, concluded that American's operational reliability hadn't decreased. But it based its review on only two types of jets - the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Airbus A300 - and excluded the carrier's large fleet of Boeing 757s, the inspector general's report says. The FAA also missed American's failure to respond to a manufacturer's service bulletin from 2006 that alerted carriers to a problem with windshield heating systems on the Boeing 757 aircraft. In January 2008, an American jet made an emergency landing after the inner pane of its windshield shattered, blocking the visibility for pilots, the report says. Since that incident, the FAA still hasn't finalized a safety directive requiring carriers to address the windshield heating problem, the report says. In another case, an American technician with expired credentials performed a required inspection on a fire-damaged aircraft, the report says. The 2008 congressional investigation prompted a flurry of FAA inspections of carriers nationwide, which hit American the hardest. Inspectors found faulty wiring in the wheel wells of American's MD-80 jets. That resulted in the grounding of American's largest fleet and thousands of canceled flights for travelers. The FAA investigated the maintenance problems that precipitated the groundings and is expected to issue a civil penalty against American in the coming weeks. http://www.dallasnews.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sZgR19KpKOn5zfzqGngVrLGL4Tg_6IDgDnOxPSnoxO4yh7WjVTtWIEs76PqugUUpBSPte34R3L8TKOft_bccXN2HavELQFC06ADobS5X631Jf7Cg-YGeOSOZ92ocDq2v6JgJHqUyP6oFLlZ633sdf4B2lKrgxfjfvGKzGFl9KCieq-TJyxzOF-lmJ9WeljDr_yiBfxRqZKUEkj8Cf8kKmsr] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New search for Air France jet clues (UKPA) - 20 hours ago A new search in the Atlantic for the wreckage of the Air France Airbus that crashed mysteriously nine months ago has been announced. Flight 447 disappeared en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with the loss of 228 passengers and crew. A huge search operation immediately afterwards found some remains, but crucially none of the black box flight recorders that could provide vital information over the cause of the crash. The new £10 million search plan, involving US and Norwegian ships, will cover 77O square miles of sea, said Jean-Paul Troadec, chief of the French air crash investigation agency BEA. Victims' families welcomed the effort. John Clemes, whose brother was among the dead said it had "raised our hopes." "Our one regret is that it took so long" to resume searching that was halted last summer, he said. Mr Troadec said the search site includes depths of up to 12,000 feet, and the new search will be jointly financed by Airbus and Air France. The US Navy and the National Transportation Safety Board will help, along with accident experts from Britain, Germany, Russia and Brazil and private companies. The lifespan of the so-called "pingers" attached to the black boxes is only about a month, but officials say submarines and boats equipped with sonar gear can find the wreckage from the Airbus 330 even without the signals. The second and most recent search for the black boxes ended in August. Investigators have said that the crash was probably caused by a series of failures, but that they will not know definitively without the black boxes. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5i13AR-98KpN7VebSZ_jF_4kE_bqQ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sbs07YTWOq5XNdJD8lAgn6ExZgHLAZP_N83mmfPS5-SqxfknhGZh7AbiDfAyuRZ1t7dRJ6NDi27wceNq7dMn3_hEZAsjhxG6Uvf1C8QMLS1hO8FidKK7jAc0QZ4Qn5B8rP95D7FazE6NFEgdZsd4Gz4JrLFAxdFcVft8bNIY0ctP7scH9p4huQokT9LWynix28=] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sbkQyl-jZ6KQqSGVD88XJ1pRXBnoixADI_3rk7kwvI5n2wW1SJeg6fWHFFcO-X_P9JoHBxM3ZCvSA==] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air France probe narrows search area February 18, 2010 -- Updated 0313 GMT (1113 HKT) Investigators still don't know what caused an Air France jet to crash into the Atlantic Ocean. Paris, France (CNN) -- Investigators seeking the cause of the mysterious crash of an Air France jet last year have significantly narrowed the area they are searching to find the wreckage, a top official said. Air France Flight 447 crashed into deep Atlantic waters on June 1, killing all 228 people aboard. Most of the bodies -- and the flight's data recorders -- have never been recovered, despite extensive searches of the ocean floor. But the French air accident investigation agency, the BEA, is still hopeful, its head, Jean-Paul Troadec, told CNN on Wednesday. "We have determined a much smaller area which is about one-tenth of the previous area" being searched, he said. Investigators still do not know what brought down the plane, who was at the controls when it crashed, or what the pilots did in the moments leading up to the disaster, according to their latest report, released in December. But if they can locate the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, they should be able to determine the circumstances "very quickly, some weeks after the readout of the recorders," Troadec said Wednesday. The problem is that the plane went down in extremely deep water with enormous underwater mountains. "The area is very badly known," Troadec said, adding that ocean currents have not been mapped in the region, making it "difficult to analyze the trajectory of the debris. "We are in the middle of nowhere," he said. Two vessels, one American and one Norwegian, will trawl about 2,000 square kilometers in the latest phase of the search, which will last four weeks, he said. That's down from about 17,000 square kilometers in the initial hunt last year. "So, of course, it's much more easy to try to find the recorders," he said. Troadec said his agency is determined to press on with the hunt, even as the investigation threatens to become the most expensive in air accident history. "We have to perform this new phase because it's the only chance we have to explain this accident," he said. Patricia Coakley, whose husband, Arthur, died in the crash, said she doesn't need to know the cause of the disaster. "It was an accident. No matter what, it's not going to help me. ... Because it's not going to bring him back, is it?" she said. Flight 447 -- an Airbus A330 -- went down in stormy weather in the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. Some debris and bodies have been recovered, and an examination shows the plane hit the water belly first, essentially intact, officials have said. Automated messages sent from the plane in the minutes before the crash showed there were problems measuring airspeed, the investigators said in December. But that alone was not enough to cause the disaster, they added. Tests have already brought into question the performance of pitot tubes, which measure the pressure exerted on the plane as it flies through the air, and are part of a system used to determine air speed. Before it crashed, Flight 447 sent out 24 automated error messages that suggested the plane may have been flying too fast or too slow through thunderstorms, officials have said. The European Aviation Safety Agency issued a directive in late August requiring airlines to replace pitot tubes manufactured by Thales Avionics on Airbus A330s and A340s. It said airlines should replace them with other Thales tubes and those manufactured by Goodrich. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fewer airline crashes in 2009, but more deaths February 18, 2010 05:52 EST WASHINGTON (AP) -- An airline industry group counts fewer airline crashes last year compared to 2008. But, the International Air Transport Association says there were nearly 700 deaths in 2009, compared to about 500 the year before. There were 18 fatal airline accidents last year, five fewer than in 2008. Two-thousand nine's major accident rate was the second lowest ever. The Air France crash over the Atlantic, the Yemeni Airways crash in the Indian Ocean and a plane crash out of Tehran account for most of the deaths. An official at the Flight Safety Foundation says the current accident rate is only about half what it was in the 90s, thanks in part to technological advances. But, Jim Burin says the disturbing thing is that almost all the improvement in the accident rate took place in the first half of the past decade. http://www.weartv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/35da25fa-www.weartv.com.shtml [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sYVOZXAoOl5yL0ll2afwaRwbKgbDtYv5PUrlzRGIfGt1DFY_7v1hQfLul57jvi4Kqr9FMk7CzgFser7bbWGoQfG65JGs2zUFMBgOyfeMzrQFwDcbuaqOq9KVVPUmWZtsB5LIpAAIaauN5Q7LdkcqFMvJGqfsd8rHqOrmyPQz7bRDGgmMeZbPoaJwo9tzVqF_4g=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aircraft Accident Rate Drops In 2009 - Renewed Focus on Training, Data Montreal - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the aviation safety performance for 2009 showing that the year's accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft as the second lowest in aviation history. The 2009 global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jet aircraft) was 0.71. That is equal to one accident for every 1.4 million flights. This is a significant improvement of the 0.81 rate recorded in 2008 (one accident for 1.2 million flights). The 2009 rate was the second lowest in aviation history, just above the 2006 rate of 0.65. Compared to 10 years ago, the accident rate has been cut 36% from the rate recorded in 2000. In absolute numbers, 2009 saw the following results * 2.3 billion people flew safely on 35 million flights (27 million jet, 8 million turboprop) * 19 accidents involving western built jet aircraft compared to 22 in 2008 * 90 accidents (all aircraft types, Eastern and Western built) compared to 109 in 2008 * 18 fatal accidents (all aircraft types) compared to 23 in 2008 * 685 fatalities compared to 502 in 2008 "Safety is the industry's number one priority. Even in a decade during which airlines lost an average of US$5 billion per year, we still managed to improve our safety record. Last year, 2.3 billion people flew safely. But every fatality is a human tragedy that reminds us of the ultimate goal of zero accidents and zero fatalities," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO. IATA member airlines outperformed the industry average with a Western-built jet hull accident rate of 0.62. That rate is equal to one accident for every 1.6 million flights. "In 2009 IATA marked an important milestone in aviation safety. From April 1, all IATA members were on the registry of the IATA Operational Safety Audit-a testimony to our commitment to the highest global standards for operational safety. IOSA is the global standard. Today 332 carriers are on the registry, including IATA's 231 members," said Bisignani. There are significant regional differences in the accident rate. * North Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had zero western-built jet hull losses in 2009 * North America (0.41) and Europe (0.45) performed better than the global average of 0.71 * Asia-Pacific's accident rate worsened to 0.86 in 2009 (compared to 0.58 in 2008) with three accidents involving carriers from the region. * The Middle East and North Africa region saw its accident rate rise to 3.32 (compared to 1.89 in 2008) with four accidents involving carriers from the region. * Africa had an accident rate of 9.94, significantly higher than their 2008 rate of 2.12. Africa has once again the worst rate of the world. There were five Western-built jet hull losses with African carriers in 2009. African carriers are 2% of global traffic, but 26% of global western-built jet hull losses. An analysis of the causes of the 2009 accidents focuses on three main areas: * Runway excursions continue to be a challenge and accounted for 26% of all accidents in 2009. However, the total number of runway excursions dropped by 18% (23 vs 28 in 2008). IATA released its Runway Excursion Risk Reduction Toolkit in 2009, with an updated version to be produced later this year. The toolkit is incorporated with IATA's broad ranging safety data tools in the IATA Global Safety Information Center (GSIC), a customizable website which will enable users to extract relevant safety information through a single application and enable them to perform performance benchmark and conduct trend analysis and risk management. * Ground damage accounted for 10% of all accidents in 2009. To improve safety and reduce this US$4 billion annual industry cost, IATA introduced the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO). Built on similar principles to IOSA, ISAGO is the industry's first global standard for the oversight and auditing of ground handling companies. The first audits took place in 2008. To date a total of 149 audits have been conducted. * While runway excursions and ground damage were the main categories of accidents, pilot handling was noted as a contributing factor in 30% of all accidents. IATA's Training & Qualification Initiative (ITQI) is pushing for harmonizing a competency-based approach focused on training real skills while addressing threats presented by accident/incident reports and flight data collection and reporting. IATA will also work through ICAO to develop a Fatigue Risk Management System as part of the Safety Management System. This will be a new process to systematically manage crew fatigue taking into account changes in aircraft capabilities and airline operations. These initiatives are consistent with IATA's comprehensive Six-point Safety Program which focuses on infrastructure safety, safety data management and analysis, operations, Safety Management Systems, maintenance and auditing. "Safety is a constant challenge. Having made aviation the safest way to travel, further improvements will come only with careful data analysis. We must understand the underlying safety risk trends, not just from the handful of accidents each year, but by bringing together and analyzing data from millions of safe flights. The IATA Global Safety Information Center was launched in December 2009 for just that purpose. Going forward our goal is to work with other organizations and governments involved in aviation safety to add to the database and drive even more improvements," Said Bisignani. http://www.freightnet.com/release/4548.htm [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sYzpZLWnt-SqJ1VFfETm2LXi0cviTXSJ54BlF25pPr4hQSwz5h98eYTgSRnq8nE_P7sReKt8zLyq3d7TR6WyIr2qzn-rhr-fpZbjWzx5W-G_e4IrDxoMMaweEbkbE_uUHw=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airport Efforts to Detect Explosives Expand By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: February 17, 2010 WASHINGTON - Airport security screeners [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sa-C2pNRh9COWhVVQdrUaxX61seoIxRyjSIrXxNrS_s0D_STTpTyaSuKyV7QfCft84hEeL7zx9-YFeAjFiN4VsGtCMOE5E0_t6ZZHfzlvNtPRMe4psrTMduOYBjwR_GBmfpN3WgTc4sTvn1-BgnF4K_uVo_L4DcUYhx4SGNNPQtLSnpBuCrRuVyV9kfawwiTrGmezuKAsv0c7Z5uiV4KVtcD8d7kdfATG4iZtqmyMm-A6pkVZfEvZfE]are expanding the use of equipment to detect residues of explosives, swabbing the hands of passengers as well as their carry-on items, the Transportation Security Administration [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sYVxsdoLTzakDDF2qM0bAUA4-86cu9BvspgZg91NOoIly12AGNIAXsNRrnNNmxKrEP90ekoWMBUaQbT8BHRVvXBjidoaJSVuAdkTf_ROQOIwvPbb_jW-DlEUOecr3Y8AZI3AVCriwhn930pZXkX1eoOxa_gmB4X1VZBYRcS9m33rsBVbJJgD3SU1t5WJwSE3mcXnFEjjVZ0FZOVPEwjCfrTCRC7Wg4sibPLyoDgdlsROryMVCXF9qvIOY4tHtpXb6ZLc5xczWKI9A==]said Wednesday. For years, screeners have run a swab over carry-ons, often focusing on handles or zippers or other spots that a passenger is likely to have touched. The swab is then put into a machine that sucks out whatever it has picked up, and looks for molecules of substances used in explosives. Now, according to the agency, screeners will use swabs on hands as well. "This additional screening measure could take place at the security checkpoint, in the checkpoint queue, or boarding areas," the agency said. The agency said it had expanded efforts to detect explosives at security checkpoints after the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. A Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been indicted in that case. Now the agency will also be putting the detector machines on carts and rolling them down the concourses to boarding areas, randomly rescreening passengers who are already in the "sterile area" of the airport. The agency said this was part of "our layered approach to aviation security." Since the screening is random, "passengers should not expect to see the same thing at every airport or each time they travel," it said. Hand scanning is being added to the screeners' repertoire now just as shoe scanning was added after Richard C. Reid tried to blow up an airplane en route to the United States in December 2001. Even before the bombing attempt on Christmas, the T.S.A. was adding whole-body scanners, which produce images of passengers' skin and could reveal weapons or explosives under clothes; since then it has increased use of the scanners. It also conducts hand pat-downs, but prefers the scanners because they are faster. The agency looks for explosives using sniffer dogs and uses "behavior detection officers" who it says are trained to detect passengers who seem ill at ease. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/us/18tsa.html [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103062833422&s=6053&e=001c0RfDPEU7sbuqFBu5iLU0J5HFGGVjMYUOYEDs8s69c5OjJdu9WVop1Vw5G-2XjddJsdhYLhp_rbffWVbGJS4HgdTFtiMz1C4nZeFRdtXAjqGxTTESB_XfSAtYD9hh_2nn2mZ9yxujuNCifGRh1Rjq7Q-zHwwbG0b] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC