Flight Safety Information March 8, 2010 - No. 050 In This Issue Jet with 74 aboard makes emergency landing Robots join hunt for Air France jet's data Iran to replace Russian pilots with nationals Air safety report lists 70 malfunctions European business aviation fears airline flight time limitation rules Evergreen aviation shocked to lose Boeing contract ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jet with 74 aboard makes emergency landing ASPEN, Colorado (AP) - Officials say a jet carrying 74 people made an emergency landing at the Aspen airport after smoke entered the pilot's cabin. Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Alex Burchetta says SkyWest Airlines flight 5940 made a safe landing Sunday afternoon and there were no reports of injury among the 70 passengers and four crew members. Marissa Snow, spokeswoman for the St. George, Utah-based airline, tells the Glenwood Springs Post Independent that the emergency occurred shortly before 1 p.m. after the aircraft left Aspen en route to Denver. Aspen airport aviation director Jim Elwood tells the paper that the smoke was caused by a faulty air conditioner. Officials say the conditioner was repaired and the Canadair Regional Jet 700 continued its flight to Denver later in the afternoon. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robots join hunt for Air France jet's data By Alan Levin, USA TODAY The hunt for the Air France jet that disappeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean last June will be one of the most sophisticated deep-water search attempts in history when it resumes this month, according to French accident investigators and oceanographers. More than nine months after Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went down after encountering storms, an armada of the world's most advanced underwater robots are being moved to the site near the equator between Brazil and Africa. The search, coordinated by the French investigators at the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA), is using equipment that located items as small as an oil drum and a chain 3 miles beneath the ocean surface in an unsuccessful attempt last year to locate Amelia Earhart's plane. "If it's in there, they'll find it," said Ted Waitt, the computer entrepreneur whose foundation helped fund the Earhart search. Two of the three robots being used by the BEA are owned by the Waitt Institute for Discovery. Technology in underwater searches has leapfrogged what was used to find the Titanic in the North Atlantic in 1985. That search used a single towed sonar device that scanned the ocean floor and a submersible video camera. The new search for the Airbus A330 will use three robots capable of crisscrossing the depths on their own for hours at a time, creating high-definition sonar images of the ocean floor, according to the BEA. Three other vehicles designed to photograph the wreckage and to remove items, such as the crash-proof flight recorders, are also being used. The area of the Atlantic where the plane went down is heavily mountainous and is between 10,000 and 13,000 feet deep. The underwater robots are designed to cruise near the bottom, automatically climbing and descending with the contour of the bottom. The search is being financed by nearly $14 million from Airbus and Air France. Equipment and expertise from the USA are playing important roles. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the U.S. Navy are key players, according to the BEA. One reason to think that the latest search may prove more successful than previous efforts is that searchers are heading to a new search zone. Teams of experts studied how ocean currents and winds moved bodies and debris from the jet to pinpoint where the Airbus A330 most likely went down, according to BEA documents. French investigators searched for months in vain for Air France Flight 447 after it went down June 1. First, ships listened without success for the pingers designed to lead searchers to the "black box" recorders. Then sonar searched the seabed in a rectangular patch southeast of the jet's last known position. The BEA believes the crash was triggered by ice on the jet's speed sensors. Without the jet's recorders, however, many details remain unknown. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/robotics/2010-03-07-air-france_N.htm [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103155183964&s=6053&e=0018LKCbTrAJVW-ga3uhvw4N_C9I12aIjoXXi1aOFmhRrvz4Xmy0zrE9XNmXobB06V67yMd-v5eWwQR-njeBA3qBLo3Et-1xFmfO1t6FH-Ntui36agliZ_GDgJEqS4BzYgW4-afzQdRu5PcDhqJ0A9I4Dpw3PNzvI6BCGpIm-mgolBGIlXFXuireQ==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iran to replace Russian pilots with nationals TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's transport minister said on Saturday that Russian pilots flying for Iranian airlines will be replaced by local cockpit crew within two months, the Fars news agency reported. "The ministry of transport has given a two-month period, after which all Russian pilots must leave the country," the agency quoted Hamid Behbahani as saying. When Iran has "a number of professional pilots, there is no need for importing them to operate our flights," the minister was quoted as saying. It was not immediately clear how many Russian pilots were flying for Iranian airlines, or whether Iran had enough fully trained aviators to replace them. Iran had one of the best air safety records before the 1979 Islamic revolution, but it has suffered a number of major air accidents over the past decade, most involving small companies using planes and crew from Russia or Central Asia. A Western embargo banning the sales of new planes and parts, together with growing demand for air travel from a burgeoning population, forced Iran to look to Russia and the ex-Soviet republics for planes and air crew. An Iranian pilot who flies a Russian Tupolev aircraft said he did not think the order for Russian pilots to leave would cause major problems, because it took only up to three months to become a fully qualified co-pilot. "I do not think the Russian planes will be grounded after the departure of Russian pilots as there is an abundance of (Iranian) pilots given the mushrooming of private flying schools in Iran," he said on condition of anonymity. Iran's civil and military fleet is made up of ancient aircraft in very poor condition due to their age and lack of maintenance. In January, a Russian-built Tupolev 154 plane owned by Taban Airline and piloted by a Russian caught fire but crash landed safely in the northeastern city of Mashhad. In July last year, another Soviet-designed Tupolev caught fire mid-air and plunged flaming into farmland northeast of Tehran, killing all 168 people on board. It was Iran's worst air crash in six years. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air safety report lists 70 malfunctions (Australia) Problems with on-board oxygen and pressurisation systems, escape slides failing to deploy, fumes in the cockpit and a shattered pilot's window are just some of the problems that affected Australia's passenger jets over the recent busy summer holiday season. Failing flight computers and sensors, broken and burnt wiring looms, a tyre blow-out, cracked metal components and stuck valves are among technical faults reported by Australia's airlines to the safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. In a litany of plane faults, almost 70 significant malfunctions to have affected airliners have been reported to the authority for the eight weeks from the start of December to the end of January. The report is dubbed CASA's ''crash comic'' by aviation industry insiders. And the myriad failures - some were detected on the ground but some occurred in the air - are not necessarily one-off incidents. For example, a co-pilot's external window pane was shattered on a Boeing 737 mid-flight over the holiday period. CASA has recorded 30 other incidences of the same breakage over the past five years. Likewise, there was another failure of the same type of flight data box that is believed to be responsible for the wild ride of an Airbus A330 over Western Australia in October 2008. The latest failure brings to seven the total number of similar data box failures known by CASA. Other failures over the two months included landing gear that was suspected of activating mid flight, a fuel pump failure, an anti-ice valve failure, a failed smoke detector and the failure of an aircraft's anti-lock brake system. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority can only require reports of the technical failures on Australian registered aircraft, and the collation of ''similar'' failures generally goes back for the past five years, spokesman Peter Gibson said. But he said passengers need not be too alarmed, because most aircraft systems had some sort of back-up built in. ''It is important to remember passenger-carrying aircraft have many redundant systems, so a problem with one component does not necessarily lead to a safety-of-flight issue,'' he said. ''In the same way, components such as windscreens are manufactured so that a crack in one layer of the windscreen does not lead to a failure of the windscreen.'' While Australia enjoyed the safest skies in the world, there was no room for complacency, said Paul Cousins, federal president of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, which represents the technicians who fix aircraft. ''The Australian public should not walk around with blinkers on, thinking things are all OK,'' he said. ''Aircraft are just like any machine, they need to be maintained to a very high level for them to perform correctly.'' He said passengers should question airlines over their maintenance practices when they buy tickets. ''You can't call the roadside van at 30,000 feet,'' he said. http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/air-safety-report-lists-70-malfunctions-20100307-pqql.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ European business aviation fears airline flight time limitation rules European business aviation sees the application of scientifically designed crew fatigue risk management systems by operators as preferable to being forced to comply with new flight time limitation rules designed for airline operations, says European Business Aviation Association president Brian Humphries. With that in mind, the EBAA is asking its membership to collaborate in a study of crew fatigue exposure to enable information to be gathered for study by sleep and fatigue scientist Dr Mark Rosekind of US-based Alertness Solutions. The EBAA is emphasising the importance of plentiful high-quality feedback: "Until now, business aviation has been inadequately covered by EU-Ops Subpart-Q for flight time limitations. As the European Aviation Safety Agency prepares to amend these rules, the EBAA has launched a fatigue factors survey and will use the input of pilots to propose a new set of tailored rules [for business aviation operations] to be included in the revision." The revision of EU Ops Subpart Q is proving controversial with airlines as well as business aviation, and it is driving more operators of both types to develop fatigue risk management systems for approval as a part of their safety management system. The result of applying a tailored fatigue risk management system can be greater operational flexibility than flight time limitation laws allow, combined with a reduced fatigue risk. The unpredictability of business aircraft operations compared with the airlines' timetabled schedules makes airline flight time limitations insufficiently flexible for the former, but a study of the risks peculiar to business aircraft can enable solutions to be developed to minimise fatigue risk, says Rosekind. These include developing and maintaining alertness strategies to address crew fatigue, particularly during critical phases of flight; learning how to maximise the benefit from crew rest both on and off duty; and the best ways of coping with the effects of long-haul flights http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/03/08/339012/european-business-aviation-fears-airline-flight-time-limitation.html [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103155183964&s=6053&e=0018LKCbTrAJVWOn6BByRlTMP8n45uaz5muA3jdeFJMO1XFcLHcviRhHditUmou877H9EdN5bv0uC_WLyyzldvnmaIFhNcwgpnydjz1itcsfTAWRwxGd3Q7O3BkfEkrsuwIk0fEac_bcaVMI5Rbrol9rALGE4DPDVXNaTKI558KW5FVm2osORCZfahL8SJezMBVtWgLmjgxPgZyWTRbbpxxT3AE5ksVNp0J50nQ_vppOKG-N-pVF9da25urvxLobGbI] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103155183964&s=6053&e=0018LKCbTrAJVW0cJZVs-j1vd6ZACRmAyx88QYZorZdvl9K4NWEcvVR4rJD6HIi-yttA2EHdi62F119FYCXUL1oLFL51z2BEDEB] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Evergreen aviation shocked to lose Boeing contract MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) -- Officials at Evergreen International Aviation Inc. are shocked and disappointed to lose a contract to operate Boeing Co.'s "Dreamlifter" super freighters, the chairman of the McMinnville-based aviation services company said. The converted 747 jumbo jets fly components for Boeing's new 787 jetliners to its assembly plant in Everett, Wash. Chicago-based Boeing announced last week that when its five-year agreement with Evergreen ends in September, it will shift the contract to Evergreen archrival Atlas Air. Evergreen Chairman Tim Wahlberg said the company was given no reason, no advance notice and no opportunity to submit a rival bid. "It really puts us in a bad position," Wahlberg said. "So to say we're disappointed, absolutely. "And we're really disappointed that Boeing hasn't come clean on what the deal is. It kind of hurts our reputation." Boeing has four Dreamlifters, 747s that have been modified by greatly expanding the fuselage to hold large subassemblies of 787s made by other companies. Evergreen was elated when it submitted the winning bid to operate the planes in 2005. Wahlberg said the work was expected to run about 35 years, with the contract subject to renewal every five years. He said Evergreen had been given no reason to think a contract review would be anything but routine. Boeing regularly praised the company for its work, Wahlberg said, with no reports of problems. "We were on time all the time. We ran a perfect operation," he said, and will continue to do so. Boeing spokesman Dean Tougas said Sunday that the company does not comment on how it analyzes agreements with outside companies and makes business decisions. In November, Boeing notified Evergreen that it was evaluating the operation as standard procedure, Wahlberg said. "Then, about a month ago, they said were looking more seriously at how to reduce cost, how to get best value, and they were possibly looking at some sales, or going to a third party, or possibly using Evergreen," Wahlberg said. "So then we're starting to get a little shaky. He said, "Last week, we got a call from this gentleman from Boeing," terminating the deal. "That leads us to believe the award was totally unrelated to the operation that we're running. "We don't know the facts. We thought would be nice if Boeing would have explained the facts to us. I don't know what to say." Wahlberg said losing the contract puts a number of jobs at risk. He said 75 pilots, mechanics and ground handlers are assigned to the Boeing program and about 200 more offer some level of support. Wahlberg said it's too early to say whether Evergreen can find new work for those employees. "The job continues until the end of September, so we don't have to figure that out today," he said. "I hope we can further employ these people doing something else." --- On the Net: Boeing: http://www.boeing.com Evergreen: http://www.evergreenaviation.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC