Flight Safety Information March 9, 2010 - No. 051 In This Issue NTSB: Pilots need air-hazard skills...ACCIDENT PREVENTION American Airlines chief pilot Mark Hettermann to retire Incident: Skywest E120 near Fresno on Mar 8th 2010, engine shut down in flight ICAO to hear concerns over checklist vulnerabilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB: Pilots need air-hazard skills ACCIDENT PREVENTION By Alan Levin, USA TODAY Accident investigators say new flight simulators could help correct the biggest killer in aviation: pilots who can't recover from out-of-control situations like the one that killed 50 people in a crash near Buffalo last year. Pilots at airlines receive almost no hands-on training in how to recover from aerodynamic stalls and other extreme scenarios, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The reason for the glaring shortfall is that current flight simulators, the backbone of airline training programs, cannot accurately reproduce such calamities. Years of research in the military and NASA has led to new simulators that accurately represent how planes behave in stalls, severe icing and other crash scenarios, according to the NTSB and scientists - but there is no federal requirement to use those simulators. he machines could help with one of the most vexing and deadly problems facing aviation. A USA TODAY review of NTSB accident reports over the past decade found that 317 of the 433 airline fatalities on U.S. carriers since 2000 - or 73% - could have been prevented with better simulator training. Around the world, planes that went out of control and crashed killed 1,991 people from 1999 through 2008, according to Boeing. That is more than twice that of the second-biggest category, accidentally flying into a mountain or the ground. I n the crash near Buffalo on Feb. 12, 2009, a pilot jerked the plane into a steep climb that stalled the wings. The proper way to recover would have been to lower the plane's nose, but the pilot kept trying to pull the nose up, according to the NTSB. The plane struck a house, killing all 49 aboard and a man in the home. Expanded simulator training "is crucial if we want pilots to recognize and respond appropriately to these deadly stall upset events," NTSB Chairwoman Debbie Hersman said. The safety agency endorsed enhanced simulators for pilot training last month, and it is up to federal regulators to require them. The Air Line Pilots Association, the nation's largest pilots union, says better simulators and other training improvements can reduce accidents. "There's no excuse not to" use the new technology, said Bryan Burks, who heads the union's committee to improve training for handling out-of-control aircraft. Even advocates of the improved simulators say they are not foolproof. For instance, the machines can't reproduce violent motions that a real plane encounters when it goes out of control. Federal regulators have ordered improvements in simulators and are in the process of studying ways to enhance pilot training. However, they are not completely sold on the new simulators. John McGraw, deputy director of the Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Standards division, said the agency would prefer to focus on training that helps pilots avoid losing control. "It is too early for us to make a determination whether we need to change something," McGraw said. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-03-08-flight-simulator-accidents-pilot-training_N.htm Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ American Airlines chief pilot Mark Hettermann to retire Mark Hetterman, American Airlinesvice president of flight, will retire June 1 after nearly seven years as American's chief pilot. He has sent out a "dear colleague" letter announcing his retirement "with privilege and pride." "The privilege comes from the trust placed in me by Gerard Arpey and Bob Reding as our airline navigated through the most challenging times in our industry's history," he wrote. "The pride emanates from being picked to represent the finest Flight Department, in the world's finest airline, while being part of an officer team that crafted, and an employee team that implemented, a survival strategy that has protected our airline's position as a premiere global network carrier," Hettermann wrote. "My appreciation and respect goes to each and every one of you for the role you have played in the survival story that has come from that strategy - unlike any other in our global industry," he concluded. Hettermann succeeded Robert Kudwa as VP-flight in September 2003 after serving as chief pilot and base manager at American's Washington, D.C., base. He was one of Arpey's first executive picks after Arpey took over as CEO in April 2003. Kudwa left American prior to Hettermann's appointment. His career was typical of many pilots of his age: The former U.S. Air Force pilot joined American in 1973 after time in the military, then was furloughed a year later. He flew as a flight engineer, first officer and captain in a variety of airplanes. His promotion came right after pilots and other employees had to swallow big cuts in pay, working conditions and benefits to go with post-9/11 furloughs. As such, he was often vilified and lampooned by the Allied Pilots Association, particularly after contract talks began in September 2006 and a new slate of national officers took over in July 2007. http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/03/american-airlines-chief-mark-h.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Incident: Skywest E120 near Fresno on Mar 8th 2010, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Mar 9th 2010 07:53Z, last updated Tuesday, Mar 9th 2010 07:53Z A Skywest Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia on behalf of United Airlines, flight OO-6237/UA-6237 from Las Vegas,NV to Fresno,CA (USA) with 15 passengers and 3 crew, was on approach to Fresno, when the crew reported they had shut down one engine. The airplane continued for a safe landing. The airline said, the engine shut down was done as a precaution. The cause is under investigation. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SKW6237/history/20100309/0039Z/KLAS/KFAT Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ICAO to hear concerns over checklist vulnerabilities David Kaminski-Morrow, London (08Mar10, 15:47 GMT, 261 words) Checklist design will be on the agenda of an ICAO high-level safety conference this month, following the fatal loss of a Spanair Boeing MD-82 during take-off at Madrid two years ago. Spanish delegates, on behalf of European air transport authorities, are set to put forward a proposal to apply safety management principles to checklist design. Spanair flight JK5022 crashed in August 2008 after its crew failed to extend the MD-82's flaps. Investigators found that the pilots twice missed a specific check on the flap deployment while taxiing out for a departure which had already previously been interrupted by a technical problem. The Spanish presentation states that checklists "continue to be long and protracted" and adds that they do not necessarily prioritise the most important items. "It is not unusual that the sequence of safety-critical items to be verified does not reflect the safety hierarchy or the importance of the verification to be performed," it says. Linear, uninterrupted checklists, it adds, are inconsistent with concurrent and frequently-interrupted flight-deck activity, and while checklist availability is considered a safety barrier, specific standard procedures to support the checklist process are absent. "In particular, clear procedures on how to proceed when the execution of a checklist is interrupted, and how to ensure checklists are completed after an interruption, are not always available," it says. Application of basic safety management principles has shown "promising potential" to protect against vulnerabilities during high-workload phases of flight operations, and the delegation will formally propose that ICAO studies the application of these principles to checklist design and procedures. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC