Flight Safety Information April 14, 2010 - No. 075 In This Issue Cargo aircraft crashes in northern Mexico Airbus A300B4 Accident (Mexico)... Both Engines Failed on Cathay Jet American Air jet diverted to Iceland after fumes Fake Swedish pilot convicted by Dutch court Crashed Tu-154's engines were operational before impact ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cargo aircraft crashes in northern Mexico; 5 dead MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - A cargo aircraft crashed late on Tuesday near the airport in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, killing five people, Mexican emergency authorities reported. The Airbus A-300 aircraft, operated by privately held AeroUnion, crashed near a major road leading to the airport. Some debris from the wrecked jet landed on the grounds of the airport itself, Mexican media reported. "At present we believe there may be five people dead, two from the crew and three on the ground, but nothing is confirmed yet," said an official at the state emergency authority who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak with the news media. Partially burned wreckage from the aircraft was visible on the road leading into the airport in an area near several hotels, a Reuters witness reported. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airbus A300B4 Accident (Mexico) Status: Preliminary Date: 13 APR 2010 Time: ca 23:00 Type: Airbus A300B4-203F Operator: Aerounion - Aerotransporte de Carga Union Registration: XA-TUE C/n / msn: 078 First flight: 1979-04-06 (31 years ) Engines: 2 General Electric CF6-50C2 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Ground casualties: Fatalities: 3 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: near Monterrey-Gen Mariano Escobedo Airport (MTY) (Mexico) Phase: Initial climb (ICL) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Monterrey-Gen Mariano Escobedo Airport (MTY/MMMY), Mexico Destination airport: Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX), United States of America Narrative: Crashed just after take-off. Media reports indicate that five people died in the accident. Weather (accident time approx 04:00 UTC) MMMY 140445Z 11014KT 1SM SHRA BKN006 OVC025CB 19/19 A2998 RMK 60805 8/9// LIGIC MMMY 140420Z 11012KT 3SM SHRA BKN006 OVC025CB 20/19 A2999 RMK 8/9// SHRAB15 LTGIC MMMY 140342Z 10014KT 7SM -RA BKN006 BKN025CB OVC050 20/19 A2998 RMK 61105 8/9// HZ LTGIC MMMY 140325Z 11012KT 7SM BKN004 BKN020CB OVC050 20/19 A2998 RMK 8/9// SHRAE15 OCNL DROPS LTGIC MMMY 140248Z 12010KT 4SM SHRA BKN020CB OVC070 20/19 A2996 RMK SLP140 53031 961 60705 8/97/ PRESRR www.aviation-safety.net [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103304019278&s=6053&e=001VnAEKPy96h_SMuPAvlRy-ANlqmL_KGrIsrHVcCN8FSPrZ1zSwmnXjDLdG9cR47HwoCI4Em3VyrLcC5FgK0WcexHc_DtknZXfdJ52Xr9hnrF7dellHbRU_bluUGPM8pWm] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Both Engines Failed on Cathay Jet HONG KONG-Both engines on the Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. jet that made an emergency landing in Hong Kong on Tuesday malfunctioned during the approach to the airport, according to Hong Kong's civil aviation department, in a rare development that could have had catastrophic results. After the pilots of the Airbus A330-300 aircraft shut off one malfunctioning engine, the aircraft's remaining engine suffered technical problems and wasn't producing the thrust needed to properly operate the plane, Director-General of Civil Aviation Norman Lo said Wednesday. "The engine was stuck at a certain thrust level and the pilots weren't able to adjust it with their power settings," Mr. Lo said in an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong. The crew had trouble controlling the aircraft's speed, and as a result, the plane touched down at nearly double the normal speed of landing, he said. "Based on the preliminary data we've seen, the emergency situation was very intense and the crew responded appropriately...there was just 20 minutes to react," said Mr. Lo, adding the cause of the incident is still under investigation. While modern twin-engine jets are designed to function normally with only one engine operating, a malfunction in both engines could lead to a complete loss of thrust. Such malfunctions are extremely rare, aviation experts have said. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific said in a statement late Tuesday the jet's left-hand engine shut down as the aircraft made its landing approach. The other engine was functioning, according to the statement. The airline wasn't available for comment Wednesday, but it has planned a news conference late Wednesday in Hong Kong. When flight CX780 from Surabaya, Indonesia landed, a small fire broke out on its main landing gear as tires overheated when the pilots attempted to slow the overspeeding plane with its brakes, Mr. Lo said. The aircraft's 322 passengers and crew were evacuated on to the runway via emergency slides. Eight passengers were injured and treated in hospital with injuries to the arms, legs and head, likely caused during the evacuation process. Mr. Lo said the department has retrieved the aircraft's flight data recorders for analysis, and said the department plans to invite Airbus, Rolls-Royce, as well as French and U.K. air-crash investigators to join the investigation. The Airbus aircraft was manufactured in France, while its Trent 700 engines were made by Rolls-Royce in the U.K. The Airbus aircraft involved was manufactured in 1998, and last underwent a full maintenance overhaul in October 2008. Cathay Pacific has over 30 A330s in service, operating mainly on regional and Australian flights. The A330 first entered service with the airline in 1995. http://online.wsj.com/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ American Air jet diverted to Iceland after fumes CHICAGO, April 13 (Reuters) - An American Airlines flight from Paris to Dallas was diverted to Iceland on Tuesday after the crew noticed chemical fumes in the cabin, the airline said. Flight 49 made a normal landing at Reykjavik Keflavik International Airport with no injuries, a spokesman for American Airlines parent AMR Corp (AMR.N) said. The Boeing Co (BA.N) 767-300 was carrying 133 passengers and 12 crew members. Mechanics were checking the plane, and passengers will be put on another flight to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, AMR said. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fake Swedish pilot convicted by Dutch court 41-year-old Swede Thomas Salme who flew for 13 years without a valid pilot's licence has been served with a small fine and banned from flying for one year after a conviction in a Dutch court. Salme was not in attendance at his trial at Amsterdam's main Schiphol airport on Tuesday, according to Dutch media reports. The court convicted him and served a fine of ?2,000 ($2,700) and a one year ban. Despite the court expressing admiration for the Swedish pilot's evident skill at the controls of an aircraft, the prosecutor stated dissatisfaction over the soft penalty and is considering an appeal. "One could think that that he had been a danger to air traffic during all these years, but the fact is that he flew for 13 years without incident," said prosecutor Bote ter Steege to Dutch media. The would-be pilot was apprehended in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 at Schiphol Airport just minutes before it was set to leave for Ankara, Turkey on March 2nd. Salme expressed relief on his arrest that his duplicity had come to light and admitted that he had flown for 13 years with a forged licence for companies in the UK, Belgium and Italy, spending a total of 10,000 unlicensed hours in the air. Dutch police said they were able to arrest the 41-year-old on suspicion of holding a fake pilot licence thanks to a tip-off from the Swedish authorities. The Swede, resident in Milan, had once possessed a Commercial Pilot's Licence (CPL) but this had long since expired, Dutch police said. He subsequently forged an Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL), the highest level of aircraft pilot licence and one which enabled him to fly large passenger planes. http://www.thelocal.se/26060/20100414/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103304019278&s=6053&e=001VnAEKPy96h9GiBao93UQEzQt8egjOb7E4qqWlGTELoCtOeKeaNjTq177yZRsiUrU3noQN0JxUF9rcSXIzoRCv1K2CJVOZZB16XjLyJ5HTk1cDj8g_LZmj9JIpPQuKYz_c4KjfvzdA5I=] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103304019278&s=6053&e=001VnAEKPy96h-IpT7-0drUtpCu_snZ-RAFKABEtb4xk4p9QpnIyFnvuAha_ZhB7OUGYSCr2mEBCKXHRRgVeLBF6oWlAGSsKr0X] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crashed Tu-154's engines were operational before impact Investigators have determined that the engines of the Polish state Tupolev Tu-154 which crashed in Russia were operational before it struck the ground. The inquiry team is synchronising the information from the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders but hopes to complete this work before the end of this week. Interstate Aviation Committee head Tatyana Anodina says the Soloviev D-30KU engines were "in working order" until the aircraft collided with an obstacle. She adds that preliminary analysis of the recorders shows no evidence of in-flight fire or explosion. The aircraft, arriving from Warsaw with a senior Polish state delegation, had been approaching runway 26 at Smolensk's northern military airfield, in fog, on 10 April. Images from the scene show that the jet's wreckage is displaced to the left of the runway's extended centreline, and that the direction of the debris trail bears some 30° to the left of the runway heading. Anodina says the analysis of the flight recorders reveals no evidence of an on-board equipment failure. "Final conclusions will be reachedafter a careful examination of all the fragments," she says. She adds that another recording instrument has been located, although she has not detailed the find beyond stating that Polish specialists will decode the device. Investigators are shortly to complete field work on the aircraft's final trajectory. Wreckage of the Tu-154 is to be transferred to a secure area in order to ease the process of analysing the aircraft parts. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC