Flight Safety Information April 15, 2010 - No. 076 In This Issue Russian crash investigators cite pilot error Ash cloud causes major flight disruptions across the U.K Flight from Dulles to Seattle diverted to SD Boeing certifies new 737 proximity sensors from Crane Investigators retrieve flight recorders from crashed A300F FAA in nascent phases of new airline audit programme Saudi Arabia to open flight training school ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Russian crash investigators cite pilot error Russian investigators say black boxes from the air crash that killed Poland's president showed pilot error was to blame, as protests grow over the late leader's burial site. Hundreds have taken to the streets and tens of thousands have joined a Facebook campaign opposing president Lech Kaczynski's burial in Krakow's historic Wawel castle alongside royalty, a saint and past national heroes. In Moscow, a report said first analysis of data recorders from the jet, which crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk en route to a WWII memorial, showed the crew were unfamiliar with the plane's handling. 'An analysis of the evidence, including the first results from the decoding of the black boxes, shows that an error in piloting led to the disaster,' the Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the investigation as saying. The official said it appeared that on its fourth and final attempt the Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154 plane tried to land by levelling its altitude after descending, in a bid to compensate for heavy fog in the area. 'A particularity of the plane is that if its speed of descent is more than six metres (20 feet) per second, when the plane equalised and goes into a horizontal flight it loses altitude,' the source said. Interfax said two of the black boxes found at the scene of the crash are being examined by Russian and Polish investigators at a defence ministry investigation centre in the Moscow region. A third is being examined in Poland. Air traffic controllers have said the crew repeatedly ignored advice to land at another airport. Investigators have already ruled out fire or an explosion. All 96 people on board the plane were killed in Saturday's crash. They were heading to a memorial service at Katyn, near Smolensk, for 22,000 Polish officers and troops killed by Soviet forces in WWII 70 years ago. Poland's top four military commanders and state bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek were among the dead. Poland's interim president Bronislaw Komorowski today said the choice of a new central bank chief depends on expert legal opinions due late this week. An early presidential election to replace the late Kaczynski is expected on 20 June. President Mary McAleese will join US President Barack Obama, Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev and Britain's Prince Charles at the increasingly controversial funeral this weekend. Around 200 people demonstrated in central Warsaw late yesterday and hundreds more took to the streets of the Baltic port of Gdansk, Poznan in the west, and in Krakow itself. The nationalist and deeply Catholic Lech Kaczynski, in office since 2005, was a highly divisive figure at home and abroad. His identical twin, former prime minister Jaroslaw, is leader of Poland's conservative opposition. Thousands more queued for a third day to pay their respects to Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria, whose bodies are lying in state at the presidential palace in Warsaw until the funeral. http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0415/kaczynskil.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ash cloud causes major flight disruptions across the U.K. LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Several airports were shut and hundreds of flights canceled across the U.K. on Thursday as concern about an ash cloud formed from a volcanic eruption in Iceland forced air-traffic control to close most of the domestic air space. Visibility is not the issue, as all aircraft are equipped with systems allowing them to navigate through heavy clouds. The fear is that the tiny particles of rock, glass and sand in the ash could jam engines. In the early 1980s a British Airways jet saw its four engines fail as it flew through a plume of volcanic ash. A similar incident occurred a few years later with a KLM flights. The cloud is expected to move through the Northern U.K. and Ireland by 1 p.m. local time. In Scotland, all airports were shut, and many others throughout the U.K. -- including Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham -- were disrupted. All London airports will be shut from late morning. British Airways /quotes/comstock/23s!a:bay (UK:BAY 241.90, -1.10, -0.45%) said in a warning on its Web site that it's canceled all domestic flights for the day and won't be able to operate any flight out of London's Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports after 11.30 a.m. EasyJet /quotes/comstock/23s!a:ezj (UK:EZJ 483.80, -1.20, -0.25%) is also canceling all flights set to travel through the affected air space. Ryanair /quotes/comstock/23s!e:rya (UK:RYA 3.99, -0.06, -1.54%) /quotes/comstock/15*!ryaa.y (RYAA.Y 30.37, +0.38, +1.27%) canceled all flights to and from the U.K. from 9 a.m. and warned of potential further cancellations and delays Friday. It also cancelled flights to and from Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. BA, EasyJet and Ryanair were offering their passengers the chance to book on the next available flights or to get refunds. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flight from Dulles to Seattle diverted to SD SIOUX FALLS, S.D.(AP) -- United Airlines and federal officials say a flight from the Washington, D.C., area to Seattle made an emergency landing in South Dakota after the crew smelled smoke. United spokesman Charlie Hobart says the crew aboard Flight 917, a Boeing 757 jet, began smelling smoke about an hour after takeoff from Dulles International Airport on Wednesday night. He says pilots decided to divert to Sioux Falls, S.D. No one was injured. Passenger Rodger Tilton told WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., that there was no panic, but he thought some people were a little bit scared. The 166 passengers waited for several hours before another plane was able to take them to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman says the agency is investigating the incident. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boeing certifies new 737 proximity sensors from Crane Boeing has certified enhanced proximity sensors introduced by Crane for Boeing 737 aircraft. The sensors detect the position of the landing gear, doors, and leading edge slats and flaps. Crane says the new design - with titanium housings - provides raises protection from intrusion of moisture, humidity and corrosive fluids such as de-icing solution. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Investigators retrieve flight recorders from crashed A300F Mexican investigators have secured the flight recorders from the Aerotransportes de Carga Union Airbus A300B4 freighter which crashed on approach to Monterrey's Escobedo International Airport. The AeroUnion aircraft came down during poor weather at night on 13 April, following a service designated flight 302 from Mexico City. Mexico's transportation ministry states that the flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders have been secured, adding: "This information will be crucial for determining the probable cause of this accident." Both the ministry and Airbus confirm the airframe as serial number 78, a General Electric CF6-powered aircraft registered XA-TUE. The 31-year old twin-jet, among the earliest Airbus models, had originally been delivered to Air France as a passenger aircraft in May 1979. It was converted to a freighter in 1998 and operated by carriers including Canada's ICC Air Cargo before being transferred to Mexico City-based AeroUnion in 2002. Airbus states that the aircraft had carried out 27,600 cycles and accumulated 55,200 flight hours. The transportation ministry states that the jet was airworthy. It confirms that the aircraft came down between the airport perimeter fence and an access road, and was destroyed by impact and fire. Monterrey Escobedo Airport is connected at its northern end to the main Miguel Aleman highway by an access road which runs parallel to, and west of, the main runway 11/29. It is unclear whether the aircraft was attempting to land or aborting its approach at the time of the crash. While the ministry puts the time of the accident at 23:19, Airbus says it occurred shortly after 23:30. Airbus is sending a team to Mexico to support the inquiry, and the airframer adds that France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses will also be involved. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103307990500&s=6053&e=001RGlfMITXPROoWH9xnH3Y-8xYRDPn4d1m2uBAkL_6mMSv45sR31NZTP-9cQ1iOhYPwwHPvuWpiE731sn6PFYfyz8S6gm-H4G1] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA in nascent phases of new airline audit programme The US FAA has launched the National Air Carrier Evaluation Programme to conduct third party review of maintenance programmes at the country's airlines to ensure proper compliance with regulations. FAA launched the scheme as a result the disclosure in April 2008 of lapsed fuselage inspections on 46 Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s. In the aftermath of the disclosure, FAA oversight of airlines drew heavy scrutiny from the US Congress. Agency manager of flight standards certification and surveillance David Gilliom says the programme, which was introduced in January, is being rolled-out gradually, and evaluations of two carriers have begun. Gilliom explains that once the programme is fully deployed in roughly a year, the teams conducting the reviews should complete in excess of 10 audits annually. The teams, comprised of FAA inspectors, will vary in numbers depending on the size of an airline. For larger carriers up to 15 inspectors might conduct a review while 6-7 will review compliance of smaller carriers. The agency's inspectors assigned to the teams will receive specific training to participate in the reviews. FAA plans to use a number of parameters to select airlines to undergo the audit, says Gilliom, including turnover in personnel. Eventually all Part 121 carriers will be reviewed under the new scheme, says Gilliom Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saudi Arabia to open flight training school A flight training academy is under construction in Saudi Arabia, aimed at training a new generation of pilots for the country's growing commercial aviation sector. The Saudi Aviation Flight Academy (SAFA) is being built at the Thumamah Airport near Riyadh. The academy is being established by the Saudi Aviation Club and the Saudi Binladin Group, and represents a SR300 million ($80 million) five-year investment. "The object is to produce a cadre of highly skilled and, above all, safe pilots that are disciplined and practice superior aeronautical decision-making skills," says SAFA managing director William Roe. SAFA will use Diamond Aircraft Industries' DA40/42 NG aircraft and Level 6 flight training devices. The academy will begin limited operations in December while construction of its permanent facility continues. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC