Flight Safety Information May 11, 2010 - No. 091 In This Issue NTSB Publishes 'Professionalism In Aviation' Forum Agenda Air France jet may have turned before crash Ash Cloud Closes Spanish Airports Australia investigates AirAsia X A330 low altitude approach AF447 investigators detail new search zone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB Publishes 'Professionalism In Aviation' Forum Agenda Three Day Public Forum Devoted To Professionalism And Safety The NTSB has published the agenda for the Professionalism in Aviation safety forum which will begin at 0900 Thursday, May 18th. NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman will chair the three-day, en-banc forum which is open to the public, and there is no registration for attendees. Following the Chairman's opening remarks and the keynote presentation, 10 panels composed of invited representatives from industry, government agencies, labor, academia and professional associations, will address subjects relevant to developing and ensuring professionalism in pilots and air traffic controllers. Following opening remarks on May 18th and Hersman's keynote address, the forum will focus on: Screening and Selection Methods and Their Role in Developing Professional Pilots. Structured Development of Professional Pilots. Developing Excellence and Professionalism in Air Traffic Controllers Through Screening, Selection, and Training. On Wednesday May 19, the sessions include: Developing Professionalism and Excellence Through Operator Training. Shared Responsibility to Reinforce Professional Standards in Pilots. Shared Responsibility to Reinforce Professional Standards in Air Traffic Controllers. The Captain's Role in Ensuring Professionalism. The three-day forum concludes Thursday, May 20 with the panels: Ensuring Effective Pilot-Controller Communications. Ensuring Excellence Through Data and Information Sharing. The Role of the Regulator in Ensuring Professionalism in Aviation. Closing Remarks. NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman Organizations and/or individuals can submit input for consideration as part of the forum's archived materials. Submissions should directly address one or more of the 10 subject areas (panel titles) of the forum and be submitted electronically as an attached document not to exceed 10 page. The deadline for receipt of those materials is June 3, 2010, and input received will be entered into the Safety Board's public docket on this forum. FMI: www.ntsb.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air France jet may have turned before crash PARIS (AP) - An Air France jet going from Rio de Janeiro to Paris may have turned around before it crashed last year, killing all 228 people aboard, officials said Monday. The head of the French accident investigation agency said the plane could be found by Wednesday. Pinging signals from the plane's flight recorders detected in the Atlantic depths last year were analyzed last week with the aid of new technology that helped narrow down the search zone to what turned out to be an unexpected location. Lead investigator Alain Bouillard said that if the plane is found in the zone where signals came from, then that would suggest that it turned around after reaching the position that it last reported to air traffic controllers. "It's a probable hypothesis," he said. "The question is why?" The head of the French accident investigation agency BEA, Jean-Paul Troadec, said that sonar specialists from French company Thales continued to study the data from the initial search efforts, when the black box recorders were still emitting pings. Using the newly analyzed information, search efforts are concentrated on a zone 10 kilometers by 20 kilometers, two thirds of which has been explored. Troadec said investigators will first try to find remains of the plane, and then look for the black boxes, without which the cause of the crash may never be known. Submarine drones are scouring the area, he said. "It's a relief and gives us hope in the search for truth," said Robert Soulas, who lost his daughter and son-in-law on Flight 447 and is part of an association that represents victims' family members. But both Troadec and Soulas said they were being "prudent" and not jumping to any conclusions. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ash Cloud Closes Spanish Airports The volcanic ash cloud is disrupting air travel again today, with airspace closures in parts Europe. According to the latest report from European air safety agency, Eurocontrol, restrictions are in place in Southern and Central Spain and Portugal, including the Canary Islands. The BBC is reporting that four airports in the Canaries are closed, including Tenerife and La Palma. Both are popular ports of call for cruisers, although no ships are turning around there at the moment. Fortunately for cruisers, Spain's largest cruise hub, Barcelona, isn't impacted. Eurocontrol has said today that the ash concentration in the Atlantic is now dispersing, which is helping the situation for transatlantic flights that have had to re-route around the cloud, increasing flying times. Many passengers have faced delays and cancellations during the past few days as the second wave of ash chaos hit parts of Europe including Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Croatia, Northern Italy, Scotland and Ireland. As we mentioned yesterday, however, the situation is changing constantly and travel has become an unpredictable activity. Passengers are advised to contact their airline for information on delays. http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=3861 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103385995888&s=6053&e=001RiKOmBNveHWpUwROCVBdVRq8odmuM-3_B2-Lu9qU1p0yBaDoac-0vAHuVYGsJgyO6lmN6sWcJ8o4Wfpl2_5Qe9Q06qdPkDUu4JpeC5ZHBLwCiUa0t-ilZhrd23Ll8ijj9T7DvnGe5Kwmbu9dNwbEQsdmPYATJ1O1] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Australia investigates AirAsia X A330 low altitude approach The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating two incidents last week in which an AirAsia X aircraft flew too low while approaching Gold Coast airport. On 4 May, an AirAsia X A330-300, registration 9M-XXB, went "below the radar lowest safe altitude" while approaching the airport after a flight from Kuala Lumpur, says the ATSB, which has classified the incident as serious. The approach was made in instrument meteorological conditions, indicating low visibility due to cloudy or bad weather conditions at that time. The bureau says a similar incident involving the same aircraft occurred on 3 May in visual meteorological conditions, which indicates sufficient visibility. An investigation into the incidents is ongoing, says the ATSB, adding that no injuries occurred as a result. Malaysia-based AirAsia X says it is working with the bureau on the investigation. "If any anomalies are found or identified, we will rectify them with immediate effect. Both flights landed safely without any passenger incidents. Safety remains and has always been a priority for AirAsia X," says a carrier spokesman. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AF447 investigators detail new search zone French investigators have detailed the new South Atlantic search location for the cockpit and data recorders of Air France flight AF447, following the refinement of signals detected last year by a nuclear submarine. The initial search phase following the loss of the Airbus A330 on 1 June 2009 was based on a region lying largely within, as well as to the north of, a circle of 40nm (74km) radius centred on the aircraft's last known position. During an initial recovery phase last year the submarine Emeraude had concentrated on searching the western and southern part of this region, while the northern and eastern part - including the area viewed as the most likely crash site - was allocated to towed pinger locators, which were considered more efficient. Although not designed to track acoustic beacons of the type fitted to the flight recorders of AF447, the submarine's detection capabilities were enhanced during this initial search, increasing from a 2,000m (6,600ft) distance, over 10-30 June, to 3,200m over 1-10 July. The French defence ministry says that specialists have used a new algorithm to re-examine acoustic signals detected on 1 July. Following this analysis, says the ministry, these specialists have determined that the submarine's equipment could have picked up transmissions from the flight recorders. While the ministry says that locating the recorders is "far from a certainty", French investigation agency Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses has identified a new search zone, measuring some 14nm by 6nm but located on the southwestern rim of the original 40nm circle. This point is also some 40nm from the last known position of the A330, on a bearing approaching the opposite of its direction of travel on the Rio de Janeiro-Paris air route. One of the vessels involved in an intensive search during April - over a primary zone to the north of the A330's last known position - is to conduct a sweep of the area. The vessel, the Seabed Worker, is supported by autonomous underwater vehicles. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103385995888&s=6053&e=001RiKOmBNveHW_pmIg0Dp4-WARYknfk44qmRo-ySnp1u5mjaUlWkzzaDCwke5hCFfcAYpHPMnf3tWM3fTc0GvAVyxUmjk4yJyB] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC