Flight Safety Information May 13, 2010 - No. 094 In This Issue Boy, 8, survives jet crash that killed 103 Airbus crash: pilots tell of risks approaching Tripoli airport DOT Secretary LaHood Names Future Of Aviation Advisory Committee Members Investigators in Libya to scour site of crashed plane French searchers say crashed plane still unfound FAA administrator calls for US-China cooperation President will meet with Flight 3407 families ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boy, 8, survives jet crash that killed 103 A Libyan airliner arriving from South Africa disintegrated on landing at Tripoli airport Wednesday, killing 103 people but leaving an eight-year-old boy as the sole miracle survivor, officials said. Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan said the dead included nationals of nine countries, including 61 from the Netherlands, which ordered flags on government buildings flown at half-mast as a mark of respect. Zidan said the boy who survived was also Dutch but the Foreign Ministry in The Hague was unable to confirm his nationality definitively. Some nine hours after the 6 a.m. crash, the child underwent surgery at a Tripoli hospital, where medical staff said his condition was not life-threatening. "The boy suffered broken legs and was injured in the head," a hospital official told reporters after the child came out of the operating room. Dutch broadcaster NOS, which interrupted normal programming to follow the crash developments, showed footage of the survivor with facial bruises in his hospital bed. The Dutch daily Telegraaf said the child had been travelling with his parents and an 11-year-old sibling. EU Parliament President Jerzy Buzek described the boy's survival as "truly a miracle." Last June, a 12-year-old girl was the sole survivor of a Yemeni plane crash off the Comoros. The Libyan transport minister said the rest of the dead included two Germans as well as passengers from Britain, France, Finland, the Philippines, South Africa and Zimbabwe, although he could not give a breakdown of their numbers. He said the 11-strong crew were all Libyan. Zidan said an inquiry was under way into what caused the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 to break up massively as it was landing, but he ruled out terrorism. He said both black boxes had been recovered and that four investigators from Airbus and three from France were on their way to Tripoli to join the probe. Witnesses spoke of the aircraft inexplicably breaking up as it came in to land in clear weather. "It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," one security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another official said the plane had burst into flames just before landing. Libyan television showed emergency workers wearing face masks sifting through the wreckage scattered in a wide arc across the landing area. http://www.theprovince.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103397217461&s=6053&e=00128hGH4At0Y6g8S8m1wmzkVritwk68IdKLB_Kq7ElNcRUivPkMkBGcNKYyPH6dUiS_wCdKWtdQpWTNK9BuqE-nLpIIaHDxNMzgolCAhXgG6RXCKBnKREoyg==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airbus crash: pilots tell of risks approaching Tripoli airport Theories about the disaster focused on a possible technical malfunction or pilot error, or both, just before the A330-200 Airbus was due to touch down. The Afriqiyah Airlines aircraft came down short of the Tripoli runway after a dawn approach in visibility of 6km (less than four miles) Mist had been reported. Pilots who know the Tripoli approach have speculated that the airport's old-fashioned landing aids may have played a role. It lacks an instrument landing system. Crews have to rely on a VOR radio beacon and Tripoli's is subject to false readings, pilots said. A navigational notice advises caution: the VOR is suffering "interference" from building work at the airport. Pilots make visual checks to ensure that they are lining up correctly. There was speculation that the rising sun would have been directly in the crew's eyes, reducing visibility. The big Airbus did not touchdown level but appeared to have slammed into the ground and broken up. It is unusual for final-approach crashes or crash landings to be caused by purely technical failures. More often an element of misjudgment is involved. Previously, the most recent approach diasster was the crash last month at Smolensk of the Tupolev carrying the President Kaczynski of Poland and many other Polish officials. The evidence so far suggests that the pilot attempted a landing against the advice of controllers and without adquate visual or electronic guidance. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103397217461&s=6053&e=00128hGH4At0Y7LKAbm8DXaH6j52ax3GgTuoxKn-tLGOKLcO9X-X7GCe2KjnkDrCUu5Ekx8tQExPcX1BzO6a9teg7cYCaamBnCj6JK70f0_cPWrcOOIM0SwwQ==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOT Secretary LaHood Names Future Of Aviation Advisory Committee Members First Meeting Scheduled For May 25 In Washington, DC U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the members of a new committee on the future of the U.S. aviation industry, which will hold its first meeting on May 25 in Washington. The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee was formally established in March to provide information, advice, and recommendations to the Secretary on ensuring the competitiveness of the U.S. aviation industry and its capability to address the evolving transportation needs, challenges and opportunities of the U.S. and global economy. "Aviation is essential to our nation's economy and our ability to compete in international commerce," Secretary LaHood (below) said. "This committee, which represents a broad cross-section of the aviation community, will begin the important conversation about how to ensure the industry remains vital and competitive." The committee will focus principally on five issue areas: ensuring aviation safety, ensuring a world-class aviation workforce, balancing the industry's competitiveness and viability, securing stable funding for aviation systems, and addressing environmental challenges and solutions. The advisory committee grew out of a forum last November hosted by Secretary LaHood on the future of the U.S. aviation industry, during which he urged attendees to nominate potential committee members. The members selected represent airlines, airports, labor, manufacturers, environment, finance, academia, consumer interests, and general aviation stakeholders. The committee will meet at least four times over the next year, after which it will issue its recommendations to the Secretary. Susan Kurland, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, will chair the committee. The first meeting of the committee will take place on May 25, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m. at DOT Headquarters, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, Washington, DC. Meetings will be open to the members of the general public who have registered to attend in advance on a first-come, first-serve basis as long as space is available. People wishing to register (FAAC@dot.gov) can send their name, title, company or affiliation, address, phone number and e-mail address with the subject title "Registration". FMI: www.dot.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Investigators in Libya to scour site of crashed plane AMSTERDAM/TRIPOLI, May 13 (Reuters) - Aviation experts arrived in Tripoli on Thursday to scour the scattered remains of an Airbus jet that crashed in the Libyan capital and killed all but one of the 104 people on board. The sole survivor of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 8U771 was a 9-year-old Dutch boy returning from a safari holiday with his family in South Africa, a Dutch newspaper reported on Thursday. The Airbus (EAD.PA) A330-200 plane flying from Johannesburg was preparing to land in Tripoli when it crashed short of the runway early on Wednesday. Libya's transport minister has ruled out terrorism as the cause. A technical team from Airbus and Dutch investigators were taking part in the probe and would examine the black boxes recovered from the wreckage. "The Airbus team has arrived in Tripoli to begin their investigation," Omrane al-Zabadi, head of media at Afriqiyah airline, told Reuters. Aviation experts said the almost brand new Airbus appeared to have hit the ground several hundred metres short of the runway in visibility of 5 to 6 km (3-4 miles). They said the airport approach lacked systems to provide crew with the aircraft's distance and height from the runway, although it was too early to say why it hit the ground and disintegrated, leaving only the tailfin intact. "Statistically the accident rate for these non-precision approaches is higher than for precision approaches. But we don't know if that is significant in this case at all," said Paul Hayes, director of safety at Ascend in London. "The total destruction of the aircraft in a (runway) undershoot is unusual." ILL-FATED SAFARI There had been uncertainty since the crash about the young survivor's identity but the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Thursday he was a boy named Ruben from the southern Dutch city of Tilburg. "An employee from the Dutch embassy in Tripoli talked to him. He told them his name is Ruben and is 9-years-old and from Tilburg. He is doing reasonably well considering the circumstances," the Dutch ministry said in a statement. The boy had suffered leg fractures but was in a stable condition, doctors at a Tripoli hospital said on Wednesday. A woman said to be the boy's grandmother told Dutch paper Brabants Dagblad that he was travelling with his 11-year-old brother Enzo and parents Trudy and Patrick van Assouw and had been on a safari in South Africa. The Foreign Ministry said an aunt and uncle had landed in Tripoli and would quickly visit the boy at the hospital. The plane also carried six Dutch officials, including specialists to identify people or investigate plane crashes. Afriqiyah Airways late on Wednesday adjusted the number of nationalities of the dead, saying 58 Dutch, 6 South Africans, 2 Libyans, 2 Austrians, 1 German, 1 Zimbabwean, 1 French, and 2 British nationals were on board. The plane also carried 11 crew members, all Libyan, and 19 people whose nationality still needed to be confirmed, Afriqiyah said. Zabadi said relatives of the dead would arrive on Thursday to try to identify the bodies. The aircraft is the same type as Air France (AIRF.PA) Flight 447, which crashed in the Atlantic on June 1 last year. The cause of that crash has not been firmly identified. Tripoli-based Afriqiyah airline, backed by the Libyan government, has been in operation since 2001 and has been flying 10 Airbus jets with an average age of five years, according to Web site Planespotters. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ French searchers say crashed plane still unfound PARIS (AP) - The French accident investigation agency says a search in a new area of the Atlantic for the Air France plane that crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris has turned up nothing. The zone was located by analyzing signals from the plane's black boxes, which are still unrecovered. The investigating agency said in a statement Wednesday that nothing was found in the ocean depths. The conclusion came just two days after the agency said the plane, which crashed June 1, 2009, could be found by Wednesday. Investigators say they have decided to return to the original search zone, northwest of the last known airplane position - while continuing to determine the accuracy of the black box signals, which long ago died out. Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103397217461&s=6053&e=00128hGH4At0Y5CY5_3E0mpyqsHGn_WYTLkcu7xN24jxj_KFHKzJqd7arkkKXpOvfqqxgsDVLPsS2KFsQgHfFCn7OZIdKoteSYJ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA administrator calls for US-China cooperation FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt called for increased cooperation between the US and China on runway safety, airworthiness, aircraft emissions and next-generation air traffic control. In remarks prepared for the China Civil Aviation Development Forum in Beijing, Babbitt said the two countries with the largest aviation systems, the US and China, need to be world leaders on these important issues. He noted that measures taken in the US to improve runway safety contributed to a 63% drop in the number of runway incursion incidents between 2000 and 2008. Babbitt said FAA's "shadow evaluation" of COMAC's ARJ-21 regional jet certification program "will improve the mutual understanding of our respective airworthiness certification systems." On NextGen ATC, he said the next five years will be a critical time for implementing the primary building blocks and that the US and China must "work together to ensure that our systems are harmonized and interoperable." http://atwonline.com/aeropolitics-regulation/news/faa-administrator-calls-us-china-cooperation-0512 Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President will meet with Flight 3407 families BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) - President Barack Obama will reportedly meet with Flight 3407 families during his visit to Buffalo Thursday. Washington sources say they're hearing Mr. Obama will have a private meeting with representatives of the families to discuss aviation safety. The time and location of the meeting have not been disclosed. Before word of the meeting surfaced, Congressman Chris Lee said in a WBFO News interview that he was hoping the President would make time for the families, "to talk about the need for aviation safety improvement." Fifty people were killed when a Continental Connection commuter plane crashed in Clarence in February 2009. The House and Senate have approved different bills that would improve pilot training. But efforts to merge the two bills have not met with success. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC