Flight Safety Information June 21, 2010 - No. 122 In This Issue Pilot Error Seen Likely in Fatal India Landing Fire Hazard in Some Boeing Jets Prompts Concerns EU banned charter flight operator Pa. man allegedly smuggles drugs in soup packets Second Airliner Aborts At Yeager Airport In West Virginia... Alaska Airlines Earns Ninth Consecutive FAA 'Diamond Award' NEW Flight Safety Foundation's,...Aerosafety World Magazine edition in SPANISH Gulf Air inks new air safety contract with Avisa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pilot Error Seen Likely in Fatal India Landing By ANDY PASZTOR And VIBHUTI AGARWAL Investigators are becoming increasingly convinced that last month's fatal Air India Express crash was caused by pilots landing too far down a hilltop runway, and belatedly trying to get the Boeing 737 airborne again, according to people familiar with the probe. Preliminary conclusions about the May 22 accident in India's southern city of Mangalore, these people said, indicate failures by the pilots to follow basic safety rules during the final approach, compounded by apparent cockpit confusion after touchdown. Only eight of the 166 people aboard survived the early morning crash, in which the twin-engine jet plummeted down a cliff at the end of the strip, broke apart and then caught fire. It was India's worst aviation disaster in more than a decade, and has prompted a barrage of criticism. Regulators and international air-safety experts are now focusing on ways to fix persistent shortcomings in India's pilot-training programs. Indian officials already have proposed tightening rules ranging from acceptable landing procedures to fatigue-prevention schedules for crews. Broader mandates are likely. Other areas under scrutiny include safeguards when pilots temporarily leave the cockpit for breaks. There also are stricter requirements that all aviators-particularly expatriate pilots-speak good English and are well-versed in air-traffic-control terminology. The captain of the accident plane was a British citizen of Serbian descent, and the co-pilot was an Indian national. Indian regulators also are considering ways to ensure that pilots are trained and assigned so they fully understand the particular handling characteristics of a designated aircraft model. "A lot of new and revised safety proposals...will be disclosed next month," an official with India's regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said Friday. The DGCA official wouldn't discuss details of the probe except to say that "the possibility of pilot error" on the flight "cannot be ruled out." The moves come amid increased domestic and international criticism of alleged gaps in India's commercial-aviation safety net. A U.S. Federal Aviation Administration team plans to visit the country later this year to make an informal assessment of progress in enhancing safety, according to people familiar with the issue. According to people knowledgeable about the crash probe, the tentative conclusion by investigators is that pilots failed to adhere to widely accepted safety rules about breaking off an approach if the plane is losing altitude too quickly, has too much speed just before landing or is likely to touch dangerously far down the runway. The lack of scorched rubber or other evidence of extreme braking on the runway supports the idea that the plane tried to lift off again. Information retrieved from the plane's flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders, however, indicates some confusion and hesitation, these people said. Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Alexandria, Va.-based Flight Safety Foundation, suggested over the weekend that the makeup of the crew could have contributed to a breakdown in cockpit discipline or communication. The dramatic growth of Indian aviation has "resulted in an influx of expatriate pilots with language and cultural challenges," according to Mr. Voss. India's regulators "have been trying to compensate for this," he said, with special mandated training to alleviate approach and landing hazards. While it's still early for conclusions, some formal findings could be announced shortly. A spokesmen for India's civil aviation ministry said Friday that "the probe will be completed [by the] end of this month and [a] report will be out July 1." On Friday, a spokesman for Air India, the national carrier, said it "will announce some new plans" next month, but declined to elaborate. Prompted partly by the crash, DGCA officials are scrambling to demonstrate a tougher approach. They are considering imposing or reiterating rules that for many years have been mainstays of global aviation safety. The agency, for example, months ago proposed barring most pilots from switching between different jetliner models during the same duty period. Flying multiple aircraft types during the same day or week poses extra safety challenges, as pilots tend to be more comfortable and perform best when they establish a routine behind the controls of a single aircraft model. U.S. carriers don't allow pilots to switch models in such fashion, and the practice generally is frowned upon by international safety experts. Two weeks after the crash, regulators spelled out rules for landings that are second nature for pilots in many other regions. Rather than trying to please passengers with the smoothest possible touchdown-a goal previously emphasized by some Indian carriers-the latest directive stressed that the proper criteria are arriving "at the correct speed and touchdown zone on the runway." Still others pending regulatory updates seemingly were prompted by dangerous incidents that had no connection to Mangalore. After the captain of another Air India Express jet left the cockpit for a bathroom break earlier this month, the plane encountered turbulence and the co-pilot apparently failed to initially respond properly. The plane dived thousands of feet before the crew fully regained control, scaring passengers Subsequently, regulators proposed a directive spelling out that the sole pilot remaining in the cockpit had to remain strapped in and be prepared to cope with possible upsets. The DGCA also stressed that under such circumstances a flight attendant must enter the cockpit and sit in a jump seat-primarily to open the door when the other pilot returns. U.S. airlines routinely follow similar rules. For years, safety experts from the U.S. and other countries have quietly criticized Indian airlines and regulators for lax training. In some cases, according to these critics, newly certified co-pilots don't have the training or self-confidence to cope with unusual maneuvers or situations. Critics also have faulted airports and air-traffic controllers, citing hazards from birds and frequent instances of near-collisions in certain busy airspace. On Friday, the DGCA official said his agency is investigating nearly 50 instances of planes flying dangerously close to each other. "A website will soon be put in place to give detailed information on this," the official said. Two passenger airplanes narrowly missed a head-on collision at Mumbai's domestic airport this month. Last year, a helicopter carrying President Pratibha Patil landed on the same runway from which a Delhi-bound Air India aircraft was about to take off. In 2009, the FAA considered downgrading India's safety rating, a move that would have precluded big carriers like Jet Airways and state-controlled Air India from expanding service to and from the U.S. The U.S. agency's primary concern was whether India's air-safety regulators had enough independence and expertise. Capping months of sensitive, behind-the-scenes negotiations, the FAA decided against a downgrade. Indian officials, for their part, promised to beef up the DGCA by quickly hiring extra staff or getting Indian carriers to temporarily transfer some of their employees to fill hundreds of new positions created for government inspectors. Nasim Zaidi, the head of the DGCA, is now prodding Air India and other carriers to adhere to more stringent safety rules. They include closer tracking of limits for pilot work-hours and greater reliance on voluntary reporting of problems by pilots. In the case of Air India's low-fare unit, airline officials are expected to issue strict mandatory procedures for maintaining stabilized approaches and flying go-arounds, or maneuvers when pilots decide to break off an approach and climb away from a runway. More broadly, the DGCA has signaled it is especially interested in making sure that cash-strapped airlines don't scrimp on training, maintenance and essential operational controls. Government inspectors are expected to conduct more ramp inspections, ratchet up enforcement of pilot skills and require simulator training that highlights closer cooperation between captains and first officers in emergencies. The government also is extending the Mangalore runway, and conducting special safety checks of almost a dozen other airports considered to have difficult approaches or layouts. http://online.wsj.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103499977255&s=6053&e=001ONGRgxmvyafqzzmZDX8UWqL0skqaOpn-5GJ3Sb0_WKLuOgnI41WtAf7A5kHGX0dGd-kDL57_LVNs82OJ1i04ZgdqNFFUJke2HPH7DquoiNt8-Z1_B7Vmlg==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fire Hazard in Some Boeing Jets Prompts Concerns By ANDY PASZTOR A cockpit blaze aboard a United Airlines jet last month revived debate over the potential for windshield electrical fires in hundreds of Boeing Co. aircraft. But the incident has focused attention on a related issue: Pilot complaints that emergency cockpit-oxygen systems on many of the same planes aren't adequate to cope with such hazards. Starting nearly three years ago, some pilot union leaders have complained that on certain Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft, the hoses for such oxygen systems aren't long enough to allow pilots to keep on their masks while they retrieve the fire extinguisher stored at the cockpit's rear. The hose "may restrict movement to parts of the cockpit where the emergency equipment is stored," according to a safety alert issued by the Air Line Pilots Association in September 2007. But "removing the mask in a toxic, smoke-filled environment puts the pilot at risk." In the fall of 2008, Federal Aviation Administration lawyers supported some of the union's concerns. An internal agency memo concluded that at least one pilot must be able to reach the cockpit fire extinguisher without removing an oxygen mask. An FAA spokeswoman said last week that the agency is "looking into the issue" of longer hoses, but has some concerns about pilots possibly getting distracted or even tangled up if the equipment is modified. The hose issue was highlighted by the May 16 cockpit fire aboard a United Boeing 757, en route from New York to Los Angeles, which made an emergency diversion to Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. While cruising at 36,000 feet about 30 minutes into the flight, the captain's lower front windshield began to smoke. The plane landed safely and none of the 112 people aboard sustained injuries. But investigators said that flames shot out from the windshield, and the fire was serious enough that the crew eventuallly had to use two onboard fire extinguishers to put it out. When one of the pilots attempted to reach the cockpit extinguisher, according to one person briefed on details of the incident, his oxygen mask and smoke goggles were ripped off his face due to the length of the hose attachment Over the weekend, a Boeing spokesman didn't have any comment on the matter. While government and industry officials consider the design of oxygen hoses, the underlying windshield hazard remain in the spotlight. Fire dangers posed by defective electrical connections used on the windshield heating elements of more than 1,000 Boeing 757, 767 and 777 planes have been well-documented. From the beginning of 2001 through April 2008, Boeing reported 29 incidents world-wide involving windshield smoke or fire. Boeing has issued service bulletins urging airlines to ramp up inspections. The most recent, in March, broadens the portions of windshields subject to regular checks. If certain types of damage are detected, Boeing urges replacement of suspect parts or even the entire windshield. The National Transportation Safety Board continues to criticize FAA officials for moving too slowly to mandate precautionary replacement of suspect windshield parts. In March 2008, the FAA piggybacked on Boeing's recommended maintenance moves and proposed to mandate stepped-up inspections covering more than 1,200 planes registered in the U.S. Hundreds of additional aircraft would be affected by foreign regulators adopting the U.S. agency's standards. Prompted by the United emergency landing, the FAA is now accelerating work on a final safety mandate covering windshields. But it isn't clear whether the FAA ultimately will expand its previous criteria calling for replacement of parts or windshields that show evidence of heat damage or other electrical defects. With regulators poised to order greater precautions, a number of carriers are taking voluntary steps to reduce windshield smoke and fire hazards AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, on its own, has replaced 85% of the windshields on its 757 and 767 fleets. A spokesman said Friday that by the spring of 2011, all of them will be replaced with products purchased from a different supplier. Current precautionary inspection intervals vary at other big carriers, though some have been shortened as a result of the United fire. US Airways Group Inc. had been conducting routine inspections of Boeing 757 windshields every 1,000 flight hours. Now, according to a spokesman, that has been reduced to 500-hour intervals, the timetable proposed by the FAA last year. The spokesman said the airline hasn't found any damage or improperly installed connections between power wires and heating elements. Delta Air Lines Inc. initially opted for inspections every 3,000 hours, and a spokesman said Friday that hasn't changed. A spokeswoman for UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said last week that the carrier complies with all of Boeing's recommendations and "has implemented enhancements to our maintenance program" in the wake of the Dulles incident. But over the weekend, she declined to elaborate. http://online.wsj.com/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EU banned charter flight operator Air safety fears add to miners' woes Business Day reporter Chris Zappone says miners are under pressure from threats to trade, a super-profits tax and now fears over the risks they face travelling to remote loactions. The charter flight operator carrying mining billionaire Ken Talbot and Sundance Resources chairman Geoff Wedlock had been banned by the European Union following three earlier safety incidents - one as recent as 2008. Flight Safety Foundation, a global independent body for aviation safety, listed three safety incidents for the Brazzaville, Congo-based company, Aero-Service, occurring in January 2008 and March 1994. The charter flight operator carrying Australian mining executives had been banned from flying in the EU. A spokeswoman for the safety group confirmed that Aero-Service was not an airline participating in the Basic Aviation Risk Standard, a global programme aimed at increasing safety in flights used in the mining sector. Sundance Resources was not immediately available for comment on the use of Aero-Service. Melbourne-based Flight Safety Foundation regional director Paul Fox said all operations from the Congo are currently banned from operating in the EU airspace. . The EU, he said, ''considers the regulatory framework within that country to be below essential safety levels''. The Aviation Safety Network, a service of the Washington DC based-foundation, showed that in January 2008, the brakes failed on an Aero-Service Antonov 12BP as it taxied at Pointe Noire Airport in Congo and could not be stopped from hitting a parked Boeing 727. In December 2005, an Antonov 24RV operated by Aero-Service ran off the runway in Pokola, Congo. Another plane, "belly landed" on the runway in Pointe Noire Airport in 1994, skidding 800 feet before coming to a rest, according to the ASN. According to the African charter flight operator, it has a fleet of 10, including the Spanish built CASA-212 which the mining executives were on. Aero-Service did not respond to calls. Sundance Resources has halted its operations in Africa to focus on the search for a plane carrying the six Australian mining executives that went missing in a flight from Cameroon on Saturday. Sundance said today chief financial officer Peter Canterbury would be acting chief executive while the search continues. The flight failed to reach its destination in the Republic of Congo after departing the Cameroon capital of Yaounde. Planes from both Cameroon and Congo have been assigned to search for the missing plane. http://www.smh.com.au/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103499977255&s=6053&e=001ONGRgxmvyadJJ19ZH04pD5z8sHnjFuNbWhTYJ32h58qdnrhGN0juHSs3lK76OmL3eX-cdOHD8wy5VXvSEIs0q8qRFPZVoWxEzrckrAmuX-nnRI6zmjtpNQ==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pa. man allegedly smuggles drugs in soup packets WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities arrested a Pennsylvania man who allegedly tried to smuggle more than four pounds of cocaine through Dulles International Airport using powdered soup packets. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested the man after he arrived on board a flight from El Salvador on Thursday. Authorities said a customs dog identified the man as carrying drugs. When authorities opened the soup packets the drugs were hidden and they found some still contained rice. It isn't the first time authorities at the airport have seen creative smugglers. Last year officers found heroin in juice boxes and cocaine in cooked chicken. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Second Airliner Aborts At Yeager Airport In West Virginia No Injuries As Regional Jet Saved By Overrun Material At Runway End A US Airways regional jet had to abort a takeoff at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virgina Tuesday, but it was prevented from going over the edge at the mountaintop airport by a lightweight concrete material designed for that purpose. Brian Belcher, a spokesperson for Yeager Airport, said there were no injuries among the 30 passengers on board the aircraft bound for Charlotte, NC. The airport was closed while the airplane was cleared from the overrun area. Belcher told the Associated Press the engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) performed as designed. It was installed about a year ago as a safety measure at the airport. This is the second airliner this year that has been saved by the overrun material. Another US Airways flight overran the runway on January 19th, and wound up in the EMAS. The NTSB preliminary report indicates that PSA Airlines d.b.a. US Airways Express flight 2495, a Bombardier CRJ-200, registration N246PS, rejected the takeoff and ran off the end of the runway at Yeager Airport, Charleston, West Virginia. The airplane stopped in the engineered materials arresting system (EMAS). There were no injuries to the 30 passengers or 3 crew members onboard and the airplane received minor damage. That incident is still under investigation. FMI: www.ntsb.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alaska Airlines Earns Ninth Consecutive FAA 'Diamond Award' Presented To Companies For Maintenance Training Excellence Alaska Airlines has received the FAA's Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence for the ninth consecutive year. The Diamond Award, the FAA's most prestigious maintenance honor, recognizes Alaska's ongoing commitment to aircraft maintenance and training excellence. The FAA maintenance technician awards program began in 1991. It provides incentives for aircraft technicians to participate actively in initial and recurrent training, either on their own or in programs offered by their company. 100 percent of Alaska Airlines' aircraft technicians have completed the training. "Nothing is more important to Alaska Airlines than safety, and one way we fulfill that primary commitment is by investing daily in the training and technical excellence of our maintenance technicians," said Fred Mohr, Alaska's vice president of maintenance and engineering. "They are doing a great job, as evidenced not only by our ninth consecutive award from the FAA, but also by our outstanding on-time and schedule reliability results." Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. FMI: www.faa.gov, www.alaskaair.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW Flight Safety Foundation's, Aerosafety World Magazine edition in SPANISH? It is free!! And it has been done through voluntary work and kind donation from FLAP (the Latin American Pilots Federation) Here is the direct link to the FSF page: http://flightsafety.org/aerosafety-world-magazine/aerosafety-world-in-spanish [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103499977255&s=6053&e=001ONGRgxmvyaeeoFbc-FHR7F-RBDf7GS5c5gP5XZbnYEJmuJgzIfxgcjyxeWkKuiFWGhLCEIi5ulLePOx96vSqtRULlBZ6ndy2dtk0GLLFY84BAGqsEg1vJzIlhai15Puy2M0w_dSoRTz-4p-3WFI9GCPpwIkiR1g0il0rq5EMMpKW7YhUKBGBVl0AoQG1jbzf] And to the pdf file: http://flightsafety.org/asw/spanish/asw_mar10_esp.pdf [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103499977255&s=6053&e=001ONGRgxmvyadLtb6wOtDNtIzDAerKyMUCIHktrvBuUn7BBuJXB5JMOYNDJhMeATTavUaPxLtFLIumybdMj9hpC9z7ChsfPRx2f8qfjsCXqUl3iuLHSjTZBwuVNhC5WXdr5vK6K3e-BX7J8yCVAI_BQ7hbdyOWWotG] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gulf Air inks new air safety contract with Avisa Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has signed a major new air safety contract with Avisa, the global aviation and airworthiness specialist. Avisa UK and Avisa Gulf have joined together to provide Gulf Air with Continuing Airworthiness Management (Camo) services for the next 12 months. Avisa is one of only three companies in the world to have won the Bahrain Civil Aviation Authority approval. This latest deal is the third contract in the past three years between the businesses. "Using our combined efforts and strategic Mena based location we were able to provide Gulf Air with the service they wanted," said Justin Goatcher, group managing director Avisa. The contract further demonstrates Avisa's ability to tailor its Camo services to meet the individual needs of its clients and their fleets depending on local regulatory requirements, operational environment and business expectations, he added. "I am sure Avisa Gulf's expertise and extensive experience in this field will be a great strength to our fleet," stated Gulf Air chief executive officer Samer Majali. -TradeArabia News Service Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC