Flight Safety Information June 28, 2010 - No. 127 In This Issue BA 747 crew praised after slats cause near-stall on take-off Taiwan international airport jet bridge collapses American, pilots spar over fuel loads Corruption scandal hits China's aviation sector Academy seeks IATA views on pilot retirement age Dubai's Al-Maktoum Airport opens for freight operations "Air Safety Management" Master's Degree Survey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BA 747 crew praised after slats cause near-stall on take-off South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority has praised the airmanship of British Airways Boeing 747-400 pilots who battled to prevent a low-altitude stall after the leading-edge slats unexpectedly retracted during lift-off from Johannesburg. At 167kt on the take-off roll, fractionally below rotation speed, all the leading-edge slats inboard of the engines on each side automatically retracted, after receiving a spurious indication of thrust-reverser activation. As the aircraft tried to climb out from Tambo International Airport, known for its 'hot and high' environment, the jet lost a "significant amount of lift", says the CAA, and the stick-shaker immediately engaged, warning of an approaching stall. Instead of following the typical climb profile, the first officer - whose aerobatic experience meant he was familiar with buffet - controlled the aircraft through the stall warning and buffeting by executing a shallower climb, while the commander supported the manoeuvre by calling out heights above ground. The slats stayed retracted for a total of 23s. They started to redeploy 7s after the jet became airborne - as the undercarriage was retracting, at a height of 56ft - and were fully extended 9s later. The stick-shaker, which had activated intermittently over a 15s interval, stopped as the airspeed rose to 186kt. In its inquiry report into the 11 May 2009 incident, the CAA says the crew had "no notion" that the slats had retracted before rotation. There is no separate indication in the cockpit for leading-edge slat position. "The flying crew should be commended for the professional way that they controlled the aircraft during a critical stage during take-off," it adds. "During [the incident] the flight-deck crew had no indication or understanding of what had caused the lack in performance of the aircraft." After stabilising the 747's climb, the crew declared to air traffic control that they were experiencing problems with two engines and would be returning to the airport. The aircraft, which had been bound for London Heathrow with 265 passengers and 18 crew members, landed safely. Investigators have concluded that, during the take-off roll, the slats retracted - as designed - in response to signals indicating deployment of thrust reversers on the two inboard Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. The right-hand reverser signal was triggered at 125kt and the left-hand at 160kt. But neither reverser had been activated, and British Airways engineers examined the aircraft (G-BYGA) to trace the source of the false signals. The inquiry concluded that, although the reversers were stowed, their translating cowls were nevertheless seated relatively far rearwards. As the 747's engines wound up to high power, and the aircraft accelerated, sensors monitoring the cowl positions transmitted incorrect 'reverser' signals. The slats retracted because of a logic process designed to prevent them being struck by efflux air from activated reversers. Boeing subsequently developed a safety bulletin for Rolls-Royce-powered 747-400s to disable this reverser-based automated stowing. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taiwan international airport jet bridge collapses Taipei, June 28 (CNA) A jet bridge at the second terminal of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport collapsed Monday afternoon, but no injuries were reported. Authorities said the cause is still being investigated. The collapse took place at 1: 24 p.m. at boarding gate D6 of the second terminal, while airport staff were preparing to receive 30 business class passengers arriving from Singapore on flight SQ876. The jet bridge -- a walkway that connects aircraft to the airport -- was scheduled for maintenance the same morning after one of its motors malfunctioned. A South Korean company sold the bridge to the airport for NT$10 million (US$312,000) in 2005. Chang Tie-yuan, the deputy director of the airport, said Monday afternoon that the cause of the collapse was still unknown and that the maintenance department will conduct an overall inspection of all the airport's jet bridges. "The collapse will have virtually no impact on the operation of the airport, " he said. "We have shut down the boarding gate but no flights will be delayed due to the closure." This is the first time that a jet bridge has toppled at the airport, which was originally named Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. It opened in 1979 and the second terminal was added in 2000. Earlier this month, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo announced that construction for a third terminal will begin later this year as part of the Airport Zone project. In a briefing with President Ma Ying-jeou, Mao said the goal is to turn the airport into a transportation hub for Northeast Asia. According to the Airport Council International's (AIC) 2009 Airport Service Quality Survey, the airport fell to 27th place, a sharp decline from the previous year's 18th place. The government has recently approved a NT$10.7 billion airport renovation project. http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aSOC&ID=201006280029 Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ American, pilots spar over fuel loads CHICAGO, June 27 (UPI) -- Managers at American Airlines and leaders of the pilots union agree carrying less fuel isn't a safety issue under routine circumstances. The two sides digress, however, when it comes to unexpected variables such as flights being diverted while in the air. "It's being touted as a corporate efficiency program, but perhaps it has gone too far," said Dennis Tajer, an American pilot and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. "It has the ability to affect the margin of safety and reliability. That is our concern." The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday that American's strategy of carrying less fuel is aimed at reducing fuel purchases and also the amount of weight each plane carries. A plane carrying a lighter fuel load actually burns less fuel. To achieve its goal, American has given the job of figuring out how much fuel each plane carries to airline dispatchers. The task has traditionally been performed by the pilot. The Tribune said planned fuel loads would include about 90 minutes of reserves, which would be trimmed down over the course of the year. The FAA requires a 45-minute reserve. Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103523091845&s=6053&e=001fBMsIToqvwYrtvQkoAPd2GPbpn6lnOn8cvTRy2Z87qFD4iaNI3X9IjSiGbMwLv-ttJjR9ubS_GlcTDs-qBIR31CQcLmbh9MN] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corruption scandal hits China's aviation sector BEIJING (AFP) - Two executives at state-owned China Southern Airlines have been detained as part of a wide-ranging probe into corruption in the aviation industry, state media said Monday. Investigators took away the two managers, who work in the department charged with flight scheduling, in a deepening scandal that has already felled seven company employees and a number of government officials, the China Business News said, citing unnamed sources at the airline. The employees are suspected of accepting bribes from airlines in exchange for approving new flight routes and landing and departure slots, it said. The crackdown on corruption in the aviation industry began at the end of 2009 and has snared other high-ranking officials including the former chairman of Capital Airport Holding Company and the head of the Civil Aviation Administration's (CAAC) north China bureau, the report said. Liu Yajun, another senior official at CAAC, committed suicide last week by laying down on railway tracks. The paper suggested the incident may be related to investigations into graft. The Beijing Youth Daily also reported Monday that Kuang Xin, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning agency, had been detained on suspicion of taking bribes in airport construction and aircraft procurement deals. Corruption is widespread in China despite repeated crackdowns and warnings from the nation's top leaders, including President Hu Jintao, that it threatens the Communist Party's ability to rule Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Academy seeks IATA views on pilot retirement age Lithuanian cockpit-training centre Baltic Aviation Academy is seeking clarification from IATA on its position regarding pilot age limits. The academy says lobbying groups with their own interests have put forward arguments for, and against, specific retirement ages for pilots. But individual states' domestic wealth, culture and the typical diet of its population means that the "health level and risk group of same-age pilots are quite diverse in different countries", it says. Baltic Aviation Academy wants IATA to publish an opinion on age limits and their application in various states, particularly given that age is a factor in pilots' skill and experience levels. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dubai's Al-Maktoum Airport opens for freight operations Dubai's new Al-Maktoum International Airport has formally opened for freight operations, with initial services from operators Rus Aviation, Skyline and Aerospace Consortium. It follows tests last week conducted by Emirates SkyCargo. Several other charter companies and freight carriers have agreed to serve Al-Maktoum, says operator Dubai Airports, including Iran's Aban Air, Coyne Airways, and Sonic Jet. The airport, part of the Dubai World Central infrastructure programme, has a single runway - although its operator plans to expand to five - plus passenger and cargo terminals. "Although it is a long-term project, the need for a second airport in the near to mid-term is clear," says Dubai Airports chief Paul Griffiths. He says the main airport, Dubai International, has capacity for 2.5 million tonnes of cargo but volume is forecast to rise to 3 million tonnes by 2015. Griffiths adds that passenger numbers are similarly expected to increase strongly, more than doubling to 98 million by 2020. Dubai Airports chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum says the opening of the airport is a "proud day for Dubai and an auspicious occasion for the future of global aviation". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Air Safety Management" Master's Degree Survey: Air Travel with Personal Electronic Devices Survey I am currently gathering survey data for my master's degree research project at City University London. I would appreciate it if you could take the time to fill out a short survey to assist in my data collection (see link below). The survey is completely anonymous. There are a maximum of 27 questions that should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. Your participation in this survey could play a role in enhancing flight safety worldwide. If you are interested in reviewing the final results, please let me know and I will provide a copy upon completion of the research project. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance in taking this survey. https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGttc0Z6dVdSYlIzajJjSFdzT0pNUGc6MQ Helen Consolino Master's Student (MSc) City University London helenconsolino@gmail.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC