Flight Safety Information July 19, 2010 - No. 141 In This Issue Trouble for Brazil-Paris flight for 4th time FAA proposes civil penalty against Spirit FARNBOROUGH: New lessor ALC orders 51 Airbus narrowbodies FARNBOROUGH: Emirates orders 30 more 777-300ERs Singapore inks four new open skies agreements 'Cabin sickness' incident on new A319 remains unsolved Flight Safety Information Journal - July 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trouble for Brazil-Paris flight for 4th time SAO PAULO (AP) - Air France says a Rio de Janeiro to Paris flight has been canceled because of electronic problems. It is the fourth incident in eight days involving an Air France passenger jet from Brazil. Air France spokeswoman Leticia Lyra says problems were detected on the before the flight was to leave for Paris Saturday with 170 passengers. It was rescheduled for Sunday night. She did not provide details. On Thursday, Air France canceled a Sao Paulo to Paris flight because of damage in the aircraft's fuselage. Two days earlier, an Air France Rio to Paris flight was forced to return to Brazil because of malfunctioning bathrooms. On July 10, a bomb threat forced a Paris-bound Air France jet bound to make an emergency landing in northeastern Brazil. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA proposes civil penalty against Spirit Airlines The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing to assess a civil penalties of $50,000 against Spirit Airlins for alleged violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The FAA alleges that Spirit Airlines returned an aircraft to service, and then operated that aircraft on revenue passenger flights when it was not in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations. The FAA alleged that Spirit failed to replace a faulty elevator aileron computer (ELAC) after the aircraft experienced an uncommanded pitch down of the nose while operating between Orlando, Fla. and San Juan, Puerto Rico on Aug. 21, 2009. Although Spirit's maintenance program required replacement of the ELAC computer, the airline did not do so before flying the A321 on a revenue passenger flight the next day from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale, when the aircraft experienced another uncommanded pitch down. www.aviation-safety.net [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103572755076&s=6053&e=001To4PbGPz_HtwFIFhtTqPTfDduZVSS0WMuCozoLXKApayS7YWNzD7rSLvRpQ-7Lc7faHGwgL1nn8X-NFdT2jK3Z5OOE-6TIW6dKBPDmD9B_Ppopjp1J4iq0j2KjKmFECB] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FARNBOROUGH: New lessor ALC orders 51 Airbus narrowbodies Steven Udvar-Hazy's new aircraft financing and leasing company Air Lease Corporation (ALC) has placed a firm order for 51 Airbus A320 family aircraft. The order, which covers 31 A320s and 20 A321s, was signed during the Farnborough Air Show. "With a wide airline customer base, and the continued global demand for replacement and growth, the A320 and the A321 are an integral part of our fleet portfolio strategy," says Udvar-Hazy. The founder and former chairman and CEO of ILFC established new lessor ALC earlier this year. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FARNBOROUGH: Emirates orders 30 more 777-300ERs Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has ordered another 30 Boeing 777-300ERs, adding to a previous order total of 71 of the type. The airline, which disclosed the deal at the Farnborough Air Show, values the agreement at $9.1 billion. All 777-300ERs are fitted with General Electric GE90 engines. Emirates' aircraft will be opreated in a three-class configuration, with eight first-class suites, 42 business-class and 310 economy-class seats. There are 86 777s already in the Dubai-based carrier's fleet, including 53 777-300ERs. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103572755076&s=6053&e=001To4PbGPz_HuybAgZnuvP_GRZUHAWDLqxUSFeLSBzHqdnnhQ0qhtzhyMdLn_DuLIcXk9sd1P63xfdpYS8n4Tk6sGGVjrlaX_e] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Singapore inks four new open skies agreements Singapore has signed open skies agreements with Barbados, Brazil, Jamaica and Rwanda. These deals, which were inked in July, allow carriers from Singapore and those four counties the "full flexibility" to introduce services without restrictions on capacity, frequency or routing, says the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The deal also gives the airlines fifth freedom rights that let them tap on traffic from and to third countries to improve the commercial viability of their operations, adds the CAAS. Singapore and Fiji have also concluded an open skies framework in July for cargo services and expanded traffic rights entitlements for passenger operations between and beyond both countries. "Direct air links with Singapore will allow businesses in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean to access more markets by tapping on Singapore's excellent connectivity to the Asia Pacific region. This will reinforce the growing people and trade flows between these regions and the Asia Pacific," says the authority. There are no direct flight connections between Singapore and Latin America or the Caribbean. In Africa, Singapore Airlines (SIA) operates passenger services to Egypt and South Africa, while Singapore Airlines Cargo operates services to Kenya and South Africa. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Cabin sickness' incident on new A319 remains unsolved Investigations by Irish authorities have discovered no evidence of depressurisation or toxic contamination, two years after a mysterious Germanwings Airbus A319 incident that resulted in the crew's issuing a Mayday call. The aircraft, registration D-AGWK, was operating on a scheduled flight from Dublin to Cologne on 27 May 2008 when its crew members reported feeling unwell shortly after take-off. The flight's purser also reported to the flight crew that "almost all the passengers had fallen asleep", says the report from Ireland's Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU). Six crew members and 119 passengers were on board the aircraft which, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database, was barely a month old at the time. The captain reported feeling unwell and he later recalled feeling a "tingling sensation in his right arm, comparable with the arm 'falling asleep'", says the AAIU. "At this point, the aircraft was now approaching [flight level] 200. The cockpit crew's initial concern was a possible pressurisation problem." However, the cockpit displays did not show any warnings or failures, says the report. "A decision was made to don oxygen masks, declare an emergency and descend," it adds. After the flight crew donned oxygen masks, their symptoms disappeared. The aircraft issued a Mayday call and subsequently landed without incident at Dublin Airport. Investigations after the incident were inconclusive, with no evidence of loss of pressurisation in the aircraft, or contamination of the aircraft's air supply. Meteorological factors and crew fatigue were also ruled out as contributors to the incident. "The probable cause of the adverse symptoms reported by the aircraft crew and some passengers could not be determined," says the report. The AAIU, however, recommends that the Irish Aviation Authority should ensure the provision of adequate medical services at large airports. There was no on-site doctor at Dublin Airport after the incident, and "such a presence would have been useful to the investigation", says the report. It also recommends that Dublin Airport Authority reviews its procedures in response to such events and ensure that passengers and crews are not detained in "a potentially toxic environment, following cabin air quality events". The aircraft's passengers and crew had been held in the aircraft for an hour after it landed before they were given the go-ahead to disembark. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FSI Cockpit Imaging [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103572755076&s=6053&e=001To4PbGPz_HvErv9_V9A-EFC8do51cUwTYJcH5I2drgXzDldFjyv8sz2J7m9t35t-tosdyNQBc2LJ3lBLq-l891PaDGIApBmA3sgOlXpmQehpMjTIl94EXg==] Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC