Flight Safety Information July 22, 2010 - No. 144 In This Issue Crash Spurs Interest in Real-Time Flight Data NTSB investigating diverted Dulles plane United jet's diversion to DIA ignited huge response network FAA: Airlines must inspect Boeing 767s for cracks Virgin America to order 40 Airbus A320s Airline operator AMR names CFO as new president FAA Ordered Testing On Boeing 757 Wings In 2005 Cranfield Course:..Hazards & Evidence Awareness for Air Accident Responders Cranfield Course:..Accident Investigation for Aviation Management ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crash Spurs Interest in Real-Time Flight Data FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND - In the year since the fatal, still-unexplained crash of a French airliner over the mid-Atlantic, interest has intensified in technologies to enhance the tracking of aircraft over remote areas and enable real-time transmission of the information contained in a plane's "black box" flight recorders. Air France Flight 447 disappeared on June 1, 2009, en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro with 228 passengers and crew members on board, but its flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were never found. Until recently, the main obstacle has been not technological but financial - the high cost of transmitting so much data from so many planes, nonstop. But the failure to locate the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 - which disappeared on June 1, 2009, en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro with 228 passengers and crew members on board - has prompted a number of initiatives involving manufacturers and regulators to devise new systems. Several companies also are actively marketing products to stream black-box and other aircraft data using satellites and the Internet, but selectively, so as to reduce the expensive bandwidth required. "The momentum for a real-time solution is significant and ramping up," said Dale Sparks, chief technology officer of Star Navigation, a start-up based in Toronto that has patented what it calls a "next-generation black box" and recently signed a technology-sharing agreement with Astrium, the space and satellite division of European Aeronautic Defense & Space. Mr. Sparks said the company's system could detect the earliest signs of potential problems while an aircraft was still in flight and automatically transmit an alert to staff members on the ground via an e-mail or text message. Matt Bradley, vice president of business development at AeroMechanical Services, or AMS, based in Calgary, Canada, said the Air France crash "has clearly increased awareness of the vulnerability" of aircraft that fly over oceans or remote areas, including polar ice caps. "The thought that an aircraft could go missing for six hours without air traffic control on either side of the Atlantic noticing - the public was clearly shocked by that," Mr. Bradley said. AMS teamed up last year with L-3 Communications, the largest maker of flight recorders, to promote its system, which uses the global Iridium satellite network to send in-flight data to ground stations. The company said its technology was currently installed on more than 200 planes with 25 different operators, including airlines, business jet and military customers. Both Star and AMS have come to this year's Farnborough International Airshow, one of the world's largest aviation bazaars, to exhibit their wares, which have been in development for nearly a decade. With a number of air accident investigators and safety experts now urging that some form of in-flight data transmission be mandated internationally, these companies and others are positioning themselves for a potentially lucrative market. "People absolutely smell money here," said William R. Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia. "This is not rocket science." The hardware itself sells for around $50,000 to $70,000 per plane, compared with $10,000 to $20,000 for a conventional black box. But for airlines, he noted, "the real cost is not the system but the phone bill." The sheer volume of data contained in a plane's two black boxes - the flight data recorder, which contains 25 hours of information on the plane's position, speed, altitude and heading; and the cockpit voice recorder, which contains the final two hours of cockpit audio - requires enormous amounts of bandwidth to transmit. The cost to send that data via satellite can be $3 to $5 a minute. For major airlines with hundreds of planes in their fleets, real-time streaming of flight data from takeoff to landing would cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually, some industry executives estimate. "Cost was an issue if the original plan was to download as much information as possible," said Mr. Sparks of Star Navigation. But providers are seeking to reduce the expense by allowing the airline to define which information they wish to monitor and how frequently they want it transmitted during a flight. Both the AMS and Star Navigation systems are programmed to automatically switch to live streaming after an incident or anomaly is detected during flight, and pilots can also activate it manually. "It just needs to be able to sit as a sentinel waiting for these alerts and to be able to transmit the data when it's needed," said Mr. Bradley of AMS. "You only pay when data are transmitted." The companies emphasize that their technology also monitors systems that traditional black boxes do not, like the onboard power supply, engine and hydraulics functions. They can also keep tabs on the flight profile to optimize fuel consumption and reduce emissions, predict possible repairs and even schedule maintenance. Viraf Kapadia, chief executive of Star Navigation, said his company's product usually paid for itself within a year of installation. Air accident experts say access to real-time flight data could have gone a long way toward solving the mystery of what happened to Flight 447, an Airbus A330 that went down in heavy thunderstorms more than 600 miles, or 970 kilometers, off northern Brazil. French investigators have scoured roughly 1,200 square miles, or 3,100 square kilometers, of seabed - at a cost of nearly $40 million - but the black boxes and the bulk of the wreckage have never been found. Without the flight recorders, investigators have said it may never be possible to determine the definitive cause of the disaster. So far, the main source of information about what happened is a series of maintenance messages sent using the plane's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or Acars, a digital link used for sending simple text messages via radio or satellite. But Acars does not have the bandwidth needed for sending flight data or cockpit audio files. "Clearly it's a good idea to have more data than we did in the Air France case," said Mr. Voss of the Flight Safety Foundation. "These technologies hold real promise. The caution will be to keep the requirements realistic." The European Commission and the International Civil Aviation Organization have each established task forces to study in-flight streaming technologies alongside other ideas for improving recovery of black boxes from a crash, including enhancing the power and battery life of the boxes' audio beacons, or "pingers," and flight recorders that eject on impact with water and float on the surface. The European project, known as Optimi, is conducting trials of in-flight data streaming over several zones across the North and South Atlantic Oceans this summer on several planes operated by Airbus, Air France and Air Europa. Results of those tests will be included in a set of recommendations the group plans to submit to the E.U. transport commissioner, Siim Kallas, by the end of this year. The I.C.A.O., an arm of the United Nations, also plans to issue its own recommendations in the autumn. Airlines, meanwhile, are cautious about absorbing significant new costs to address the very rare cases when a plane's black boxes cannot be found. According to the International Air Transport Association, there have been only 11 cases in the past 35 years where flight data recorders were never recovered. "Individual airlines are struggling for their financial survival right now," said Mr. Bradley of AMS, making investments in technology that is not currently required "a secondary concern." That is especially so in parts of the world where aircraft often are not even equipped with the most basic safety equipment. "If you had a dollar to spend on safety in certain developing countries, this would be the last thing you'd spend it on," said Mr. Voss. Bruce Coffey, president of L-3's aviation recorders division, said the early adopters tended to be smaller carriers and business-jet operators that faced less of an initial investment than major airlines with large fleets. But carriers that now use data-streaming say they are convinced the technology will win more converts over time. "There have been many quantum leaps in aviation safety over the years, and this stands out to be the next one," said Paul Sterbenz, vice president of strategic development at North American Airlines, which operates charter services for the U.S. military and other government agencies. North American, based in Jamaica, New York, installed AMS's data-streaming system on its fleet of 10 Boeing 757 and 767 jets in 2008. "I believe it will eventually become standard," he said. An Australian scientist credited with inventing the flight data recorder to help investigate aircraft accidents has died at the age of 85, military officials said Wednesday, Reuters reported from Canberra. David Warren, a research scientist at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne, came up with the idea of a crash- and fire-proof machine to record the crew's voices and instrument readings after helping to investigate the mysterious crash of the world's first jet airliner, the Comet, in 1953. Mr. Warren designed and built a prototype in 1956, but it took five years before the value and practicality of his invention was realized. http://www.nytimes.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103578537903&s=6053&e=001MU9xMS8YKCc1Uz4EIZsbk-EBUIluf0yWNVfs1ymzN4rhaQWlwfJMUqexTkIH2Rs7zbWjGGVkwBuPmy7SUV0wpSso_mQV2l3h-jtPPIrgZA_ehjACtEcpuQ==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB investigating diverted Dulles plane The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into what caused a United Airlines jetliner that departed from Dulles International Airport to experience severe turbulence, according to a federal spokesman. Les Dorr, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said Wednesday that the NTSB had opened the inquiry regarding Flight 967, which was headed to Los Angeles but diverted to Denver after experience turbulence over Kansas. The turbulence caused injuries to more than 25 passengers and crewmembers. Bridget Serchak, a spokeswoman for NTSB, confirmed the investigation but added: "We don't have any information at this time." http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103578537903&s=6053&e=001MU9xMS8YKCc60jcYgq3Zb79-Ko4CNMcML3snUQTKTwA9PywyX7Kh42TybEzb3DWdXw389FreUIRTEXE-x9Q5tBxL7gdGHQywLYva_nzVdOXyRhxz8gUGdi_dEww3cJWs] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ United jet's diversion to DIA ignited huge response network When the call came in Tuesday night that United Airlines Flight 967 was being diverted to Denver International Airport with dozens of passengers injured in severe turbulence, a huge emergency response network was scrambled into action. Seventeen ambulances, firefighters both on site and at several fire stations, airport medical staff and dozens of security and support staff converged on Concourse B. "Airport Operations coordinated everything," said Jeff Green, DIA spokesman. "It seemed like it went very smoothly." The 150 emergency workers had 30 minutes to prepare to receive the injured passengers. When the Boeing 777 with 255 passengers and 10 crew members taxied to the terminal, ambulances were in place. Within two hours of the 7:39 p.m. landing Tuesday, 21 injured passengers and flight attendants were rushed to six different hospitals and more than 200 passengers were on a special flight to Los Angeles. Within a few more hours, all of the injured people aboard the airplane, who had mostly head, neck and back injuries, were treated and released. The size of DIA and its emergency response capability were likely the primary reasons that the pilots didn't land at closer airports but in Colorado, he said. While the airplane was still in the air, the medical staff set up triage in the gate area. Airport staff escorted the emergency vehicles through a special gate to the terminal per security protocol. Two jet bridges were connected on either side of the plane. Uninjured passengers were led through a door near the coach seats while injured passengers were carried or walked to a door on the opposite side. Once seen by paramedics and medical staff, patients were taken down elevators to the ambulances. The patients were rushed to different hospitals depending on their medical needs and ages. After the emergency late Tuesday, several medical staff members had a debriefing, Green said. They concluded the large-scale operation had only a few glitches. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15572317 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103578537903&s=6053&e=001MU9xMS8YKCdjsFsA9xzYivEH5o6_AKGMJzQfLknvvIy7v1jt-a_u6h9pKJZ29Y8CajrYVtKw91Wny3KtXQawjynd96JBsTMHxx_iM2OeqVKjAen-CJPJB38Bzclt3PBUpHuL_a1IZBs=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA: Airlines must inspect Boeing 767s for cracks WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. airlines must inspect more than 100 Boeing 767 airliners more often than previously required to look for cracks that could cause the engines to fall off, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered Wednesday. The cracks can occur in the pylons that attach engines to wings. The problem came to light last month when American Airlines found cracks in at least two 767s during normal maintenance. The FAA safety order affects 138 planes registered in the United States out of a global fleet of 314 planes. Aviation officials in other countries usually follow the FAA's lead on safety of U.S.-manufactured planes. The order only applies to 767s that have the original pylon design. Boeing changed the design after the problem first became known. FAA issued a safety order for these planes in 2005 requiring inspections for cracks every 1,500 flights. The new order accelerates that schedule to every 400 flights or every 90 days, whichever is later. Besides American, other U.S. operators affected by the safety order are Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx Corp., United Airlines, United Parcel Service, US Airways, and ABX, formerly Airborne Express. ___ Online: Federal Aviation Administration http://www.faa.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Virgin America to order 40 Airbus A320s LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Virgin America said Thursday that it plans to order 40 Airbus A320 jetliners for delivery beginning in 2013. Though the airline didn't provide a value for the deal, it could be worth up to $3.26 billion based on the aircraft's average list price, though airlines often receive discounts for bulk orders. The deal also comes with an option to purchase an additional 20 aircraft for delivery beginning in 2017. Virgin America's fleet is projected to grow from its current 28 aircraft to 90 aircraft by 2016. Airbus is a unit of the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103578537903&s=6053&e=001MU9xMS8YKCdmZfOsGyOdjzlTerWd1KeEMr2gyt4ZB1a9PfIKQOzO5SaGY41B6QE2OFc9VeoGHEUR4g7szxsV9RJcUuIricIM] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airline operator AMR names CFO as new president DALLAS American Airlines parent AMR Corp. said it has promoted its chief financial officer to president and shuffled other executives a day after American received antitrust clearance for its joint business venture with British Airways. The company, which has a similar deal pending with Japan Airlines, says the deals could boost annual revenue by $500 million by increasing international traffic. CFO Thomas Horton will become president of the parent company and airline. He served as AMR's CFO from 2000 until 2002, when he left for the same job at AT&T. He returned to AMR in 2006. Horton will oversee new areas including sales and marketing. AMR's top sales and marketing executive was recently dispatched to oversee the possible sale of regional flying subsidiary American Eagle. The company also announced promotions for several executives who will report to Horton, including a new CFO, Bella Goren, who had been senior vice president of customer relationship marketing. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9H3GPRO0.htm [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103578537903&s=6053&e=001MU9xMS8YKCdwYG9qFueZcAiQruAH3AqeedBCZ9nTtbll1wip9rVhZpu6MclYA-njOkLofVZzWg7JyDAbxJtQRrnEuNc-_3CKgZaBQ-BZNyiZ-xMBAwFSnl2Al7q6qf_m5prZhKaXG5VBNZoK4OlvhKRqeJiZOVfUZnxP5bw7EH8=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Ordered Testing On Boeing 757 Wings In 2005 ORLANDO, Fla. -- While the American Airlines plane that sustained wing damage during a flight from Miami to Orlando is flying again, it's not the first time an incident like this has happened for the airline. American Airlines has had two Boeing plane wings sustain damage mid-flight in the past five years, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Another Boeing aircraft that belongs to United Airlines was also forced to make an emergency landing in Seattle in 2004, when the plane was vibrating. According to FAA records, mechanics found the trailing edge of one of the wing's slats had broken away, and the top of the wing behind the slat was breaking apart. In August 2009, another American Airlines Boeing 767 flight had to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles after it sustained delamination, or breakage, on one of its wings, according to records from the FAA. It's not clear why there have been two more of the same incidents following the FAA statement. The FAA said they are investigating the most recent case of wing delamination on Saturday's flight. As for Boeing, which makes the planes involved, a spokesman says the company has been aware of the problem with the wings and has "issued a series of service bulletins to alert them (the airlines) to the possibility of delamination and the need to inspect or possibly repair or replace the part." No one was injured in the three incidents uncovered by WESH 2 News. At least one aviation safety expert told WESH 2 delamination can jeopardize a pilot's ability to safely control the plane. American Airlines said safety was not an issue on Saturday's flight. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cranfield Course: Hazards & Evidence Awareness for Air Accident Responders 31 Aug 2010 - 01 Sep 2010 Air accidents present a range of challenges to organisations charged with providing a response. Such accidents can be hugely variable in scale and nature, occurring in almost any location at any time of day. On occasions, the accidents may involve a major international response. Organisations attending the scene undertake a wide range of tasks designed to rescue survivors, identify victims, protect the public and conduct investigations into the accident causes. At the same time, all organisations are required to provide appropriate health and safety management arrangements for their own personnel, whilst also ensuring that they co-operate and co-ordinate operations with others working at the scene. Personnel responding to air accident sites can be exposed to a wide range of health and safety hazards. These hazards - physical, material, biological and psychological - have diverse characteristics and pose varying risks, depending on exposure. To manage these risks, organisations must ensure that they have installed proper safety management systems to identify these hazards, assess risks and implement appropriate control measures. International investigative authorities are increasingly aware of the health and safety risks that accident site attendees are exposed to and are beginning to limit entry to hazardous sites to only those personnel who have completed hazard awareness training. In addition to managing safety responses, organisations should give due consideration to the evidence that may exist at the scene of the accident and those tasked with collecting and analysing it. This evidence may be required for a variety of purposes; most commonly for use in the identification of victims and in the determination of the reasons why the accident occurred. This two-day course provides awareness training and knowledge in both site safety work practices and in evidence protection and preservation activities. The course will include theory sessions along with various group activities/ exercises. Course fee: £410; Accommodation fee: £174 Full details can be found at: http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/soe/shortcourses/atm/page3808.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cranfield Course: Accident Investigation for Aviation Management 01 Nov 2010 - 12 Nov 2010 The aim of the course is to provide safety professionals and operational staff with the fundamentals behind both incident and accident investigation and the roles that will be played by operators, regulators, manufacturers, legal and government investigation agencies. Upon completion of the course, delegates will be able to conduct incident investigations within their organisation's safety management system and also co-operate with major accident investigations. The course brings together the considerable expertise of investigators, operators and researchers to deliver a course that is tailored to those working at a management level. The course is designed for professionally qualified flight crew, airline or military flight safety officers, managers, union representatives, regulatory authority or air traffic services management and others concerned with the operational aspects of flight safety. In particular, the course is aimed at those who may be required to carry out investigations into occurrences, or to act as advisors or technical representatives to official aircraft accident investigation teams. The course is primarily intended to provide an introduction to basic investigative techniques and procedures in accordance with international requirements. One of the strengths of this course is that we bring together a world-class group of experts to share their experiences. This includes Inspectors of Accidents from the AAIB as well as experts from a range of areas vital to the process of accident investigation. Course fee: £4115; Accommodation fee: £1029 Full details can be found at: http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/soe/shortcourses/atm/page3523.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC