Flight Safety Information July 27, 2010 - No. 147 In This Issue Lufthansa cargo plane crashes in Riyadh Aircraft grounded after Romania crash Woman Claiming Screaming Child Passenger Caused Deafness Settles No injuries as plane skids of Cape airport runway Continental and United move closer to unveiling senior management Singapore Airlines Looks for New CEO to Replace Chew ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lufthansa cargo plane crashes in Riyadh - pilots safe RIYADH AFP) - A Lufthansa cargo plane which caught fire in mid-flight crashed on landing at Riyadh airport on Tuesday, but its two pilots were safe with minor injuries, a Saudi aviation official said. "The captain and the copilot are in good health, they only had minor injuries," said Khalid al-Khaibri, a spokesman for the Saudi civil aviation authority. The pilot of the Lufthansa MD-11, flight 8460 from Frankfurt, reported a fire in the cargo hold of the aircraft to ground officials before landing at Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport, Khaibri told AFP. The airport immediately put ground rescue and fire teams on alert, he said. "The captain informed the tower that there was fire in the back of the plane," he added. The aircraft broke in half on landing at around noon (0900 GMT) and erupted into flames which were later extinguished. "The aircraft is totally finished," an airport ground services official told AFP, declining to give his name. ***** Crashed Lufthansa MD-11F was carrying 80t of freight Eighty tonnes of freight were on board the Lufthansa Cargo Boeing MD-11F which crashed on landing at the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh today, following a flight from Frankfurt. Lufthansa Cargo is unable to give details on the nature of the cargo. It says the aircraft was operating flight LH8460 when the accident occurred at 11:38. Meteorological data from Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport indicate mild northwesterly winds - possibly suggesting an approach to runway 33L - good visibility and no significant weather conditions at the time. NOTAM information from the airport states that runway 15R/33L has been closed by the disabled aircraft. But the airport's other parallel runway, the primary 15L/33R, has been declared open despite having earlier been the subject of a maintenance closure. The tri-jet broke up on landing. Both pilots survived, says Lufthansa Cargo, and are being treated in hospital. "It is not yet known exactly what type of freight it was or which customers are affected," the carrier adds, referring to the 80t shipment on board the aircraft. "The cause of the accident is still being investigated." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***** Date: 27-JUL-2010 Time: Type: McDonnell Douglas MD-11F Operator: Lufthansa Registration: D-ALCQ ? C/n / msn: 48431/534 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Riyadh-King Khaled International Airport (RUH) - Saudi Arabia Phase: Landing Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Destination airport: Riyadh-King Khaled International Airport (RUH) Narrative: A Lufthansa cargo plane crashed on landing and caught fire. The accident happened on runway 33L/15R (13,796 ft long, asphalt runway). Saudi news reports indicate that the airplane broke in two. The crew members were taken to hospital. Flight LH8460 is a scheduled cargo service every Tuesday operating from Frankfurt to Riyadh, according to the Lufthansa Cargo web site. This could possibly be the flight involved in the accident. This flight was carried out by MD-11 D-ACLQ. Recent weather was reported as: OERK 271000Z 32022KT 7000 SKC 41/05 Q1005 NOSIG= OERK 270900Z 32014KT CAVOK 40/05 Q1006 NOSIG= OERK 270800Z 34014KT CAVOK 39/06 Q1006 NOSIG= OERK 270700Z 35010KT CAVOK 38/07 Q1007 NOSIG= www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aircraft grounded after Romania crash Deputy IAF chief tells 'Post': We must stop and think of the families. ROMANIA - The IAF decided to ground all training aircraft on Tuesday, in the wake of a fatal helicopter crash in Romania which left six IAF servicemen and one Romanian soldier dead the previous day. "It is important that we stop and think about the families and the missing servicemen," Brig. Gen. Nimrod Shefer, deputy commander of the IAF, told The Jerusalem Post. RELATED: Analysis: The IAF's helicopter program Background: After 40 years, Yasour still believed to be reliable helicopter He also stated that the IAF had decided to end the Blue Sky 2010 joint search-and-rescue exercise with the Romanian air force on Tuesday and that the remaining participating Israeli aircraft would return to Israel on Wednesday. The exercise had been originally schedule to Friday, July 30. Shefer told the Post that the IAF Unit 669 search and rescue team was en route to the crash site of the Yasour helicopter which went down on Monday. He said that the crew aboard the helicopter that crashed was one of the most experienced teams in the IAF. "This is one of the best crews that we could have had there. They had loads of experience," Shefer said. http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=182733 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103585452053&s=6053&e=001OesRd6CBWJow_8xBt-GfjhSoaqh5Grm3TX-rRdL34OuHneqeGLF6EeBq4dZHVFzDTmEo8kxNTXk5fZQUFl6kfyT4HRlLRkF9aNyCftgYEF162OK_Yu5DBk3LhyBBmaOa7cnBCuvRVvcipwQlrHNGz8Seqy_ECOeX] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Woman Claiming Screaming Child Passenger Caused Deafness Settles (AAP) Everyone hates sitting near screaming kids on planes, but an American woman has apparently reached a settlement with Australian airline Qantas after alleging a screaming child caused her to go deaf on a flight. It was unclear whether the "confidential" settlement included any payment by the carrier. According to Australian Associated Press (AAP), Jean Barnard claimed the incident occurred after she boarded a flight from Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia, last year. She was seated near a three-year-old who she said leaned towards her and screamed so loud blood came out of her ears and she couldn't hear. Barnard was helped off the plane and taken to an Alice Springs hospital. She had been on a "dream trip" to Australia and New Zealand. "The pain was so excruciating that I didn't even know I was deaf," Barnard said during a deposition for a civil lawsuit she filed against Qantas in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, AAP reports. The 67-year-old claimed she suffered permanent injuries from the child's scream. She sought, among other things, damages for both physical and mental suffering, medical expenses and loss of income. Barnard's lawyer argued Qantas was negligent because the plane's crew failed "to take all the necessary precautions" to prevent the incident, AAP reports. The airline argued the woman had a hearing problem before she arrived in Australia, including wearing hearing aids, and that the crew cannot be responsible for the acts of a three-year-old. In an email to AAP, Barnard wrote that she had signed a "confidential release and settlement agreement with Qantas," and that she had agreed not to further discuss the incident. "There is a confidential settlement and we can't make any comment," Qantas' senior executive vice president for The Americas, Wally Mariani, tells AAP. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No injuries as plane skids of Cape airport runway HYANNIS - A Nantucket Shuttle Airlines plane skidded about 800 feet on the runway at Barnstable Municipal Airport yesterday after the landing gear malfunctioned. The Hyannis Fire Department received a call at 8:22 a.m. from the Federal Aviation Administration tower at the airport reporting that a twin Cessna (Cessna 402) had landed on Runway 33 with its gear up, said Hyannis fire Lt. Tom Kenney. It was not immediately clear whether the gear was ever deployed or collapsed on landing, he said. There were no reports of smoke or fire, he said. The seven passengers, along with a dog and a crew member, all were uninjured, said airport manager Roland "Bud" Breault. The FAA and state Department of Transportation are investigating the accident, he said. Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103585452053&s=6053&e=001OesRd6CBWJqgnG-Hl7pymJyNUpasDPDFe5o-xaEz36Frc1Y0OYDSp71CuRG-HY3k7uvOFj0x7iSrV4vlqf99IlSM5RjDyTz4] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Continental and United move closer to unveiling senior management Continental CEO Jeff Smisek has told employees that he expects to name senior officers of the merged Continental-United entity "soon". The US carriers announced their intent to merge in May, with Smisek serving as CEO of the carrier and United CEO Glenn Tilton becoming the company's Chairman. "I expect to soon name the senior officers who will report directly to me," says Smisek in an employee update filed with US regulators. "After that, I'll work with those officers on the design for the new officer-level organisation, and I will then name the rest of the officer group." Continental's chief explains for some groups, particularly those focused on the operation, the talent selection process is likely to extend to 2012, depending on when the carrier obtains a single operating certificate. Previously, Continental and United have said they expect the merger deal to close by year-end. On 20 July the two airlines announced they had reached an agreement in principle with their pilots to transition to a merged entity. A transition agreement is the first step towards achieving an integrated seniority list. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Singapore Airlines Looks for New CEO to Replace Chew Chew Choon Seng, chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines Ltd., attends a news conference in Singapore. Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world's second-largest carrier by market value, said it is considering "several" candidates to become chief executive officer as Chew Choon Seng signaled that he will step down. "It's at the mercy of the board, but I am getting on in years," Chew, who turns 64 today, said after a shareholders meeting in Singapore. "I should move on." Singapore Airlines shares have doubled since Chew, whose contract expires in December, took over at the carrier in 2003 when the SARS crisis hammered air travel in Asia. He managed an unbroken run of annual profits even as the carrier faced record jet-fuel prices, the global recession and repeated delays in deliveries of its Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos. "Chew has a very steady hand," said Rohan Suppiah, an analyst at Kim Eng Securities Pte in Singapore. "His ability to pull the airline out of difficult operating times is fantastic." The airline is "on schedule" to find a successor for Chew, said Chairman Stephen Lee. The company has looked at "several" candidates, both within and outside the company, he said, without elaboration. Empty Planes Chew took over from Cheong Choong Kong in June 2003 when the deadly respiratory virus emptied planes. Under Chew, the carrier posted a record S$2.13 billion ($1.6 billion) profit in the year ended in March 2007. In October that year, he introduced the A380, making Singapore Airlines the first carrier to fly the world's biggest passenger jet. Profit slid to S$216 million last year -- the worst in more than two decades -- as the global recession hurt travel. Yesterday, the airline reported a third straight quarterly profit as a rebounding global economy revives travel demand. The carrier may post a profit of S$1.3 billion in the year ending in March, according to the average of 23 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The airline gained 1.8 percent to S$15.02 today in Singapore, the biggest gain in more than two weeks. The shares have increased 0.5 percent this year, lagging behind the benchmark Straits Times Index's 2.8 percent advance. A veteran of more than three decades at the airline, Chew is a mechanical engineer with a Master's of Science degree from London's Imperial College. http://www.bloomberg.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103585452053&s=6053&e=001OesRd6CBWJr4sTtAXv-epFu4SbIWDTSw9oBnv_63QXU9YRd7cdRPJ-kBi73ZWaAuiUQka-2pMT6tbgVMNNh-lUpXusT4zMpgRWucHl_Ozeif1Z3H7bccxw==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC