Flight Safety Information August 10, 2010 - No. 159 In This Issue Fatalities feared in Alaska plane crash Airline Steward at JFK Pulls Emergency Chute, Flies Coop Turkish Airlines Tells Flight Crew to Lose Weight Tighter safety regs EU to inspect Philippine aviation industry in Oct... L-3 Communications acquires Airborne Technologies Safety body to help African aviation Honeywell Receives FAA Approval for New Flight Management Software Upgrade Delta flight attendants hurt during turbulence Lufthansa details engine shutdown on brand-new A380 SAS Group searches for new chief FAA enlarges 747 slat fix to GE and PW-powered aircraft ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fatalities feared in Alaska plane crash (CNN) -- A plane crashed near Dillingham, Alaska, Monday night with some apparent survivors and "potential fatalities," the Alaska Air National Guard told CNN. Officials do not yet know what kind of plane went down in an area about 17 miles north of Dillingham, said Guard spokesman Major Guy Hayes. "The plane was reportedly carrying eight passengers and there are potential fatalities," the Air National Guard said in a statement. Inclement weather was reported in the area at the time of the crash about 7 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), Hayes said. The Air Force 11th Rescue Coordination Center, which is manned by Alaska National Guardsmen, was contacted by Dillingham Flight Service after someone spotted the downed aircraft. Two aircraft were helping in the recovery effort. Medical personnel were on scene assisting the crash victims, the statement said. Officials hope to have more information available later Tuesday morning. ***** Date: 09-AUG-2010 Time: Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Texas Turbine Super O Operator: GCI Communication Corp. Registration: N455 C/n / msn: 206 Fatalities: Fatalities: / Occupants: 8 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: north of Dillingham, AK - United States of America Phase: Nature: Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: Crashed. www.aviation-safety.net [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103607881555&s=6053&e=0018hPlM3eUcgSVW_R4dP75wuRZpbAsrq2ZmgbBGGiK2zofzqlQg-EMTMv90GA4jA_puPaXcseSXVglx1fBgifg6ETMxbCgcPV6gVCpobNvAzhUL2pT2tVnUu1WkOZoPnEO] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airline Steward at JFK Pulls Emergency Chute, Flies Coop A flight attendant ran out of patience on a plane that just landed at JFK on Monday afternoon, so he allegedly cursed a blue streak over the p.a. system, grabbed some beers, pulled the emergency chute, slid down and ran from the plane, sources said. Jet Blue employee Steven Slater was working on Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh to Kennedy Airport, which landed at around 12 p.m., when he got into a verbal altercation with a passenger, law-enforcement sources said. Following a heated exchange, the flight attendant told off the entire plane on the public address system, activated an emergency chute near the back of the plane and jumped down the evacuation slide and ran for it. The argument began when one of the 100 passengers on the flight, got up early to get her luggage from an overhead compartment, according to sources. Slater told the passenger to sit back down -- but, as he approached, the woman continued to pull her belongings down and struck him in the head with her bag, authorities said. Slater asked for an apology but the woman cursed him out, saying in effect "go f--k yourself" and calling him a "mo-fo," according to law enforcement sources who are still sorting out the specifics. Then Slater got on the flight's announcement system and allegedly cursed out everyone on the plane -- especially the person who mouthed off to him, according to law enforcement sources. When his tirade was through, he then took a some beers from the galley and pulled the emergency chute and slid off the Embraer 190 plane. According to police sources, he threw his luggage down first and said something to the effect of "there goes 28 years," before he took the plunge. After getting down the slide, Slater took off into the terminal, law-enforcement sources said. Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor, Queens by Port Authority officials. He was found by police in a sexual embrace with his partner, sources said. The steward was "having a bad day," sources said. He is being charged with 2nd-and 4th-degree criminal mischief, 1st- and 2nd-degree reckless endangerment and criminal trespass in the 3rd degree, according to a spokeswoman for Queens DA Richard Brown. Slater faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted. No one was injured in the incident. JetBlue, in a statement, added, "At no time was the security or safety of our customers or crewmembers at risk." http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103607881555&s=6053&e=0018hPlM3eUcgR_mTehJ9ZVd062LGaOkG6jCB98ITc1pAvOqU-uvG1NGmWEe7GSAY5JLUYcRby1je2qKWuTPlFcjz5zwGfs41mcUY5VswdrrxW2LfNO3xNQReuIx4B2KIeb] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Turkish Airlines Tells Flight Crew to Lose Weight Turkish Airlines is giving 28 flight attendants six months to lose weight or face reassignment. The employees have been placed on unpaid leave while they try to shape up. All of the employees - 13 women and 15 men - had previously been warned to lose weight, an official of the state-run airline says. "Weight and height are important factors at all airlines. These criteria are important both in terms of appearance and the ability to move about," Turkish Airlines says in a statement. Izzet Levi, head of a cabin attendants' association, and one of those furloughed, tells the Haber Turk newspaper he must drop 22 pounds to reach 211 pounds if he is to return to his post. If they don't lose weight, the crew members will be assigned to ground positions, the carrier says. Air Arabia, based in the United Arab Emirates, recently took a similar approach to encouraging crew weight loss, giving flight attendants three months to get in shape, reports BreakingTravelNews.com. According to the website, "the airlines argue that fitness is an important issue for certain flight attendant tasks," such as evacuating passengers quickly in the event of an emergency." http://news.travel.aol.com/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tighter safety regs Safety regulations regarding regional air carriers are set to tighten as part of a new law signed by President Obama last week. The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 is a result of the deadly crash of Central Connection Flight 3407, which went down in February 2007 en route to Buffalo, N.Y. Fifty people were killed, including Princeton resident Lorin Maurer. "This new law will ensure that pilots of regional air carriers are held to the same high standards of training and safety as pilots of larger, commercial airlines," said U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D""Hopewell, in a statement. "We owe it to the victims of the Buffalo crash and their families to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again." After a series of hearings, the National Transportation Safety Board declared that the crash may have been caused by inadequate pilot training as well as severe pilot fatigue. The board also found that regional carriers are held to lower safety standards than larger national carriers. Regional airlines such as Colgan Air, the Buffalo flight's carrier, account for about half of all scheduled flights in the United States. The new law includes provisions from legislation first introduced by Rep. Holt to make up for the discrepancy in airline oversight. "Before, there were different rules for these regional airlines," said Holt spokesman Zach Goldberg. "What the law does is put larger and smaller airlines on one level of safety." In addition to implementing new safety rules governing pilot fatigue and poor-weather training, the law will bump the minimum number of flight hours required for pilots before they can pilot passenger planes up from 250 to 1,500. "Flight 3407 was a very preventable disaster," said Gail Dunham, executive director of the National Air Disaster Alliance/Foundation. "The legislation is a very important step forward." While Dunham praised the law, she is worried that airlines will try to lobby to reduce the 1,500-hour requirement by replacing some flight time with classroom learning. "An academic education is never equal to pilot experience," she said. "I don't want pilots training while I'm in the cabin." Rep. Holt's office gave credit to the families of the victims of Flight 3407 for spending more than a year working to get new safety regulations passed. "So much of the credit on this goes to the victims' families, who have been working very hard on these issues," said Goldberg. "They've been really outspoken about making sure these changes become law." http://www.nj.com/news/times/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EU to inspect Philippine aviation industry in Oct MANILA, Philippines - A team from the European Union's air safety body will visit Manila in October to assess the country's progress in meeting global aviation safety standards, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said. Findings made by experts from the European Air Safety Agency (EASA) will determine if the ban preventing Philippine carriers from entering European airspace could be lifted. "The department recommends that CAAP continue its efforts toward at least a partial lifting of the ban. The findings will be crucial since this will determine the possibility of a partial or full deletion of [the Philippines] from EU operating ban," the EU said in a letter. Last March, the EU barred carriers from Sudan and the Philippines from mounting flights to the 27-country bloc. The ban stemmed from CAAP's failure to address safety issues raised by its peer body in the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also found gaps in CAAP's regulation, prompting it to classify the Philippines as among those with significant security risks. The DOTC said the EASA team will be in Manila tentatively on October 18 to 22. "The result of the visit will be discussed and reviewed by the Air Safety Committee during the next meeting in Brussels in November." Also on September 2 to 4, the DOTC said ICAO President Roberto Kobeh Gonalez will visit the country, partly to discuss CAAP's Corrective Action Plan. CAAP director general Alfonso Cusi said: "This is good, we are ready for them." "CAAP drafted a strong and accurate Corrective Action Plan for presentation to FAA," he added. 46 of 64 FAA findings met CAAP said it has addressed 46 out of 64 of the FAA audit findings. These covered specific operating regulations, qualifications and training staff, procedures and technical guidance, licensing and certification obligations, surveillance obligations and resolution of safety concerns. It also noted that most of the 46 findings were "serious non-compliance" with the ICAO standards for aviation safety oversight. In addressing the remaining 18 audit findings, CAAP said it will continue a top-down review of the organization and its operations. CAAP is also rushing the appointment of qualified technical personnel to fill up the positions in the Flight Standards Inspectorate Service, the office primarily responsible for safety oversight of air operators. "I believe our aviation industry has stabilizes with several corrective actions undertaken since March 2010, but still there is a need to institutionalize procedures and business processes to ensure oversight functions are being done in accordance to international standards and practices," Cusi said. (abs-cbnNEWS.com) Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103607881555&s=6053&e=0018hPlM3eUcgRUg4yEWyjmFFA4bHV4aNtZFoOAGlKIGtO5al6szMB_EHYmPvZXSaEjQPlvGgnR6dxGx2izB0YhMUTcD0-xmxvv] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ L-3 Communications acquires Airborne Technologies NEW YORK (AP) - Defense contractor L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. said Monday that it has acquired Airborne Technologies, which helps make unmanned aircraft, for an undisclosed sum. L-3 said the deal was structured as an asset purchase for income tax purposes. Airborne Technologies is expected to generate $20 million of sales for 2010. The company is a prime contractor on production of air-launched unmanned aerial systems for the Defense Department. It is headquartered in Ashburn, Va. L-3 said the deal will enhance its work in pilotless planes that are in high demand by the military. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Safety body to help African aviation (AAP) Two months after a plane crash killed the entire board of WA miner Sundance Resources, the Flight Safety Foundation will brief a key African mining body on an Australian initiative to boost Africa's patchy aviation safety record. Foundation Asia-Pacific regional director Paul Fox said the proposed international aviation safety standard for the resources sector had the long-term potential to lift aviation safety right across Africa. That standard specifies minimum pilot competencies, aircraft equipment and maintenance levels and has already been formally endorsed by the Minerals Council of Australia. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Honeywell Receives FAA Approval for New Flight Management Software Upgrade GPS Enabled System to Help Meet Emerging ATM Needs PHOENIX, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON)hasreceived approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin delivering its Flight Management System (FMS) software upgrade that provides advanced GPS-enabled approaches and access to Future Air Navigation System (FANS) routes in congested air spaces and oceanic airways. The Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval from the FAA allows the company's new FMS 6.1 software upgrade to be installed in aircraft with Honeywell's FMZ-2000 flight management system. Approximately 600 aircraft will be eligible for the upgrade including Falcon 900B, Hawker 800XP and Challenger 601 aircraft. Honeywell expects follow-on certifications for other FMZ-2000 platforms, including Bombardier Global Express, Gulfstream G-IV and G-V, Falcon 900EX, Citation X and Embraer Legacy 600/650 aircraft. The upgrade provides capability for Wide Area Augmentation System-Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (WAAS-LPV) and FANS and also prepares the aircraft for future FAA Authorization to fly Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorization Required (SAAAR) operations. "Pilots now have the access to flight management system software which will help to meet the emerging Air Traffic Management needs by offering three key operational features in a single software package," said Rob Wilson, President, Business and General Aviation. "Honeywell's 6.1 version of the FMS software enable more than 2,000 LPV and close to 200 RNP-SAAAR approaches to fly higher accuracy paths to lower minimums during inclement weather and provide conformity for landings in congested airspace and difficult terrain. With this software upgrade, more direct approaches are available to the autopilot, saving time and fuel," Wilson said. Key software features include: WAAS-LPV - This functionality offers GPS vertical guidance for lower minimums during a GPS approach. More than 2,000 approaches are enabled through the WAAS GPS Space-Based Augmentation System (SBAS). Pilots will now be able to accept the LPV approaches for lower landing minimums. FANS - Honeywell expects this to be available for the Bombardier Global Express and Embraer Legacy 600/650 aircraft in the coming months. FANS will provide a radar-like environment in key oceanic regions and enable data link communications to Air Traffic Control providing route flexibility, reduced crew workload and more closely controlled arrival and departure times. RNP- SAAAR - The software update supports the FMS functionality required for FAA authorization for RNP-SAAAR. RNP-SAAAR will allow landings in congested air space and difficult terrain. With FAA authorization, business jet pilots can fly safer and more direct approaches and departures, and in doing so increase operational efficiencies and reduce operating costs, noise and emissions. Coupled with Honeywell's "Go-Direct" RNP services, operators realize cost and timesaving benefit from this software upgrade. To learn more about FMZ-2000 6.1 software upgrade please visit www.flywhatsnext.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103607881555&s=6053&e=0018hPlM3eUcgQcXTeXPj2RsXI1Y6nQhW-SZ6whUrSyU1oJeEkA5eIf13FjOL1mkwVOvChU34vTAOgym1dsGwbWqhdZiVfcRCz9XW45xDBD0OiC7OLgwh6Siw==] Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Honeywell's aerospace business is a leading global provider of integrated avionics, engines, systems and service solutions for aircraft manufacturers, airlines, business and general aviation, military, space and airport operations. SOURCE Honeywell Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Delta flight attendants hurt during turbulence Two Delta flight attendants were injured Sunday afternoon when a flight from Key West to Atlanta encountered turbulence. "There was a bit of turbulence halfway through the flight and a couple of flight attendants sustained minor injuries," Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton told the AJC. "Paramedics met the flight upon arrival and the flight attendants were treated on site." No passengers were hurt. All were wearing seat belts at the time, Talton said. She did not provide details about the flight attendants' injuries. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lufthansa details engine shutdown on brand-new A380 Lufthansa has disclosed that its second Airbus A380 has undergone an in-flight engine shutdown just a couple of days after entering into service. The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, was delivered on 19 July and put into service last week on the Frankfurt-Tokyo route. Lufthansa says that the aircraft was flying the return sector on 6 August when, about an hour before landing at Frankfurt, the crew took a "precautionary" decision to shut the engine down. A spokesman for the airline says the decision followed the generation of "confusing numbers" on a cockpit indicator. The indicator showed that the problem centred on oil pressure. Lufthansa's main A380 maintenance base is located at Frankfurt, and the aircraft - serial number 41 - underwent an engine change in order to return it to service as quickly as possible. Inspection revealed "substances" in the filter but Lufthansa has not given further details. The company had a spare engine available and the aircraft went back into service on 7 August. Both of the carrier's A380s are operating the Tokyo Narita route, providing a daily service to the Japanese capital from Frankfurt. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAS Group searches for new chief as Jansson steps down SAS Group has started the search for a new chief executive after Mats Jansson chose to step down early from the top post. Jansson is to depart in the autumn, ahead of the expiry of his contract next year. He has overseen the restructuring of the group under the 'Core SAS' programme which has aimed to stabilise the company after years of losses. "I believe that I have done my share for SAS," says Jansson. "There are still great challenges to come for SAS but the platform is in place." The 'Core SAS' programme has cut costs at Scandinavian Airlines and the group's other affiliates and involved divesting non-central parts of the company's operations. SAS Group has also undergone a rights issue to shore up its capital. Jansson has headed the company for four years and he says "the timefeels right" for a new chief to take over. SAS Group chairman Fritz Schur says the company has begun the process of recruitment for the position but no immediate candidates have been identified. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA enlarges 747 slat fix to GE and PW-powered aircraft Officials from the US FAA are proposing similar fixes for GE CF6-80C2 and Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines powering 747s to prevent leading edge flats from retracting during takeoff after requiring the immediate adoption of a rule by operators of Rolls-Royce RB211-powered 747s. There are roughly 98 aircraft covered under the latest proposed rule covering flap fixes on the 747. But both the Rolls-Royce directive and FAA's latest notice of proposed rulemaking are designed to prevent the repeat of a of a 11 May 2009 incident in which a British Airways 747 lost lift and came close to stalling after the leading edge flaps retracted on rotation after receiving a faulty signal from the thrust reverser control system. "The design for the thrust reverser signal to the flap control unit (FCU) for the Rolls-Royce model RB211 series engine is the same as the GE model CF6-80C2 series engines and PW4000 series engines," says FAA. Specifically the thrust reverser uses a position sensor to indicate a thrust reverser sleeve is unstowed. The sensor's signal is also used as an input for the FCU. "Aerodynamic forces can cause the thrust reverser sleeve to flex, which can be enough movement to cause the sensor to indicate that the sleeve is not fully stowed even though the sleeve has not moved from the stowed position," the FAA states. Explaining the rationale for the immediate adoption of the thrust reverser signal fix directive for the RB211, the FAA says the position sensor that directs signals to the FCU is sensitive to smaller sleeve movements, and that there were similar service experiences of small sleeve movements that triggered the same "amber alert" of the BA aircraft. But those incidents were only single engine occurrences. In the BA incident the first thrust reverser deployment signal was received prior to takeoff decision speed, and the second signal, which triggered the slat retraction occurred several seconds later after the pilots committed to takeoff. After examining in-service experience, FAA reasons the GE and P&W engines are less sensitive to small thrust reverser sleeve movements. "In this case the risk is reduced and allows for less aggressive compliance time," the agency says. Operators of the affected aircraft have 36 months from the proposed rule's effective date to comply with the changes to thrust control system wiring for the FCU in both types of engines outlined in Boeing service bulletins released in January of this year. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC