Flight Safety Information August 31, 2010 No. 178 In This Issue Two Arrested in Possible Terror 'Dry Run' SH&E/ICF Helps Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Achieve Top Rating Airline to pay $140,000 each in compensation for 42 who died in jet crash in northeast China Jetliner Brake Systems Probe Simulator training flaws tied to airline crashes Gulfstream's G650 hits Mach 0.995 Pilot returns to LAX because of bird strike Indonesia's volcano re-erupts, threatens international aviation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two Arrested in Possible Terror 'Dry Run' After Chicago-to-Amsterdam Flight Two men who authorities said were carrying "mock bombs" and may have been on a "dry run" for a terrorist attack have been arrested in Amsterdam after their flight from Chicago landed. U.S. law enforcement officials told ABC News the suspects were taken off a United Airlines jet Monday and were charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack." Prosecutors in the Netherlands said the men were detained at the request of U.S. authorities. They were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, Michigan, and Hezem al Murisi. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen. Al Soofi was carrying "$7,000 in cash and what looked like mock explosive devices in two checked bags, seven cell phones -- some of them we're told were taped to empty bottles -- and watches taped to shampoo bottles," according to CBS News: Al Soofi was singled out for a pat down at Birmingham International Airport in Alabama on Sunday. His checked baggage had set off an alarm as it was screened. Officials say al Soofi, who originally was heading through Dulles to Yemen, had changed his itinerary to the Amsterdam flight. The two bags carrying those suspicious items did not go with the man on the flight to Amsterdam. Instead, the two bags continued on al Soofi's original path to Dulles Airport near Washington -- where they were confiscated by U.S. authorities. Authorities also found a boxcutter and three large knives, according to ABC News. The two were allowed to board the flight at Chicago's O'Hare Sunday night despite security concerns surrounding al Soofi, who began his journey in Birmingham. It's unclear whether the suspects are connected to any terrorist organization. Investigators will try to determine whether al Soofi was testing security procedures. The New York Times emphasized that on Monday night the men had not been charged with any crime and that the whole episode might be a misunderstanding. "There's nothing at all confirmed at this point that's associated with terrorism," the Times quote one unidentified official as saying. http://www.politicsdaily.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103648089313&s=6053&e=001Lb89qxUlCIDiPtl30kLW6YYpUd9YDX8jgsiloeblqglQVPj73HJaJ5W8WN7oflZUcTPFjwWgPbTzxzMDEo5a4npeP5tDaNfhCrTehIFkb1A0LUT0e-ZXLQ==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEWS RELEASE SH&E/ICF Helps Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Achieve Top Rating from International Aviation Safety Assessments Program FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Steve Anderson, steve.anderson@icfi.com , +1.703.934.3847 FAIRFAX, Va. (August 27, 2010) - SH&E, a subsidiary of ICF International (SH&E/ICF) and one of the world's leaders in aviation expertise, has been an integral contributor in guiding the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in receiving a Category 1 rating from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's International Aviation Safety Assessments (IASA) Program. "Under the vision and leadership of NCAA Director General Dr. Harold Demuren, the Category 1 safety designation is a major milestone for Nigeria, for Africa, and for the global aviation community. Nigeria has achieved what many believed was impossible. Vision, determination, and the commitment of the NCAA, the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation, and the Nigerian federal government have brought this dream to reality," said Lou Sorrentino, senior vice president and managing officer for SH&E/ICF. Working under the auspices of the Flight Safety Foundation in the effort to achieve a Category 1 rating, SH&E/ICF performed an initial baseline assessment of the oversight capabilities of the NCAA. Shortly thereafter, SH&E/ICF prepared the NCAA for the International Civil Aviation Organization Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program inspection. SH&E/ICF was selected by the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation in 2009 to perform consultancy services for the recertification of the Nigerian aviation industry as part of the World Bank Economic Reforms and Governance Project, Aviation Safety Component Project, which launched in January and is expected to continue through the first half of 2011. "There is more work to be done with continued vigilance and oversight of the Nigerian aviation community and we are pleased to be a valued partner to the NCAA and to the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation," Sorrentino said. "SH&E/ICF is very proud of the Nigerian authority's achievement, and we are proud to be partners with the NCAA, which has demonstrated exceptional perseverance and commitment to aviation safety," said José Muñoz, vice president for SH&E/ICF. ### About SH&E and ICF International For 46 years, SH&E has been dedicated to serving the air transportation industry, providing its aviation expertise to airlines, airports, governments, international agencies, manufacturers, and financial institutions. The company's core capabilities include airline strategy, planning, and operations; airport demand management, planning, and air service marketing; cost-benefit analysis of environmental regulations; cargo studies; revenue management; appraisals, maintenance management, and asset management; safety and security audits; financial due diligence, and privatization, mergers, and alliances. In December 2007, SH&E's 100-plus staff joined ICF International, further expanding its breadth of services, offerings, and expertise. SH&E's Web site is www.sh-e.com. About ICF International ICF International partners with government and commercial clients to deliver professional services and technology solutions in the energy and climate change; environment and infrastructure; health, human services, and social programs; and homeland security and defense markets. The firm combines passion for its work with industry expertise and innovative analytics to produce compelling results throughout the entire program life cycle, from research and analysis through implementation and improvement. Since 1969, ICF has been serving government at all levels, major corporations, and multilateral institutions. More than 3,500 employees serve these clients worldwide. ICF's Web site is http://www.icfi.com/. Caution Concerning Forward-looking Statements Statements that are not historical facts and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may concern our current expectations about our future results, plans, operations and prospects and involve certain risks, including those related to the government contracting industry generally; our particular business, including our dependence on contracts with U.S. federal government agencies; and our ability to acquire and successfully integrate businesses. These and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those indicated in forward-looking statements are included in the "Risk Factors" section of our securities filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included herein are only made as of the date hereof, and we specifically disclaim any obligation to update these statements in the future. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airline to pay $140,000 each in compensation for 42 who died in jet crash in northeast China BEIJING, China(AP) - State media say the relatives of victims of a passenger jet crash that killed 42 people in northeastern China will receive compensation. The official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday that Henan Airlines will give about $140,000 to each victim's family. The plane crashed Aug. 24 near Yichun city in Heilongjiang province. Fifty-four people survived. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. A preliminary investigation showed that the plane missed the runway. Survivors described scenes of horror and their escapes through flames in the country's worst air disaster accident in nearly six years. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jetliner Brake Systems Probed By ANDY PASZTOR An American Airlines plane that careened off a slick Jamaican runway last year has prompted crash investigators to reassess how well some jetliner braking systems perform on various runway surfaces in rainy conditions, people familiar with the details say. American Flight 331 was en route from Miami to Kingston in stormy weather when it landed nearly halfway down the runway on Dec. 22. The pilots used maximum braking power but the Boeing 737 still slid off the end of the strip, ending up with a collapsed landing gear and the fuselage cracked in two places. The crash, according to these people, has led the National Transportation Safety Board investigators to challenge longstanding airline practices and technical assumptions regarding braking capabilities on wet runways. By those criteria, the advanced Boeing 737-800 should have been able to stop safely on the strip. Investigators don't believe there was a significant pool of water on the runway, though the crew was battling a stiff tail wind as well as some malfunctioning runway and approach lights, these people said. The crash, which didn't result in any fatalities, left several of the 154 people aboard hospitalized. Preliminary information gathered by investigators indicates the two-engine jet started to slow down, but then failed to decelerate as quickly as it should have and actually picked up speed slightly for a brief period. Even after maximum manual braking was applied, these people said, the deceleration rate never reached levels projected by earlier flight tests and engineering calculations for the apparent runway conditions that night. Landing Problems Some incidents involving runway overruns: AUG. 2, 2005, Toronto An Air France Airbus bursts into flames after overshooting the runway while landing in a storm. All 309 passengers and crew survive DEC. 8, 2005, Chicago Midway Airport Southwest Airlines jet slides off the end of runway, through airport fence and into traffic, killing a 6-year-old boy. Eighteen of the 103 passengers and crew are injured. DEC. 22, 2009, Kingston, Jamaica Upon landing, an American Airlines plane bounces on the tarmac, runs off the end of the strip, veers partly across a roadway and ends up on its belly near the beach. Dozens of passengers are injured. JUNE 16, 2010, Ottawa An Embraer jet operated by Trans States Airlines, a United Airlines regional partner, slides off the runway into muddy grass with 33 passengers on board. Two pilots and a passenger are injured. Safety board investigators are inclined toward drafting recommendations to reassess, and in some cases tighten, current safety margins for landing on wet runways, according to people familiar with the continuing investigation. Any final action will require approval by the board's members, and the preliminary conclusions could change. The agency's investigators and a spokeswoman for AMR Corp.'s American Airlines unit declined to comment, citing the continuing probe formally led by Jamaican authorities. A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, which previously has issued advisories and regulations alerting pilots about the hazards of landing on wet or slushy runways, didn't have any immediate comment. Runway overruns have become the most frequent category of accident for commercial aircraft world-wide. From 1995 to 2008, roughly 30% of all commercial-aircraft accidents involved so-called runway excursions, often in rain or snowy conditions, according to the Flight Safety Foundation, an industry-supported group based in Alexandria, Va. If regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere embrace more stringent rules, the result could be greater operational constraints on airlines planning to land on relatively short or outmoded runways when they are wet. The Kingston strip lacks grooves intended to help increase friction between a jet's tires and the runway's surface. Like many other airports in the region and some in the U.S., it also doesn't have special materials installed to stop aircraft that may veer off the end of the runway. Jamaican officials have maintained that the Kingston runway meets all international safety standards. In recent years, regulators, airlines, safety-equipment manufacturers and independent experts have tended to focus on ways to reduce pilot mistakes or lapses in judgment that lead to overruns. They have emphasized enhanced training, improved pilot discipline and more sophisticated cockpit hardware to prevent crews from approaching runways too fast, touching down too far down strips or failing to use proper braking or engine commands. Other experts have been working on ways to determine more precisely the extent of water, slush and snow on runways. Today, pilots to a large extent depend on subjective radio reports from crews on planes that landed previously, rating braking action as good, fair or poor. But now, in the wake of the Kingston accident, the U.S. safety board is shifting a major part of its effort to analyze whether brakes on various aircraft models are performing as reliably across all types of runway surfaces as pilots have come to believe, particularly under challenging conditions. http://online.wsj.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103648089313&s=6053&e=001Lb89qxUlCIA-uiu2UNSSmSQ27CSFHRDLl6OqnWRxaP8BfeYF-ejLJu-M2KLw24CwGP3ilmxZqd9nv68D55deNkB-Y4w4dw8JYg35nCMgycBzfhW_UrPYZw==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simulator training flaws tied to airline crashes By Alan Levin, USA TODAY Flaws in flight simulator training helped trigger some of the worst airline accidents in the past decade, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal accident records. More than half of the 522 fatalities in U.S. airline accidents since 2000 have been linked to problems with simulators, devices that are used nearly universally to train the nation's airline pilots, the records show. Simulator training is credited with saving thousands of lives. But the problem, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) case files and safety experts, is that in rare but critical instances they can trick pilots into habits that lead to catastrophic mistakes. Last month, the NTSB blamed deficient simulator training in part for the Dec. 20, 2008, crash of a Continental Airlines jet in Denver. NTSB: Pilots need air-hazard skills TRAINING: Current simulators can mislead pilots The Boeing 737-500 skidded off a runway at high speed and burst into flames because of the pilot's inability to steer while trying to take off in gusty cross-winds, the NTSB ruled. Six people suffered severe injuries. Investigators also found that many airline simulators, including Continental's, made such takeoffs seem far easier than in the real world. To make matters worse, the airline and its trainers were never told the simulators were inaccurate, the safety board found. "That's a problem," said Kevin Darcy, an aviation safety consultant and former chief accident investigator with Boeing. "It's really important to know how that data is programmed and where the holes are. Otherwise you are fooling yourself." Simulators revolutionized training starting in the 1970s by allowing airlines to train pilots almost exclusively on the ground. However, as realistic as they may seem, simulators are only as good as the data used to program them. Current simulators aren't accurate when a plane goes out of control, which has prevented their use in training for the leading killer in commercial aviation. Buoyed by recent scientific research, the NTSB voted earlier this year to urge federal regulators to improve simulators so that they can instruct pilots how to regain control in an emergency. The NTSB has repeatedly raised concerns since the 1990s about the potential for simulators to give pilots a false impression of how their aircraft work. Simulator training was cited in some of the deadliest accidents in the past decade. Among them: ·After a Colgan Air plane went out of control and killed 50 people died near Buffalo on Feb. 12, 2009, the NTSB found that airline simulators needed to be improved to give pilots better training in such emergencies. ·On Nov. 12, 2001, an American Airlines pilot's aggressive use of the rudder caused his jet to break apart, killing 265 people. The NTSB found that a American simulator exercise had given pilots a false sense of how the rudders worked. Continental said it planned to "change our training programs as recommended." Colgan said its training was based on aircraft manufacturer guidelines and followed federal regulations. American, which altered its use of simulators after the 2001 accident, said it is constantly adapting its training in response to safety data it collects. http://www.usatoday.com/ Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103648089313&s=6053&e=001Lb89qxUlCIAqlivlpDoiY9zbsOnNHHRlLYJe_djndwy196xbM0qHjHeiX9dIi_hXla9tiYjRwTEE4gHqkH9SgwhuisFVQtOn] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gulfstream's G650 hits Mach 0.995 By Thomas A. Horne Gulfstream Aerospace's new G650 reached Mach 0.995 in flutter tests, a feat that prompts the company to dub its top-of-the-line airplane the world's fastest civil aircraft. The speed was attained as part of the G650's certification flight test program. Gulfstream experimental test pilots Tom Horne and Gary Freeman, along with flight test engineer Bill Osborne, pitched the airplane's nose down 16 to 18 degrees below the horizon to hit the target speed. The maneuver was designed to test the airplane's natural flutter resistance when the wings, tail, and control surfaces were subjected to vibrations from onboard flutter exciters. The vibration frequencies exerted on the airplane ranged from two hertz (cycles per second) to 58 hertz, or about as fast as a fluorescent light flickers. The airplane performed as expected. Horne said, "The airplane is very predictable. It's very easy to control and get precise control at those speeds. The airplane response has matched the expectations of our engineers, and we've been able to easily fly the test conditions and march through the test plan." http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2010/100830g650.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pilot returns to LAX because of bird strike LOS ANGELES (AP) - An Alaska Airlines flight has returned to Los Angeles International Airport after the pilot reported a bird had struck the plane. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus says Flight 707 plane took off from LAX Monday night and was about a mile and a half west of the airport when the pilot reported the strike above the windshield. The pilot returned to the airport so the plane could be checked for damage. Fergus says the plane landed safely at 9:21 p.m. There were no reports of injuries or damage to the plane. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Indonesia's volcano re-erupts, threatens international aviation JAKARTA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Volcano in Sumatra Island of Indonesia erupted again on Monday morning, spewing smokes up to over 2,000 meters high, potential to disturb international flight, Volcanology Agency and Meteorology Agency said. Mount Sinabang in North Sumatra province re-erupted at 06:30 a. m. Jakarta time Monday (2330 GMT Sunday), head of the Investigation Unit of the volcanology agency Muhammad Hendratno told Xinhua over phone from West Java province. Spokesman of Transport Ministry Bambang Ervan said that the eruption is potential to disturb aviation. "It will depend on the direction of wind blow. Should it direct to the north, it will hamper international flight, and if the wind blow direct to the east, it will disturb domestic flight," he told Xinhua. Most of international flights to the main airport in the province and other airports in the island come from north, said Ervan. Official of the information meteorology at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency Agie Wandala said that the wind direction at this time is toward the north. "The direction of wind blow at this period is toward the north, "he said. Spokesman of the transport ministry said that the flight must be canceled. Mount Sinabung first erupted earlier Sunday, the first time after 400 years, forcing over 11,000 people to escape their homes. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC