Flight Safety Information September 13, 2010 - No. 190 In This Issue New rules would be big change for pilots' scheduling Jet Blue plane reports problem after Fla. takeoff Russian jet bound for Paris returns to St Pete after equip failure identifies Aviation safety conference Fire in cargo hold of China Southern A320 at Guangzhou Colombia appoints new CAA chief US Airways realigns operations leadership team Tyre-burst inquiry advises broader overpressure protection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New rules would be big change for pilots' scheduling By Alan Levin, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - Airline pilot schedules would undergo the most sweeping changes in more than 50 years under a proposal intended to prevent fatigue from undermining safety. Pilots would work shorter schedules and get longer rest periods, the Department of Transportation said in proposed rules announced Friday. The plan would for the first time set stricter limits on how long pilots can work in fatigue-inducing environments such as overnight. Because the pilot workday would be shorter, the government is proposing greater freedom for airlines to let pilots fly slightly longer legs in the middle of the day if they are not under the stress of numerous takeoffs and landings. NEW RULES: Officials hope to ease pilot fatigue "For far too long, we have acted as if all flights are created equally," Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt said. "Well, they are not." Some pilot groups signaled unhappiness over airlines' proposed flexibility to have pilots fly longer and to waive the rules if they proved they have alternate ways to minimize fatigue. "The purpose of this was to make sure pilots were better-rested," said Jeffrey Skiles, the co-pilot of the US Airways "Miracle on the Hudson" flight who is now vice president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations. "To have them fly more hours just doesn't make sense." The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited pilot fatigue in several recent accidents and has long listed the issue as one of its "Most Wanted" safety enhancements. The crash Feb. 12, 2009, of a commuter plane near Buffalo that killed 50 people, renewed momentum for change. A probe raised questions about pilot scheduling and fatigue. Existing rules have a maze of loopholes. Pilots may work overnight shifts as long as 16 hours. They are guaranteed eight hours off each day, but those eight hours can include eating, showering and getting to a hotel, leaving far less than that for sleep. Carriers can extend the workday longer if a pilot is flying an empty plane. The government will accept public comment on the proposal and consider changes. The rules must be completed by Aug. 1. As proposed, they would make the most far-reaching changes in pilot scheduling since the dawn of the jet age: ·Pilots would get at least nine hours off between shifts instead of the current eight-hour minimum. The rest period would begin once they got to their hotel room instead of when they leave the airport. ·Pilots could work no more than 13 hours a day, including time on the ground. The current maximum is 16 hours. Pilots who flew overnight or made numerous landings and takeoffs would be restricted to as little as nine hours on duty. ·The amount of time pilots could be behind the controls of an aircraft would increase slightly from the current eight hours a day to as much as 10 hours in some circumstances. http://www.usatoday.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103682430760&s=6053&e=001zpnynxx_QJBp37a_riSukDUhWv3MBQh4EEOzXjgkmFX8CquExM4QFNc8sVD66H4BobYicsfQiNkoZGnlCW4_pWwa08E2bmwTNjhhDqqr31tAFY4uF8sJag==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jet Blue plane reports problem after Fla. takeoff FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A New York-bound JetBlue Airways flight landed safely at a South Florida airport after the pilot reported smelling smoke in the airplane. JetBlue flight 578 took off from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 8:15 a.m. Friday. Airport spokesman Greg Meyer says about 10 minutes after takeoff, the pilot reported a mechanical problem with the aircraft. JetBlue Airways Corp. spokeswoman Sharon Jones says the pilot smelled smoke in the cabin and decided to return to the airport as a precaution. The plane landed at the airport without incident and is being inspected by maintenance crews. The flight had been bound for White Plains, N.Y., with 78 passengers and crew on board. The passengers were transferred to another plane. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9I570N80.htm Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Russian jet bound for Paris returns to St Pete after equip failure identifies St PETERSBURG, September 13 (Itar-Tass) - A jet of the Russian airline Rossiya that was making a flight from St Petersburg to Paris had to return to the airport of departure Monday morning after an equipment failure had been identified aboard. The jet landed safely at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport. The airport's press service said flight FV235 had taken off at 09:30 Moscow Daylight Saving Time /05:30 GMT/. The equipment problem was found out when it was crossing the area of the Estonian capital Tallinn. No one was injured during the landing at Pulkovo. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aviation safety conference DUBAI - Aircrafts flying in the Middle East, Asia and African regions have met with the highest number of accidents during the past year and, in most cases, they occurred minutes after take off or before landing. Samir Sajet, Regional Aviation Safety Officer of the UAE Regional Aviation Safety Office, UN, said the situation had prompted the UN World Food Programme Regional Aviation Safety Office and the Civil Aviation Authority in the UAE to come up with a series of discussions and conferences to reduce the risks in the aviation industry. He said the next conference will be held in Sharjah on October 11 and 12 and will be hosted by the Sharjah Civil Aviation Department with a dozen aviation experts and researchers from UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Mexico, Switzerland, Australia and South Africa. "We expect participants and experts to come up with a platform by which the airlines and air operators can reduce the risks and ensure the optimum safety measures on flight," he said. According to him, humanitarian aircrafts face more risks because they work in hostile environments, with poor ground facilities and unmanned airfields. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103682430760&s=6053&e=001zpnynxx_QJCtaJNglZHZWueOcRQXv0ckDQpFhqfHa_UITIK1c4cXZZ_kFhzQvYR4ZFsOEAC7qgVjCt0oyIXUYb0984-eSR9F0G5nXWMlpMJCH3l9IF4vaw==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fire in cargo hold of China Southern A320 at Guangzhou A fire broke out in the cargo hold of a China Southern Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport today. No one was injured in the fire, which started as cargo was being loaded onto the aircraft, says an airport spokesman. The aircraft was about to depart for Qingdao. "It appeared that the fire had started from the goods in the cargo hold. The aircraft was not damaged," he adds. Investigations are ongoing to determine how the fire started, says the spokesman. The aircraft was scheduled to depart at 08:20hr but took off at 12:47hr, according to China Southern's website. Officials from the airline were not reachable for comment. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103682430760&s=6053&e=001zpnynxx_QJDmKzR1I4EVDxjzcJPWjlLNz80jdswDj0v2-4Mj3hg2yMq5MUGtydMnCwwR04vqOLnSTG97k-U5UdYVO_Yq7zGH] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colombia appoints new CAA chief The recently elected Colombian government has appointed Santiago Castro Gomez as the new general director of the country's Civil Aviation Authority, Aerocivil. Holding degrees in economics and political science, Castro has been a member of Colombia's parliament since 1994. Castro replaces Fernando Sanclmente, who had been in charge of Colombia's Aerocivil since 2005. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ US Airways realigns operations leadership team US Airways has realigned its operations leadership team to strengthen its planning, analysis and technology expertise. The airline has promoted Kerry Hester to senior vice president, operations planning and support. Previously, she served as vice president, reservations and customer service planning. She will continue to report to Robert Isom, chief operating officer, US Airways. In this new role, Hester will be responsible for operations planning and analysis and share oversight of the crew resources function. She will continue to oversee reservations and the strategy, planning and service recovery functions within customer service. Hester joined US Airways in 2007 from Northwest Airlines where she held various management positions. The airline has promoted Tim Lindemann to vice president, reservations and customer planning . Formerly, he served as managing director, customer strategy and planning of the company. Lindemann will assume responsibility for the reservations organisation, including the reservations planning and network operations functions, as well as the policies and procedures and training functions for the call centres and airports. US Airways has also promoted Bob Maloney as vice president, operations control centre and air traffic control. In this new role, he will continue to oversee the airline's Pittsburgh-based OCC, which manages system-wide day-to-day departure, in-flight and arrival logistics. Maloney will report to Captain Ed Bular, senior vice president, flight operations and inflight. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tyre-burst inquiry advises broader overpressure protection Investigators are recommending that European and US regulators consider extending tyre overpressure specifications retrospectively following a tyre-burst on a Bombardier CRJ200 which badly injured a technician. The technician had been rectifying an under-inflated nose-wheel tyre on the CityLine aircraft at Manchester, on 13 November 2008, using a nitrogen pressure rig. While attempting to inflate the tyre he unintentionally subjected it to six times its normal pressure of 163psi. It burst, scattering wheel fragments and inflicting serious injuries on the technician. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch says the regulator on the rig had been set to deliver a particularly high gas pressure, but the usage pattern of the rig was not recorded which left the inquiry unable to determine how it had previously been adjusted. While the rig's inflator was designed to limit the flow-rate of nitrogen into the tyre, it adds, the small volume of the nose tyre would have led to a much more rapid increase in pressure than in a larger tyre - too quickly for the technician to release the inflator's trigger lever in time. The CRJ200 was certified before current regulations on overpressure burst protection were put in place. "Had overpressure burst protection been fitted to this aircraft it is probable that the accident would not have occurred," says the AAIB. "This is not the first occasion on which such bursts have happened and previous such events have resulted in fatalities." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC