Flight Safety Information September 16, 2010 - No. 194 In This Issue Black box analysis shows smoke in doomed UPS plane 28 minutes into flight FAA Panel Urges Enhanced Qualifications for Airline Co-Pilots Cessna's 2000th Caravan Goes To The Caribbean Boeing Says 1st 787 Test Jet Grounded Due to Engine Surge NTSB Position Available - Office of Engineering ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black box analysis shows smoke in doomed UPS plane 28 minutes into flight DUBAI // The pilots on board UPS Flight 6, which crashed in Dubai this month, reported smoke in the cockpit less than half an hour after take-off, civil aviation investigators said yesterday. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) announced there was a "fire warning" and that the crew reported smoke in the cockpit 28 minutes after the cargo plane left Dubai International Airport en route to Cologne, Germany, on September 3. Bahraini air traffic control also suggested the plane land in Doha, but the pilots opted to return to Dubai, according to the GCAA, in a statement issued through WAM, the state news agency. The crew then experienced "cockpit visibility and communication problems" before issuing a Mayday distress call. The information was found in the plane's two flight data recorders, or black boxes, which were sent to the US for analysis on Friday. According to the GCAA, the captain was in control "up to the end of the recording". Last week investigators found both of the boxes, which contain voice and data recordings, among the wreckage of the Boeing 747-400, which crashed less than an hour after taking off from Dubai. Saif al Suwaidi, the director general of the GCAA, said investigators are still trying to retrieve all the information from the recorders, something he anticipates will take another five days. "During the first 28 minutes it seems there were no problems, but we got from the recorders that the problems came when the alarm came on at 28 minutes," Mr al Suwaidi said. "It seems like the pilot tried to manage the flying, but in time the smoke must have increased in the cockpit to make his situation difficult." UPS Flight 6 was unable to change radio frequency after entering Bahraini airspace, making it impossible to communicate directly with Dubai air traffic control. The pilots chose to return to Dubai after issuing the distress call, and maintained communication through Bahraini air traffic control. According to Mr al Suwaidi, investigators are still looking into what caused the communications problems and why the pilots were unable to change their radio frequency. A preliminary report from the GCAA said that at 7.42pm air traffic control lost radar contact with the plane, which then crashed inside the Nad al Sheba Military Camp, killing the two crew members on board, Capt Doug Lampe and First Officer Matthew Bell, both Americans. http://www.thenational.ae/apps/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103691764364&s=6053&e=0013HlA0g7PSEIQl4U_zPbAfHxQsrMHrweLUC4FFC_NsmTdrkn9I0ppPS8xlBvoyLR_TyvH5dowLb4QQ91lsl6xub-7YmBMgbWyTk73uwESwrR5V6G7C8t-laEOfP0-dN3l] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Panel Urges Enhanced Qualifications for Airline Co-Pilots By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) A high-level FAA advisory panel, seeking to improve cockpit safety, has called for significantly enhanced training and proficiency standards for airline co-pilots, according to people familiar with the report. The recommendations, these people said, urge the Federal Aviation Administration to require newly hired co-pilots to have more-rigorous training, demonstrate higher academic qualifications and pass tougher flight tests than current government regulations generally mandate. The result could be a new kind of license focused on skills needed to fly high-performance, pressurized aircraft, rather than the propeller-powered planes most fledgling pilots traditionally have used to build up flight hours in their logbooks. Commuter airlines likely would face the biggest and most costly changes, because their new hires tend to have the least experience. If the FAA ends up embracing the proposal-which already has stirred up controversy among industry officials-it would represent the most dramatic changes in decades to commercial-pilot qualifications and licensing. It also likely would revamp the way private pilot-training schools and various companies across the country prepare and test students who want to move into airliner cockpits. Overall, the recommendations aim to ensure higher standards for new co-pilots, so they will be more familiar with the aerodynamics of high-performance aircraft; more knowledgeable about challenges such as high-altitude and winter operations; and better able to react to emergencies including aircraft upsets or stalls. The committee of safety experts, including representatives of airlines and pilot unions, was convened by the FAA to analyze whether tougher licensing rules should be imposed on newly hired co-pilots. The group finished its work last Friday, according to people familiar with the matter, and a final report is slated to go to Peggy Gilligan, the agency's top safety official. The biggest change envisioned by the recommendations, these people said, is to require each co-pilot to demonstrate mastery of the specific aircraft model he or she will be assigned to operate-before being allowed to carry any passengers. Current FAA rules only require co-pilots to have a commercial license and certain minimum experience flying multi-engine planes. Under the proposed standards, co-pilots intending to start flying passengers also would have to obtain a "type rating," or certificate demonstrating competence at the controls of a specific aircraft type. Such ratings are currently mandated solely for captains. But several large carriers, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines enforce their own, tougher hiring standards and essentially require new co-pilots to have such certificates. On Wednesday, an FAA spokeswoman said the agency is "eager to review the recommendations on how the FAA can strengthen pilot experience." She said Randy Babbitt, the agency's chief, "is committed to giving pilots the training and experience appropriate...to handle any situation they encounter." The FAA in February took the first formal step toward imposing new licensing requirements. A spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents mainline carriers, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest U.S. pilot union, declined to comment. A spokesman for the Regional Airline Association, which represents commuter carriers also declined to comment. The recommendations come in the wake of several high-profile airline incidents and accidents that highlighted lapses in co-pilot skills and judgment, including the February 2009 crash of a Colgan Air turboprop near Buffalo, N.Y., that resulted in 50 fatalities. Largely prompted by that accident, FAA officials, lawmakers, pilot unions and independent pilot-training firms have been mulling ways to upgrade the qualifications of new co-pilots. Charles Hogeman, a United Airlines captain and head of ALPA's human factors and training group, told pilots at a recent public safety forum: "You're going to see very significant changes in the way pilots are trained and qualified" in the next two or three years Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation mandating that all newly hired co-pilots have at least 1,500 hours of flight time. The recommendations would allow pilots to be hired with fewer hours, but only if they could demonstrate advanced ground-school or flight training aimed at familiarizing them with airline operations. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cessna's 2000th Caravan Goes To The Caribbean DHL Partner Air St. Kitts-Nevis Will Get A Second New Caravan This Year Cessna delivered its 2,000th Caravan turboprop Wednesday, this one going to Air St. Kitts-Nevis to be used as part of the carrier's DHL courier operation. The carrier, which operates out of multiple bases in the Caribbean, will also take delivery of another new Caravan this year. The two new Garmin G1000-equipped Grand Caravans will replace two older models in its fleet. "The success of the Caravan in operation with Air St. Kitts-Nevis has been superb. Having the latest G1000 avionics and GFC700 autopilot technology on these new aircraft will make that operation even better," said John Doman, vice president, Cessna Worldwide Propeller Aircraft Sales. "This marks not only our 2,000th delivery, but it comes in our 25th anniversary year of Caravan production, making this occasion that much more special." The sale was made through Tropical Aviation Distributors, Cessna's authorized sales representative for the Caribbean. Air St. Kitts-Nevis operates four Caravans on DHL routes throughout the Caribbean. The single-engine turboprop Caravan is certified in 100 countries and the fleet has amassed more than 13 million flight hours. It received FAA type certification in 1984 and marked its first customer delivery in 1985. FMI: www.cessna.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boeing Says 1st 787 Test Jet Grounded Due to Engine Surge (Bloomberg) Boeing Co. parked one of its five 787 Dreamliner test jets while crews replace a Rolls-Royce Group Plc engine that experienced a power surge before takeoff. It's too soon to tell whether the 787's test schedule may be affected, Yvonne Leach, a Boeing spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview. The surge occurred Sept. 10 before a flight in Roswell, New Mexico, and the crew wasn't in danger, she said. "We'll resume testing as soon as possible," Leach said. The 787's first delivery has been delayed six times in two years as Boeing grapples with new materials, parts shortages, redesign work and a greater reliance on suppliers. The latest postponement came Aug. 27, when Chicago-based Boeing said Rolls- Royce couldn't supply an engine needed to finish flight trials. Leach said last week's incident was isolated to one engine on the test plane and wasn't related to an Aug. 2 engine failure at a Rolls-Royce plant in Derby, England. That case forced Rolls-Royce to close a site used to test power plants for the 787 and the Airbus SAS A350. Rolls-Royce, the world's second-biggest maker of aircraft engines, is working closely with Boeing on the matter, said Josh Rosenstock, a spokesman. He declined to comment further. "Power surges do occur," said Fred Mirgle, retired chairman of aviation maintenance at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. "It's not something that I would get really excited about." Maintaining equal thrust from engines on each side of a plane is important because it gives the pilot optimum control during flight. Test Program The Dreamliner test fleet has completed 596 flights spanning more than 1,850 hours, according to Boeing's website, as the planemaker works toward certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for the twin-engine 787 to enter commercial service. It is the first jetliner to be made chiefly from composite plastics. The plane in New Mexico is the first 787 to be assembled. It made its maiden flight in December and was in Roswell for tests of its brake system. Boeing, whose commercial operations are based in Seattle, sent a spare engine to be installed on the test plane after the power surge, Leach said. "Once that's complete, of course, we're going to get the airplane back in the air," she said. Tests on the replacement engine are expected as early as Sept. 17, and if they're satisfactory, the work being done at Roswell could resume the following day, trade publication Aviation Week reported on its website earlier today. Boeing fell 3 cents to $62.73 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 16 percent this year. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. Federal agency that investigates every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in the other modes of transportation, conducts special investigations and safety studies, and issues safety recommendations to prevent future accidents. Division staff develop simulations of vehicle and occupant dynamics, create video animations of accident sequences, and write technical reports and safety recommendations. The NTSB is seeking a highly qualified engineer for a supervisory position in the Office of Research and Engineering, Vehicle Performance Division. The Division consists of staff trained in aeronautical, mechanical, biomechanical, civil and electrical engineering who work to solve technical problems associated with vehicle and occupant motion during an accident. Salary range: $123,758 to $155,500 Location: Washington, DC This is a Federal position. U.S. Citizenship is required. Application deadline is October 7, 2010. For additional information on how to apply, click on this link: HTTP://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.aspx?opmcontrol=2024991 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103691764364&s=6053&e=0013HlA0g7PSEKyK3uiamrMJjKh_ezU_Pb2-6pRomIneBB55zdiSfZeB8ZCqzFkQvyvXAQc4BVBECmFQqsKmOar9Iude1-K78DiiadosjBUaE-jjBb5UuzDVCHSgcgZkRLg4J5_Ln7rhvrPTwMm4B8yExIZiPu9-G1t] If you have difficulties accessing the link, you can also go to www.ntsb.gov under Job Opportunities and search for vacancy announcement WA-TB-10-037. NTSB IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103691764364&s=6053&e=0013HlA0g7PSEK18ZEa7y-pe6TTrSh4CuUucEc2oTA5DK6MRxXo1L6a5cxTmTHc5pmL30Bto3pRA2LbM4JqREp1f50zedc89XZk] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC