Flight Safety Information September 29, 2010 - 167 In This Issue APA: New Flight Time And Crew Rest Rules 'Must Enhance Safety' NTSB Makes Safety Recommendation To EASA U.S. Airways Jet Makes Emergency Landing At SFO Article HeadlineFlight from St. Louis diverted after smoke appears in cabin Article HeadlineAir France must disclose cockpit voice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ APA: New Flight Time And Crew Rest Rules 'Must Enhance Safety' Says The FAA Should 'Reexamine The Rationale' For Some Changes The Allied Pilots Association (APA) has characterized some of the FAA's proposed new flight and duty time regulations for pilots as "a big step backwards" and urged the agency to rework certain key provisions. "We are pleased that the FAA has undertaken the long-overdue process of reviewing and revising flight and duty time rules for commercial airline pilots," said APA President Captain David Bates. "However, we urge the FAA to reexamine the rationale for some of the proposed changes. While some of the FAA's proposed new rules would enhance safety, others would represent a big step backwards." "In APA's view, any change in the rules must be designed to enhance safety," he said. "For example, the FAA's proposal to reduce total time on duty during back-side-of-the-clock operations clearly meets that standard. Unfortunately, there are some important areas where the proposed new rules fall well short and instead appear to be catering to industry cost-cutting pressures." The FAA has proposed increasing the maximum allowable time that pilots can spend at the controls to as many as 10 hours. The current limit is eight hours. "There is no scientific basis or validation for a 25 percent increase in maximum flight time for pilots," Bates said. "Common sense dictates that increasing flight time limits will increase pilot fatigue, in turn degrading the margin of safety." In addition, Bates cited the proposed new rest requirements for pilots as "insufficient." Under the proposed new rule, all pilots-both domestic and international-would be allotted a minimum of nine hours. "Nine hours is insufficient-it's not enough to consistently provide pilots with the opportunity for eight hours of sleep, which is the minimum amount dictated by science," he said. "Under the proposed new rules, international pilots in particular would experience a dramatic reduction in the minimum amount of rest they would be eligible to receive." The FAA announced the proposed new flight and duty time rules on September 12. A 60-day comment period that provides a formal process for interested parties to weigh in on the proposed new rules runs until November 13. The FAA's proposed new rules resulted from a lengthy rule-making process that involved a cross section of industry stakeholders, including APA. "We will be participating in the comment period to make our concerns known to the FAA and other interested parties," Bates said. "While we very much welcome the prospect of updated flight and duty time limits, it's imperative that we use this long-awaited opportunity to enhance the margin of safety for the traveling public. In the unforgiving world of commercial aviation, we cannot permit bottom-line pressures to take precedence. Safety must remain the highest priority-first, last and always." The APA represents the 11,500 pilots who fly for American Airlines. FMI: www.alliedpilots.or, www.faa.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB Makes Safety Recommendation To EASA Based On 2001 Airline Accident Near JFK Board Cites Rudder Problems Encountered Before AA Airbus Went Down The NTSB recently issued a safety recommendation to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regarding the November 2001 accident involving an American Airlines Airbus near JFK. Flight 587, which was flying to the Dominican Republic, went down in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens. There were no survivors among the 260 passengers and crew, and five people on the ground were also killed. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was "the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer as a result of the loads beyond ultimate design that were created by the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs. Contributing to these rudder pedal inputs were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program." Flight 587 encountered wake turbulence from a Boeing 747 shortly after takeoff, and the pilot's steering response created severe strain on the rudder mechanism. Sounds of likely mechanical failures could be heard in the recorded data recovered from the plane's wreckage, as well as the pilots' attempts to right the aircraft. Soon after its investigation commenced, the NTSB issued a safety recommendation for updates in training of all pilots of transport-category airplanes. The "loads" referenced by the NTSB are aerodynamic stresses caused by rapid movement of the rudder in an attempt to combat the aircraft movement caused by the wake of the nearby Boeing 747. The report, however, also pointed to "characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program," as a contributing factor in the crash. The Accident airplane was built in France, subject to European regulatory oversight. In its new recommendation, issued on August 4, 2010, the NTSB encourages modification of European certification standards to ensure safe handling qualities "in the yaw axis throughout the flight envelope," as well as instituting limits for the sensitivity of rudder pedals. The yaw axis refers to the axis about which the aircraft nose and tail moves side-to-side. The flight envelope refers to the outer boundaries of flight for which the aircraft is designed. The NTSB recommendation involves limiting rudder movement so that the aerodynamic stresses or "loads" do not exceed the design maximums. The NTSB also suggests review and modification, if necessary, of all existing models of the Airbus A300-600 and A310 aircraft. FMI: www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/2010/a-10-119-120.pdf Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. Airways Jet Makes Emergency Landing At SFO SFO, Calif. -- A US Airways flight destined for Hawaii has been forced to make an emergency landing at SFO, according to airport officials. US Airways Flight 432 bound from Phoenix to Maui was diverted to San Francisco International Airport after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. NewsChopper 2 shot footage of the Boeing 757 landing at SFO shortly after 5 p.m. without any apparent incident, but airport fire trucks were nearby as the jet taxied to a gate. No injuries were reported after the jet arrived at the gate. US Airways said the flight was carrying 175 passengers and six crewmembers. A spokesman for the airline says the emergency was declared as a precaution. The diverted passengers were to be put on another US Airways flight for their delayed trip to Hawaii. KTVU has a crew on the way and will provide more details on the story as they are made available. http://www.ktvu.com/news/25058396/detail.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flight from St. Louis diverted after smoke appears in cabin (KMOV) -- An airplane leaving from Atlanta to Saint Louis was diverted after smoke appeared in the cabin Sunday. A spokesperson for Delta Airlines said Delta Flight 1199 heading from Atlanta to St. Louis was diverted to Cape Girardeau to smoke in the cabin. The plane landed without incident. Passengers were deplaned on the ramp by portable stairs and taken to the terminal. The spokesperson said passengers will be bused back to St. Louis and be given credit for future use on Delta Airlines. There is no word yet on what caused the smoke. Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103700130582&s=6053&e=00108ALic2X9uantO0xEg2kQjv08a0qg8JrZ78H7VBO3J1iCezh1pThxLCLZ9qqlPwRxjsKcfCbnC7bURuKEJ361vfc3LrMzNQO] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air France must disclose cockpit voice recorder The cockpit voice recorder that captured conversations between the pilots aboard Air France Flight 358 before it overshot a runway at Pearson airport and exploded in flames must be disclosed to Canada's air traffic control agency, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled. In a unanimous decision Friday, the court dismissed arguments from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada that disclosing the contents of the voice recorder - part of a plane's "black box" - would destroy or greatly diminish the trust pilots have in the confidentiality of the process for investigating airline crashes. NAV Canada, which is responsible for air traffic control at the airport, says it needs the voice recorder - described earlier in the case as an "electronic fly on the cockpit wall" - to defend itself against lawsuits from Air France and nearly 300 passengers on-board the flight from Paris on Aug. 2, 2005. The Airbus A340 plunged into a ravine while landing in lightening and heavy rain. NAV Canada alleges pilots Alain Rosaye and Frederic Naud were negligent. Naud, the first officer, was not opposed to having the voice recorder released as part of the litigation. But the board contended that if the contents were disclosed, pilots will hold back on what they are willing to tell investigators in the future. Writing for a three-judge panel Friday, Justice Stephen Goudge characterized that as little more than speculation. "It is simply baldly asserted and is unsubstantiated by evidence, for example, that previous orders for disclosure have caused pilots to be less cooperative with subsequent investigations," he said. The court also rejected the board's claim that cockpit recordings should only be disclosed if withholding them would lead to a miscarriage of justice. In Canada, cockpit voice recordings are normally privileged, to be disclosed only to aviation investigators. But under the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act, a judge can order the voice recorder to be disclosed if the importance of the evidence outweighs confidentiality concerns. Two pilots' unions, the Air Line Pilots Association and the Air Canada Pilots Association, representing nearly 60,000 pilots around the world, intervened in the case, arguing the cockpit is their inner sanctum, a private workspace comparable to an office. Disclosing the recording would be detrimental to aviation safety, they maintained, because pilots may not speak freely to the control tower if their every word might later be reviewed in court. The transportation safety board's report into the Air France crash suggests "certain acts or omissions" of the pilots may have contributed to the accident, according to a Superior Court judge, who last year ordered the voice recorder disclosed, a decision the board appealed. Justice George Strathy also ordered the board to provide NAV Canada with its animation of cockpit activity. In court documents, NAV Canada alleges a passenger was flying in a cockpit jump seat contrary to Canadian aviation regulations. http://www.thestar.com/news/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103700130582&s=6053&e=00108ALic2X9uZXxBdAGmjqOot8sqdXK7s5Bk0V9mBCh0R4kPLCFDnHmglzsUrzG8wkNsW-q5UA3Fp-FM_00AHYRJW7Ki1GA4IZAkU53m80X9gll6qrRINgEreYz-FWPH0w] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC