Flight Safety Information September 30, 2010 - No. 201 In This Issue Pilot Pleads Guilty To Flying Illegal Flights And Falsifying Safety Records FAA investigates second SkyWest gear-up landing British Airways to rehire captain of crashed 777 TALPA Air Law Conference... 2nd Global Aviation Safety Conference...for.Humanitarian Air Service ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pilot Pleads Guilty To Flying Illegal Flights And Falsifying Safety Records September 30, 2010 - A former pilot, Francis Vieira, 60 of now-defunct Platinum Jet Management, LLC pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to defraud charter customers and brokers using interstate wires and to impede and obstruct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Vieira admitted he and his co-conspirators flew illegal flights and falsified FAA paperwork relating to the safety and regulatory compliance of its flights, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Vieira, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., pleaded guilty to the lead count of the Superseding Indictment against him, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to defraud the United States. Vieira entered his guilty plea in Newark federal court before United States District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in Newark federal court: In January 2003, Vieira started flying as a contract pilot with Platinum Jet, a luxury charter jet company started by four others charged in connection with the conspiracy: Michael Brassington, Paul Brassington, Brian McKenzie and Andre Budhan. According to Vieira, he continued flying for Platinum Jet until February 2005, the month that one of the company's jets crashed after failing to lift upon takeoff at Teterboro Airport. From November 2002 through November 2003, Platinum Jet did not have an FAA-issued certificate, otherwise known as a "Part 135 certificate," permitting it to fly commercial charter flights. Despite not having the appropriate certificate, Vieira and his co-conspirators agreed to operate Platinum Jet as a commercial jet charter company. Vieira admitted that he and his coconspirators flew several dozen illegal charter flights, many of which were for famous athletes, musicians, and other well-known individuals. On November 17, 2003, Platinum Jet entered a certificate sharing agreement that allowed the company to operate commercial charter flights under the Part 135 certificate of Darby Aviation in Muscle Shoals, Ala. As a Part 135 operation, Platinum Jet was required to create a load manifest, also known as a "flight log," which recorded vital flight information for each charter flight. From November 2003 through February 2005, Vieira and his co-conspirators falsified their flight logs by indicating that certain flights were private flights instead of chartered flights. Vieira admitted that Platinum Jet did this to conceal certain Part 135 violations, such as pilot qualifications and rest requirements. For example, on December 22, 2004, Vieira prepared a flight log falsely representing that a commercial charter flight carrying paying passengers from Wilmington, N.C. to Teterboro, N.J. was a private flight for which the Part 135 charter rules would not apply. Vieira admitted to falsifying the log to conceal the fact that the captain was not qualified to fly charter flights. In connection with Part 135's load manifest requirement, Vieira was required to prepare a flight weight-and-balance (W&B) graph calculating the weight and center of gravity (COG) for Platinum Jet's aircraft prior to takeoff. Vieira admitted that on more than two dozen occasions, he altered the W&B graphs for the jet that crashed at Teterboro by changing the weight and COG printed on those graphs. He also admitted to doing the same thing for another of Platinum Jet's aircraft. The charge to which Vieira pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is currently scheduled for January 10, 2011. Four of Vieira's co-defendants - Michael Brassington, Paul Brassington, McKenzie, and John Kimberling - are scheduled to stand trial before Judge Cavanaugh beginning October 12, 2010. Kimberling was the captain of the flight that crashed in 2005. Budhan pleaded guilty on June 22, 2009, to the same charge Vieira pleaded guilty to today. Joseph Singh, a co-conspirator who was once Platinum Jet's charter flights director, also pleaded guilty to the charge on July 7, 2009. Both Budhan and Singh's sentencing hearings have been postponed pending resolution of the trial. U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III and Special Agent in Charge Ned E. Schwartz, for the investigation leading to today's guilty plea. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott B. McBride of the U.S. Attorney's Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit, and J Fortier Imbert of the Office's. As for Michael Brassington, Paul Brassington, McKenzie and Kimberling, the charges and allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. http://avstop.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103731077847&s=6053&e=001milDXosjPFKFBfT9K4263LGR0pQ6nG9wqx1d-pB7PKrRnwGSj9KYlm6X5tvZuUKsR67MPzGSHr97uDzbP9t5-toMPS1k9TC9NWmsHBbbxRw=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA investigates second SkyWest gear-up landing The US FAA is investigating a partial gear-up landing by a SkyWest Airlines CRJ200 yesterday afternoon in Milwaukee, the second SkyWest Bombardier CRJ partial gear-up landing in less than a week. Flight 3074, a CRJ200 with 36 passengers and three crew members, was en route from Omaha when problems with the landing gear occurred on approach to Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. The crew declared an emergency when 9nm (17km) from the airport and performed one low-altitude pass of the tower to allow controllers to verify the left landing gear had not deployed. After landing with the gear up, passengers deplaned through the main cabin door. The aircraft, registered as N498CA, was built in 2003 and is owned by EDC, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database. SkyWest says all passengers and crew deplaned safely, and that the incident is under investigation. On September 25, a CRJ900 operated by SkyWest subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) landed with its right landing gear fully retracted after diverting to JFK airport in New York. The incident is now being investigated by the US NTSB. In its initial report, the NTSB says pilots of ASA flight 4951 were en route from Atlanta to White Plains, New York with 60 passengers and two flight attendants when they received an "unsafe gear warning". The crew diverted to JFK and landed with the gear up. Passengers evacuated on the runway. The CRJ900 involved in the JFK incident, N133EV, was delivered in 2009 and according to ACAS is owned by ASA's former owner Delta Air Lines. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ British Airways to rehire captain of crashed 777 British Airways is poised to rehire the captain of the Boeing 777-200 which crashed at London Heathrow, nearly three years after the accident and his subsequent decision to leave the company. Capt Peter Burkill was the commander of flight BA038 from Beijing which crashed at Heathrow on 17 January 2008, after ice obstructed the fuel system during final approach. A source familiar with the situation states that Burkill is likely to rejoin the carrier in November, although contracts have yet to be finalised. Everyone on board BA038 survived the accident, and investigators praised the actions of Burkill and his crew. But Burkill felt under pressure in the months afterwards and eventually left the airline. Although he wanted to continue flying, he struggled to find alternative employment as a pilot, partly owing to the stigma of his association with the high-profile crash. In the interim period he wrote a book about his experience of the accident. British Airways simply states that Burkill was a "valued colleague" and that the airline "would welcome him back" as a captain. "We have always supported and praised everyone's actions involved in managing the BA38 incident," says a spokesman for the carrier. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TALPA Air Law Conference TALPA AIR LAW CONFERENCE, one of the 2010 scheduled events of Turkish Airline Pilots Association, will be held in Ceremony Hall Sheraton Hotel Ataköy on 22-23rd of October 2010. This conference shall be executed by utilizing only the own resources of TALPA. As a result of this decision no survey or contact has been made for financial support and by that decision of the Board of Directors a particular attention has been given to refrain from any kind of pressure on the free will of our Association. A particular attention has been given that the subjects selected being of both domestic and international importance on our day. It has been also important to select the subjects among the projects which could be utilized by the various branches of aviation sector in the future as well as responding current needs of the industry. Conference topics were planned in coordination with the expert guest speakers invited to the conference from various organizations. First day of the conference shall consist of national and international Aviation Law and their applications and differences, investigation of aviation accidents, insurance liabilities of pilots and operators after the release of accident reports, efforts on improving the flight safety in the EU and arrangements in the aviation law and judicial issues. Second day shall contain human factor in aviation accidents, communication in the cockpit, and Just Culture which is continuously attracting more attention each passing day. This way it is aimed to introduce particularly the Just Culture to aviation authorities and law makers and their manpower, managerial levels of the sector, pilots, air traffic controllers, engineers, technicians, and aviation education and training establishments besides our community. Besides the variety of the subjects, because of the close relation to the law, contacts have been made with the Universities and invitations have been sent for audience and speakers from the Faculties of Law. For the capacity restrictions of the conference hall, invited guests by TALPA and active members of TALPA shall have priority. Our members who attend the two-day-program shall be presented a certificate prepared for their names. It is expected from our members who would like to participate in the conference to arrange their flight schedules accordingly. It is kindly requested from our members who plan to attend the conference to make their registrations by sending e-mail or calling TALPA point of contact latest by 5 October 2010. Applications for the conference other than TALPA members shall be responded in case they are appropriate after the evaluation of the applications. Presentations and lectures throughout the conference shall be prepared in booklets or CDs and be made available for a donation to TALPA. It is important to consider the difficulty in gathering all those experts in one platform, besides planning such a comprehensive and important conference. As TALPA, we experience the excitement of our contribution to the authorities, aviation establishments, operators, and universities together with our members on Air Law, Accident Investigation and Just Culture, and the happiness and pride to perform our mission on empowering the flight safety. http://www.talpa.org/site/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2nd Global Aviation Safety Conference for Humanitarian Air Service 11-12 October 2010 Radisson Blu Resort Sharjah- United Arab Emirates Invitation Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Al Thani , Chairman of Civil Aviation - Sharjah International Airport, the World Food Programme, Aviation Safety Unit- WFP/ASU with the entire support of the Department of Civil Aviation- DCA Sharjah/UAE and in coordination with UAE GCAA is pleased to invite you to the 2nd Global Aviation Safety Conference for Humanitarian Air Service. The conference will be held on October 11-12, 2010 in Radisson Blu Resort, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Top level international and regional safety leaders will be in attendance. All aviation related organizations and individuals are encouraged to attend this important safety conference. The Global Aviation Safety Conference for Humanitarian Air Service is a major world conference bringing stakeholders, humanitarian organizations, (ICRC, Red Crescent, MAF....etc), aviation authorities and industry from around the world to debate, discuss and exchange information and experiences on programs and projects related to aircraft certification, maintenance, operations, training, and aviation safety. The Conference provides a forum for open discussion with all Aviation teams on current initiatives and strategic directions. The key theme of the conference aims to helping CAA's and Service Providers with actual data and tools to build their Sharing of Information, Hazard Identification, Risk Management processes, and also to bring Humanitarian Air Operators and NGO's to meet with Industry Partners, stake holders and regulators and discuss Aviation Industry initiatives such as Fatigue Risk Management System, (TEM and ALAR) and find a healthy platform for interested parties to participate in harmonization and enhancement activities for a common safety culture. There will be opportunities to: Network with aviation colleagues. Learn about new safety-related priorities, strategies and initiatives. Hear leadership perspectives. Share ideas, best practices and innovations. Discuss successes and failures. Getting the culture right is as important perhaps more important than the systems you use. An organization with a safety culture is always striving to achieve maximum attainable safety, regardless of commercial pressures or who is in the executive suite. An organization with a safety culture recognizes and expects people and equipment will fail. It develops defences and backup plans. Participation is cost free and open to operators (commercial, cargo, and corporate), pilot groups, regulators, airport personnel, ATC representatives and any other companies or individuals whose goal is a safer aviation industry. Very soon the Conference website will be released and you will be able to have more information related to the venue, conference agenda, guest speakers and many other information. We look forward to seeing you at the conference, Conference website http://gasc.sharjahairport.ae/index.php# Safety works when people work together Best Regards Samir Sajet Regional Aviation Safety Officer, UAE World Food Programme Tel. Office Sharjah + 971-6- 5574799 Fax Office Sharjah + 971-6- 5574796 Mobile: + 971 50 6561019 E-Mail 1: samir.sajet@wfp.org UTC+4 Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC