Flight Safety Information October 25, 2010 - No. 217 In This Issue Croc on a plane leads to crash... Doha: Qatar Airways Hosts Key Aviation Safety Meeting India to set up autonomous civil aviation watchdog Man who tried to bring gun onto plane at O'Hare held on bail... Aviation news: First lady captain now flying for Ethiopian Airlines India, US to ink aviation safety pact FAA hands out million dollar safety violation fines Eurocopter launches Indian subsidiary... Jet Airways 737 and Kingfisher aircraft in minor ground collision Croc on a plane leads to crash A crocodile escaped from a suitcase on board a passenger flight over the Democratic Republic of Congo, leading to a stampede that caused the plane to topple and crash into a house, according to an Australian news source. Nineteen people were killed, and one survived, after the shifting weight of the passengers caused the plane to lose balance. The crocodile survived the crash, only to be killed with a machete by rescuers. A passenger had planned to sell the crocodile, and had hidden it in a sports bag. Washington Post Back to Top Doha: Qatar Airways Hosts Key Aviation Safety Meeting Qatar (Doha) - Qatar Airways hosted a key aviation safety event for the first time in Qatar on 13 & 14 October. This was attended by industry partners and international aviation safety experts, reports Global Arab Network according to press release. The focus was to promote safety in the Gulf and the wider aviation community. Speakers included Qatar Airways, Doha International Airport and Boeing. The event was held at Doha's newest 5-star hotel, the Oryx Rotana. Previous meetings have been held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Bahrain. On Day One, the Gulf Flight Safety Committee (GFSC) discussed safety topics specific to the Gulf region and exchange best practices. The all-day forum was attended by representatives from airlines, manufacturers, regulators, air traffic service providers, business jet operators and cargo freight forwarders. On Day Two, the Top Level Safety Team (TLST) meeting focused on the Middle East Aviation Safety Roadmap. The roadmap is a hands-on, active working strategy which promotes higher aviation safety initiatives, and is part of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) umbrella. Senior aviation delegates from across the Middle East discussed matters related to establishing uniform measures to aviation safety procedures. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker commented: "I am pleased that Qatar Airways is hosting this very important forum in the home state of our national carrier. Safety is paramount in our airline, and we relentlessly ensure that it is at the back-bone of all of our operations. A testament to this is our highest-ranked safety rating. We were the first airline in the world to earn the International Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) in 2003, and most recently, we successfully renewed it with 100% compliance in 2009." Speaking at the opening ceremony of the TLST, the Chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority H.E Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Noaimi said "Safety must remain a high priority for the aviation business particularly in our region where rapid expansion is taking place. I believe the TLST should play a key role for all of us to learn valuable lessons from incidents experienced by others and to build on industry best practices." Chairman of the Middle East Aviation Safety Roadmap, H.E Mr. Saif Al Suwaidi Director General of the GCAA, said "It is essential for the states of our region to commit to sharing information regarding the performance of their respective safety oversight systems. This should help identify deficiencies more quickly and efficiently, and to correct them. Our role is to improve safety. In many cases, individual states do not possess the resources or the expertise to act alone in resolving safety concerns. Therefore, this regional body is best suited to coordinate and align multiple safety initiatives by strategically leveraging expertise and resources of states concerned." Global Arab Network Back to Top India to set up autonomous civil aviation watchdog Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, October 24, 2010 The Air India Express crash in Mangalore in May that killed 158 passengers and crew has led India to fast-track an independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure better aviation safety, security and regulation, a top official said. The autonomous authority will provide for more flexibility and faster decision-making, along with greater autonomy than that with the present regulator -- the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. "The new Civil Aviation Authority will bring about even more safety. It will be made to function within a time frame of 18-24 months, once the proposed act in this regard is cleared by parliament," Zaidi said. "A comprehensive Indian aviation law will also replace all the existing acts relating to the sector and the security aspects to put the proposed Civil Aviation Authority in place," Zaidi added. Officials said domestic traffic has been growing considerably -- and expanded by over 14 per cent in July 2010 to carry four million passengers -- and the congestion in air and on ground calls for urgent, speedy measures to address emergency and crises. The chief executive of the new authority will also be the chairman of its board and the director general will have the power to make imminent spot decisions, the officials added. "The present directorate is already making moves in the direction. We have a regulatory framework for surveillance and safety systems and we have also developed a strong safety system information analysis system for our skies to remain safe," said Zaidi. The constitution of a new authority also finds mention in the over- three-year-old draft aviation policy that has not been cleared yet. The functions include setting up of standards for various agencies and personnel in the civil aviation sector, regulate traffic and issue licences to agencies such as airport and aircraft operators and personnel like pilots, traffic controllers and engineers. The authority will also have powers to take preventive, corrective and punitive action against agencies and staff for violation of rules and regulations and to ensure ethical trade practices, officials said. Another function of the authority will be to conduct periodic safety and security audits, including flight inspections of agencies to ensure that the prescribed local and global standards are being met. International Air Transport Organization director-general Giovanni Bisignani, during a visit here last month, had called for strict security measures and also recommended that its operational safety audit be made mandatory for all Indian carriers. The organisation represents around 230 airlines globally, comprising 93 percent of all scheduled international air traffic operations. Its safety audit programme is a globally accepted system to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. These guidelines are already being followed in India and will be fine- tuned into the new authority, along with concepts and principles designed for audits in a more standardised manner, officials said. Back to Top Man who tried to bring gun onto plane at O'Hare held on bail A Michigan man who allegedly tried to take a loaded gun onto an airplane at O'Hare Saturday was ordered held on bail of $25,000 Sunday. Francis Cook IV, 67, of Delton, Mich., tried to get onto an American Airlines flight to Dallas at lunchtime Saturday, prosecutors said. Transportation Security Administration officials spotted Cook's .380 handgun inside a carry-on bag during a pre-flight search, according to a police report. It had a live round in the chamber and six other live rounds loaded in the clip, according to the report, which does not say why Cook had the gun with him. Cook did not speak during a brief hearing at the Cook County Courthouse on Sunday morning. His attorney said Cook was a military veteran. But Judge Adam D. Bourgeois told him, "I find it amazing that any American would bring a gun to the airport." Chicago Sun-Times Back to Top Aviation news: First lady captain now flying for Ethiopian Airlines (eTN) - Last week saw information coming from Addis Ababa that Ethiopian Airlines (ET), one of the oldest aviation companies on the African continent, has at last appointed their first lady captain, Ms. Amsale Endegnanew. After serving as first officer and flying Boeing 737 and 767 aircraft, she is now in command of a Bombardier Q400 aircraft, which is used to serve on domestic routes across Ethiopia and can also be deployed on regional routes out of the airline's Addis Ababa hub. Ms. Amsale reportedly joined ET 10 years ago when affirmative action brought in female fliers. According to one source, the airline presently has a further 4 lady first officers and has plans to employ several more in the future. Ethiopian has recently become an applicant member of the global Star Alliance and having ladies in the cockpit and in the left seat is another step forward in offering equal opportunities for women aspiring to become pilots. Back to Top India, US to ink aviation safety pact New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) India and the United States are in the process of entering into a bilateral agreement which would lead to mutual acceptance of aeronautical products developed in either countries, the civil aviation ministry said Monday. The two countries have completed two key processes prior to signing of the pact, Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA), the ministry said in a statement. The two processes were a 'technical assessment' of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 11 defined areas and a shadow certification project involving review of DGCA works by the FAA. A six-member FAA team visited DGCA headquarters here to review the DGCA aircraft certification system and carry out the technical assessment, said the ministry. Following the review, the FAA team observed that 'the DGCA has a very sound aircraft certification system in place commensurate with the rules, regulations, working procedures, etc.' The FAA team executed its shadow certification project, examining the DGCA process of awarding works to its contractors, the ministry said, adding the two countries will soon start exchange of documents for signing of the agreement. http://calcuttatube.com/ Back to Top FAA hands out million dollar safety violation fines Corporate Air (OJ), a Billings, Montana based feeder airline with passenger and cargo services, primarily for FedEx Express and the U.S. Postal Service, was recently hit by the FAA with a pending $455,000 fine for alleged poor maintenance practices on a 19 passenger Beech 1900C twin-engine turboprop aircraft. The plane is said to have made 80 passenger carrying flights with one of its engines badly leaking oil. Mechanics would simply top up the oil after each landing, instead of making needed repairs, to one of the 1,000 horsepower Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65B turboprop engines, as required by the service manual. You might be able to get away with doing that with the family car, but not with an aircraft that cruises at 300 mph, has a range of almost 1,500 miles, and carries 4,484 pounds of Jet A fuel. Ironically, Corporate Air operates six aircraft repair and maintenance facilities. According to a statement by FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, "The safety of the passengers and crew must be the top priority for any operator. All operators must comply with maintenance requirements." In a separate incident, the FAA fined the Parachute Center of Acampo, California, a proposed $664,000 for allegedly flying a plane thousands of times with critical equipment overdue for replacement. The company operated a 20-passenger De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter on more than 2,600 jump flights without inspecting critical portions of the wings for corrosion, as well as allowing critical components to remain in use well beyond mandated life limits. Any failure of the wings or other structural components in the air could lead to a fatal accident. http://www.examiner.com/ Back to Top Eurocopter launches Indian subsidiary New Delhi: The largest helicopter manufacturer in India, best known for its participation in the contract for 197 Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopters for Indian armed forces, inaugurated its subsidiary in India recently. Eurocopter India will be the company's 10th subsidiary in Asia and 25th in the world. With this subsidiary, European helicopter major Eurocopter became the first international helicopter manufacturer to create an India subsidiary. This entity will provide maintenance, servicing and engineering support to the fast-growing helicopter market of India and will be headquartered in New Delhi. The company has an existing facility in Bangalore for the management of industrial activity. Talking to FE, Marie Agnes Veve, CEO, Eurocopter India, said: "We plan to set up an engineering base in India and have offices in Mumbai and Bangalore for commercial and engineering support by 2011. we hope to command 50% of the Indian market by 2015." Eurocopter currently has 53% of the global civilian chopper market but its share in India is only 30% in comparison. The subsidiary will be involved only in the civilian business, while the military business will be taken care of by the parent company. On the recent allegations of in the RSH deal being biased in favor of the company, Eurocopter excecutive VP Joseph Sapurito said, "We have strong business ethics, hence we will not comment on the tender proceedings." He, however, added that he was confident about the AS550 Fennec which is competing with the Russian Kamov for the $700 million contract. "We have offered india the most advanced helicopter and it is a proven military helicopter including complete weapon systems, fully compliant with the quality requirements of the Indian army and the air force. We have successfully completed two phases of trials and will complete the final phase in France by the end of this year. It is not possible for us to comment beyond this because we respect the confidentiality clauses of the tender, " he said. The Financial Express Back to Top Jet Airways 737 and Kingfisher aircraft in minor ground collision A Jet Airways Boeing 737 aircraft had a minor collision with an aircraft operated by Kingfisher Airlines in a ground incident at Mumbai Airport over the weekend. In the 23 October incident, the left wing of the Muscat-bound 737 hit the vertical stabiliser of the Kingfisher aircraft while it was pushing back, says Jet. The airline did not specify the aircraft type operated by Kingfisher in the incident but according to Flightglobal's ACAS database, Kingfisher operates 33 aircraft in the Airbus A320 family and five A330-200s. "The incident is being investigated in coordination with the authorities," says Jet Airways. Passengers were flown to Muscat on another aircraft, it adds. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top US Airways searches for 757s US Airways says it is continuing to look for replacement 757s for specific missions such as the Phoenix-Hawaii pairing and some international flights from Philadelphia. In its latest employee update the carrier explains it recently had aircraft lined up for lease, but the airline US Airways was working with opted to purchase the 757s off lease. "We continue to look for replacements for the older 757s," the carrier states. "But there is nothing coming in the very near term." Flightglobal's ACAS database shows US Airways currently operates 24 757-200s. Nine of those aircraft have build years in the 1980s - one in 1983, two in 1985, three in 1986 and three in 1989. The two youngest aircraft in US Airways' 757 fleet were built in 2000. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC