Flight Safety Information November 18, 2010 - No. 238 In This Issue Joint Base Elmendorf F-22 wreckage found Airbus wants "full compensation" over Trent jet engine problems Air India crash pilot had been asleep Boeing reports delivery of 900th 777 aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines JetBlue aircraft makes safe emergency landing at Logan Boeing May Delay Dreamliner Entry Into Service to '12 NTSB: Delta Pilot Was 'Fatigued' During Taxiway Landing Lufthansa seeks spare Trent 900 for another A380 swap Joint Base Elmendorf F-22 wreckage found, pilot still missing JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) -- Search and rescue crews have found the apparent wreckage of an F-22 Raptor Nov. 17 that was assigned to the 3rd Wing here. The jet lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. local time while on a routine training mission Nov. 16. A search was coordinated by officials with the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center. Airmen in HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and an HC-130 King combed an area northeast of Cantwell, Alaska, the last known location of the aircraft. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of this missing Airman, and we thank all Alaskans for their continued support and prayers during this trying time," said Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander. "Finding the missing pilot is our top priority." To continue searching for the missing pilot, a rescue team is being dispatched to the area, approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage, by the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center, the 3rd Wing and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Colonel McMullen held a press conference at 1 p.m. to make a statement and answer questions from the media. "Last night a two-ship (flight) of F-22s, Rocky One and Rocky Three, were finished with training ... about 100 miles north of here," Colonel McMullen said. Everything was normal until about 7:40 p.m., he said, when Rocky Three fell off the radar scope and the pilot lost communications. "The other pilot (Rocky One) went to a tanker, got gas and then continued to look for the mishap pilot," Colonel McMullen said. "He could not find him. At that time, the Alaska Air National Guard scrambled a C-130 and rescue helicopters. They searched the entire night." About 10:15 a.m., an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter found a site that fits the data and the description of where rescuers thought the mishap probably occurred, Colonel McMullen said. "They found the crash site," he said. "They were unable to land at the crash site and take a closer look. We scrambled another helicopter that should be in the area in the next few moments." Colonel McMullen thanked the Alaskan community and Alaska Air National Guard for their support at such a difficult time. The name of the pilot is being withheld until the pilot's status is determined. More information will be released as it becomes available. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231186 Back to Top Airbus wants "full compensation" over Trent jet engine problems Paris - European plane company Airbus aims to seek 'full compensation' from Rolls Royce for the costs incurred from the problems with the Trent 900 jet engines, a spokesman said Thursday. An Airbus spokesman told the German Press Agency dpa said the company was now using replacement engines belonging to Airbus itself to try to prevent bottlenecks in the production of the superjumbo A380 plane. But compensation will be sought from Rolls Royce. 'We will seek full compensation from Rolls Royce for the costs which Airbus faces,' the spokesman told dpa. His remarks come on the heels of an announcement by Qantas Airways that it aims to replace up to 14 Trent 900 engines in its currently grounded fleet of six A380s. Qantas grounded its A380s on November 4 after an engine caught fire. Checks revealed oil leaks in another three engines. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/ Back to Top Air India crash pilot had been asleep and woke up only moments before coming in to land The pilot of a jet that crashed killing 158 people had been asleep and woke up only moments before coming in to land. Serbian Zlatko Glusica, 55, failed to react and the Air India plane went over a cliff near Mangalore airport, India, on May 22. Co-pilot HA Ahluwalia, 40, is heard on the recorder urging Glusica to abort before one of the pilots screams: "Oh my God." Yesterday's investigation report will add to concern about dangers posed by exhausted pilots. www.mirror.co.uk/news/ Back to Top Boeing reports delivery of 900th 777 aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines US aircraft maker Boeing said on Wednesday that it has delivered its 900th Boeing 777 aircraft, to Ethiopian Airlines. The aircraft, an ultra-long-range Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner, is the first of five 777s ordered by the carrier in 2009. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. Ethiopian Airlines will use its 777-200LRs to operate new nonstop flights between Washington DC and Addis Ababa and on new long-haul, nonstop routes to cities like Beijing. According to Boeing the 777 programme has reached the 900-aircraft milestone faster than any other twin-aisle aircraft. http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news Back to Top JetBlue aircraft makes safe emergency landing at Logan, official says A JetBlue aircraft landed safely this morning shortly after the pilot declared an emergency due to a mechanical problem with the aircraft, said Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella. He said the aircraft had 25 people on board. JetBlue Flight 1240 was traveling from Charlotte, N.C., to Boston this morning when the pilot reported a problem with the flaps, he said. The pilot then declared an emergency, Orlandella said. He said the JetBlue Embraer 190 landed safely shortly after 9 a.m. The airport remained open during the incident, he said. http://www.boston.com/news/ Back to Top Boeing May Delay Dreamliner Entry Into Service to '12, Morgan Stanley Says (Bloomberg) Boeing Co. may postpone the 787 Dreamliner's entry into service for the seventh time, adding as much as a year to the three-year delay for the composite- plastic jet, Morgan Stanley said. The plane may not be delivered to the first customer until 2012, because last week's electrical fire during a flight test may prompt a redesign of software and hardware, Heidi Wood, a New York-based analyst with Morgan Stanley, wrote in a note today. She rates the shares "equal-weight." The 787 test fleet remains grounded for a ninth day as the investigation continues into the Nov. 9 fire. The Dreamliner is the first airliner built with carbon-fiber composites and uses an all-electric system to save fuel. It has been delayed six times from its original May 2008 target, as Boeing struggles with the new materials, parts shortages, redesign work and a greater reliance on suppliers. Boeing can't decide when flights will resume until it completes the investigation and assesses whether design changes are necessary, said Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman, reiterating comments made yesterday. Boeing, based in Chicago, fell 28 cents to $62.50 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 11 percent since the day before the fire, after having gained 30 percent this year through Nov. 8. The company brought two of the six test jets back to its Seattle base yesterday, indicating that there's not a quick fix, Wood said, adding that she doesn't expect flights to resume until late December or early 2011. The jet that caught fire remains in Laredo, Texas, where it landed. Crews are replacing the power panel that failed and are still investigating the cause behind it, Boeing said yesterday. Certification Tests The 787 has been flying since December 2009 in tests toward certification for passenger service, which currently is targeted for the first quarter of 2011. The six planes fly around the world in search of various weather conditions for tests required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The issue appears "bigger than a simple, single component failure," Wood wrote. "Redesign may be necessary and it looks like this affects at a minimum the test-flight airplanes, potentially the 28-odd planes already built." Boeing has been assembling Dreamliners at its factory in Everett, Washington, and storing them there in preparation for next year's delivery start, once the FAA certifies the plane. With 847 advance orders, the $178 million, 250-seat Dreamliner is the company's best-selling new jet. Back to Top NTSB: Delta Pilot Was 'Fatigued' During Taxiway Landing ATLANTA -- Federal investigators report that fatigue may have played a key role when a Delta Boeing 767 landed on a taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport instead of the runway. In October 2009, one of the pilots got sick on a flight from Rio to Atlanta. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said two other pilots finished the flight, but without their break. According to the NTSB, the captain had been awake for more than 22 hours. Officials said the pilot mistook the bright lights of the taxiway for the runway. NTSB investigators said the probable cause of the incident was "fatigue" and several other factors. Delta officials said the pilots have since undergone retraining. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/25835889/detail.html Back to Top Lufthansa seeks spare Trent 900 for another A380 swap German flag-carrier Lufthansa is to undertake another engine change on its first Airbus A380 aircraft, this time as a direct result of the Qantas powerplant incident earlier this month. Lufthansa has yet to determine from where it will source the additional Rolls-Royce Trent 900, having already exhausted its spare engine reserves with a separate engine change - although for a reason unrelated to the Qantas mishap. The airline will only confirm that it is to make a single engine change, and points out that it will keep the aircraft in service until the swap by following the precautionary checks imposed by Rolls-Royce and the European Aviation Safety Agency. "It is not a problem to fly this A380," says a spokesman for the carrier. "It is safe to fly." Lufthansa will not identify the aircraft involved but a source familiar with the situation has informed ATI that the airframe is the same one - serial number 38, registered D- AIMA, its oldest A380 - which underwent the previous, routine, engine change. But the source says the plan to obtain the engine is "not concrete". The airline has a fifth A380 on the production line, due for delivery next year, and the source indicates that this jet may have to be "cannibalised" to provide the powerplant. As a result, the source adds, the airline is "not sure" how long it might have to wait to secure a extra Trent 900. Spare engines have become a scarce resource since the uncontained Trent 900 failure on a Qantas A380 on 4 November. All three operators of Trent 900-powered examples have committed to changing a number of powerplants since the incident. Airbus says it has yet to determine the number of engines which might need changing among the 80 on the global fleet of 20 Trent-equipped jets. But the airframer says that Rolls-Royce is to "supply the airlines directly with any replacement engines which they agree are needed", which could be sourced from Rolls-Royce's own production line, Airbus assembly lines or carriers' spare stocks. "Airbus is supporting Rolls-Royce and the customers when requested to do so, by demounting engines from the customer's production aircraft in Toulouse and Hamburg," adds a spokesman for Airbus. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC