Flight Safety Information November 19, 2010 - No. 239 In This Issue Military: Fighter jet wreckage found in Alaska Qantas jet had series of system failures Flight makes emergency landing at Melbourne airport Air India sacks COO with unsafe track record FAA plans to require photos on pilot certificates Windshield Cracks on California-Bound Delta Flight. A dozen dead in Indian air force helicopter crash Military: Fighter jet wreckage found in Alaska JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) --The wreckage of an Air Force F-22 fighter jet has been found near a national park in Alaska. Military officials confirm search and rescue aircraft discovered the wreckage of the single-seat plane Wednesday south of Denali National Park. A rescue team is still looking for the pilot. The jet had been missing since the pilot lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday while on a nighttime training run. The Alaska Air National Guard, which is leading the search effort, used three helicopters and a cargo plane to look for the stealth aircraft. It searched from Tuesday evening until early Wednesday, resuming efforts at daylight. Back to Top Qantas jet had series of system failures (AP) Pilots struggled against a rapidly cascading series of system failures after a Qantas jet's engine blew out, severing electrical and hydraulic lines and puncturing fuel tanks. The description of the pilots' ordeal on the Nov. 4 flight came as the airline's chief executive said Thursday the engine failure might lead to the replacement of as many as half of the 80 Rolls-Royce engines that power some of the world's largest jets, the Airbus 380. After the Qantas engine disintegrated, blasting metal shards into the left wing, the pilots were inundated with 54 computer messages alerting them of systems that had failed or were close to giving out, said Richard Woodward, vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association. Woodward has talked with all five pilots who were in the cockpit. "I don't think any crew in the world would have been trained to deal with the amount of different issues this crew faced," Woodward said. "The amount of failures is unprecedented," he said. "There is probably a one-in-100-million chance to have all that go wrong." Among the pilots' troubles, the wing's two fuel tanks were punctured. Fuel leaked out, causing a growing imbalance between the left and right sides of the plane. At the same time, the plane was becoming tail heavy. The electrical power problems prevented pilots from pumping fuel from tanks in the tail to tanks farther forward, Woodward said. Gradually, the plane's centre of gravity began to change, Woodward said. That might have posed the greatest risk, safety experts say. If a plane gets too far out of balance, it will lose lift, stall and crash. The pilots managed to return the crippled plane to Singapore and land safely with 450 passengers aboard. Qantas has since grounded its fleet of six A380s, each powered by four of the giant Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told reporters that Qantas might have to replace 14 engines, each worth about $10 million. Rolls-Royce has indicated that the number of engines that need to be replaced is "40 engines worldwide," he said. Rolls-Royce has remained virtually silent since Nov. 4 as its stock price has dropped. Back to Top Flight makes emergency landing at Melbourne airport A Virgin Blue plane is forced to make an emergency landing in Melbourne after an unusual smell is detected in the cockpit. A Virgin Blue aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Melbourne Airport this morning after fumes were detected in the cockpit. Flight DJ 807 from Melbourne to Sydney turned back when the captain noticed a strange odour in the cabin less than 30 minutes after take-off, Virgin Blue spokesman Colin Lippiatt said. The Boeing 737 aircraft, carrying 122 passengers and six crew members, landed safely at Melbourne Airport at 7.16am. "Just after take-off this morning the captain detected a bit of a smell in the cabin and as a precautionary measure he notified the airport that he wanted to return to have it checked out to see what it was," Mr Lippiatt said. "The aircraft was airborne less than half an hour. It is already back at the airport; it landed without incident. "Passengers were disembarked and engineers are now checking out the aircraft." Emergency services were put on high alert as the flight circled back towards the airport. A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said the flight crew initially reported a smell of smoke in the cockpit and 11 fire trucks were sent to the scene. Two paramedic crews were also on standby. Andrew de Ridder, a passenger on board the flight, said the cabin smelled like burning plastic. "We circled in the air for about 20 minutes, then we landed back in Melbourne," he said. "The crew kept us well informed, and we were glad to be back on the ground. We are currently in the terminal awaiting further news." He had been told a new engine installed on the plane may have caused the unusual smell. Mr Lippiatt said all passengers would be put on alternative flights to Sydney today. The cause of the odour is under investigation. http://www.smh.com.au/ Back to Top Air India sacks COO with unsafe track record New Delhi - Pawan Arora has been sacked as the chief operating officer of Air India Express, the low cost international arm of Air India. The decision was taken by the full AI board, which met here on Thursday. Sources said AI COO Gustav Baldauf has protested to the civil aviation ministry against Arora's related stories "Baldauf selected Arora and is unhappy with the decision to sack him. We have told him it is up to him to decide what he wants to do," a top ministry official said. Another high-profile appointment - of Stefan Sukumar as chief of training - is also under the scanner, with a two-member committee being formed to look into the "process of recruitment" and submit a report to the board within a fortnight. In an action-packed day, AI CMD Arvind Jadhav and three independent directors - Air Chief Marshal (retd) Fali H Major, FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra and Ambuja Realty chairman Harsh Neotia - met civil aviation minister Praful Patel before proceeding to the board meeting. Thereafter, the Board unanimously decided to sack Arora, on the grounds that a number of things about him weren't known at the time of his appointment - as reported first by HT. Arora joined AI on October 11. On October 22, HT exposed the fact that the Director General of Civil Aviation had removed him from four key flight-safety posts before he joined the national carrier. On November 1, AI's independent directors met the PM's principal secretary TKA Nair to tell him they were "misguided" and "kept in the dark" about Arora's record. It also emerged that Arora was the chief reference for Baldauf, in a report by a headhunting agency hired to short-list candidates for the AI COO's post. Within months of Baldauf taking over, Arora was made AI Express COO. Both earlier worked together in Jet Airways. http://www.hindustantimes.com/ Back to Top FAA plans to require photos on pilot certificates WASHINGTON - The government is finally moving to require photos on pilot certificates to guard against terrorists getting through airport security. The Federal Aviation Administration proposed the requirement on Thursday. Photos would add to other safeguards on the certificates, which now must be made of plastic and contain a hologram or ultraviolet- sensitive layer to deter altering or forgery. T he FAA would give commercial pilots and flight instructors three to four years to comply with the photo requirement, and five years for recreational pilots. New certificates cost $22 and must be renewed every eight years -- with a new photo. Congress directed the FAA to add photos and other security safeguards back in 2004. Last month, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said government officials were guilty of "an incredible level of incompetence" for failing to comply with the law that he helped draft. The law was intended to plug security holes exposed by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks by verifying the identity of people trying to get on planes. The FAA is taking comments on the proposed photo requirement until Feb. 17. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9JIP1M00.htm Back to Top Windshield Cracks on California-Bound Delta Flight (AP) Windshield crack on California-bound Delta airliner forces diversion to Dallas A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says a Delta Air Lines jet bound for Southern California had to divert to Dallas-Fort Worth because of a cracked windshield. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says Delta Flight 1795 declared an emergency Thursday while en route from Atlanta to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Gregor says the Boeing 737 landed in Texas without incident at 12:29 p.m. Central Time. The FAA is investigating. A John Wayne Airport spokeswoman says the passengers continued on another plane and arrived in Orange County at 3:30 p.m. Pacific. Back to Top A dozen dead in Indian air force helicopter crash (AFP) - GUWAHATI - An air force transport helicopter crashed in the mountainous northeast of India on Friday near the border with China, killing all 12 on board, a defence official said. The Mi-17 Russian-made helicopter went down in bad weather shortly after taking off from Tawang in the state of Arunachal Pradesh on its way Guwahati in Assam, defence spokesman R. Kalia told AFP by telephone. "The helicopter with 12 people on board crashed into a hill with all the dead bodies recovered," Kalia said, adding that 11 of the victims were air force personnel and one was from the army. Most of them were posted on the heavily militarised border between India and the Chinese region of Tibet. "We don?t know the circumstances leading to the crash and only experts will be able to give us an idea of what went wrong," Kalia said. Arunachal Pradesh is partly claimed by China, which invaded India in 1962 sparking a short but bloody war. The border dispute remains a thorn in the side of often tense relations between the emerging powers. Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC