Flight Safety Information December 30, 2010 - No. 268 In This Issue Pilot: Jet brakes failed Navy trainer crashes in rural area; pilots eject NTSB Calls for Greater Surveillance of Public-Aircraft Operations Flight recorder, body fragments 'found' at Russian crash site Aircraft trim problem causes landing diversion for Hawaiian Air Unruly passenger aboard Toledo-bound airplane GE works with TAAG to determine cause of 777 engine issues IATA Pushes Three Main Cargo Security Agenda Items Pilot: Jet brakes failed A Boeing 757 carrying 181 people went off the runway and into deep snow at Jackson Hole Airport on Wednesday because of what the pilot described as brake failure. American Airlines Flight 2253 from Chicago experienced a smooth touchdown at the north end of the airport's 6,400-foot runway at about 11:40 a.m., but did not slow down as it approached the runway's end and 300-foot safety apron, passengers said. The airplane stopped 658 feet off the end of the runway, 358 feet past the end of the apron. Nobody was injured and the plane was undamaged, airport officials said. "There was no breaking sensation; there was nothing like that," said Kevin Huelsmann, a Jackson Hole Daily/Jackson Hole News&Guide reporter who was on the flight after travelling to St. Louis for the holidays. "It was smooth. We didn't feel anything; we were just gliding along." Then the jet hit the powder. "All the sudden, there was white along every window," Huelsmann continued. "Everyone braced themselves against the seat in front of them. The plane felt kind of unstable as we were going through [the snow]." Passengers on the plane were calm, remained safely in their seats and were uninjured, Huelsmann said. There was the odor of smoke in the passenger compartment after the plane came to rest. "The pilot came on almost immediately and said the brakes weren't working properly," Huelsmann said. "He came on, made sure everyone was OK and basically said the brakes screwed up." Airport officials immediately plowed an area around the plane and wheeled a portable staircase to the door. It took about a half an hour for the 171 passengers to leave the plane where shuttle buses were waiting to take them back to the airport, Huelsmann said. The incident caused airport officials to shut the runway in Grand Teton National Park until the plane was extracted. The airport reopened about 2 p.m. At least seven arriving commercial flights and five departing ones were either cancelled, diverted or delayed, including flights to and from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Airport director Ray Bishop said visibility at the airport was a mile and a half with light snow. The pilot has logged 13,000 hours in a 757 and has landed at Jackson Hole Airport many times, he said. "The braking coefficient was reported as good," he said. "The runway is still in good condition. It was ... pretty much black pavement." In addition to plows, airport personnel used a vehicle with a huge, rotating steel brush to remove the five to seven inches of snow, Bishop said. Workers hooked tow straps around the landing gear and pulled the jet out with heavy equipment. The airport has reported 20 runway excursions in the last 36 months, about 50 percent of which involved commercial aircraft. For 2010, eight aircraft left the runway, and three of those went off the safety apron. This is the first commercial aircraft to go off the safety apron this year. While excursions at Jackson Hole Airport aren't unusual, "if it happens one time, it is one time too many" Bishop said. In February 2008, a United Airlines flight with 121 people on board slid off the runway in a similar incident. One of the plane's engines briefly flamed and a passenger sustained a minor wrist injury. An investigation showed the United Airlines jet had faulty brake wiring. Passengers on the aircraft Wednesday didn't seem "frightened or intimidated," Bishop said. "I didn't even realize what had actually happened," Wilson resident Amy Kuzak said while riding on a shuttle from the aircraft. "We stopped, and you could smell a little smoke." Kuzak was flying with her husband, Heath, and their two sons, Callum, 2, and Bennett, who is 8 months old. The Wilson family was returning to the valley after spending Christmas visiting relatives in Arkansas. "Nothing like this has ever happened to us," Amy Kuzak said. "And hopefully it never happens again. This was scary enough." Jackson resident Shawn O'Malley said the pilot "did a good job ... a great job. He didn't really have any brakes." "I'm glad he kept it straight," said O'Malley, a town employee who was returning from a family visit. "I was ready to drop and roll. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it could be. I'm glad the snow was there." Idaho Falls resident Jennifer LaBrier saw runway neighbors coming out of their homes to view the spectacle. "It wasn't really that bad," she said. "It was just like a washing machine and then it was over." LaBrier and her husband, Dan, were on their way home from visiting family in Springfield, Illinois. He said the episode happened quickly. "It's not like a car where you can see everything around you," Dan LaBrier said. "There was just all of this snow flying and then we stopped." The pilot said he was unable to comment on the incident until after the National Transportation Safety Board released a report. He told passengers over the public announcement system the plane's brakes had malfunctioned. That had never happened to him in 19 years of flying, he said. Passengers applauded. Passengers immediately sent text messages and called family and friends using cell phones. "It wasn't actually that rough," one man said while talking on the phone. "It was kind of smooth actually." Others walked the aisles or turned on DVDs to calm children while still others continued reading books. http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=6831 Back to Top Navy trainer crashes in rural area; pilots eject TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Two pilots are safe after ejecting from a U.S. Navy training jet. A T-45 Goshawk jet based at the Pensacola Naval Air Station crashed shortly before noon Wednesday into a swampy area in rural Jefferson County, which is located just east of Tallahassee in north central Florida. Navy spokesman Patrick Nichols told the Pensacola News Journal that the pilots were taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution, and no one was injured on the ground. The names of the two pilots were not released. The Goshawk is a small jet the Navy uses for training its pilots on making aircraft carrier landings. It replaced the T-2 Buckeye previously used for the carrier training role in 2008. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/29/1992916/navy-trainer- crashes-in-rural.html#ixzz19ZVMTjnH Back to Top NTSB Calls for Greater Surveillance of Public-Aircraft Operations The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants the FAA and U.S. Forest Service to intensify their oversight of Part 135 operators who operate their helicopters and airplanes as public aircraft, it said in recommendations based on a 2008 Carson Helicopters S-61N crash that killed seven and injured four others. In separate letters to those agencies, the NTSB issued a total of 21 new recommendations, including specific ones on the fuel system, passenger seats, and passenger restraints on the Sikorsky S-61. Chief among the recommendations were for the FAA to implement a surveillance program for Part 135 operators with aircraft that can operate both as public and civil aircraft, and to clarify its own authority over public aircraft. The NTSB called on the Forest Service to develop and require its contractors to adhere to mission- specific operating standards for firefighter transport operations, and to create an oversight program to ensure they do so. The safety board re-issued a 2006 recommendation that the FAA no longer permit exemptions or exceptions to flight recorder requirements for transport- category rotorcraft and withdraw current ones that permit such helicopters to operate without recorders. The NTSB's recommendations to the Forest Service included a call for it to require cockpit voice and flight data recorders or a cockpit image recorder on all its contracted transport-category helicopters. The crash that prompted the recommendations occurred on August 5, 2008 as the Carson S-61N, being operated under contract by the Forest Service as a public aircraft, was transporting 10 firefighters from one helispot to another near Weaverville, Ore. The crash killed the pilot, a safety crewmember, and seven firefighters, and seriously injured the co-pilot and three firefighters. The NTSB on December 7, 2010 determined the probable cause of the crash was fourfold: · "the intentional understatement of the helicopter's empty weight," · "the alteration of the power available chart to exaggerate the helicopter's lift capability," · "the practice of using unapproved above-minimum specification torque in performance calculations that, collectively, resulted in the pilots relying on performance calculations that significantly overestimated the helicopter's load- carrying capacity and did not provide an adequate performance margin for a successful takeoff," and · insufficient oversight by the Forest Service and FAA. On Thursday, January 20, 2011, HAI will host an industry forum at which the FAA will address industry-developed questions on public-aircraft operations and discuss related information. The meeting will be held at location to be determined in Alexandria, Va. and also will be accessible through the Internet. Those interested in attending in person or online must register in advance using the Registration Form. Visit the NTSB site to review the full recommendations to the FAA and those to the Forest Service. http://new.rotor.com/ Back to Top Flight recorder, body fragments 'found' at Russian crash site A flight recorder and body fragments have been discovered at the central Russian crash site of an Antonov An-22 Cock heavy transport aircraft, investigators said Wednesday. Air Force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said however it was too early to speak of finding a black box. "We can't yet identify the discovered pieces as the black boxes," he said. The An-22, carrying a crew of 12, departed from central Russia's Voronezh on Tuesday evening for the Tver Region, but disappeared from radar screens a few minutes after takeoff. The remains of the aircraft were found near the village of Krasny Oktyabr in the Tula Region. The Russian Air Force said it grounded the entire fleet of its An-22 transports and Tupolev Tu-95MS bombers after the crash. The decision suggests that engine failure is strongly suspected as the cause - both aircraft types share the Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop, the largest engine of its kind in the world. The An-22 remains the largest turboprop powered aircraft in the world. Around 45 remain in service with the Russian Air Force and most are over 40 years old. MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti) Back to Top Aircraft trim problem causes landing diversion for Hawaiian Air (AP) Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said Hawaiian Airlines Flight 39767, a Boeing 767, was inbound from Maui to Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday, December 28, when the flight crew received a warning of a possible aircraft trim problem. He said procedures call for the plane to divert to the nearest airport, which was Sea-Tac in Washington state. A quick check of air miles, however, indicates that the distance from Hawaii to Portland is around 2,595 air miles, which is closer than the distance from Hawaii to Seattle at 2,680 air miles. Nonetheless, Cooper said the plane landed at about 11:10 am and went to an airport gate. He said workers are checking the plane out and will determine whether it can fly on to Portland. Back to Top Unruly passenger aboard Toledo-bound airplane There were some intense moments aboard a Toledo-bound airplane Wednesday. Airport security was out in full force at Toledo Express as an Allegiant Air flight from Saint Petersburg landed. Witnesses say it all started when a flight attendant asked a passenger to take her seat. The passenger apparently refused and things escalated to yelling, even spitting! A passenger aboard the flight, Beth Morse, says, "The lady said, 'Well, you're spitting in my face,' and the stewardess said, 'I'm going to get the captain. You need to do what we ask you to do,' or whatever." According to one passenger, the captain did not get involved and airport security handled things once the plane landed. The flight was not delayed. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=7870310 Back to Top GE works with TAAG to determine cause of 777 engine issues GE is working with Angolan carrier TAAG to determine the root cause of two engine events on the airline's Boeing 777-200ERs, the manufacturer says. One event, according the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), occurred on 6 December. The board says the aircraft powered by two GE90 engines suffered a low pressure turbine failure in the number two engine after takeoff from Portugal's Lisbon International airport. The flight crew performed a turn back and landed without any injuries. NTSB says turbine blades were reported to have been expelled out of the back of the engine over a populated area. Local news reports from the capital Luanda state that TAAG has now grounded its three 777-200ERs after an aircraft on 23 December experienced problems with the right engine shortly after takeoff from Luanda on a flight to Dubai. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top IATA Pushes Three Main Cargo Security Agenda Items Aviation industry continues to grapple with conflicting cargo security regulations The problem the global air cargo industry faces in securing its freight is the same that plagues regulators worldwide: How does an industry set one set of standards for security when rules and processes differ country-by-country, and technology capabilities differ airline-by-airline. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) believes there is no magic bullet, no universal solution. It is time, according to IATA officials, to implement technologies that may not seem particularly exciting, but that will take the industry step-by-step toward a more secure system. There are three key hurdles to overcome to improve cargo security, says Kenneth Dunlap, IATA director of security. The first is getting advanced data to regulators, the second is getting more screening technology into airports and the third is using supply chain security solutions. These needs are hampered by regulators who want a one-size-fits-all technology to screening large pallets or containers, which can not only seek out explosives but also pinpoint drugs and other contraband. "That has slowed the process," says Dunlap. The scatter-shot approach to air freight security worldwide has ICAO and IATA striving for a universal set of regulations.Credit: JOEPRIESAVIATION.NET The industry has struggled to come up with better cargo screening since late October when the global spotlight was directed on cargo security deficiencies following the printer-bomb scare on shipments from Yemen. Those incidents sparked some unilateral government restrictions opposed by airfreight operators. Since then, IATA has sent industry ambassadors around the world to encourage governments to talk to the industry before imposing restrictions that may do nothing to increase security. Following a meeting Dec. 6-7 in Montreal called by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), there are now several initiatives that could soon come to fruition. One product IATA is promoting is Secure Freight, a concept that secures, through online XML or paper documentation, shipments from the beginning of the supply chain to the airline. This procedure allows for a screening system that is appropriate for the commodity. If, for example, an established customer ships perishable food each week, there should be a way to secure those crates before they leave the warehouse so they are not detained by airport security. Carolina Ramirez, assistant director of Secure Freight, says the program is "a template to help countries that have nothing in place." Since late November the system has been undergoing operational tests in Malaysia with the company Intel, and next will be used in Egypt, and potentially by some countries in the Middle East. This is not a new concept; the U.K. already uses a Known Consignor Program while the U.S. has a Certified Cargo Screener Program. Both allow shippers to be vetted ahead of time. But airlines still need to strip out costs through automation, and IATA has been working for a longer time on e-freight initiatives. Harmonized documentation and Customs declarations are a good way to move security forward, IATA believes. Although some shippers have criticized IATA's e-freight paperless system as being too ambitious, Guillaume Drucy, head of cargo e-business, says a broad scope is needed "to be meaningful." IATA hopes for 100% adoption worldwide of e-freight within the next five years. E-freight is used by 40% of worldwide cargo volume. It has not been adopted, however, by some key cargo-producing countries such as India. But there are "quick wins," IATA believes, such as via wider use of its standard airway bill. IATA also announced the release of an online product-EasyDGR (dangerous goods regulations)-to help shippers comply with airline requirements when transporting hazardous items. IATA says that, according to industry estimates, nearly 60% of rejected shipments by airlines are due to mistakes in documentation. This new customizable solution should save time and money from the beginning of the supply chain, and was created in cooperation with ICAO and developed by InfoTrustGroup. To understand why the industry has so far been unable to move quickly on choosing a universal cargo screening system, IATA has broken it down to its least common denominator. Says Dunlap, the industry has not even agreed yet on definitions of enhanced security or on what constitutes security screening or dangerous goods. These questions have now been left to ICAO to decide, which IATA says is the proper body to set some global standards and definitions. IATA has presented its recommendations and technology to ICAO, and now must wait. As for timing, all IATA officials would say is that when it comes to a standardized security declaration, it is at least two months away. ICAO has already endorsed supply-chain security as a standard, effective July 2011. IATA is working with the U.K., Canada, Australia and the U.S. on a standard industry approach to security, which it hopes will then help ICAO to deliver a world standard. http://www.aviationweek.com Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC