Flight Safety Information January 1, 2011 - No. 001 In This Issue Two Killed as Plane, Helicopter Collide in Midair NTSB critical of American Airlines after runway overrun S.Korea to Vet Airline Safety Systems American Airlines Barred From Safety Board Inquiry Aeroflot sacks deputy chief after Moscow airport mayhem Two Killed as Plane, Helicopter Collide in Midair AP WEYERS CAVE, Va. (AP) - A small aircraft collided with a medical helicopter in the air Friday afternoon in rural western Virginia, killing two people on the plane, federal aviation officials said. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the collision occurred at about 2:30 p.m., a half-mile north of the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport in Weyers Cave. The airport is about 30 miles northwest of Charlottesville. The two people killed were aboard a Cessna 172 plane. Their names weren't immediately released. Peters said the helicopter, with three people aboard, was damaged but landed safely. He said the persons on the helicopter walked away, and he was not aware of any injuries on the ground. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the helicopter had just dropped off a patient at the University of Virginia Medical Center and was returning to the airport when the accident occurred. The destination of the Cessna was not immediately available. Peters said it appeared the helicopter was attempting to land and the Cessna was taking off when they collided. He described the airplane as a small, general aviation four-seater. According to weather observers, conditions were clear with light winds in the area around the time of the accident. Witness Joshua Becker told the Daily News Leader of Staunton that he was driving to visit family near the airport when he saw the plane graze the top of the helicopter. The plane immediately nose-dived into the ground, while the helicopter landed in the field. Ronald Ritchie, who lives near the airport, told The Associated Press he walked toward the scene after hearing fire trucks go by his house. Though police roped off the accident scene, Ritchie said he saw the small plane on the ground in a gully among a group of trees. The Cessna's registered owner is Michael W. Price of Elkton, Va., Peters said. A call to the home of the plane's owner went unanswered Friday evening. The helicopter is owned by PHI Inc. of Lafayette, La. PHI spokesman Brad Deutser said the helicopter is based at the Weyers Cave airport and is used to transport patients to hospitals throughout the Shenandoah Valley. He said PHI's helicopters typically fly with a three-person crew, including the pilot and two medical personnel. Peters said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Back to Top NTSB critical of American Airlines after runway overrun On Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 11:37 a.m. local time, an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 757-200, Flight 2253, tail number N668AA, from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), in Jackson, Wyoming, ran off the end of runway 19, and came to rest in hard packed snow about 350 feet beyond the runway overrun area. The aircraft was carrying 175 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the incident has determined that the airline broke protocol when transporting the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) to its offices for investigation. As the Board stated, "The NTSB has a requirement that following such incidents in which no serious injuries or substantial damage to the aircraft or other property has occurred, the airline itself has the responsibility of delivering both recorders to the agency without delay and without accessing the information contained within them by any means." That's where American Airlines was at fault. The recorders were flown to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where American Airlines technicians downloaded information from the DFDR, a strict breach of the Safety Board's policy, which according to the agency, "has worked well for over 40 years." As a result, the NTSB has excused the airlines from further participation in their investigation of this incident. While it may seem like a slap on the wrist, it leaves American Airlines out in the cold until an official report and findings are issued. According to a statement by NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman, issued on Friday, December 31, 2010, "Although a thorough examination by our investigators determined that no information from the DFDR was missing or altered in any way, the breach of protocol by American Airlines personnel violates the Safety Board's standards of conduct for any organization granted party status in an NTSB investigation. Because maintaining and enforcing strict investigative protocols and procedures is vital to the integrity of our investigative processes, we have revoked the party status of American Airlines and excused them from further participation in this incident investigation." The airline has promised the NTSB that it is reviewing its procedures and internal controls to avoid a repeat of such a mistake. As to the incident itself, according to the NTSB, "The CVR provided a two-hour recording of excellent quality audio; the voices of each of the pilots on the flight deck were clearly audible. The DFDR provided 1200 recorded parameters of flight data and captured the entire incident." Both of the pilots have been interviewed, and it has been determined that the First Officer was flying the aircraft during the landing. The NTSB also stated, "The crew, who were interviewed on Thursday evening, (December 30) indicated that they saw the runway prior to reaching the minimum descent altitude before touchdown. Both crew members characterized the flight and approach to landing as uneventful prior to the runway overrun." What is also remarkable about this incident is that one of the passengers captured the aircraft's landing on a video recording, which is attached to this report, and is narrated, possibly indicating a mechanical delay in the deployment of the engines' thrust reversers, and possible failure to deploy spoilers on the wings. It is yet to be determined if this accident was caused by pilot error, or aircraft system failure. The NTSB has said that the actual incident docket will contain additional factual information, and is expected to be open in 60 to 90 days. Senior NTSB Air Safety Investigator Joseph Sedor has been designated as the Investigator-In-Charge. A dispatch by CBS News and the Associated Press indicated that light snow was falling when the plane landed, with visibility at about 1.5 miles. The runway had some snowy patches, but its surface afforded good braking friction, according to Ray Bishop, director of the Jackson Hole Airport. He added that the plane went into deep snow 658 feet past the end of the runway, which included a 300-foot paved safety apron and 358 feet of dirt beyond that. Kevin Huelsmann, a local newspaper reporter who was on the flight, told The Associated Press "There was snow everywhere outside the windows. We couldn't see anything. But there was no big impact. It happened so quickly, most people didn't react until it was over. The pilot told passengers after the plane had come to a stop that the brakes had failed." http://www.examiner.com/ Back to Top S.Korea to Vet Airline Safety Systems The inspection, slated to start from Monday till March, comes amid a recent outcrop of airplane breakdowns, flight cancellations and delays, though national flag carriers have not reported any accidents since 1999, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. The government will check how the country's six airlines conduct and assess their own safety, and manage safety problems, the ministry said, adding their vulnerable areas of safety will also be subject to inspections. "The planned inspection is designed to help stem airplane accidents and improve airlines safety management systems," a ministry official said. Asiana Airlines (KSE:020560), the country's second-largest airline, will be inspected from Monday, with top local carrier Korean Air (KSE:003490) scheduled to undergo an audit in January. Air Busan and three other budget carriers will undergo inspections in February and March, the ministry said. http://www.amtonline.com/ Back to Top American Airlines Barred From Safety Board Inquiry WASHINGTON (NYT) - The National Transportation Safety Board has barred American Airlines from its investigation into why an American jetliner skidded off the end of a snowy runway in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Wednesday morning, because the airline copied all of the data from one of the black boxes, or flight recorders, before turning it over. The board, in an announcement on Friday, said it was revoking the "party status" of the airline. Parties, usually including the carrier, the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilots' union, the engine manufacturer and other organizations with knowledge of technical details, jointly gather and evaluate evidence under the board's supervision. They have occasionally been barred from participating for disclosing information to outsiders. The board said American flew the Boeing 757's flight data recorder to its base in Tulsa, Okla., and copied its contents before giving it to board technicians in Washington. The cockpit voice recorder was delivered without being copied, the board said. Though no data in the flight recorder was tampered with, the airline committed a "breach of protocol," the board said. Back to Top Aeroflot sacks deputy chief after Moscow airport mayhem Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot has sacked its deputy chief, Vladimir Smirnov, in the wake of serious disruption to its operations this week. Aeroflot suffered heavy delays during winter storms at its Moscow Sheremetyevo base. The carrier says Smirnov was "relieved of his duties" following "errors which led to disruption" during 26-29 December. It says that about 65% of its flights over the period were delayed, and some 3,000 of its passengers were flown on other airlines. All passengers of affected flights will be compensated, it adds. Moscow's other main airport, Domodedovo, also struggled to cope for several days after a catastrophic power failure on 26 December. The airport's operator, East Line Group, says that director Vyacheslav Nekrasov has been "transferred" to a deputy post, naming Igor Borisov as the airport's new director. But it insists that this decision was made on 25 December, the day before the power failures. East Line states that two power sources feed the airport but that, early on 26 December, one of these suffered a partial failure of its 110kV feeder lines which knocked out the airport's information systems. The second source completely failed about three hours later at 06:25 and, three hours after that, the first source also failed entirely. The airport was forced to resort to diesel generators, but could only maintain a limited operation. Russia's transport ministry has been holding meetings with the energy ministry, East Line, and the heads of carriers including Transaero, S7 Airlines, UTAir and Ural Airlines over the situation at Domodedovo, and plans a similar meeting at Sheremetyevo. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC