Flight Safety Information February 10, 2011 - No. 031 In This Issue Six confirmed dead as plane crashes at Cork airport (Ireland)... Donated jet will simulate airport disaster Pilot 'Crash Pads': Are Sleepy Pilots Flying Your Plane?... UND opening way for new unmanned aircraft training centre Boeing 757 Engine Starts on Fire at Mpls.-St. Paul Int'l Airport Canada takes FAA to task for rotorcraft "run dry" exemption Six confirmed dead as plane crashes at Cork airport (Ireland) Six people have died after a small aircraft carrying 12 people crashed on the runway of Cork airport in dense fog this morning. The Manx2 airline flight from Belfast to Cork overturned and caught fire while making a third attempt to land at about 9.45am. There was heavy fog in the area at the time and visibility was poor. There were 10 passengers and two crew on board the twin turboprop plane at the time. Six people died and six others were taken with serious injuries to Cork University Hospital, which has activated its major emergency plan. The plane was making its third attempt to land in low visibility conditions when it crashed, flipped over and burst into flames on a grass verge. The Irish Aviation Authority said debris was scattered onto the runway and over a wide area. A spokesman for Dublin Airport Authority, which operates Cork airport, said it was closed following the crash. "An incoming Manx2 aircraft crashed on the airfield on approach to landing shortly before 10am," he said. "Fire crews are on the scene and the airport's emergency plan has been activated." IAA chief executive Eamonn Brennan said the plane left Belfast at 8.12am was due in Cork at 9.10am. He said there was fog in the Cork area at the time and visibility was poor. Winds were light. "It wouldn't have been anything more than normal circumstances for Cork," he told RTÉ Radio. He said the Department of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Unit would carry out a full investigation of the incident. Minister for Transport Pat Carey expressed his sympathies to everyone who had been injured and the families of those who had died. Gardaí have closed South Link route between the airport and the and motorists have been asked to avoid the area. Bishop of Cork and Ross John Buckley arrived at the airport to offer support to relatives of the dead and injured. "All we can offer is our support, our help and our prayers at this time," he said. The plane was an 18-seater Fairchild Metroliner which was leased by Manx 2 with the flight number NN 71001. Manx2.com was founded in the Isle of Man and carries 100,000 passengers a year. It announced last September that it was expanding its presence in Northern Ireland, choosing George Best Belfast City Airport as its first permanent base outside the Isle of Man and launching the twice-daily service from Belfast to Cork. The flight takes about 70 minutes. Manx2 airlines has set up a helpline for anyone concerned about friends or relatives. It can be contacted on 0044 2890 4270 04. A casualty information bureau has been set up at the airport with staff operating a helpline on 021 4428 820. Aer Lingus cancelled four flights in and out of Cork after the accident while a number of others have been diverted to Shannon. Ryanair said a number of flights scheduled to arrive in and depart from Cork will now operate from Shannon. Intending passengers are advised to contact their airlines. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0210/breaking19.html?via=mr ****** Date: 10-FEB-2011 Time: 9:45 Type: Swearingen SA-227BC Metro III Operator: Flightline, opf Manx2 Registration: EC-ITP C/n / msn: BC-789B Fatalities: Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 12 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Cork Airport (ORK/EICK) - Ireland Phase: Landing Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Belfast City Destination airport: Cork Narrative: Flightline Flight FLT400C, operating on behalf of Manx2, with ten passengers and two crew has crashed at Cork Airport. No details of injuries or fatalities are available. The aircraft made an approach to Runway 17 in low vis conditions (Category 2) and went around and did not land and attempted a second landing on Runway 35. The aircraft then went around a second time and came back for an approach to Runway 17. On the second approach to Runway 17 the aircraft crashed adjacent to Taxiway C. Rescue and Fire crew are in attendance. There is a fire and debris has been scattered onto the runway and over a wide area. The airplane came to rest upside down next to the runway. Weather about the time of the accident ( ca 09:45 UTC): EICK 100900Z 06003KT 0300 R17/0325N R35/0450N FG SCT001 03/03 Q1010 BECMG 3000= EICK 100930Z 08005KT 050V110 0300 R17/0375N R35/0350N FG BKN001 04/04 Q1010 NOSIG= EICK 101000Z 09008KT 0400 R17/0600N R35/0450N FG BKN001 05/05 Q1010 NOSIG= www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Donated jet will simulate airport disaster BOISE -- A 727 Boeing jet arrived in Boise Wednesday morning on a one-way flight. It isn't leaving. The aircraft was donated by FedEx and will stay here to help train emergency responders so they can be better prepared for possible disasters at the Boise Airport. David Sutton, Managing Director of Aircraft Acquisition and Sales for FedEx says, "We have a long list of applicants let me tell you that. We have not donated an aircraft in this part of the country. Boise was selected because we look for a geographic dispersion for the aircraft. You have a great fire department with a really good team here and doing a great training job. So we're delighted to be able to partner up with them and have this aircraft available for them to use." "I think I can say with confidence that this is the first and the last time that I'll ever receive an airplane on behalf of the city," said Boise Mayor Dave Bieter. And it will forever stay in Boise to serve one main purpose. "The skies are already very, very safe, but it's going to make the flying public that much safer," said Captain Keith Severance with the Boise Fire Department. "If you have two crews that were going to respond to your emergency and one crew got to watch videos on what they're supposed to do and crew "b" got to actually train on a real aircraft, opening the real doors and pulling real people out, which crew do you want to respond to your emergency?" After the engine is ripped out, this plane will provide more realistic training for fire crews at the airport although no actual fires will be started on this plane. "We have a lot of smoke simulators and we certainly plan to smoke up the inside of this aircraft," said Severance. They will even use actual people to simulate a disaster. "We emphasize as real world training as we can get," said Bieter. "Before we had to simulate these things. We had to use a drum that might simulate a tire or a wheel or a deck that might simulate a wing," said Severance. "Now we have a real one and most important we don't have to worry about any damage that might occur to the aircraft while we're training on it." "I just feel better about our ability to respond when we've trained on an actual airplane," said Bieter. The aircraft had been in cargo service at FedEx for 31 years. It accumulated more than 44,000 flight hours and nearly 30,000 landings, the last of which happened Wednesday morning at Gowen Field. http://www.nwcn.com/home/?fId=115684764&fPath=/news/local&fDomain=10227 Back to Top Pilot 'Crash Pads': Are Sleepy Pilots Flying Your Plane? An ABC News report that airs Wednesday on World News and Nightline shows the conditions many pilots are forced to deal with when trying to sleep between flights by showing inside pilot's airport "crash pads." Pilots curl up on reclining chairs with one thin blanket. Stacked up in double beds that look less than comfortable (24 of them in one room), these ironically, or disturbingly named sleeping spaces are actually a step up from from some situations says Mary Schiavo, Former Inspector General of the Department Of Transportation says in the report, "You can't get a good nights sleep with people coming and going, this is actually better than what a lot of people have to endure." To put things into perspective, these are the men and women whom are responsible for the lives of hundreds of people every day they "step into the office." That office happens to be the cockpit of a plane usually featuring more buttons and things to pay attention to than most human beings could handle in an alert state, much less while fighting off sleepiness. It takes a special kind of person to work those dials for 16 hours at a time. Consider the following poll of 389 pilots by public broadcaster NRK where the results showed that, "two percent (of pilots) admitted they 'often' fell asleep behind the controls without alerting their co-pilot, while 48 percent said they dozed off 'once' or 'rarely.'" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/crash-pad-sleepy-pilots_n_820934.html Back to Top UND opening way for new unmanned aircraft training centre GRAND FORKS - The University of North Dakota is scheduled to sign a lease Saturday with the air force opening the way for a new unmanned aircraft training center at Grand Forks Air Force Base, the university said Wednesday. Last month, the university signed a deal to buy the ultra-realistic Predator simulators that would go into the centre. UND has been working on the project for several years as part of a state and local effort to turn the Grand Forks region into a hub for unmanned aircraft industry. Gov. Jack Dalrymple and his predecessor, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., are expected to be on hand for the signing. The local base, once home to flying tankers and missiles, is now home to Predators flown by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It'll eventually house Global Hawks, unmanned spy planes, and Predators now flown overseas by the National Guard's 199th Wing in Fargo. The air force has been increasing its usage of unmanned aircraft in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and continues to see a big need for new pilots. That's where UND, a big trainer of pilots for manned aircraft, hope to make a big difference. The total cost of UND's training facility is about $2 million, of which $1.6 million will go into furnishings and equipment, including the simulators, according to UND's report to the State Board of Higher Education last year. Most of the funding came from the state Department of Commerce. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Back to Top Boeing 757 Engine Starts on Fire at Mpls.-St. Paul Int'l Airport The engine of a Boeing 757 caught fire Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as it was leaving the gate. A two person crew of Delta Airlines was on board at the time of the fire. Commercial airlines have engines built to detect a fire and extinguish it immediately. Flames from the plane were put out before fire crews even reached it. An airport spokesperson says the fire did not disrupt any other scheduled flights. The Delta Airlines flight was scheduled to take crew members to work in another city. No one was injured in the fire. http://kstp.com/article/stories/s1965466.shtml Back to Top Canada takes FAA to task for rotorcraft "run dry" exemption Canada transportation safety officials are calling on the US FAA to remove from helicopter certification standards a clause that allows manufacturers to bypass a traditional 30min transmission run-dry capability for "extremely remote" failures. The clause is a central feature in the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada's final report on the 12 March 2009 ditching of a Cougar Helicopters Sikorsky S-92A off of Newfoundland. Seventeen of the 18 on board did not survive. The final report, issued today, highlights 16 factors in the accident, which began when titanium studs holding the main gearbox (MGB) filter bowl broke, allowing all of the transmission oil to leak out. The Flight 91 ditched 11min later after pilots lost tail rotor control due to stripped transmission gears. An animation provided by the TSB shows how events unfolded. Recommendations to Canadian regulators include prohibiting certain over-water helicopter operations "when the sea state will not permit safe ditching and successful evacuation", and making available underwater breathing apparatus. Mark Clitsome, TSB's director of air investigations said during the meeting that the 30 minute run-dry timeframe was originally a requirement for military helicopters, but that the FAA when it developed its Part 29 rotorcraft certification rules, "believed that civilian aircraft could also meet this." "However, when it came time to perform the run-dry test [for the S-92A], there was a catastrophic failure after just 11min," says Clitsome. "Following the failed test, Sikorsky and the FAA reviewed the rules and decided that a total loss of oil lubricant would only happen if the oil cooler system failed. Any other source of total oil loss was seen as-and I quote-'extremely remote.'" "For this reason, [Sikorsky] chose to redesign the main gearbox's lubrication system to include a bypass valve for the oil cooler instead of taking steps to redesign the gearbox," Clitsome says. "What they did not consider was a failure in the main gearbox oil filter bowl-or its titanium studs. This is exactly what happened to Flight 91." He notes that while the titanium studs for the S-92A have been replaced with steel studs via an emergency airworthiness directive, the S-92A gearbox remains the same. "In the event of a sudden loss of oil, there would still be only 11min before the gearbox fails," says Clitsome. "The S-92 is the only helicopter to be certified using the 'extremely remote' provision," he continues. "In fact, since that rule came into effect, [EASA] has certified four helicopters as capable of meeting the 30min 'run dry'. The FAA and Transport Canada also certified one each. So, we know it's possible for civilian aircraft to meet this requirement." http://www.flightglobal.com/ Back to Top Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC