Flight Safety Information March 17, 2011 - No. 056 In This Issue Airbus may face charges over 2009 Rio-Paris crash IATA: Urgent Changes Needed For Brazilian Aviation Cause Of Long Beach, Calif. Plane Crash Probed Atlanta still world's busiest airport Muslim Woman Removed From Plane Raises Vexing Questions Europe Airline Regulators Don't Adopt U.S. Antiterrorist Rules on Oxygen Equipment Man arrested on flight to Logan for saying he was an air marshal Prosecutors build criminal case against Tu-204 crash pilots Collier Trophy Goes to Sikorsky X2 Airbus may face charges over 2009 Rio-Paris crash PARIS (AP) - A French judge will decide Thursday whether to file preliminary charges against planemaker Airbus over the 2009 crash of an Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people aboard. No one survived the crash - the worst in Air France's history - and the cause remains unclear. The investigating judge will meet with lawyers from Airbus in Paris on Thursday, and could issue preliminary charges pending further investigation. The judge then meets with Air France lawyers on Friday, and the airline could also face charges. Charges against Airbus, the world's leading planemaker by orders in 2010 and rival to Chicago-based Boeing Co., would be unusual but not unprecedented. Airbus employees have been charged in France in previous crashes. The criminal probe centers around what happened to Air France flight 447, an Airbus 330 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, on June 1, 2009, amid an intense, high-altitude thunderstorm. Automatic messages sent by the plane's computers show it was receiving false air speed readings from sensors known as pitot tubes. Investigators have said the crash was likely caused by a series of problems, and not just sensor error. Specialists are launching a fourth undersea search effort next week for the plane's so- called black boxes, or flight recorders. "As long as we have not found the black boxes, no one can explain what happened," Airbus spokesman Jacques Rocca told The Associated Press ahead of the judge's decision Thursday. He said the planemaker's lawyers will stress to the judge the company's efforts to recover the flight recorders. "For us, this is a priority." Air France and Airbus will finance the estimated $12.5 million cost of the new search, in which three advanced underwater robots will scour the mountainous ocean floor between Brazil and western Africa, in depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,120 feet). Already $27.5 million has been spent on three previous search attempts that failed to find Flight 447's voice and data recorders. The exact role the sensors played in the crash may never be known without the flight recorders. Airbus knew since at least 2002 about problems with the type of speed sensor that malfunctioned on the doomed jet, The Associated Press has reported. But air safety authorities did not order their replacement until after the crash. The tubes, about the size of an adult hand and fitted to the underbelly of a plane, are vulnerable to blockage from water and icing. Experts have suggested that Flight 447's sensors, made by French company Thales SA, may have iced over and sent false speed information to the computers as the plane ran into a thunderstorm at about 35,000 feet (10,600 meters). Back to Top IATA: Urgent Changes Needed For Brazilian Aviation Country Preparing To Host FIFA World Cup, Olympics In a statement released Wednesday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) praised Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's strategic focus on aviation, and urged a quick follow-up with critical reforms to improve the industry's competitiveness. Preparations to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics make urgent progress necessary. "President Rousseff recognized the power of air transport to drive long-term gains in the quality of life in Brazil in her inauguration speech. Her intention to create a ministry-level Civil Aviation Secretariat is an opportunity to achieve change. IATA is eager to use our global expertise to play a collaborative role in delivering on the President's expectations with a strategic plan focused on competitiveness," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO. Bisignani made his remarks in a speech at the British Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo, with Government nominations for key aviation posts imminent. Bisignani highlighted five areas for change: Infrastructure and Regulatory Framework: "The INFRAERO model, which controls 94% of Brazil's airports, is broken. Terminals at 13 of the top 20 airports cannot cope with current demand. Sao Paulo, which handles 25% of Brazil's traffic, is in a critical state with insufficient capacity and services that do not meet global standards. Concessions could be a way forward. But they must be accompanied by transparent, robust and independent economic regulation supported by effective industry consultations," said Bisignani. IATA supports ANAC's continued role in overseeing airports. "ANAC's proposed high level framework for airport regulation is mostly in line with IATA's recommendation and ICAO's principles. But four important changes are critical to shore-up Brazil's competitiveness. First, ATAERO must be abolished. This 50% surcharge on fees contravenes ICAO principles. Second, we need greater transparency and assurances that there will be no cross-subsidization among airports. Third, the solution to insufficient capacity must not be peak hour pricing. Efficiency gains and infrastructure development are the way forward. And finally, the 70% increases for international carriers as a result of a fee recalculation are not acceptable. Charges must come down, not go up. If these four issues are not resolved, the benefits of concessions will be lost," said Bisignani. Fuel Pricing: Brazil must follow-up on the 2009 elimination of the $100 million PIS/COFINS fuel tax by addressing the Petrobras import parity pricing policy. A recent study concluded that Petrobras is over-pricing jet fuel by $400 million annually. "There is no justification that Brazil's jet fuel prices should be 14% more expensive than in the rest of the region. Brazil produces 80% of its fuel needs from its own refineries. It makes no sense to peg prices to the Houston market and include all theoretical costs for importation-including transport. It is destroying the competitiveness of Brazilian aviation," said Bisignani. Globally, fuel averages at 29% of an airline's operating cost but for Brazil's airlines, it is 37%. Air Traffic Management: IATA urges Federal Government support for DECEA's improvement efforts. "Airlines have invested in avionics to support more efficient flying. But the infrastructure on the ground, does not match our capabilities in the air," said Bisignani. Specifically, IATA is encouraging the implementation of more efficient operating procedures, known as RNAV and PBN, to increase capacity and efficiency in both Sao Paulo and Rio. Moreover, IATA is encouraging the Department of Airspace Control (DECEA) to adopt a process for continuous improvement based on analysis of performance data against agreed performance targets. Environment: Aviation is united and committed to improving fuel efficiency by 1.5% annually to 2020, capping net carbon emissions from 2020 with carbon neutral growth, and cutting net emission in half by 2050 (compared to 2005). Governments, through ICAO, have agreed to find a global approach on economic measures related to CO2 emissions. "Aviation is the only global industry with a global plan-by industry and by governments. Brazil must support the global approach. That means stopping plans by Guarulhos City to impose environmental taxes that are counter-productive to global efforts. And the Government should follow-up on the leadership of TAM's sustainable biofuels test flight by creating the fiscal and legal framework to support a sustainable Brazilian biofuels industry," said Bisignani. FIFA World Cup and the Olympics: "Brazil's airports will not be capable of successfully hosting the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics without major changes. Time is running out for major infrastructure projects. We are concerned that Sao Paulo's Terminal 3 is being planned without industry consultation. Whatever is achieved, we will need to make the current infrastructure work much harder with better processes. One simple solution is for all airport stakeholders-ANAC, INFRAERO, customs, immigration, public health and agriculture-to institutionalize cooperation. Airlines could bring solutions to improve terminal operations and reduce congestion, including IATA's Fast Travel standards for implementing self-service technology, and e-freight to improve cargo handling efficiency. These solutions exist today and can deliver major improvements," said Bisignani. IATA also encouraged ANAC to add a new dimension to its safety oversight by adopting the IATA Operational Safety Audit as a requirement for all airlines operating to Brazil. Aviation is important to Brazil's economy. It drives travel and tourism which supports 9.1% of GDP and over 8 million Brazilian jobs. Aviation has grown by an impressive 10% annually since 2003. The Brazilian domestic market is the fourth largest in the world after the United States, China and Japan. But with 13 million international passengers it ranks 37th, completely disproportionate to Brazil's economy which is the world's eighth largest. FMI: www.iata.org Back to Top Cause Of Long Beach, Calif. Plane Crash Probed (AP) A twin engine turboprop that took off from a California airport crashed and exploded in a fireball as it circled back for the runway, killing five people and critically injured a sixth, officials said. Prominent real estate developers Tom Dean and Jeff Berger and bicycle advocate Mark Bixby were were among the dead in Wednesday's crash, Mike Murchison, a spokesman for Dean, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The lone survivor, Mike Jensen, was hospitalized in critical condition. The identities of the other two people who died have not been released. Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez said he did not know why the privately owned Beechcraft King Air turboprop had turned around. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the crash. He said the crash closed two taxiways and one of the airport's five runways. Commercial flights were not affected. The front half of the plane and its wings came to rest on a grass median between two taxiways. The plane left a scorched trail dozens of feet long as it plowed through the grass. The burning plane sparked a small ground fire that was quickly extinguished, Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Reeb said. Murchison said the plane belonged to Dean, who also owns most of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in southeast Long Beach. Part of the wetlands was traded last year to the city in exchange for most of its public service yard in a land swap. Berger was Dean's business partner. Bixby, a descendant of a founding family of Long Beach, was passionate about cycling and had been advocating to put a bike lane on a new bridge over the Port of Long Beach. The plane was departing for Salt Lake City when it went down, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. An FAA website said the plane was registered to a Los Angeles company called Carde Equipment Sales LLC. There was no public phone listing for the company. It was the first crash at the airport in more than 30 years, Rodriguez said. ***** Date: 16-MAR-2011 Time: 10:30am Type: Beechcraft King Air 200 Operator: Carde Equipment Sales LLC Registration: N849BM C/n / msn: BB-849 Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 6 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Long Beach Municipal Airport - United States of America Phase: Initial climb Nature: Executive Departure airport: KLGB Destination airport: KSLC Narrative: Plane crashed just after takeoff in the Northern area of Long Beach Municipal Airport. The plane caught fire. 5 people were killed, one person injured. Weather around time of crash: KLGB 161653Z 11003KT 8SM OVC008 15/12 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP200 T01500122 www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Atlanta still world's busiest airport; Beijing passes Heathrow as No. 2 USA TODAY - Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International remains the world's busiest airport, but Beijing's Capital International is closing in. Beijing surpassed London's Heathrow Airport in passenger traffic last year, becoming the second busiest airport in the world, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by Airports Council International. Heathrow, hobbled last year by snow storms, a volcanic eruption in Iceland, and strikes by airline workers that led to massive cancellations of flights, dropped to number four on the list behind Chicago's O'Hare. Beijing's ascent highlights the rise of the Asia Pacific region which is on the cusp of becoming the biggest air travel market in the world, largely because of China's increasing economic dominance. "Given China's massive population base, a population that is increasingly able to travel by air, and China's role in global commerce and tourism ... China will be the primary driver behind much of the region's growth," says Henry Harteveldt, airline analyst with Forrester Research. "Given the current situation in Japan, it's possible that China's growth and dominance may become even more pronounced, as travel within, from and to Japan will undoubtedly soften to some extent near-term." But Atlanta, a hub for Delta and low-cost carrier AirTran, was able to hold on to the top spot. AIRPORT GUIDE: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport "Atlanta has the benefit of having a very strong global carrier, as well as a strong low- fare airline," says Deborah McElroy, executive vice president for policy and external affairs for Airports Council International, North America. "That blend allowed the airport to be able to better withstand some of the challenges of the economic recession. Having the two hubs with a varied traffic mix was one of the reasons they were able to retain that top spot." Charlotte saw a 10.4% rise in passenger traffic, the only airport outside of Asia and the Mideast among the world's top 30 busiest to show a double digit increase. But Las Vegas, which saw airlines cut flights during the recession, saw its traffic dip by 2.6%. The report was based on the responses from more than 900 airports globally. A larger, final survey will be released later this year. Back to Top Muslim Woman Removed From Plane Raises Vexing Questions An Islamic rights group said Southwest Airlines has apologized to a San Diego Muslim woman who was removed from a plane at Lindbergh Field on Sunday. The incident highlights the ambiguity surrounding security versus discrimination. Irum Abbassi was escorted from a Southwest flight to San Jose after an attendant heard the woman say, "It's a go," during a cell-phone call. Abbassi insists she actually said, "I've got to go." Abbassi, an American citizen, was never interrogated nor searched after her removal. She was allowed to take the next flight to San Jose. University of Southern California counter-terrorism professor Seth Stodder said discrimination laws for airline travelers are weighed against security concerns and sometimes just gut-level fear. "It's a hard balance to draw when you're dealing with a pilot who is making a decision based on his assessment of the safety of the passengers of the plane," Stodder said. "There is no clear law. It's one of those issues that hasn't really been adequately litigated." Edgar Hopida, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the balance has to include an understanding that Muslims are also travelers who want to get to their destinations safely. "We're all about security because we're Americans too and we travel on the same airplanes as everyone else," he said. Hopida said there will be many more people removed from airlines in the future if flight attendants and other crew members don't get that message. http://www.kpbs.org/news/ Back to Top Europe Airline Regulators Don't Adopt U.S. Antiterrorist Rules on Oxygen Equipment By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) European aviation regulators said they won't adopt recent U.S. antiterrorist rules mandating that aircraft carriers disable or remove oxygen generators in plane bathrooms, saying they lack legal authority to call for the change. The Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year quietly ordered U.S. airlines to modify the oxygen equipment, after determining that such generators-designed to supply oxygen in bathrooms during airborne emergencies-could potentially be used by terrorists or hijackers to spark a fire or attack passengers. In disclosing the action and releasing the text of its directive last week, the FAA said the work had been finished. The FAA described the effort as a measure to "eliminate a potential safety and security vulnerability" and "help keep travelers as safe and secure as possible." The agency also said it is working with manufacturers to redesign the oxygen generators as a permanent solution. Since then, the European Aviation Safety Agency, the FAA's counterpart in that region, disclosed that it won't follow the FAA's lead in disabling the devices. This week, EASA posted information on its website indicating that the agency has concluded such a mandate "does not fall within the scope" of authority granted by the European Commission. "As a result, no corresponding EASA [directive] can be issued on the same subject" covering European airliners, according to the European agency's statement Wednesday. EASA didn't elaborate on what authority it lacks. Some European carriers and national regulators voluntarily have decided to comply with the security mandate issued by the FAA, according to people familiar with the matter, but it isn't clear how many countries or aircraft are affected. The FAA and EASA typically work closely together to coordinate directives covering the airworthiness of planes, maintenance requirements and a wide range of other safety issues. Those efforts, including sharing of incident data across the Atlantic, are likely to be helped by the final approval of a recent U.S-European aviation-safety agreement. The two agencies also have joined forces over the years to combat potential terrorist threats, including ordering modifications to fix malfunctioning locking mechanisms on many cockpit doors. In the past, EASA has adopted certain security rules and quietly told airlines or national regulators to comply with them, without making the specifics public. But in the case of the oxygen generators, EASA took the unusual step of publicly noting its decision to avoid following the latest FAA security rules. Aviation regulators in Canada and Brazil-countries where various models of smaller jetliners and turboprop aircraft are manufactured-quickly adopted the FAA's security rules. Technically, the EASA statements reply to the directives issued by those two countries. In its directive, Canada said "the chemical oxygen generator can be manipulated in such as way [as] to create a hazardous condition." Canada's rules became effective earlier this month. Like the FAA's order, neither Canada nor Brazil made their rules apply to oxygen generators in the cabin, which are designed to provide emergency oxygen through masks to passengers in the event of a rapid depressurization. The FAA's move has prompted some questions from pilots and other critics, who are concerned that passengers in lavatories may be at risk if such depressurization occurs. In its statement Thursday, the FAA said "rapid decompression events on commercial aircraft are extremely rare." The agency also noted that "pilots are already trained to guide the aircraft to a safe, breathable altitude as quickly as possible." According to the FAA, flight attendants also are "trained to assist passengers to quickly access oxygen-including those in the lavatories." The agency reiterated that if oxygen masks are deployed, flight attendants should make it a high priority to check whether any toilets are occupied. Back to Top Man arrested on flight to Logan for saying he was an air marshal A man on a flight from Detroit heading to Logan International Airport today was allegedly overheard telling another passenger that he was a federal air marshal. He wasn't. And, unfortunately for him, there was a real one on the plane, who detained him, authorities said today. The incident happened on Delta Flight 1922, which landed safely at 11:35 a.m., the Transportation Security Administration said. "The individual is in law enforcement custody and the matter is currently under investigation," the TSA said in a statement. TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said she couldn't say why the man had identified himself as an air marshal. "I really can't speak to his intent," she said. http://www.boston.com/news/ Back to Top Prosecutors build criminal case against Tu-204 crash pilots Prosecutors in Russia have compiled a criminal case against the two pilots involved in the Tupolev Tu-204 approach crash in Moscow a year ago. The aircraft was being operated by Aviastar-Tu when it came down in a forest while attempting to land at Domodedovo Airport on 22 March 2010. Investigators determined that the pilots had pressed on with the approach in darkness and poor weather despite lack of experience in flying under the testing conditions and without being able to make visual contact. The aircraft had been off course on the final approach and the crew failed to execute a go-around at the appropriate point. Russia's interregional transport investigation division states that the 33-year-old captain and 36-year-old co-pilot are being charged with causing harm through breaching "a number" of air transport safety regulations. "Observance of these rules would have avoided the consequences," it adds. The criminal case has been forwarded to Moscow court authorities. Despite the Tu-204's being destroyed in the crash, there were no fatalities among the eight occupants of the twinjet. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Collier Trophy Goes to Sikorsky X2 Sikorsky Aircraft and the X2 Demonstrator Team have won the 2010 Robert J. Collier Trophy "for demonstrating a revolutionary 250 knot helicopter, which marks a proven departure point for future helicopters," the National Aeronautic Association announced March 15. The Collier Trophy will be presented at the 100th Anniversary Collier Dinner, this year on May 5 in Arlington, Va. Other nominees were the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System Fighter Risk- Reduction Program team; the MC-12W Project Liberty team; the Orion Launch Abort System Development team; the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III team; and X-51A WaveRider team, as well as general aviation's contribution to "saving thousands of lives in Haiti." Sikorsky flew the self-funded X2 technology demonstrator in 2008. The United Technologies company plans to fly two X2 light tactical helicopter prototypes in 2014, and has talked in terms of 2017-18 for an S-76-size commercial high-speed vehicle. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC