Flight Safety Information March 22, 2011 - No. 059 In This Issue French officials plan new search for 'black boxes' of Air France jet At least 14 dead in Congo Rep plane crash Safety Campaign Targets Private Pilots 9 pilots grounded for flying after retirement (India) United plane allowed to fly without repairs Proposed Change to FAA Industry Information Access Agreement TSB calls for pop-out doors after float plane crash FAA calls for Boeing 737 thrust reverser inspections FAA and Boeing agree on 747-8 OAMS special condition Legal probe over AF447 crash has 'no grounds': Air France French officials plan new search for 'black boxes' of Air France jet that crashed off Brazil SAO PAULO - French officials say investigators are ready to begin a fourth search for the wreckage of an Air France jet that crashed off Brazil's coast two years ago. The June 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447 killed all 228 people on board. The jet went down as it hit a high-altitude thunderstorm while en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. Investigators are searching for the jet's data-filled "black boxes" to determine what caused the crash. Martine del Bono is a spokeswoman with the French accident investigation agency overseeing the search. He said that the search will begin late Monday or early Tuesday and will run until July. A boat carrying three underwater robots will scour an area off Brazil's northeastern coast. Back to Top At least 14 dead in Congo Rep plane crash BRAZZAVILLE, March 21 (Reuters) - An Antonov cargo plane crashed in a suburb of the Congo Republic city of Pointe-Noire on Monday, witnesses said, with French RFI radio reporting at least 14 killed. "Ambulances are shuttling bodies to the mortuary and the wounded to the hospital," one witness told Reuters. "The damage is significant, but for now we do not yet know the precise number of casualties." France's RFI radio said at least 14 had been killed but did not give a more precise toll. The witness said the plane had been preparing to land at the airport in the coastal city but then veered out seawards before crashing on several buildings in the Mvou Mvou suburb. In 2009 a similar Antonov cargo plane crashed in countryside just outside Brazzaville, killing its crew. ****** Status: Preliminary Date: 21 MAR 2011 Type: Antonov 12 Operator: Trans Air Congo Registration: registration unknown C/n / msn: First flight: Crew: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Passengers: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Total: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 Ground casualties: Fatalities: 5 Airplane damage: Written off Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: near Pointe Noire Airport (PNR) (Congo) Phase: Approach (APR) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Brazzaville-Maya Maya Airport (BZV) (BZV/FCBB), Congo Destination airport: Pointe Noire Airport (PNR) (PNR/FCPP), Congo Narrative: An Antonov cargo plane was destroyed when it crashed in the Mvoumvou residential area of Pointe-Noire, Congo. The airplane was approaching runway 17 when it came down. Preliminary reports indicate that 14 people were killed. Russian news sources report that the airplane involved in the accident was an An-12 while other sources indicated that an An-32 may have been involved. AFP quoted a local official who reported that there were four crew members and five passengers on the plane. A total of 14 bodies were pulled from the scene of the accident. A spokesman of the Russian embassy in Brazzaville reported that the four crew members were Russians. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Safety Campaign Targets Private Pilots By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) U.S. regulators Monday announced an initiative, primarily aimed at targeting private pilots, to reduce general-aviation accidents 10% by 2018. Spanning everything from corporate jets to weekend pilots of small propeller airplanes, the plan reflects frustration among Federal Aviation Administration officials that the fatal accident rate in this segment has remained basically flat for almost a decade. Using an unusual grassroots approach, the FAA intends starting this weekend to use more than 3,120 staffers and volunteers to reach out to private pilots at air shows and other events during April. The effort also includes more pilot-training and stepped-up efforts to systematically analyze accident and incident trends, then develop proactive initiatives to reduce accidents. On its website, the FAA said the public outreach "will provide a springboard for identifying specific non-regulatory measures that can be used to improve flight training and reduce accidents." The nationwide fatal accident rate for general aviation has been stuck above 1.1 crashes per 100,000 flight hours since 2001. That compares with a multi-year average of one major accident for roughly 2.5 million commercial flights in the U.S. In some recent years, U.S. airlines didn't have any fatal accidents. Part of the latest safety drive is patterned after a comprehensive data-collection and analysis effort used by federal officials, airline safety experts and pilot union leaders to reduce U.S. commercial-aviation accident rates by more than 80 percent starting in the late 1990s. But unlike the coordinated safety program for airlines, commercial pilots, mechanics and air-traffic controllers, the general aviation effort won't mandate more training and testing. Instead, it will depend heavily on voluntary participation in educational opportunities emphasizing the importance of pilot attitude, preflight aircraft checks and improving skills in low-speed maneuvers. Federal air-accident investigators have concluded that overall, more-sophisticated cockpit instruments and devices haven't appreciably reduced the rate of pilot-caused accidents involving private aircraft. In 2010, the FAA recorded 268 general aviation accidents, with 457 fatalities. That compares with more than 320 fatal accidents in 2001. But since total flight time dropped significantly during that stretch, the FAA's fact sheet indicates that "the general aviation accident rate has remained static" and "significant work is needed to further improve" that safety record Back to Top 9 pilots grounded for flying after retirement (India) After cracking the whip on pilots with fake flying licences, the aviation watchdog, last week, grounded nine pilots who were operating commercial flights despite crossing the retirement age of 65 years. The incident came to light during surprise checks conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in Mumbai in the past two weeks. According to the Aircraft Act 1937, pilots aged above 65 years can only be hobby fliers. "It is a serious safety violation. We will take strict action against pilots and airlines violating the rule," said Bharat Bhushan, director general, DGCA. Eight of the nine pilots caught flying past their retirement age were working with private commercial airlines while one was employed with a city-based private charter company. "Airlines cannot turn a blind eye towards pilots' records, especially matters dealing with passenger safety," Bhushan added. Air safety experts said airlines have been blatantly violating this rule because there is a shortage of senior pilots. "Domestic carriers invest poorly in training their pilots which leads to a shortage of senior commanders. As a result they turn a blind eye towards superannuated pilots continuing with flight duties," said an air safety expert requesting anonymity. Captain Mohan Ranganathan another air safety expert, said, "The practice of allowing pilots to continue flying post retirement age is widespread amongst Indian carriers." http://www.hindustantimes.com/ Back to Top United plane allowed to fly without repairs WASHINGTON (AP) - A United Airlines plane with 112 people aboard was allowed to take off last May without repairs despite indications during two previous flights that the cockpit window was overheating, a condition long known to cause fires, according to evidence gathered by federal investigators. The Boeing 757 was about 30 minutes into a flight from New York to San Francisco, and had just leveled off at 36,000 feet, when pilots said they heard a hissing noise followed seconds later by 14- to 16-inch flames shooting from the cockpit window near the captain, documents recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board show. Capt. Boyd Hammack, who had been flying the plane, told investigators he got out of his seat, grabbed a Halon fire extinguisher and put out the flames. But he said they quickly reignited. A flight attendant brought him a second fire extinguisher, which he emptied on the flames, putting them out again. Shortly before making an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the inner pane of the window in front of Hammack shattered, the documents show. He turned over control of the plane to the first officer, who safely landed the aircraft. Another United captain who had flown the same plane earlier that day told investigators he reported fumes and an overheated electrical connection when he landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, according a summary of his interview with investigators. Capt. Robert Caponetti told investigators he showed a mechanic an electrical connection at the window on the captain's side of the cockpit that appeared blackened or charred and was hot. He also said the plane had made an unscheduled landing in Las Vegas the previous day because of smoke and fumes in the cockpit. The mechanic, also interviewed by investigators, said he OK'd the plane to fly without repairs because United's maintenance manual says planes can be flown another 50 hours after a blackened or burned window heater electrical connector had been found. A blackened, burned or hot electrical connection is a sign of uncontained electricity, which can cause fires. "We did a full inspection and believed the plane was flight worthy," United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said. Federal aviation officials have known for years that cockpit window heaters in some Boeing planes catch fire. But prior to the United incident they hadn't required airlines to fix the problem, even after dozens of incidents that unnerved pilots and, in many cases, forced emergency landings. Accident investigators had traced the problem to a simple loose screw. NTSB has urged the Federal Aviation Administration since 2004 to require airlines to replace the windows with a new design. Nearly two months after the United incident, FAA ordered airlines to inspect the cockpit window heaters on 1,212 Boeing airliners. But the order doesn't require airlines to replace the windows unless evidence of damage is found. The order also gives airlines a choice of installing windows of the same design or the new design. Carriers that choose old design replacements must continue to inspect windows at regular intervals. McCarthy said United has complied with FAA's order for inspections and is replacing windows with the new design "when they are up for replacement." She said she didn't know what would trigger a replacement. United has also made "enhancements to our maintenance program," she said. Back to Top Proposed Change to FAA Industry Information Access Agreement HAI encourages its members to file comments. The FAA has proposed modifications of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) for Industry Access to Aircraft Situation Display (ASDI) and National Airspace System Status Information (NASSI) data. The proposal would prohibit direct and indirect subscribers from publicizing the registration number of any general aviation aircraft for which the FAA has received a certified security concern. The FAA has reached the tentative conclusion that it is in the best interests of the U.S. government and the general public to publish general aviation aircraft identification numbers on ASDI and NASSI data feeds unless the aircraft owner of operator provides certification of a valid security concern. The FAA notes that the Privacy Act does not allow for general aviation operators to keep their flight information from the public. The written certified security concern must be provided to the FAA at least annually and provide the facts and circumstances creating a valid security concern for the owner's or operator's aircraft or the passengers of the aircraft. Another option is for a general aviation aircraft owner or operator to meet the requirements for a bona fide business- oriented security concern under Treasury Regulation 1.132-5(m). "Valid security concern" is defined in the Federal Register Notice. Comments on the proposed change must be received no later than April 4, and must clearly identify the docket number (FAA-2011-0183). http://rotor.com/Default.aspx?TabId=177&newsid375=72821 Back to Top TSB calls for pop-out doors after float plane crash VANCOUVER (CP) - It was a tragedy the Transportation Safety Board says deeply undermined the confidence of Canada's float-plane industry. A mother, the six-month-old daughter she held on her lap and four other passengers survived the November 2009 crash off British Columbia's coast, only to drown because they couldn't escape from the twisted fuselage. The pilot and another passenger escaped and survived. The Seair Seaplanes Ltd. single-engine de Havilland Beaver crashed and sank in Lyall Harbour off Saturna Island, the southern-most Gulf Island between Vancouver Island and the mainland. There were several reasons for the crash, but the board's recommendations were most concerned with the inability of the passengers to escape the damaged, sinking plane. In its final report on the crash released Thursday, the TSB recommended Transport Canada require float-plane operators to install pop-out doors and windows and require passengers wear personal-flotation devices during flight. It isn't the first time the safety board has recommended flotation devices. In fact, the agency has made the same recommendation in numerous reports over two decades. Since 1989, 76 people have died in 109 float plane crashes across Canada, many because they either couldn't escape the plane or escaped but still drowned. Safety board chair Wendy Tadros said three recent crashes in B.C. -- which together killed 15 people, including the six that died off Saturna Island -- brought attention to the problem. "Sometimes it just takes one more accident and I think this is that one more accident," Tadros said. "In Nov. 29, 2009, a tragedy occurred in British Columbia that deeply affected public confidence in float plane safety. The public rightly expects industry and government to do everything they can to protect passengers." Dr. Kerry Morrissey and her baby daughter Sarah were among the dead. The other victims were Catherine White-Holman, Thomas Glenn, Cindy Shafer and Richard Haskett. Accident investigator Bill Yearwood said a chain of events led to the tragedy. The plane was overloaded in the back end. The wind was drifting the aircraft towards a nearby ridge. The pilot turned and the aircraft stalled, but the plane's stall warning horn and light weren't working. The aircraft then slammed into the water. The pilot was seriously hurt in the crash, limiting his ability to provide assistance to the passengers. "Any one of those links in that chain, if you removed it, would likely have resulted in a different outcome," Yearwood said. The pilot and another passenger survived because the doors they were sitting next to popped open on impact, the report said. The plane sank quickly, preventing the other passengers from being rescued. Tadros said the proposed rules wouldn't guarantee lives would be saved in every crash. "But what we're seeing with these two measures, if you could get out of that aircraft and if you can stay afloat, that the overall chances of survival will be increased," she said. The recommendations are common sense, she said, adding there's no time to find safety equipment once the crash has already happened. However, the TSB can't force change and doesn't assign fault or blame in such accidents. Transport Canada regulates the industry and would need to implement such policies. A Transport Canada spokeswoman said Thursday the recommendation were complex, and the department would carefully review the report and respond within 90 days. "Transport Canada has already taken safety actions in these areas and has actively been working with the industry on float plane safety," Melanie Quesnel said in an email. Lyle Soetaert, the president of the Float Plane Operators Association, representing several companies in B.C., said many operators aren't waiting for Transport Canada regulations and are installing redesigned door handles and pop-out doors and windows on their own. But the industry appears lukewarm on the issue of passengers wearing life jackets. Soetaert said his group would like to see studies that demonstrate wearing a life vest won't hinder a quick exit. "They are meant to be inflated outside the aircraft, if they are inflated inside that does pose risks and hazards," he said. Authorities in the United States and Australia are either implementing or have recommended regulations that require life jackets in float planes. Two small B.C. companies, Air Cab and Bella Coola Air Ltd., already require their passengers wear flotation devices. Back to Top FAA calls for Boeing 737 thrust reverser inspections The US FAA wants operators of more than 1,000 next generation Boeing 737s to begin periodic inspections of the twinjet's thrust reverser assemblies. The proposed airworthiness directive (AD), to be issued on 22 March, was prompted by reports of damage to the attachment fittings for thrust reverser actuators of in-service aircraft. Damage is caused when bushings in the actuator attach fitting wear out due to friction during the normal course of operations. "We are proposing this AD to detect and correct such damage, which could result in actuator attach fitting failure, loss of the thrust reverser auto re-stow function, and consequent loss of control of the airplane," says the agency. "Loss of the thrust reverser auto re-stow function removes one of the three primary levels of protection against an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment." While certain aircraft must get a one-time inspection of hydraulic actuator ends within 7,500h of the finalised AD, all aircraft must have repetitive detailed inspections of thrust reverser mechanisms every 7,500 flight hours under the proposal. The FAA estimates the AD will apply to 1,070 US-registered 737-600/700/700C/800/900 and 900ER-series aircraft, collectively costing an estimated $2 million for the one-time inspections and $2 million for each 7,500 flight hour inspection. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top FAA and Boeing agree on 747-8 OAMS special condition Boeing and the US FAA have come to a final agreement on the regulatory special condition required for the 747-8's outboard aileron modal suppression (OAMS) system designed to dampen out a structural vibration in the wing. The publication of the 9 March Special Condition is a significant step forward for the delayed 747-8 Freighter programme, which is set to now enter service mid-year with Luxembourg-based Cargolux, about two years after first intended. The 747-8 Intercontinental, the passenger model, will deliver in the fourth quarter to a completion centre for conversion to a Boeing Business Jet, over a year later than planned. Todd Zarfos, 747-8 vice president of engineering, said in February at the time of the 747-8I's unveiling: "We know [OAMS] will work and now we just have to go through the last aspects of certification associated to that." "We had long conversations with the FAA on whether existing [Federal Aviation Regulations] covered what we were already doing. I'll just be frank, we thought they did, they characterised it as something "new and novel" and that resulted in the need for a special condition," he says. The FAA in its special condition addresses this debate saying "the regulations do not anticipate the use of systems to control flutter modes that do not completely suppress them," adding it requires "the airplane to remain flutter free after certain failures". The vibration - also known as a limit cycle oscillation (LCO) - was observed during flutter testing and saw the aircraft wing tip deflecting ±2.5cm (1in) at frequency of 2.3Hz. While the FAA says "the sustained oscillation is caused by an unstable aeroelastic mode" the vibration does not intensify and is considered ""stable" if it maintains the same frequency and amplitude for a given excitation input and flight condition", nonetheless "the FAA considers it to be an aeroelastic instability". The OAMS system, which is built out of the 747-8's roll-axis fly-by-wire flight control system, reduces, but does not eliminate, the "amplitude of the sustained oscillation and control the aeroelastic instability", says the FAA. When the aircraft enters the area of the observed oscillation, OAMS activates automatically, dampening out the LCO by offering counter loads generated by the outboard aileron. The FAA has added OAMS to the master minimum equipment list, prohibiting the aircraft from being dispatched with the system inoperative. In addition to validating the OAMS system, which has been in flight testing for months on the 747-8F test fleet, Boeing must show by test and demonstrate through analysis that the LCO is "stable throughout the nominal aeroelastic stability envelope" when OAMS is inoperative and "must be shown to have negligible impact on structure and system, including wear, fatigue and damage tolerance". Boeing will be required to demonstrate through flight flutter test that the OAMS system can provide a "proper margin of dampening disturbances above the sustained amplitude of oscillation of all speeds up to" the demonstrated flight diving velocity, and there is no "large and rapid reduction in dampening as [diving velocity] is approached". Boeing says the OAMS system was not installed on the 20 March first flight of RC001, the first 747-8I, as the aircraft is structurally different enough from the freighter, with is elongated upper deck and tail fuel tanks. The airframer will first conduct flutter evaluations to see if the LCO is present on the -8I as well. The LCO was one of two primary reasons the delivery of the jumbo freighter slipped from the end of 2010 to mid-2011, along with 3000psi hydraulic pressure spikes that caused the aircraft's non-fly-by-wire inboard aileron actuator to oscillate at certain control inputs. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Legal probe over AF447 crash has 'no grounds': Air France Air France believes there are "no grounds" to the judicial investigation that has been launched against the airline and Airbus relating to the loss of an Air France A330-200 over the South Atlantic almost two years ago. The carrier was placed under investigation alongside Airbus by French magistrates late last week over the crash into the sea of flight AF447 in June 2009. The aircraft disappeared while operating a flight between Rio de Janeiro and Paris Charles de Gaulle. "Air France opposes this indictment. We believe it holds no grounds," says a spokesman for the carrier. "At this stage, the examination has served no default and there is no direct relationship between the facts indicated by experts and the accident." A fourth attempt to locate the wreckage of the aircraft is due to begin today. The search is being co-funded by Air France and Airbus. Airbus chief executive Tom Enders last week said he strongly disagreed with the judicial investigation, noting the "absence of facts supporting this step". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Announcement from Global HFDM Community One of the methods by which the Global HFDM Steering Group continues to promote improvements and expansion of HFDM across the entire helicopter industry is by taking part in major international events such as the CHC Safety & Quality Summit. The bi-annual meetings of the Global HFDM Technical, Operational and Communications Committees and the Steering Group Open Meeting will be held on Sunday 27th March 2011 beginning at 0800hrs at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in downtown Vancouver. These meetings precede the CHC Safety & Quality Summit which begins on the evening of Sunday 27th March. Representatives from the Global HFDM Steering Group will also present at the Helicopter Association of Canada (HAC) annual trade show: http://www.h-a-c.ca/convention.html The Steering Group will be hosting a two part HFDM Workshop on Sat 26th March in the Vancouver Convention Centre at which the smaller operator can learn the basic principles of HFDM and hear some really interesting case studies where implementation of HFDM has made tangible improvements to helicopter safety. Attendance at this meeting requires registration for the HAC trade show event. This will be a great opportunity for helicopter operators who have an interest in improving the safety of their operations to get a head start in HFDM techniques and practices. To both these events, members and non-members alike are invited to attend, please come along and show your commitment to a safer environment for helicopter operations. For more information, please visit www.hfdm.org or contact: Mike Pilgrim Global HFDM Steering Group Co-Chair Mobile: +44 7976596747 Office: +44 1224 846151 E-Mail: mike.pilgrim@chc.ca Joe Syslo Global HFDM Steering Group Co-Chair Mobile: (214) 704-8934 Office: (972) 641-3422 E-Mail: Joe.Syslo@eurocopterusa.com Anna Cushman Global HFDM Steering Group Secretary Mobile: (202) 294-1975 Office: (202) 439-4301 E-Mail: anna.cushman@faa.gov Article Headline Know your target audience. Who are your most important customers, clients or prospects, and why? Know what is important to them and address their needs in your newsletter each month. Include a photo to make your newsletter even more appealing. Inserting a link in your article lets you track which topics attract the most interest. Back to Top Research Study Seeks Pilots' Experiences with Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring March/April 2011 Have you flown a light/medium helicopter equipped with a Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring (HFDM) system under VFR? If so, I would like to hear about your experiences. I am a pilot (rotary/fixed) and am also conducting a study towards a MSc. in Human Factors and System Safety. At several conferences I have had the opportunity to speak with operators, manufacturers, HFDM vendors and data analysts. However, the voices of everyday pilots have been largely absent from the discussions of integrating this technology. For this reason I am very interested to speak with VFR pilots who are flying with HFDM on board. My goal is to explore the following question: "What are pilots' lived experiences with HFDM systems, while flying non-routine flights in light to medium helicopters operating under VFR?" I am looking to talk with 5-8 pilots (~30 minutes each) either in person, by telephone or Skype. All interviewees will remain anonymous; names of pilots/employers/vendors will be kept confidential. Please send me an email at owen.HFDM@gmail.com Owen Peterson LUND UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF AVIATION SWEDEN Back to Top Quick Links Products Services Training Contact us... Contact Information "Flight Safety Information" is a free service of: Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC (Targeting Safety & Risk Management) curt@curt-lewis.com www.curt-lewis.com www.fsinfo.org PH: 817-303-9096 Cell: 817-845-3983 Fax: 682-292-0835 Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC is an international, multi-discipline technical and scientific consulting firm specializing in aviation and industrial safety. Our specialties are aviation litigation support, aviation/airport safety programs, accident investigation, safety & quality assessments/audits, system safety, human factors, Safety Management Systems (SMS) assessment/implementation & training, safety/quality training & risk management, IS-BAO Auditing, airfield/heliport lighting products and Technical Support. Forward email This email was sent to fgae@club-internet.fr by curt@curt-lewis.com | Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Curt Lewis and Associates, LLC | Post Office Box 120243 | Arlington | TX | 76012