Flight Safety Information March 23, 2011 - No. 060 In This Issue 747-8 Intercontinental moves into flight test Smoke in cockpit cause Frontier flight to return to Louisville airport MEU rescues downed pilot United Plane Flew Despite Smoke, Fumes in Cockpit Qantas overloaded aircraft United Continental announces Wi-Fi push for 2012 Caterpillars in the Cockpit Ground Airplane in Australia Coyote on runway briefly delays Atlanta flights Swiss A320s' simultaneous departure sparks conflict inquiry 747-8 Intercontinental moves into flight test With its 747-8 Intercontinental first flight complete, Boeing has now begun the just-over 600 flight hour process of certifying the new 467-passenger jet, the largest in the company's history. The 20 March 4h 25min flight over Washington state pushed the aircraft, RC001, harder than first anticipated to 6,100m (20,000ft) and 250kts (463km/h), a direct result of the new jumbo benefitting from the more than 2,000h already accumulated on its freighter test programme since February 2010. "It's one of the cleanest first flight airplanes of a new design that I've seen and it just went perfectly," says 747 chief pilot Capt. Mark Feuerstein, who was at the controls with Capt. Paul Stemer. Feuerstein says the aircraft experienced roughly a half dozen maintenance squawks and none that would prevent any 747-400 crew from dispatching the aircraft again: "The airplane is actually ready to go fly right now." The aircraft departed runway 34L at Paine Field in Everett, Washington at 9:59 local time with an approximate rotation speed of 160kts at flaps 20, beginning its maiden sortie with a slow turn to the west along the Olympic Peninsula "keeping the airspeed fairly slow below 230kts, looking at the handling qualities of the airplane with the gear and flaps down, that's a very typical start to the flight," says Feuerstein. When the aircraft neared the Pacific coast, it turned eastbound, followed by the first raise of the landing gear and flap retraction, and "took a little detour" for air-to-air photography in front of nearby Mt. Baker, he adds. Following its photo work, RC001 moved toward central Washington "where we do a lot of our stability and control work. From about [20,000ft] to 10,000ft we did simple approaches to stalls, a couple of directional stability conditions that looked at how the airplane turns and how straight it flies, then we continued some basic functional checks of the systems of the airplane to make sure that it all works properly," says Feuerstein. Feuerstein and Stemer took advantage of the aircraft's maturity allowing them to "pull some tests forward", such as steady heading side-slips and turning approaches to stalls down to 105kts. Additionally, the stability augmentation was deactivated on the aircraft "to see what the bare airframe behaved like and it was absolutely phenomenal. It was kind of fun actually to do that so early in the programme," says Feuerstein. The maturity of the aircraft's systems comes from the work already done on the 747-8F, adds Feuerstein: "It was the first opportunity for Paul and I to get a look at all of those changes rolled together into the one airplane. Because on the freighter fleet, each airplane is a little bit different. Today, we actually got an early look at what the freighter is going to look like when it's finished and it looks great." The aircraft landed on runway 31L at Boeing Field in Seattle at 14:24 local time, where it will be based for the flight test campaign. RC001 will focus its time in flight test conducting flutter clearance, flight controls, ride quality, and stability and control evaluations, building on the work it began on first flight. Flutter clearance is among the most important tasks for the aircraft as it is structurally different from the freighter, with an elongated upper deck and horizontal stabilizer fuel tanks. The aircraft is expected to fly again late this week as it continues its initial airworthiness trials, while Boeing anticipates RC021, the second test aircraft, which is now out at the fuel dock in Everett, to join the flight test programme in April. Its purpose will be to certify aircraft's interior, including the galleys, lavatories, smoke penetration and environmental control system. 747 vice president and general manager, Elizabeth Lund, says Boeing will wrap up the flight test campaign "early in the fourth quarter" followed by a final analysis of its data and final submission to the US FAA for certification and delivery at the end of the year. Lund says the freighter is due for delivery mid-year to Cargolux, while first 747-8I is expected to be delivered to a completion centre for finishing as a business aircraft for the Kuwaiti Government before the end of 2011. At 76.3m (250ft), the -8F and -8I are the longest full production commercial aircraft in history, while the 5.6m (18.3ft) stretch over the 747-400 means the passenger model will be certified to accommodate up to 605 passengers in single-class configuration. Boeing holds orders for 108 747-8s including 76 freighters and 33 Intercontinental passenger aircraft. Pending the approval of the Chinese government, Boeing will add the additional 5 747-8Is from Air China to its backlog. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Smoke in cockpit cause Frontier flight to return to Louisville airport LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A Midwest/Frontier Regional jet that departed Louisville for Milwaukee early Tuesday turned around after crews reported smoke in the cockpit. It landed safely at Louisville International Airport around 11:30 a.m. Trish Burke, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Regional Airport authority, says the ground crew is inspecting the plane to see if it is safe to continue flying. Burke says it was Frontier Flight #1912 and about 22 passengers were on board. It's not yet known if the plane continued to Milwaukee or if passengers were moved to another plane. http://www.wave3.com/ Back to Top MEU rescues downed pilot Two aircraft from a squadron based at New River were deployed to the rescue of crew members from a downed Air Force F-15, officials with the Air Station said Tuesday. Two MV-22 Ospreys, assisted by CH-53 Super Stallion Helicopters, all from New River's VMM-266 (reinforced) squadron and deployed with Lejeune's 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit off the coast of Libya, responded to distress calls from an F-15 pilot who parachuted to safety in the crash. The fighter went down near the village of Bu Mariem, east of Benghazi in Libya. The F-15, which had caught fire prior to the crash, was destroyed on the scene. The pilot was quickly recovered by Osprey crewmembers and pronounced well by a 26th MEU physician, Navy Lt. Lauren Weber. The other crew member, a weapons officer, was rescued by Libyan forces opposing the Moammar Gadhafi regime, according to 26th MEU officials. The pilot was taken aboard the U.S.S Kearsarge off the coast of Libya, according to Marine officials. A spokesman for headquarters Marine Corps, Capt. Brian Block, said the crash took place around 11:30 p.m. Monday, and the rescue was complete by 3 a.m. Block said two Harrier jets from Cherry Point provided close air support to the MV-22 Osprey that picked up the stranded pilot and dropped two laser-guided bombs near the site. Though some British media reports said Libyan civilians had been shot in the course of the rescue mission, Block said he was not aware of any civilian casualties due to actions of Marine personnel. "As far as I know, we did not conduct any strafing runs," he said. "...We were not aware of any (civilian casualties) in our operations to recover the pilots." In a news briefing released late Tuesday afternoon, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa, Adm. Samuel Locklear, said defense officials were investigating, though he would not comment on the reports. The rescue was part of a tactical recovery of aircraft personnel (TRAP) mission, one of a number of specialized operations that are a part of every MEU pre-deployment workup, II MEF spokesman Capt. Timothy Patrick said. The success and the speed of the mission, he said, demonstrated the diverse amphibious capabilities inherent in a MEU. Maj. Kurt Schiller, a pilot with VMM-365, an Osprey squadron based at New River, said the greatest challenge with the TRAP mission scenario is the speed with which the mission is executed. "Probably the biggest factor is not knowing where they're going to land the airplanes," he said. "(The V-22 pilots) probably got very little intelligence or imagery on where they were landing. It's very quick, very hasty." Officials said Tuesday's rescue was similar to the 1995 mission in Bosnia involving the 24th MEU and its rescue of U.S. Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady, on which the movie "Behind Enemy Lines" was loosely based. http://www.enctoday.com/news/new-8204-havelock-air-river.html Back to Top United Plane Flew Despite Smoke, Fumes in Cockpit United allowed a plane to fly despite known safety issues stemming from a malfunctioning windshield heater. According to the Associated Press (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." "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." The windshield shattered shortly before the plane made an emergency landing in Washington, D.C. The pilot who flew the plane earlier that day reported smelling fumes in the cockpit, and showed United mechanics that an electrical connection in the windshield was charred and hot. The plane actually made an emergency landing the previous day due to smoke and fumes in the cockpit. However, the mechanic who observed the issue said he cleared the plane for travel because, according to the AP, "United's maintenance manual says planes can be flown another 50 hours after a blackened or burned window heater electrical connector had been found." The issue of faulty cockpit wiring in Boeing aircraft is not a new one, however, and has actually been known to the National Transportation Safety Board since 2004. Last June, just weeks after the United incident (which was only reported just now), the FAA launched a full-scale investigation of the problem, covering some 1,200 airplanes. The problem is actually due to loose screws that can chafe wires and cause electrical arcing and, potentially, fires. Airlines were told to replace the windshields if defects were discovered. Of course, in the United case, the question is why the plane was allowed to fly despite seemingly obvious signs of a serious safety issue. United did inspect the plane per its maintenance manual, but still-smoke? Fumes? And the plane still flew? Probably a good thing that United has since made "enhancements" to its maintenance program, as a spokesperson told the AP. http://www.smartertravel.com/ Back to Top Qantas overloaded aircraft An overloaded Qantas Airbus A330 flying from Sydney to Hong Kong was a risk to flight safety, air investigators have found. A breakdown in the flow of paperwork controlling pallets of freight loaded on to the passenger aircraft led to it being overloaded, exceeding its maximum structural take-off weight by almost a tonne. As a consequence, pilots configured the plane's flight computers for take-off based on the wrong data about the aircraft's weight and centre of gravity, which "had the potential to affect the safety of flight", investigators with the the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found. A delay in notifying the error resulted in the aircraft making another 10 flights before maintenance checks for any damage were undertaken. The delay "presented a risk to the ongoing airworthiness of the aircraft", investigators said. The safety bureau also trawled its records and found 28 freight load control incidents at Qantas in the 2½ years to last August, with the most recent being on July 8 last year. The investigation also uncovered a lapse of quality control at the airline. Qantas had not reviewed its Sydney freight loading centre for quality assurance in the 22 months before the incident on March 6, 2009. These reviews were supposed to be carried out by senior Qantas management personnel every six months. The last review was conducted in May 2007, investigators found. "The investigation could not discount that, had those quality assurance reviews been carried out, this occurrence might have been avoided," the bureau's investigators said. No damage was subsequently found to the aircraft and Qantas has since made changes to the way it loads and checks freight into aircraft, reports incidents and has revamped its staff training, the bureau said. http://www.smh.com.au/ Back to Top United Continental announces Wi-Fi push for 2012 Lack of in-flight Internet service puts company at disadvantage with business fliers The last big U.S. airline holdout to the Wi-Fi revolution, United Continental Holdings Inc., unveiled plans to wire more than 200 domestic aircraft for satellite-based broadband service starting next year. United Continental said Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent with LiveTV, a subsidiary of JetBlue Airways, to provide in-flight Internet service on Continental Boeing 737 and 757 jets equipped with DirecTV service. The Chicago-based parent company of United and Continental airlines is also exploring adding international Wi-Fi service and mulling deals with other broadband providers to help wire its fleet of more than 700 jets, United Continental CEO Jeff Smisek told investors and analysts. "It may well be with a different set of providers than LiveTV,'' Smisek told attendees of JPMorgan's Aviation, Transportation and Defense Conference. The moves are certain to be welcomed by some longtime business customers of United and Continental airlines, which have been slow to act. Rivals such as Delta, Southwest and American airlines have already retrofitted aircraft for wireless connections. United offers only Aircell's Gogo Inflight Internet service on 14 aircraft equipped for its Premium Service cross-country flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Continental doesn't offer broadband service. That places United Continental at a competitive disadvantage, particularly in the battle to draw business travelers, said Henry Harteveldt, travel industry analyst with Forrester Research Inc. "It's an essential must-have now," said Harteveldt, after stepping off a five-hour United flight without Internet access Tuesday. "United is competitively inferior to American, Delta, Virgin, Southwest and Alaska. If United wants to look at losing business, then not having Wi-Fi is a great way to lose business travelers." United Continental said it hasn't negotiated a definitive agreement with LiveTV for Ka- band service, cutting-edge broadband that promises faster transmission speeds and will be provided via satellite. The service is to be launched this year. That left the carrier some leeway to shift strategy as Wi-Fi technologies evolve, noted aviation consultant Robert Mann. "There's a feel-good factor, but no obligation attached," Mann said. "Meanwhile, they can watch for (the new technologies) to settle." Itasca-based Aircell, whose Internet service is installed on about 6,000 aircraft, this month outlined plans for a faster version of its air-to-ground technology, which relies on signals beamed from cellular towers. Aircell also announced plans to offer international Ka-band service by 2015. "There's a lot of exciting technology out there," Smisek said. "By being not on the bleeding edge of it, but having sat back as we have, we're able to take advantage of improvements to it." Since United and Continental merged in October, Smisek's team has been selecting onboard services to be rolled out fleetwide after the two carriers meld into a single entity to be called United Airlines, later this year. Executives have decided to keep United's familiar "Rhapsody in Blue" theme music, install United's roomier Economy Plus seating in all Continental jets and have stopped offering free snacks on Continental flights, a service United dropped years ago. Frequent fliers are closely watching to see how Smisek deals with the differing cabin configurations on United and Continental jets, given his vows to focus on business travelers at the new United. While Continental is thought to be superior to United in business-class offerings, it doesn't offer first-class service on long-range flights to Europe and Asia, like United. Smisek said there were no immediate plans to ditch United's first-class cabins. "I'm going to tell you we are going to have a mixed fleet for some time," he said Tuesday. "There are markets where an international first class makes sense; markets where an international first class doesn't make sense." Lie-flat beds and other service improvements are planned for United's transcontinental flights, which target an elite clientele, Smisek added. "We're going to significantly upgrade the interior of that fleet." http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Back to Top Caterpillars in the Cockpit Ground Airplane in Australia It's not exactly "Snakes on a Plane" but an infestation of green caterpillars in the cockpit apparently forced a small airplane to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff in Brisbane, Australia. The same larvae that eat tomato plants caused problems with equipment on the 20-seat, German-built Dornier-Werke plane. According to the Courier-Mail, the incident happened on Jan. 27, about 29 miles from the Brisbane Airport. The newspaper quotes an aviation report filed with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, as saying the green caterpillars forced the plane down. The aircraft landed without incident. An inspection found "several green caterpillars in the pressure-sensitive instruments," the newspaper reports. A spokesman for the Brisbane Airport said he couldn't remember caterpillars ever having been a problem at the airport before. Brisbane is Australia's third largest city, and together with surrounding areas of Queensland was ravaged by floods in December and January. http://news.travel.aol.com/ Back to Top Coyote on runway briefly delays Atlanta flights A coyote on a runway caused a brief round of flight delays this afternoon at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the incident to the paper, saying it occurred around 3:30 p.m. ET this afternoon. However, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the problem didn't last long. She tells the Journal-Constitution that after the coyote was spotted near the south side of the airport, "an airport vehicle chased him into a ravine" and flights resumed about five minutes later. Of course, wildlife hazards at U.S. airports are not a new concern. Just last week, USA TODAY reported that a federal watchdog group announced plans to review the FAA's program to reduce the threat to aviation from birds and other wildlife. http://travel.usatoday.com/ Back to Top Swiss A320s' simultaneous departure sparks conflict inquiry Swiss investigators have opened an inquiry after a proximity incident on the ground involving two Airbus A320s conducting take-off at Zurich. Only scant details have been disclosed about the incident by the Swiss investigation agency BFU. But it states that the event, which occurred on 15 March, centred on two Swiss International Air Lines flights bound for Moscow Domodedovo and Madrid. The BFU simply says that there was a "close encounter between two simultaneously departing aircraft on crossing runways". Zurich has three runways: the two longer ones - designated 14/32 and 16/34 - are separate, but converging, while the latter intersects with the shorter runway 10/28. The investigators have not identified the runway directions involved, although meteorological data at the time indicates winds from the north, as well as good visibility. There is no immediate information on the circumstances of the incident or the proximity of the two A320s at the time, nor detail on any mitigating actions by the crews or air traffic control. Swiss International Air Lines' schedule shows that flights LX1326 to Moscow and LX2026 to Madrid have the same scheduled departure time of 12:25. The incident occurred at 12:43, according to the BFU. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC