Flight Safety Information May 18, 2011 - No. 102 In This Issue "A Practical Approach to Safety Management Systems" - Course Airbus: Air France black boxes show no urgent safety issue Prosecutor: Unruly passenger tried to kill himself Honda's business jet soars in FAA flight tests FAA's Babbitt Offers Update On NextGen Progress FAA details American MD-83 wing-strike Blade failure behind Qantas 747 engine shutdown Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC in conjunction with Beyond Risk Management Ltd. are pleased to host "A Practical Approach to Safety Management Systems" a course designed for the aviation industry. With the ICAO recommendations and standards for the introduction of Safety Management Systems throughout the world - you can get ahead of the curve and save time and money by learning the potential pitfalls and challenges associated to its implementation. The Canadian large aircraft aviation industry has experienced many of the same challenges likely to be faced by others. To better prepare you and your organization to meet these challenges we are pleased to bring to you the Canadian experience with regulated Safety Management Systems adapted to the your needs. Dates - June 17 & 18, 2011 (Friday and Saturday), 2010 SEATS ARE LIMITED- to ensure good discussion and time to question in a workshop environment class size is intentionally intimate. Register now to avoid disappointment. Important Details - This course covers the ICAO standards, the proposed FAA Safety Management Systems requirements and the Canadian experience. The content is global in nature enabling participants from other nations and industries to find the material both useful and beneficial. For Canadian attendees this course fulfills the requirements for CASO training (non 705 operators.) Schedule Day One (Friday) 0730 - 0800 hrs. Registration & continental breakfast 0800 - 1200 hrs. Session #1 1200 - 1245 hrs. Lunch 1245 - 1700 hrs. Session#2 Day Two (Saturday) 0730 - 0800 hrs. Continental breakfast 0800 - 1200 hrs. Session #3 1200 - 1245 hrs. Lunch 1245 - 1630 hrs. Session #4 1630 - 1700 hrs. Closing remarks and Presentation of certificates Location - The hotel is the Element Dallas Fort Worth North (3550 W. IH 635 Irving, Texas 75063 United States · Phone: (972) 929-9800· Toll-Free: 1-877-353-6368. Shuttle service from airport is available. Book your overnight stay directly with the hotel early. (http://www.elementdfwnorth.com) Overview - Improve safety performance by applying the fundamentals of SMS within your organization. Get past the barriers of independent departments to an integrated system. This two-day course gives you the comprehensive understanding of SMS and the tools to assist you in preparing for change in your organization. Who should attend - Any individuals who will be actively involved in the organization's Safety Management System (safety program). Individuals with previous experience and those with no knowledge in safety management will find this course useful for the formation or expansion of safety programs within their organizations. What you get - Participants will receive a consolidated reference binder of class material as well as an electronic version of the material which will provide guidance for setting up a system within their organization. Upon successful completion of the course a certificate will be issued. Subjects that will be reviewed are: * Safety and security * What Safety Management Systems is (definitions) * Corporate culture - The push for change (a full review of the proposed FAA Safety Management Systems, current ICAO and Transport Canada and requirements) * Risk Assessment techniques * Data collection and processing * Front line involvement and committee process * Incident Reporting * Incident/Accident investigation techniques and process * Trend Analysis * Response to events and emergencies * Safety promotion * Implementing change (and the obstacles to change) * Documentation process. Logistics - Tea/coffee/juice/water will be provided in the classroom at all times, continental breakfast and lunch on both days is included. Cost - $1,195.00 US funds per person SPECIAL OFFER: When you register three people from one organization the fourth attendee is our guest! Facilitators - Captain Elaine Parker, Inspector (ret'd) Brendan Kapuscinski, Curt Lewis PE, CSP & Darwin Copsey - Seating Restricted for better workshop discussion - - Registration is limited - Register now - Register on line at: www.regonline.ca/SMSDFWJun2011 For further information or questions: email - elaine@beyondriskmgmt.com Or call: Brendan Kapuscinski 403-804-9745 Airbus: Air France black boxes show no urgent safety issue By Alan Levin Jet manufacturer Airbus has reassured operators of the A330 that preliminary evidence from the flight recorders aboard the Air France jet that crashed off Brazil two years ago does not show any immediate safety problems with the plane. The Airbus telex was sent to airlines Monday with the approval of French accident investigators. That would appear, at least tentatively, to take the focus of the investigation off the widebody jet that crashed June 1, 2009, on a flight from Rio de Janiero to Paris, killing all 228 people aboard. But Airbus and the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses , the French accident investigation agency known as the BEA, issued statements Tuesday warning not to make premature assumptions about the investigation. The BEA branded as "sensationalist" a report in the French newspaper Le Figaro that quoted government sources as saying the investigation was focusing on the pilots of Air France Flight 447. "At this stage of the investigation, no conclusions can be drawn," the BEA said in the statement. During the weekend, the BEA successfully downloaded data from the jet's two black box recorders, which had sat on the ocean floor at a depth of 12,800 feet for nearly two years until they were brought to the surface earlier this month. The data include a two-hour recording of voices and sounds in the cockpit and a detailed record of the flight. The BEA said it will release a full report on its findings from the recorders during the summer. Preliminary evidence gathered before the flight recorders were recovered indicated that the jet's speed sensors had malfunctioned and the plane had remained intact, hitting the water on its belly while falling at a high rate of speed. In several previous accidents linked to faulty speed readings, the pilots became confused and allowed their jets to get too slow to stay aloft. The actions of the pilots on the Air France jet will be one of the key things that investigators will look at, says John Cox , a former airline pilot and safety consultant. But investigators will also closely examine the weather and the Airbus jet's warning systems, among other issues, Cox says. Even though the BEA investigators may be spotting obvious issues as they digest the data from the recorders, Cox says his experience in accident investigations is that unanticipated issues often crop up as investigators probe deeper and deeper. Therefore, it's too early to read too much into the Airbus message to airlines. "Experience tells me to go carefully," he says. http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/05/Airbus-Air-France-black-boxes-show- no-urgent-safety-issue/47257180/1 Back to Top Prosecutor: Unruly passenger tried to kill himself ST. LOUIS (AP) -- An affidavit filed in federal court in St. Louis alleges that an Illinois man tried to open the door of a passenger jet to commit suicide. Thirty-four-year-old Reynel Alcaide of Burbank, Ill., faces federal charges, including interfering with a flight crew, for the incident on May 8. Alcaide was on a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Chicago when he allegedly tried to open the jet door. The flight was diverted to St. Louis. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that during a hearing on Monday, a federal prosecutor said Alcaide had tried to commit suicide before. A judge postponed a decision on setting bail and ordered a psychiatric exam. Alcaide's attorney, public defender Felicia Jones, asked that he be treated in a hospital rather than a jail. Back to Top Honda's business jet soars in FAA flight tests Honda Aircraft Co. said today that its new business jet had achieved a major milestone, attaining a maximum operating altitude of 43,000 feet in Federal Aviation Administration tests. The HondaJet also recorded a climb rate of 3,990 feet per minute. It previously clocked a top speed of 489 miles per hour. "We are very encouraged by the achievement of these important performance milestones at this early phase of the HondaJet flight test program," Michimasa Fujino, president and CEO of Honda Aircraft, said at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva. "Our flight test data indicate that the aircraft is performing as expected," he said. Honda Aircraft, based in Greensboro, N.C., has more than 100 orders for the HondaJet, priced at $4.5 million. The company expects to start building the light-weight, fuel-efficient jets next year. It already has two and plans to have a total of six FAA-conforming HondaJets as it proceeds through the certification process. http://detnews.com/article/20110517/BIZ/105170433/Honda-s-business-jet-soars-in- FAA-flight-tests#ixzz1MhjMslSV Back to Top FAA's Babbitt Offers Update On NextGen Progress FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt on Tuesday updated delegates at AAAE's Annual Conference and Exposition in Atlanta on the agency's progress in implementing its NextGen program, which will move the nation's air traffic control system from a land- based to a satellite-based system. "(NextGen) is here, and is happening now," Babbitt said. He noted that a number of GA airports already are seeing benefits of new NextGen approaches, which have opened up their facilities to added operations. Among NextGen's benefits are financial savings through less fuel burn and added operations, plus environmental benefits in terms of aircraft noise reduction and carbon dioxide emissions, he stated. Babbitt also discussed his agency's move to require Safety Management Systems (SMS) at Part 139 airports for all airfield and ramp areas. While noting that FAA's decision "raised concern in some areas," he stressed that, "It is simply the right thing to do" as the industry moves more into the digital age. "And the cost of adopting SMS is less than the cost of an accident," he added. To accomplish many of these goals, FAA needs a multi-year authorization, Babbitt said. "We need a stable, predictable source of AIP," he stated. "Reauthorization would help us to help airports to move forward with important infrastructure improvements that have been put on hold." While praising House and Senate passage of their own FAA reauthorization bills, Babbitt underscored that his agency needs funding at the level proposed by the President. "Delaying long-term infrastructure improvements is more costly in the end," he said. http://www.aviationnews.net/?do=headline&news_ID=191998 Back to Top FAA details American MD-83 wing-strike US investigators have disclosed that an American Airlines Boeing MD-83's wing struck the runway as the aircraft attempted to land at a New York state airport in gusting wind conditions. The aircraft, identified as bearing registration N966TW, had been landing at LaGuardia after a flight from Chicago O'Hare on 5 May. Weather conditions at the time showed winds from the south-west but the aircraft apparently was conducting an approach to LaGuardia's runway 22 - rather than runway 31 - which would have resulted in crosswind conditions. In an incident file the US FAA stated that the aircraft executed a missed approach but struck its left wing-tip on the runway. Wind speeds at the time were 17kt gusting to 25kt. The aircraft, arriving as flight AA366 with 98 passengers, landed without incident on the second attempt, the FAA added. Engines on the MD-83 are fitted on the rear fuselage, eliminating the need for a tall undercarriage for engine ground clearance. This means the type sits low, and needs relatively little roll to bring the wing in contact with the ground. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Blade failure behind Qantas 747 engine shutdown Australian investigators have traced the cause of last November's Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400 contained engine failure to the engine's high pressure compressor (HPC) blade, which had broken off at the root. The aircraft, registration VH-OJD, had departed Singapore for Sydney on 5 November 2010 when its number one Rolls-Royce RB211-524G engine failed while it was climbing through 2,000 ft above sea level. The aircraft returned to Singapore after the flight crew dumped fuel. Inspections of the engine showed that the powerplant's HPC stage one blade had "liberated at the blade root", said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in its final report into the incident. "The liberated blade resulted in severe damage to all stages of the HPC," it added. The blade root failure and subsequent damage to the HPC were "consistent with previous HPC stage one root failures", said the ATSB. Including the November 2010 incident, Qantas had experienced nine such blade root failures, it added. Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce had previously issued three service bulletins for the engine to address blade issues prior to the incident, said the bureau. The latest of the three service bulletins, issued in February 2009, had introduced a modified blade "with a revised geometry" which "could provide protection against root failures". "The revised geometry was designed to be more tolerant to stresses induced by blade tip rub," said the ATSB. However, this modified blade had not been incorporated into the engine that failed in the Qantas incident. Currently, about 18% of Qantas' RB211-524G engines have been modified to the latest standard, said the ATSB. In response to the incident, Qantas is continuing to modify its engines to the latest standard at engine shop visits, it added. "However, should the rate of failures increase significantly, a review of current modification policy will be undertaken," said the ATSB. The engine involved in the incident was subsequently replaced and the aircraft was returned to service. A RB211-524G engine was also involved in an engine failure on another Qantas 747 on 30 August 2010 shortly after take-off from San Francisco. In that failure, which was uncontained, ejected material punctured a hole in the engine and damaged the aircraft's leading edge flaps. The ATSB is still investigating that incident. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news