Flight Safety Information In This Issue NTSB: Poor Decisions Main Cause Of NM State Police Helo Accident DGCA Begins Probe Into Air Ambulance Crash (INDIA) Charter Jet Skids Off Runway in Arizona Cory Lidle Planemaker Cirrus Cleared by Jury Laser pointer waved at McGhee Tyson aircraft Don't bring guns to airport checkpoints, official say (SLC) DOT Inspector General Paints a Troubling Picture of FAA and Air Traffic Controllers Air France Flight 447 Said to Have Stalled After an Airspeed Sensor Failed Indonesia needs 4,000 pilots in five years TSA messes with Texas privates Pinnacle Airlines picks ex-Frontier chief as CEO NTSB: Poor Decisions Main Cause Of NM State Police Helo Accident Board Says Organizational Culture Was A Contributing Factor The NTSB said Tuesday it has determined that a New Mexico State Police (NMSP) helicopter pilot's decision to take off from a remote landing site, without conducting a thorough assessment of the weather and night time conditions, was the primary cause of a 2009 fatal accident. Contributing to the accident was an organizational culture within the New Mexico State Police that emphasized mission completion over safety, as well pilot fatigue, stress, and the pilot's self-induced pressure to complete the rescue mission. On June 9, 2009, at about 2135 MDT, an Agusta S.p.A. A-109E helicopter, N606SP, crashed in mountainous terrain near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The flight was part of a search and rescue mission and had just taken off after picking up a lost hiker. The NMSP pilot and the rescued hiker were fatally injured, and a highway patrolman, who was acting as a spotter onboard the helicopter, was seriously hurt. The aircraft was substantially damaged. "One thing we learned from this accident is that if safety is not the highest organizational priority, an organization may accomplish more missions, but there can be a high price to pay for that success," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. While the Board found no evidence of any direct pressure on the pilot by NMSP or the New Mexico Department of Public Safety to complete this particular mission, the Board noted evidence of previous management decisions that emphasized acceptance and completion of all missions, regardless of conditions. This is not consistent with a safety- focused organizational culture. The Board also identified a number of safety-related deficiencies in the NMSP's aviation policies. Some of these deficiencies included the lack of a requirement for a risk assessment at any point during a mission; inadequate staffing levels to safely provide search and rescue coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; the lack of an effective fatigue management program for pilots; and the lack of procedures and equipment to ensure effective communication between airborne and ground personnel during search and rescue missions. As a result of this accident investigation, the NTSB issued recommendations addressing pilot decision-making, flight and duty times and rest periods, staffing levels, safety management system programs and risk assessments, personnel communications, instrument flying procedures, and flight-following equipment. The recommendations were issued to the Governor of New Mexico, the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, and the National Association of State Aviation Officials. FMI: www.ntsb.gov/events/2011/Santa_Fe_NM/synopsis.htm Back to Top DGCA Begins Probe Into Air Ambulance Crash (INDIA) Aviation regulator DGCA today began an inquiry into the crash of a small medical ambulance aircraft in a residential area here that left 10 persons dead, including seven on board, by inspecting the site of the mishap. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has appointed an inspector of inquiry, who will take charge of all material evidence at the site of the mishap including the wreckage of the plane in sector 22 here. A six-member DGCA team has started inspecting the site of the crash, officials said. The inspector of inquiry will hand over the material evidence to the Court of Inquiry when it will be set up. In Chandigarh, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda expressed shock over the death of 10 persons in the crash and announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the next of kin of the three deceased persons hailing from Faridabad. He also announced a financial assistance of Rs. 20,000 to each of the three injured. Besides the compensation, government job will also be given to one member of the family of Sobhraj Sehrawat whose house suffered damage in the crash, Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar said. "There should be a proper inquiry into the incident.I would not blame anybody for the incident. It is bad luck," Faridabad MP Avtar Singh Badhana told reporters In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister said that the damage caused to the house due to the plane crash would be assessed and duly compensated. A senior DGCA official had said last night that the plane was in contact with the Air Traffic Control and on the radar before suddenly vanishing and losing touch. Three persons on the ground - all women - were among the 10 dead when the P-12 single-engine turboprop aircraft belonging to Delhi-based Air Chartered Services India Limited crashed in Jawaharnagar locality near the IAF station in the Delhi suburb at around 10.35 pm shortly before landing at IGI airport in Delhi. Mangled remains of the aircraft, oxygen cylinders, icebox, and other medical articles were strewn at the site of the mishap which has been cordoned off and security personnel deployed. The incident was a nightmare of sorts for the residents of the densely populated Parvatiya Colony as they came out of their houses after hearing the massive explosion. "I rushed to the building, it was on fire. There were some people on the stairs who were engulfed in flames. I tried to find my way to the first floor but the flames were too strong," Omkar (30), one of the injured, said. "It was very scary. I heard a loud explosion and rushed outside. I saw flames all over. I immediately called my friends and nearby people to douse the fire," said Rohan, a resident of the colony. Police said fire tenders and rescue teams had difficulty in reaching the spot due to the crowd assembled at the spot. Rescue operations were being carried out for two hours. "We faced lot of difficulty in rescuing people as there was a power cut in the area," said Sitaram, an eyewitness. Lata Devi, another eyewitness said, "We were about to sleep when we heard a huge sound. It was a huge explosion. For a minute I could not understand what had happened, but later realized that something big has fallen on the house." The deceased women have been identified as Sharla, Rani and Sarita while those injured are Harvinder (30), Satish (18) and Omkar (30). http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?723154 ********** Date: 25-MAY-2011 Time: 2250 Type: Pilatus PC-12/45 Operator: Air Charter Services Pvt. Ltd Registration: VT-ACF C/n / msn: 632 Fatalities: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 Other fatalities: 3 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Faridabad - India Phase: En route Nature: Ambulance Departure airport: Patna Airport - VEPT Destination airport: Indira Gandhi International Airport - VIDP Narrative: The plane crashed into the roof of a house in Faridabad's Parvatiya Colony. The PC-12 was carrying a 20-year-old patient from a hospital in Patna to the Apollo Hospital in Delhi. Apart from the patient, two doctors, two attendants, the pilot and the co-pilot were on board the single-engined aircraft. Also at least three persons in the house were killed. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Charter Jet Skids Off Runway in Arizona (WSJ) A small business jet skidded off the runway while landing in Sedona, Ariz., Wednesday afternoon but the five people aboard walked away from the accident uninjured, according to the plane's operator. The Brazilian-built Embraer Phenom 100 jet was completing a flight from San Jose, Calif., to the Arizona resort town when it overran the runway around 4 p.m. local time. Sedona's airport sits on a picturesque desert mesa above the town at an elevation of 4,800 feet above sea level. The airport's lone runway is 5,100 feet long. Weather at the time of the afternoon incident was reportedly clear skies, with light winds from the southwest and a temperature of about 80 degrees, according to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking website. The jet carried a crew of two and three passengers, according to a statement from JetSuite Air, the Long Beach, Calif., firm that operated the flight. JetSuite has in recent months expanded its fleet of small Phenom jets using a business model that charges flat rates for travel between cities, allowing it to offer charter jet travel at significantly lower prices than other business aircraft operators. The company is run by a former top JetBlue Airways Corp. executive and counts a number of former JetBlue pilots and mechanics among its ranks. The company has been in an expansion mode since last fall and Wednesday's event was its first serious safety-related incident. "JetSuite's priority is the safety of its passengers and crew," Alex Wilcox, JetSuite's chief executive, said in the statement. "A full investigation is underway, and the [National Transportation Safety Board] and [Federal Aviation Administration] have been notified of the incident." Back to Top Cory Lidle Planemaker Cirrus Cleared by Jury in Crash That Killed Yankee (BLOOMBERG) Cirrus Design Corp. won a jury verdict clearing the company of liability in the death of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who was killed when his plane slammed into a Manhattan building in 2006. The jury of four men and two women returned the verdict today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan following a four-week trial, Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus Design said in a statement. The jurors began deliberations this morning over wrongful-death claims filed by the widows of Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, who were flying Lidle's single-engine SR20 plane, made by Cirrus Design. "Our hearts are with the Lidle and Stanger families who are still grieving," Bill King, vice president of business administration for Cirrus Design, said in the statement. "We're gratified that the jury reached a decision that confirmed what the National Transportation Safety Board found and what we have always believed: the SR20 did not cause this accident." The women said in their February 2007 complaint that the flight-control system failed because of a design defect, causing Lidle and Stanger to lose control of the aircraft. Cirrus, which in February agreed to be acquired by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., said the pilots started a turn too close to the eastern shore of Manhattan at too low an angle, leaving them too little room to finish the maneuver. Appeal Planned Hunter Shkolnik, an attorney representing the widows, plans to appeal the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Shkolnik said he had asked the jury to award damages of about $43.5 million -- $40 million to Lidle's family and $3.5 million to Stanger's relatives. "My clients are devastated," Shkolnik said in a telephone interview. "We think we have some very good grounds." Shkolnik said he expected the verdict because U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones didn't allow the jury to hear that the company changed its manufacturing processes after the accident. The judge also refused to allow the testimony of a flight instructor who almost crashed in the same model less than a year earlier because of an issue with the flight controls, Shkolnik said. Lidle started his Major League Baseball career with the New York Mets in 1997 and played for five other teams before joining the Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade in July 2006. He had a career record of 82 wins and 72 losses. Hudson Flight The crash came four days after the Yankees were eliminated from the American League playoffs. Lidle and Stanger were planning to fly from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to California after flying down the Hudson River, around the Statue of Liberty and up the East River. About a mile north of the Queensboro Bridge, the plane began a 180-degree turn and crashed into the 50-story Belaire, a red-brick luxury condominium tower built in 1988, killing Lidle and Stanger and injuring three people in the building. The four-seat SR20, the first production aircraft fitted with a parachute as standard equipment, smashed into the building 332 feet (101 meters) above the street and plunged in flames. The Federal Aviation Administration restricted flights over New York's East River two days after the crash, requiring pilots of small planes to get air-traffic controllers' permission to enter the corridor. A National Transportation Safety Board report issued in May 2007 found that poor piloting caused the crash. A sudden, 300- foot loss of altitude could have been caused by a loss of lift, known as an aerodynamic stall, from the steepness of the turn, or because the pilot lowered the plane's nose to pick up speed in an attempt to avoid stalling, investigators said. The case is Lidle v. Cirrus Design Corp., 1:08-cv-01253, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Back to Top Laser pointer waved at McGhee Tyson aircraft Knoxville Police were left without a culprit Tuesday night after someone apparently waved a laser pointer at an aircraft flying into McGhee Tyson Airport. In fact, Knoxville Police Department Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk said there is no state law that addresses the situation. "There's no state law concerning doing something of that nature to a plane," DeBusk said. "There's a state law that covers incidents like that when it deals with emergency services ... but there's no state law when it comes to an airplane." While some states have crafted their bills to envelop private or commercial aircraft and even other people on the street, the Tennessee legislature only covers emergency vehicles and aircraft. As for Tuesday's incident, a KPD officer was already in the area, DeBusk said, which occurred near Island Home Airport close to downtown Knoxville. "We got a call last night from someone working at the airport that was reporting the incident as called in by the pilot of the plane," he said. But when the officer investigated, they couldn't locate the source of the green laser pointer. The incident comes just two months after the Associated Press reported the arrest of two teens near the Nashville International Airport after allegedly shining a laser pointer at four different aircraft, one of which included a Vanderbilt University Medical Center helicopter. A 2001 study linked to the FAA's website found 150-plus laser illumination incidents involving low-flying aircraft in the Western Pacific region from 1996 to 1999. The study also suggested helicopters are more vulnerable to laser pointer dangers due to relatively slow movement and low-altitude flight as compared to other aircraft. http://www.thedailytimes.com/ Back to Top Don't bring guns to airport checkpoints, official say (SLC) Don't bring your loaded gun to the airport, say officials from the Salt Lake City International Airport. Seven arrests involving firearms have been logged since January. And last year officials reported 20 firearm arrests and 35 arrests for possession of other weapons. "This is an alarming pattern," Airport Police Chief Steve Marlovits said in a news release Wednesday. "It has become a common event. The traveling public needs to focus on the fact that guns and weapons are not permitted beyond the security screening checkpoints." In many of the cases, the guns brought into the airport were loaded. Last year a skycap was accidently shot and wounded when a loaded gun fell out of a bag in front of a terminal, Marlovits said. Travelers may only transport unloaded firearms, ammunition and other weapons in checked bags and must declare the gun during check in. Bringing a weapon to a checkpoint can mean criminal charges and civil penalties of up to $10,000, even if the person has a permit. For more information on firearm and ammunition rules go to www.tsa.gov. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/51882955-78/airport-guns-weapons-arrests.html.csp Back to Top DOT Inspector General Paints a Troubling Picture of FAA and Air Traffic Controllers ABC News' Lisa Stark reports: At a hearing on Capitol Hill today, the Department of Transportation's Inspector General Calvin Scovel III testified about recent problems with air traffic controllers -- everything from controllers falling asleep on the job to making operational errors that caused planes to fly too close to each other. Scovel told the Senate subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security that there are four areas that are particularly challenging for the FAA: identifying and addressing the cause of operational errors, mitigating fatigue, adequately staffing air traffic control facilities and training new controllers. Scovel also said that FAA statistics show a recent significant increase in operational errors but the cause of this increase remains unclear. "Until FAA takes action to develop comprehensive data... conduct astute trend analyses, and develop timely action plans to address controller workforce risks and vulnerabilities, FAA cannot ensure it has a sufficient number of alert, competent, and certified controllers needed to effectively manage the challenges of the next generation of air traffic control," Scovel said. According to FAA data, the number of operational errors by controllers increased by 53 percent -- from 1,234 to 1,887 between fiscal year 2009 and 2010. The FAA says it believes the increase is due to a new reporting system that allows controllers to report operational errors without fear of reprisal. The inspector general indicated that FAA has not yet fully put in place recommendations to identify the causes of controller fatigue or solutions to mitigate the risk. "Let's be clear on one thing here and now: it's unacceptable for a controller to fall asleep on the job. If they do, they should be removed immediately. That part is non- negotiable," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said at the hearing. "Someone 5,000 feet in the air should never wonder if the controller on the ground has nodded off." The FAA is working to hire and train nearly 11,000 new controllers. The inspector general found that the process does not adequately consider new controllers' knowledge, skills and ability when assigning them to facilities, and that critical facilities have a high percentage of controllers in training. "I have communicated that, even though we do the right thing over 99.9 percent of the time, we have to do better," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said today. "We cannot have the flying public believe, even for an instant, that they cannot trust the men and women who are responsible for getting them to their destination safely. So I am asking the workforce to rededicate ourselves to the concept of professionalism." Currently, new controllers comprise up to 25 percent of the ATC workforce compared to 15 percent in 2004. However, this percentage can vary extensively by location. For example, Seattle TRACON has 46 percent of its controller workforce in training, while St. Louis TRACON has no controllers in training. http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/05/dot-inspector-general-paints-a-troubling- picture-of-faa-and-air-traffic-controllers.html Back to Top Air France Flight 447 Said to Have Stalled After an Airspeed Sensor Failed (BLOOMBERG) Crash investigators say they are making progress after maritime search and salvage experts recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders this month from a depth of 3,900 meters (12,800 feet). Source: BEA via Bloomberg Air France Flight 447's flight recordings show the aircraft slowed to a stall after its airspeed sensors failed while the two co-pilots were at the controls, two people with knowledge of the investigation said. The chief pilot, Captain Marc Dubois, was not in the cockpit when the Airbus A330's sensors malfunctioned, causing the autopilot to disengage over the Atlantic Ocean, said the people, who declined to be identified because the investigation is still confidential. A low-speed stall occurs when an aircraft slows to the point where its wings suddenly lose lift, an incident pilots are trained to overcome. Flight 447's last automated transmissions logged faulty readings from airspeed sensors that caused the autopilot to shut down in bad weather, minutes before the June 1, 2009, accident in which all 228 passengers and crew perished. "To get out of a stall, you stick the nose down and wait for gravity to speed up the aircraft," said David Learmount, a former U.K. Royal Air Force pilot and safety editor at Flight International. Pulling out can be straightforward, "providing you realize you're in one," he said. Making Progress Air France spokesman Jean-Charles Trehan said the company had no comment on the investigation's early findings. France's BEA air-accident investigation bureau, which also declined to comment, said it plans to issue a factual statement May 27 on its preliminary findings. Nelson Marinho, who represents families of the Brazilian crash victims, said the group would wait for more information before commenting on the plane's apparent stall. "We're rather concerned about this rush to blame the pilots," Marinho said in an interview. "They are dead and cannot defend themselves." Investigators say they are making progress after maritime search and salvage experts retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders this month from a depth of 3,900 meters (12,800 feet). Dubois was among the victims recovered from the sea surface in the weeks after the crash. Pitot Tubes The failure of the Thales SA (HO) airspeed sensors, or Pitot tubes, occurred while the plane was cruising at about 35,000 feet, four hours after takeoff from Rio de Janeiro. At that stage in the Paris-bound flight, it is routine practice for the captain to take a rest break and leave the co-pilots at the controls, Air France has said. The Airbus A330 has a small sleeping compartment where pilots can recline on long- haul flights. "All members of the flight crew have the same technical skills and qualifications," France's SNPL pilot union said in a statement. It criticized what it described as "deliberately selective reports that cast suspicion on the crew." Airbus declined to comment beyond a BEA-approved May 16 telex, in which the company told airlines that preliminary black-box analysis yielded no additional recommendations. Two months after the crash, Airbus advised A330 and A340 operators to replace the Thales sensors with a model from Goodrich Corp. (GR) A stall is typically preceded by shaking and vibrating of the aircraft, and modern jets are equipped with a steering-stick shaker and audio warning to alert the pilot. Stall recovery requires pilots to coordinate the aircraft's angle and power to the engines to avoid aggravating the situation. According to a report by Der Spiegel Online, which could not be verified, the black boxes reveal that the Air France plane climbed sharply after the speed-sensor failure and Captain Dubois returned to the cockpit before the crash. The BEA has said its May 27 statement will not identify any of the accident's causes. An interim report is due in mid-July. Back to Top Indonesia needs 4,000 pilots in five years The government estimates that Indonesia needs 4,000 pilots from 2011 to 2015 but local schools can only supply 1,600 pilots. "The country schools can only produce around 320 pilots a year [or 1,600 in five years]," Bobby R Mamahit, head of human resources development at the Transportation Ministry, said as quoted by kontan.co.id on Wednesday. "We need more pilots to meet the demand." He said the demand for pilot rose as Law No 1/2009 on Flight obliged that each airline has to operate a minimum of 10 airplanes as of Jan. 12, 2012. Bobby added that the government would establish new pilot schools in Palembang and Surabaya. From 2011 to 2015, Indonesia also needed 7,500 airplane technicians and 1,000 air traffic controllers. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/26/ri-needs-4000-pilots-five-years.html Back to Top TSA messes with Texas privates DOJ threatens to ground planes over anti-groping bill The Texas legislature needs to grow a backbone. A state that prides itself on its independence and the slogan "Don't mess with Texas" ought not to be easily cowed as the upper chamber was Wednesday. When the time came for a vote to hold the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) accountable for its despicable airport- screening practices, it only took a scary letter from a Department of Justice bureaucrat to convince enough senators to hoist the white flag. On May 13, the state House of Representatives had unanimously approved legislation applying sexual-harassment statutes to TSA agents who conducted intimate searches absent probable cause and without the backing of a specific federal law authorizing the procedure. Because the rogue federal agency has neither, Obama administration officials resorted this week to intimidation to thwart the bill as it came up in the state Senate. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy dispatched a letter to Texas Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst threatening to ground flights in the Lone Star State. "If HR 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute," Mr. Murphy wrote. "Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers or crew." The bill's primary sponsor, state Rep. David Simpson, a Republican, says that's a bluff. "I don't think it's realistic at all," he told The Washington Times. "I think it's political cover." Cutting off Texas would throw the entire air-transport system into chaos. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is the third busiest in the world and the primary hub for American Airlines. Last year, the airport handled nearly 1,800 flights per day. Houston's three main airports served 135,000 passengers per day. Every domestic airline would be in court to challenge any move to cut off Texas just because TSA's feelings were hurt. This is the heart of the issue: Unelected bureaucrats demand carte blanche to mistreat the public in any way they choose. They don't allow their judgment to be questioned. Mr. Simpson noted that the DOJ letter was dropped at the very last moment in the legislative process after all the votes had been lined up for final passage. "Why didn't they come to my office over the last four months?" Mr. Simpson asked. "It's pretty frustrating." At this point, with the clock running out on the Texas legislative session, extraordinary measures would be needed for the TSA bill to become law. Those steps ought to be taken to deliver a message to TSA and the Justice Department that they work for us, not the other way around. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/25/diamond-tsa-messes-texas- privates/ Back to Top Pinnacle Airlines picks ex-Frontier chief as CEO MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Feeder airline operator Pinnacle Airlines Corp. named Sean Menke, the former CEO of Frontier Airlines, as president and CEO on Wednesday. Menke will replace retiring Pinnacle CEO Philip Trenary, who said in March that he would step down to pursue other interests. Menke was named CEO of Denver-based Frontier Airlines in 2007, and ran it until it was bought by Republic Airways Holdings Inc. in 2009. He stayed briefly as an executive with Republic before announcing in January 2010 that he would leave. He had also worked as an executive at Air Canada. Pinnacle said Menke, 42, would start his new job on July 1. He will also become a member of the company's board. Pinnacle Chairman Donald J. Breeding called Menke "a proven leader who has produced positive results everywhere he has worked." Memphis-based Pinnacle has about 7,800 employees and operates flights under contract for United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., and US Airways Group Inc. On Wednesday its shares fell 3 cents to close at $4.82. http://www.cnbc.com/id/43174936 Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC