Flight Safety Information June 3, 2011 - No. 113 In This Issue Air France Flight 447: A Deadly Crash with Lessons Pilot licences issued abroad in for stricter scrutiny: DGCA (INDIA) Delta Jet Makes Emergency Landing in Atlanta Airlines Granted More Time on Defective Seats Crunch time for V Australia as 777 seats face mandatory removal FAA Revises Schedule For Safety Systems Implementation Continuing Investigation Into Qantas A380 Engine Failure SpiceJet sacks two pilots for fudging flying hours (INDIA) World's largest flying airship to visit Wisconsin Pinnacle Airlines Financial Chief Leaves For Virgin America GE-Powered 787 ETOPS Tests To Start In July American Airlines plane makes emergency landing in Oklahoma City Air France Flight 447: A Deadly Crash with Lessons By Peter Greenberg The crash of Air France Flight 447 stumped investigators for more than two years and even now there are some unanswered questions. What lessons can the aviation industry take from this tragedy to ensure the safety of long-distance travelers? I've been investigating air safety and covering airline accidents for more than 30 years, and in almost all cases, the mysteries of why planes crash is usually solved. Sometimes investigators know the probable cause almost immediately. Sometimes it takes months. But in the case of Air France Flight 447, the probable cause finding has already taken more than two years. This much is known about Air France Flight 447, which crashed on a routine overnight flight between Brazil and Paris on May 31, 2009: The plane was flying at 35,000 feet when it encountered turbulence. The crew disengaged the autopilot and tried to fly above and around the storm. But the speed sensors apparently were frozen, and had been giving the pilots indications they were flying much faster than they were. So when the autopilot disengaged and the pilots attempted to gain altitude, they essentially put the Airbus 330 into a high-speed stall. Worse, almost all their instruments started to malfunction. The nose of the lane pushed up more than 10 degrees (and at one point hit 16 degrees). Airspeed plummeted, and the plane literally dropped out of the sky and into the ocean below. All 228 people aboard perished. At one point the jet was dropping at the rate of 10,000 feet per minute. And in about 3 minutes and 30 seconds it impacted the water. Air France has already been charged with manslaughter in a French court, the allegations being that the speed sensors were defective and that the airline knew about it and had not fixed them. But as in any plane disaster, no one reason is usually responsible. It's two or more causes, which, in concert, create a situation that cannot be overcome. And such is the case with AF 447. This much we know: The equipment was defective. The pilots were confused and eventually disoriented. They pulled the nose up when they should have pushed it down. The Continuing Mystery Then there is the unexplained location and condition of the tail of the aircraft. It was one of the only large pieces of the plane initially found intact - dozens of miles from the impact location. A number of veteran investigators are suggesting that the tail itself may have been part of the probable cause. It may eventually get down to the resilience and the performance parameters of the non-metallic materials used in the construction of the Airbus, which includes the tail. Composite materials are the new darlings of airplane manufacturers. On the plus side, they weigh less and they don't corrode. On the minus side, composite materials are brittle and can easily snap. That is why those same investigators contend that if the tail had stayed attached to the plane at the point of impact, it would have fractured into hundreds of pieces. But the tail was found intact, floating on the surface of the ocean. The unanswered question: Did turbulence contribute to the tail of the plane literally breaking off? Lessons for the Airline Industry As in all airplane disasters there is much to learn for future flights, and for those lessons to be applied by manufacturers, airlines and air crews. One of the growing problems of state-of-the-art aircraft - of which the Airbus 330 is certainly one - is that when technology supplants much needed flying experience, or it allows flight crews to leapfrog the basics. It's been said that current day pilots don't fly planes as much as they simple monitor systems. When those systems work, when the planets are all aligned, this is fine. But when the systems fail, it's up to the pilots to truly fly the aircraft. and that's when years of experience makes the difference. Needless to say, the investigation into the probable cause of Fight 447 is continuing. The speed sensors have since been fixed. Was it just one flight system, or one plane? Or is the problem more widespread? Now the hard work is at hand to find more information so that the real mystery of Flight 447 can be solved. Stay tuned. http://www.bnet.com/blog/travel-detective/air-france-flight-447-a-deadly-crash-with-lessons/789 Back to Top Pilot licences issued abroad in for stricter scrutiny: DGCA (INDIA) New Delhi - Pilots with licences issued abroad may soon find it tougher to convert it to an Indian licence. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) proposes stricter norms, including a skill test on domestic aircraft and a verification of the licence from the original country where it has been issued from. To be notified in a few days, these norms have been mooted because of the recent discovery of pilots with forged licences. Airlines affected include IndiGo, MDLR and Air India. "The fake licence issue was one of the things that prompted us, but we were looking to make changes anyway and put some safeguards. Earlier, a pilot had to only take two tests to convert a foreign licence into domestic one, but now the procedure will be far more rigorous. The rules should be finalised in a day or two," said Mr E. K. Bharat Bhushan, Director-General, DGCA. The airline watchdog had been prompted to review its licensing policy after almost 16 cases of pilots flying with illegal licences was found across a few domestic airlines. About 8,000 licences have since been reviewed, while 7-8 pilots and few DGCA officials have been arrested. "As a shorter route to get a licence, some pilots obtain licences from countries such as the Philippines where the procedure is much cheaper, simpler and takes a shorter time. In India, training takes longer," said Mr Bhushan. Another significant proposal is that pilots looking to get a higher qualification for flying more complex aircraft will now have to take an additional skill tests. Also, pilots who want to pursue flying training abroad and looking for endorsement for small aircraft will have to clear a technical exam. Vigilance Officer Mr Bhushan said that a Central Vigilance Officer at the Joint Secretary level has been posted at the DGCA to check on allegations/cases of favouritism and nepotism by its officials. However, he did not mention when the vigilance report would be made public. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article2071637.ece?homepage=true Back to Top Delta Jet Makes Emergency Landing in Atlanta ATLANTA, Ga. - A Delta Airlines flight headed to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Thursday afternoon reported a problem with one of its engines. The jet made a safe emergency landing in Atlanta just before 6 p.m. FOX 5 has learned that the pilot reported an emergency around 5:30 p.m. The flight was headed to Atlanta from Las Vegas, and the Boeing 767 made a safe emergency landing in Atlanta around 5:53 p.m. No injuries were reported. There was no immediate word on what caused the engine trouble. Smoke was seen billowing from the front of the jet as it set on the runway in Atlanta. http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/delta-plane-emergency-landing-atlanta-20110602-es Back to Top Airlines Granted More Time on Defective Seats . By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) U.S. aviation regulators, moving to reduce industry costs for replacing potentially thousands of defective airline seats, issued a final rule giving airlines significantly greater flexibility and more time to comply than under previous proposals. Released Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration's safety directive requires additional testing to determine whether some 40,000 seats manufactured by Japan's Koito Industries Ltd., and installed on more than 270 U.S. commercial aircraft, comply with mandatory safety standards. In some cases, the FAA rule also gives carriers up to six years to replace seats that fail to pass, versus a strict two-year deadline the agency proposed last fall. The Continental Airlines unit of United Continental Holdings Inc. is the U.S. carrier most affected by the rule, industry officials said. The latest move came just before European regulators, according to industry officials, are slated to issue separate, more-stringent rules requiring airlines to essentially replace all Koito-manufactured seats within 10 years-regardless of whether they pass certain mandatory safety tests. The European Aviation Safety Agency, which previously said that "all data" generated by the company's design and manufacturing operations "must be treated as suspect," could release its version as soon as Thursday. Taken together, industry officials said the actions amount to a major step toward ending the global industry turmoil caused by Koito's 2009 admissions that it had falsified test data for flammability and strength affecting some 150,000 seats used by more than 30 carriers world-wide. In the event of a fire, severe turbulence or stresses from an emergency landing, regulators are concerned that some of the suspect seats may fail to adequately protect passengers. Since the seats were approved "under false pretenses," the FAA rule concludes, additional tests and replacements are necessary "to restore the affected fleet to an acceptable level of safety." Neither FAA officials nor industry experts have provided detailed estimates of how many seats eventually may need to be swapped out. But with seats costing anywhere from $3,000 to $150,000 apiece- depending on their size and complexity-the industry has been worried about confronting a potential multibillion dollar price tag. After initially maintaining that no safety directives were appropriate, Koito recently has adopted more of a conciliatory approach. Kenneth Quinn, a partner at the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP law firm in Washington who represents the company, said: "We're glad to be turning the page on this unfortunate chapter and working closely with the FAA and EASA to implement responsible regulatory steps." A spokeswoman for United Continental Holdings said "we continue to work with the FAA on this issue, and will fully comply with the new rule requirements." Since the manufacturing defects became public, Koito has apologized and worked extensively with manufacturers, airlines and regulators deal with the fallout. After Japanese authorities began investigating the matter in early 2009, Koito said it used a computer program that produced false readings on strength tests. Koito also said it skipped some safety tests entirely and used results from previous tests. In late 2009 and again in 2010, Koito officials disclosed additional discrepancies that prompted regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to step up their investigations. In issuing its rule, the FAA said it wouldn't urge EASA to ease portions of rules targeting European carriers. But the U.S. rule does provide American carriers more leeway in using Koito spare parts and replacing entire Koito seats that have malfunctioned. Back to Top Crunch time for V Australia as 777 seats face mandatory removal Koito economy seats on V Australia's 777-300ER VH-VOZ. These Koito seats and others worldwide face removal for possibly being unsafe. V Australia this morning joins 42 airlines around the world considering their next steps after the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive overnight for airlines to determine if their passenger seats meet safety specifications and, if not, to bring them up to standard or replace them within 2-6 years. The AD only applies to carriers with certain seats manufactured by Japanese supplier Koito, who supplied the economy class seats on V Australia's first four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The carrier elected to have Recaro supply economy seats for its fifth 777-300ER, VH-VPH, after it emerged Koito falsified test data. The carrier's narrow-body and Airbus A330 fleets are unaffected. With the FAA estimating the cost of an economy class seat to be approximately US$2,300, V Australia is potentially looking at a bill of $2.6m to replace the 288 Koito economy seats on each its four 777- 300ER if it is not able to, or elects not to, replace affected parts. The actual cost could be higher once installation time, aircraft lost revenue time, and IFE changes are considered, and worldwide could amount to half a billion dollars. "V Australia believes this will cause significant issues for operators as no replacement seats are available to fill the gap. In addition, significant reworks are required to cater for IFE systems and airline booking systems due to the removed seats," Virgin Blue general manager for engineering Michael Hockin told the FAA last November in response to its proposed rule making, which has differed little to today's AD. "In the event the seats need to be replaced, airlines will have less than two years to retrofit aircraft with different seats. Seat acquisition programs commonly takes at least 18-21 months, and therefore, V Australia feels the two years will not be achievable," Hockin said. A retrofit would also require notable ground time for V Australia's small and tighly-schedueled 777 fleet. The FAA said V Australia, and Cathay Pacific, requested the two-year compliance time be extended to four years while Boeing and other airlines requested extensions of other lengths. The AD's timeframe for replacement depends what regulatory and safety requirements the seats do or do not meet. While the FAA says its proposed rule making may have been misinterpreted, it will require seats removed within two years only "in the event that the seat model is not capable of withstanding the minimum static forward and side loads". The two years starts from the AD's effective date, which is 60 days after the AD is formally published in the federal register. After V Australia had Recaro economy seats installed, a spokesman said the carrier was not pursuing damage payments from Koito and nor was it planning to retrofit its fleet, but noted: "We will always air on the side of caution where safety is concerned and we will comply with any directives necessary to confirm the relevant economy seats in our aircraft are fully compliant with all required certification standards." To recap, in early 2009 a whistleblower notified Japan's safety regulator, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, that there were discrepancies between the materials Koito tested for flammability and the materials used in production models. Later that year Koito admitted it had falsified static, dynamic, and flammability testing on delivered seats. These tests are critical and legally required to ensure seats and withstand high force impacts and fires, and protect their occupants from the same events. "Failure of the seat in combination with an emergency landing is considered catastrophic," the FAA says. The AD requires airlines, or an aircraft manufacturer acting on their behalf, to fully test in-service seats to ensure they meet requirements. The FAA notes airlines may be unable to cooperate with each other as each airline's fabric covering may be unique and require its own testing. The industry is divided on the FAA's strict, zero-tolerance if you like, approach to the AD. Parties made requests including for the proposed rule be removed (no); the FAA and its European counterpart, EASA, to harmonize their guidelines (no, EASA has a 10-year limiting requirement); certain seat models to be excluded (no); and Koito primary evidence computer data considered (no). Airbus, Boeing, and multiple airlines including V Australia asked for more comment time so new data from Koito and the JCAB could be evaluated. The JACB says the data showed that new seats of an unspecified vintage manufactured in accordance with Koito's (certified) production drawings displayed after a tear-down inspection no significant differences that could impact testing. The FAA agreed new-build seats could stand in for in-service seats for the static test but not the dynamic test. Having to remove in-service seats for testing will create "holes" in cabins, a problem Boeing raised as removing a row means tray tables and other amenities are mis-aligned, and in the case of IFE systems and overhead lights, could throw the entire cabin off-kilter due to the systems being daisy- chained. Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Qantas, and Tiger Airways do not use Koito seats, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database. But other regional airlines, including ANA, Cathay Pacific, China Southern, EVA Air, JAL, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways do. You can view the complete list of affected airlines and aircraft here. http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/wings-down-under/2011/06/crunch-time-for-v-australia-as-777-seats-face-mandatory-removal.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Back to Top FAA Revises Schedule For Safety Systems Implementation The FAA has been forced by budget limitations to revise implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS) procedures, as they apply to agency personnel. The revision, issued June 1, will enable FAA personnel assigned to review proposed airport projects to apply SMS procedures and documentation requirements to projects at the nation's 29 large airport hubs. The original SMS order of last August, which defined procedures for FAA personnel to follow, had envisioned application to all hubs-36 medium-size airports and 72 small hubs-by June 1. FAA personnel will follow formal SMS procedures, including the additional documentation, and will conduct demanding risk analyses required by SMS when reviewing large-hub projects that need FAA approval. The agency was forced to reduce the implementation schedule because it is operating at the 2010 funding level and is unable to undertake the planned workload without additional financial and staffing resources, says James White, deputy director, airport safety and standards. Separately, the FAA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend Part 139 and require airports to develop Safety Management Systems for their application on all projects and operations. The deadline for comments on that proposal is July 5. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aviationdaily&id=news/avd/2011/06/03/09.xml&headline=FAA%20Revises%20Schedule%20For%20Safety%20Systems%20Implementatio n Back to Top Continuing Investigation Into Qantas A380 Engine Failure Manufacturing quality assurance being reviewed in the Qantas Trent 900 failure In investigating the Nov. 4, 2010, inflight uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 on a Qantas Airbus A380, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) isn't just trying to determine the cause of the incident. It also is looking at "missed opportunities" to have detected a manufacturing flaw that set in motion the events that led to failure. The ATSB confirms in a May 18 interim factual report that an oil feed pipe on the incident engine that was not manufactured to specifications initiated the sequence of events that led to the uncontained failure over Indonesia shortly after flight QF32 took off from Singapore bound for Sydney. The aircraft made an emergency landing in Singapore; no one was injured. In December, the ATSB indicated suspected fatigue cracking occurred on the QF32 Trent 900 oil feed pipe as marked at left. In a May 18 report, the ATSB says further examination indicates it occurred more to the right, between about 1 o'clock and 4 o'clock, if viewed as a clock face. According to the ATSB's latest report, the engine's intermediate pressure (IP) turbine disk failed due to an overspeed condition, "liberating sections" of the disk that then blew through the engine case and penetrated the wing structure. "The disk failure was initiated by a manufacturing defect in an oil feed pipe that resulted in a wall thickness reduction in an area that is machined to receive a coarse filter," the report says. During engine operations, a fatigue crack developed in that section of the oil feed pipe that led to an internal engine oil fire that weakened the IP turbine disk. At the time of the incident, there were three oil feed pipe modification standards in the IP turbine module case, known as module 51, on the Trent 900. From October 2005 to January 2011, 206 oil feed pipe modules were manufactured to those three standards. There were no measurement records available for the feed pipes manufactured to the earliest standard, meaning that Rolls was "unable to establish whether those oil feed pipes had been manufactured to specifications," according to the ATSB. In addition, measurement records were unavailable for a number of modules manufactured to a second standard, although the ATSB did not say how many. On-wing measurement determined that seven of those modules had feed pipes with wall thicknesses of less than the acceptable limit, and another three engines were removed from service after an evaluation of their manufacturing measurement records, the ATSB says. Measurement records were available for all of the modules manufactured to the third and latest standard, and one oil feed pipe wall thickness was found to be less than the minimum acceptable limit on one of these modules. All together, 53 of the 206 engines, including the failed engine and all of the others manufactured to the first standard, were removed from service because of the oil feed pipe issue. "The ATSB, in conjunction with the U.K. AAIB [Air Accident Investigations Branch] and Rolls-Royce, is examining the circumstances and missed opportunities with the potential to have detected the reduced wall thickness and offset counter bore of the oil feed pipe prior to, during and after the manufacture of the module 51 assemblies," the ATSB says. The bureau also is reviewing quality audits and the quality assurance system related to the module 51 design and manufacturing process. http://www.aviationweek.com Back to Top SpiceJet sacks two pilots for fudging flying hours (INDIA) New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) - After the sacking of four pilots of Air India, IndiGo and MDLR, two cockpit crew of SpiceJet have lost their job for fudging the flying hours to obtain commercial pilot license. The low-cost carrier terminated the services of Captain Anuj Kumar and First Officer Amit Mundra on Friday after their names appeared in the investigations into the fake flying license issue. Following investigations, the no-frill carrier has terminated the services of the two pilots with immediate effect, a SpiceJet spokesperson said. "The pilots have been accused of misrepresenting their flying hours in order to obtain their licence from the regulator, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," the spokesperson said, adding that the airline would always comply with all rules and regulations governing the aviation sector and was committed to provide safe and secure travel. The fake pilot licence issue has assumed a worrying proportion after Parminder Kaur Gulati - a commander with IndiGo was found faking her marksheet to obtain Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL), which allows a pilot to become the commander of an aircraft. Gulati was arrested by police after the DGCA filed a complaint against her, but was later released on bail. The aviation regulator DGCA found four pilots -- two of IndiGo (including Gulati) and one each of Air India and MDLR -- guilty of faking their marksheet to get an ATPL. Later, Captain J K Verma of Air India was also suspended and arrested following investigations into a complaint filed by the DGCA for forging marksheet to get licence. In the backdrop of Verma's arrest, Air India had set up a three-member committee to scrutinise documents of qualifications of pilots. IndiGo's Meenakshi Sehgal and Swaran Singh Talwar of MDLR have not yet been arrested. Following this, the DGCA has launched a probe on 4,000 ATPL holders. Some more cases are learnt to have come to light and detailed investigations are going on. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/147094/spicejet-sacks-two-pilots-fudging.html Back to Top World's largest flying airship to visit Wisconsin (AP) The largest flying airship in the world is coming to Wisconsin. The Zeppelin NT is 246 feet long, which is 15 feet longer than a standard Boeing 747. It accommodates one pilot, one flight attendant, and up to 12 passengers, with panoramic windows. Airship Ventures is touring the plane, called the Farmers Airship, throughout the country this summer for the first time. Zeppelin NTs have carried more than 80,000 passengers since 2001. This plane is the fourth and most recent Zeppelin NT to be built and has been offering tours in California since 2008. It will be at Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh starting July 22 and through the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture convention, which will be July 25 through July 31. Forty-five minute flights will be $399 per person. Back to Top Pinnacle Airlines Financial Chief Leaves For Virgin America (WSJ) DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (PNCL) Chief Financial Officer Peter D. Hunt will leave the regional carrier to take the same position at Virgin America, the companies said Thursday. Hunt, who was 41 as of Pinnacle's April proxy filing, has worked at Pinnacle since late 2004. He also worked at Continental Airlines Inc. from 2000 to 2004. The move will be effective July 11. Privately held Virgin America has continued its aggressive expansion by adding service to Dallas in December and plans to launch service to Chicago in May. The company's revenue growth still hasn't made up for the sharp increase in fuel costs, the carrier's largest expense. Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group Ltd. owns a 25% voting stake in Virgin America and a 49% economic interest, the most allowed under U.S. laws governing foreign ownership of U.S. carriers. Last month, Branson said in an interview that it was "too soon" to seek an initial public offering though other airline start-ups he backed in Belgium and Australia were quicker to come to market. The low-cost airline plans to wait at least two years before pursuing a flotation, according to people familiar with the matter. Pinnacle shares were up three cents to $4.68 Thursday but are down 41% this year. Back to Top GE-Powered 787 ETOPS Tests To Start In July General Electric says flight test progress on the GEnx-1B-powered Boeing 787 gives it confidence that combined ETOPS and functional and reliability (F&R) evaluations will start in mid-July. The two GEnx-1B test aircraft (ZA005 and ZA006) have amassed some 1,560 engine flight hours and 1,150 engine flight cycles. Boeing, which counts entire flights rather than flight cycles, such as touch-and- go circuits, says the GE-powered aircraft have made almost 280 flights and built up more than 800 flight hours and are about 80% through Boeing testing and 70% through certification tests. Boeing said the Rolls-Royce-powered 787 is 96% through its test program and will start the final set of ETOPS and functional and reliability tests in June before final certification. It also confirms that the target delivery date for the first aircraft to launch customer All Nippon Airways, which selected the Rolls engine, will be in the August-September time frame. Assuming there are no further holdups, or last-minute surprises, GEnx product line VP and General Manager Bill Fitzgerald says, "We're several weeks from entry-into-service of the GEnx-1B-powered 787 in October with Japan Airlines." With ETOPS, and concurrent F&R testing approaching in July, the engine maker is also optimistic of clinching a 330-min. ETOPS approval in August. Overall, the 787 test fleet, now officially augmented with a seventh aircraft (ZA102), which will perform ETOPS and F&R testing in June, has logged almost 1,400 flights and more than 3,812 flight hours. The highest-time aircraft (ZA001) is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance after a spell of stability and control flights. ZA002 is being used for certification tests of the auxiliary power unit, while ZA003 is undergoing detailed strip-down inspection. ZA004 is in layup while the upgraded Rolls-Royce "Package B" engines are installed. The first GE test aircraft (ZA005) recently has been performing ground start and drainage validation work, and GE confirms it will be the aircraft used for flight testing the first performance improvement package (PIP1), later this summer. ZA006 is currently being used for a series of flight control system, engine control and stability and control tests. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/avd/2011/06/01/13.xml&headline=GE-Powered%20787%20ETOPS%20Tests%20To%20Start%20In%20July Back to Top American Airlines plane makes emergency landing in Oklahoma City An American Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Will Rogers World Airport Thursday night after an indicator light came on in the cockpit. An American Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Will Rogers World Airport on Thursday night after an indicator light in the cockpit came on, airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said. The MD-80 landed without incident about 9 p.m. Flight 641 had originated in Dallas and was destined for Calgary, Canada. Carney said there were 56 people on board and five crew members. There were no injuries. Carney said the plane was being examined by mechanics to determine what caused the light to come on. http://newsok.com/american-airlines-plane-makes-emergency-landing-in-oklahoma-city/article/3573848#ixzz1ODIhBmqS Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC