Flight Safety Information June 21, 2011 - No. 126 In This Issue Minister cites likely pilot error in Russian plane crash that kills 44 Manufacturers Tout Safety in Cockpit Engine problem forces L.A.-bound Delta flight back to ATL Study: Regulation of ground de-icing and anti-icing services in Europe EL Al investigation focuses on maintenance performed in Singapore FAA signs memorandum of agreement with Mongolia Demand for airline pilots set to soar Minister cites likely pilot error in Russian plane crash that kills 44 Moscow (CNN) -- Officials searched for answers Tuesday after a Russian jetliner made a premature descent and burst into flames in the country's northwest, killing 44 people and injuring eight others. "I do not want to prejudge the investigation and all that but preliminary information suggests an obvious pilot error in poor weather conditions," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, the state-run RIA-Novosti news agency reported. Investigators recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the site of the crash, according to the Investigative Committee probing the crash. The cause of the premature descent is being investigated by the Inter-State Aviation Committee and the so-called black boxes will be recovered and sent to Moscow for deciphering, said Russian Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov on Russian state TV. The recorders will help authorities piece together the final minutes of the flight and possibly tell investigators what caused the plane to go down. Russian jetliner crashes "Seems that he had been visually looking for the runway but couldn't see it," Ivanov said. The dead included 36 Russians, four people with joint U.S.-Russian citizenship, a Swede, a Dutchman and two Ukrainians, according to the Transport Ministry. Of the injured, five are in critical condition, according to regional authorities in Petrozavodsk. Some will be transported to Moscow for medical treatment. President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences in the aftermath and has sent Transport Minister Igor Levitin to the scene on a fact-finding mission. The families of the dead will receive 1 million rubles ($35,500), while the families of the injured will be compensated 500,000 rubles ($17,750), according to the authorities. The jet with 43 passengers and a crew of nine took off Monday night from Moscow for Petrozavodsk, about 950 kilometers (600 miles) to the north. Controllers lost contact with the twin-engine Tupolev-134 about 11:40 p.m. (3:40 p.m. ET), and it crashed onto a highway outside Besovets, near the Petrozavodsk airport, the ministry reported. "The first thing that the plane had contact with was a pine tree of about 15 meters high," said Alexander Neradko, head of the Russian Federal Aviation Agency on Russian state TV. "This proves that the plane didn't break in mid-air but that all those destructions were inflicted to it as a result of that contact," he said. Nearly 140 rescue workers, doctors and police officers were on the scene before dawn Tuesday. Forensic experts have been dispatched to the crash site to help with identification of the bodies, regional authorities said. ********** Status: Preliminary Date: 21 JUN 2011 Time: 00:04 Type: Tupolev Tu-134A-3 Operator: RusAir Registration: RA-65691 C/n / msn: 63195 First flight: 1980 Crew: Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 9 Passengers: Fatalities: 36 / Occupants: 43 Total: Fatalities: 44 / Occupants: 52 Airplane damage: Written off Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 1 km (0.6 mls) S of Petrozavodsk Airport (PES) (Russia) Phase: Approach (APR) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Moskva-Domodedovo Airport (DME) (DME/UUDD), Russia Destination airport: Petrozavodsk Airport (PES) (PES/ULPP), Russia Flightnumber: 9605 Narrative: A Tupolev 134A-3, registered RA-65691, was destroyed in an accident near Petrozavodsk Airport (PES), Russia. Forty-four occupants died in the accident; eight survived. The airplane had departed Moscow-Domodedovo (DME) at 22:24 on domestic codeshare flight RusLine Flight 243 / RusAir Flight 9605 to Petrozavodsk. The flight was operated by RusAir. The Tupolev crash-landed on a highway, and broke up. Weather at the time of the accident: ULPB 201900Z 15001MPS 3000 BR OVC005 15/14 Q0994 NOSIG RMK QBB170 QFE741/0989 SC0.6 = ULPB 201949Z 10002MPS 2100 RA BR OVC004 15 Q0993 TEMPO 1500 RMK QBB120 QFE741/0988 SC0, 6 = ULPB 202100Z 06002MPS 0700 FG VV003 14/14 Q0992 NOSIG RMK QBB100 QFE740/0987 SC0.6 www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Manufacturers Tout Safety in Cockpit Corporate Jets More Likely to Adopt New Technologies, but Suppliers Step Up Efforts to Persuade Commercial Airliners. By ANDY PASZTOR And PETER SANDERS PARIS (WSJ) -Commercial jet manufacturers and airlines all emphasize a commitment to safety. But the most advanced safety devices often show up first in high-end business aircraft. That disparity is on display at this week's Paris Air Show, the world-wide aerospace industry's largest gathering, as cockpit-equipment suppliers including Rockwell Collins Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Thales SA not only tout the latest cockpit-safety technology available for corporate jets, but also step up efforts to persuade commercial carriers to install some of those new systems. Honeywell, Rockwell and other cockpit suppliers are pushing 'synthetic vision' displays, like this one shown last year in Farnborough, England. . The biggest danger facing pilots-whether they are responsible for hundreds of passengers or a handful of corporate executives-is losing situational awareness in the air as well as on the ground. To combat such threats, avionics companies are pushing use of new sensors, graphical displays, computer-generated images and enhanced airport traffic maps to constantly inform pilots about their surroundings. For instance, pilots of business jets and some airliners now have the ability, via advanced cockpit displays, to see accurate replicas of specific mountains, man-made obstacles and other terrain features, even if they are flying at night or if the potential hazards are obscured by clouds. If an aircraft's cabin fails to pressurize properly and the cockpit crew doesn't react, a new failsafe system can grab control of the plane and automatically have it descend. On the ground, cockpit-safety experts are devising mapping systems that enable pilots-without relying on air-traffic controllers-to know the precise position of their planes on the tarmac and to receive alerts about collision threats posed by other aircraft. Other systems are intended to warn cockpit crews if they are lining up to takeoff from the wrong runway, and to issue alerts if planes are approaching a strip too fast or will land too far down to stop safely. Business jets, and their owners, are natural first-adapters of these technologies because investing several hundred thousand dollars extra on a single cockpit enhancement seems like a small dent when a company or well-heeled owner already is spending $50 million or so for a plush, long-range jet. Business jet owners also tend to trade up for new models relatively frequently. "Innovation has come from business aviation in part because on average, owners replace their jets every four to five years, while commercial jets turn over every 12 to 15 years," said Steve Ridolfi, president of Bombardier Inc.'s business aircraft unit. Also, business jet pilots fly more often into airports in out-of-the-way places, surrounded by challenging terrain, or featuring tough instrument-approach conditions. Some of the airports in remote locations may also have limited ground navigation devices. U.S. airlines, just now recovering from a bruising decade of losses and mergers which helped cull their airplane fleets, generally have been leery of major capital expenditures even though much of this technology is readily available. Many carriers remain financially weak and are facing the uncertainty of volatile oil prices, so they tend to put off upgrades to their existing fleets. Beyond that, many airline pilots fly regular routes without particular hazards or incidents. U.S. carriers in recent years notched the best safety record in history, further dulling the incentive to spend on pricey safety options. Still, a group of large U.S. and foreign carriers already has installed software upgrades to help pilots avoid tarmac confusion or unstable approaches that can result in planes rolling off the ends of runways. With a crop of new commercial models on the horizon and a resurgence of air traffic world-wide, suppliers such as Honeywell and Rockwell Collins are redoubling efforts to transition more safety devices and systems to airliners. "We may develop technology on a business jet and try to move it quickly to airliner models," says Carl Esposito, a top marketing executive at Honeywell's aerospace unit in Phoenix. The parent company, based in Morris Township, N.J,, is focused on developing core software that can be shifted, with relatively few alterations, between different aircraft models. Rockwell Collins, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has already made inroads with Canadian plane-maker Bombardier by bundling the latest cockpit design into a package that will be featured on Bombardier's next-generation business jets, as well as its new CSeries family of commercial airplanes. Beginning with Bombardier's Learjet 85, a small business aircraft designed to seat 10 passengers, Rockwell's "Global Vision" flight deck also will be standard on the same manufacturer's largest, long-range Global Express models. Featuring four high-resolution, 15-inch cockpit displays, pilots using the Rockwell system also will have a so-called Heads Up Display, essentially a fifth computer screen at eye level displaying information about speed, altitude and location. The system will include "synthetic vision" integrated into these windshield displays, so pilots at one glance will also get overlays of computer-generated images of the surrounding terrain. Bombardier's Mr. Ridolfi says the same system will be adapted to the new C-Series airliner, expected to enter service in 2013. Eager to increase capacity at congested airports, airlines such as USAirways Group Inc. are experimenting with systems that, in effect, would permit pilots to continue to visually keep track of planes in front of them even when clouds temporarily obscure sight of the aircraft ahead. This allows planes to follow each other more closely than if they were relying entirely on instruments. At the same time, carriers including Alaska Air Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. are pushing to phase in the use of more sophisticated satellite navigation aids to assist planes as they approach the airport, an effort that will depend on many of the built-in features now standard on business jets. Back to Top Engine problem forces L.A.-bound Delta flight back to ATL Several passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight to Los Angeles were injured evacuating the plane overnight after an engine problem forced the Boeing 757 to return to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for an emergency landing. The plane, Flight 1323, took off at 11:51 p.m. Monday and returned minutes later. "The cockpit crew elected to return back to Atlanta for mechanical evaluation," Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly Singley told AM750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB. "The flight landed safely and emergency vehicles assisted the aircraft once it was on the ground." Singley told the station that three of the 174 passengers suffered minor injuries, apparently while they were going down the plane's evacuation slides. She told the AJC late Tuesday morning that those passengers had all been treated at local hospitals for injuries such as sprained ankles and had been released. The passengers were bused to the terminal and were given the option of either spending the night in Atlanta or continuing on to Los Angeles on another plane. Singley said 158 of the passengers chose to continue their trip to Los Angeles on a second plane Monday night. Singley said late Tuesday morning that the plane involved was still being evaluated by mechanics and she could not confirm media reports that an engine caught fire during the flight. Monday night's incident came two days after another Delta 757 out of Atlanta was diverted due to a problem with an engine. On Saturday, Flight 221 was headed from Atlanta to Brazil when the pilot "noticed an issue with the right engine," Delta spokesman Eric Torbenson told the AJC. He said the pilot diverted the flight to Caracas "out of an abundance of caution" and the plane landed safely. "We had had 119 passengers on board and all of them reached Brasilia on Sunday after we sent another flight down for them," Torbenson said. http://www.ajc.com/ Back to Top Study: Regulation of ground de-icing and anti-icing services in Europe EASA has published its Final Report on the study carried out on the regulation of ground de-icing and anti-icing services in EASA member states. Born out of a large number of events of stiff or frozen flight control systems during the winters of 2005 and 2006 and the subsequent Safety Recommendations made by the UK Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) and the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), followed by the conclusions of a 2006 Industry- wide ERA/JAA Winter Operations Workshop which addressed the issues surrounding fluid residues and de-icing/anti-icing standards, an study commissioned by EASA was carried out. The Study's scope was to investigate and recommend the means by which Aviation Authorities manage matters with respect to the certification of service providers and the availability of de-icing/anti-icing fluids. Its aim was to make recommendations for improvements of service provision and the availability of Type I fluids. EASA considers that the Study has been successful overall with regard to practical recommendations to raise standards and improve safety, but it falls short of recommending provision of Type I fluid, claiming that further data collection is required due to some conflicting survey results. However, service providers are encouraged to provide Type I and/or two-step procedures if demanded by operators. Equally, direct regulation of service providers has been excluded at this stage but may be considered as a future option. The report presents 26 Recommendations that have been assessed for their impacts concerning safety, economic, environmental, social and the regulatory framework. If adopted, EASA states that the Recommendations would generate a beneficial reduction in the risks associated with de-icing/anti-icing and that the improvements to the regulations would have a positive effect on the safety of other ground handling activities. The Study recommends that EASA develops a targeted work programme which, if undertaken, would see generally higher de-icing/anti-icing operational standards within two years, harmonized more broadly across Member States. The six areas recommended for actions are: * improving coordination between Industry and the Aviation Authorities; * collecting more safety data and analyzing the existing risks; * ensuring regulations and guidance for air operations are comprehensive, unambiguous and practical; * conducting oversight activities to ascertain whether regulations are being harmoniously and consistently applied across Europe; * consider alternative regulatory means to support operators to achieve acceptable service levels from their providers, and to facilitate aerodromes and service providers in ensuring this; * engaging with all stakeholders to ensure that more focused research is conducted, and data gathered, into fluid qualities and performance. More information: * EASA Study EASA.2009/4 www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top EL Al investigation focuses on maintenance performed in Singapore Israeli air accident investigators are focusing on overhaul work done at a Singapore MRO as the possible cause of a serious structural failure in an El Al Boeing 777-200's undercarriage last month. The aircraft, with 279 passengers, departed Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport for Newark, New Jersey, on 23 May but turned back after the left main gear failed to retract. The aircraft's crew dumped fuel over the Mediterranean and an Israeli Defence Force Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter conducted an air-to-air inspection of the landing gear before the airliner eventually landed safely. ATI reported on 26 May that images of the incident appeared to show a structural failure affecting the pivot around which the entire gear rotates upon retraction, and that the aircraft had undergone landing gear maintenance in Singapore. The Israeli transport ministry's chief accident investigator, Yitzhak Raz, said on 20 June that the cause of the failure was probably due to overhaul work performed on the landing gear at the Singaporean centre. However, the exact cause of the failure had not yet been detected and the investigation was continuing, he said. The investigation was now focused on the MRO, with experts from the FAA and NTSB co-operating in the enquiry. Raz added that, although all the signs pointed to a problem particular to the EL AL aircraft's landing gear, other units would be checked around the world. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top FAA signs memorandum of agreement with Mongolia The US FAA has forged a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Mongolia to form a bilateral relationship designed to help Mongolia develop civil aeronautics and air commerce safety. Under the MOA the FAA may provide technical and managerial expertise to assist Mongolia in developing, modernising, operating and maintaining its civil aviation infrastructure, standards, procedures, policies and training. "This formal bilateral relationship, the first of its kind between the two countries, is an opportunity to enhance safety and improve system capacity in Mongolia," said FAA. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Demand for airline pilots set to soar USA Today - "There was no specific moment," says Sivyllis, 20, a junior at Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University. "I've grown up my whole life knowing this was it." Sivyllis hardly could have picked a better time to enter his chosen profession, and he knows it. "I'm very excited about the future ... because we've never really seen anything like this," he says. After nearly a four-year drought of job openings, the airline industry is on the brink of what's predicted to be the biggest surge in pilot hiring in history. Aircraft maker Boeing has forecast a need for 466,650 more commercial pilots by 2029 - an average of 23,300 new pilots a year. Nearly 40% of the openings will be to meet the soaring travel market in the Asia-Pacific region, Boeing predicts, but more than 97,000 will be in North America. "It is a dramatic turnaround," says Louis Smith, president of FltOps.com, a website that provides career and financial planning for pilots. "Pilot hiring was severely depressed in the last three years. The next 10 years will be the exact opposite, with the longest and largest pilot hiring boom in the history of the industry." The demand for pilots will be so great that the industry could ultimately face a shortage, sparking fierce competition among airlines across the globe vying for candidates qualified to fill their cockpits. "We're already seeing in some spots around the world a shortage of pilots ... and if you were watching this a few years ago at the last peak, you had airlines stealing from other airlines," says Sherry Carbary, vice president of flight services for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle. "It's a global marketplace for pilots, and ... we'll not have enough if that growth trend continues over the next few years. That's something the industry needs to come to grips with. Where is our pipeline of new pilots going to come from, and how are we going to finance them?" The hiring surge is being fueled by several factors: ·The rapid growth of travel in Asia, which is on track to surpass North America as the largest air travel market in the world; ·A looming wave of pilot retirements in the USA; ·Proposed changes to rules that could increase the time pilots must train, rest and work; ·And increasing demand for air travel within the USA as the economy improves. U.S. carriers had 4.9% more pilots in 2010 than in 2009, with much of the increase fueled by low-cost carriers that are continuing to expand, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Low-cost airlines such as Southwest, Virgin America and AirTran increased their pilot staffing 11.2% in 2010 over 2009, while regional carriers increased their pilot numbers by 4.9%. Major network airlines, however, saw their pilot workforce drop 1.3% last year, the bureau says. "The cost of the fuel has spooked a few carriers," Smith says, noting that the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan have also had some impact. But, he says, the industry-wide hiring explosion is "still on track." Finding jobs over there Many new pilot opportunities are in Asia, particularly China, where the rapidly growing economies are spurring a demand for air travel. Beijing became the second-busiest airport in the world last year, and Boeing projects that the region will need 180,600 pilots in the next two decades, 70,600 for China alone. In March, Boeing announced that Hong Kong Airlines was planning to buy 38 aircraft. Air China, pending government approval, plans to buy five 747-8 Intercontinental jets. Bigger fleets mean "more resources needed to support those planes," Carbary says. U.S. airlines, many of which are expanding their reach into Asia, also will need to widen their pilot pools to handle the lengthy flights. "Say you wanted to start a route from Chicago to Shanghai," says Les Westbrooks, a former commercial pilot who's now an associate professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle. "That one route alone could require an airline to hire 40 additional pilots" because of the staffing and equipment requirements for such a long journey. Across the USA, the need for pilots will be sparked by increasing passenger demand, and perhaps most significantly, an exodus of senior pilots that is expected to start next year, as a large wave of pilots hits the age of 65, which is the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots under federal law. The mandatory retirement age "is starting to catch up with us," says Westbrooks, noting that many of those scheduled to retire joined their airlines during hiring booms in the 1980s and '90s. "The large-scale hiring we had then is now turning into large- scale retirements, which will require replacements to maintain the status quo." The increasing need for pilots is almost all the flying community talks about, Sivyllis says. "That's definitely the big news around not only our campus but (among) anybody who's a flight instructor or entering the entry level of the industry," he says. "The top level of the industry is going to open up, and when it does, it will open fast." A full-time student, and a flight instructor with 600 flight hours under his belt, Sivyllis' goal is to be a captain, flying to Europe for a carrier such as Delta or United. But flying for a commercial airline is far from the only opportunity that will be tempting such young pilots as Sivyllis, says Westbrooks. "There's competition from other types of pilot occupations, such as ... corporate flying, that's going to limit the supply." Come fly for us As worldwide competition for pilots begins to heat up, some overseas carriers are making dramatic overtures to fill their cockpits. Emirates, the Dubai-based carrier, will hire more than 500 pilots by April 2012, says Michael Keating, the airline's flight crew resourcing specialist. The carrier already employs roughly 300 Americans as pilots, and is visiting job fairs in New York City and Las Vegas to seek candidates. "As a rapidly expanding carrier, with 153 aircraft ... plus another 200 planes on order, and options for more, the need for flight crew professionals continues to grow," he said in an e-mail. The compensation package for these pilots includes perks such as a chauffeur-driven car to and from work, an education allowance for the pilot's family, and profit sharing. Though English is the international language of aviation, Westbrooks says Spanish- speaking students also are being sought by Latin American airlines. "We have airlines knocking on our doors," he says. "If you can speak Spanish fluently and can fly an airplane, wow, you can write your own ticket." There are concerns whether there will be enough pilots to meet the industry's needs. Airlines, struggling in recent years to stay afloat amid a global recession and rising fuel costs, weren't focused on cultivating new pilots. Many young people who might have sought a career in aviation a generation ago turned their attention to software companies or other industries, turned off by a field in which opportunities were scarce, benefits were eroding and starting pay at regional carriers was low, some analysts say. "We've got to attract qualified people, smart people into the industry and you're going to spend $50,000 to $60,000 on flight training, plus your college (costs)," Westbrooks says. "You've got a guy who'll walk out $100,000 in debt, and we're going to tell him, 'We'll pay you $22,000'? The airline industry has relied on passion for years - that people love to fly and will do whatever they have to do to fly. But there comes a time when it's a matter of dollars and cents." The average starting salary for a pilot at a regional carrier is roughly $21,000 a year, while the most senior captain, flying the largest plane at a major airline, typically makes more than $186,000 a year, according to FltOps.com. Carbary adds, "You're seeing kids coming out of school wanting to go to Microsoft or Google, and frankly, the technological developments going on in aviation are now as ... robust (as) that in some of the software fields. So part of it is reminding people of that and trying to attract them back to aviation." Sean Cassidy, a pilot for Alaska Airlines and first vice president of the Air Line Pilots Association International, which represents more than 53,000 pilots in the USA and Canada, says that "whether or not we could meet those (pilot hiring needs) domestically depends on how robust the hiring process is, how lucrative it is to attract new entrants into the industry, especially at the regional level." Small airlines, big losses? Smith believes that regional U.S. airlines, which often are the first rung on the career ladder for pilots, could be hit particularly hard as their ranks are recruited and depleted by larger carriers in the U.S. and overseas. "We suspect they're going to lose thousands of (pilots) to the folks above them," he says. Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association, disagrees. "Today, flying for a regional airline for many individuals has become their career," says Cohen, noting that while opportunities at larger carriers have decreased amid several mergers, pay is rising in the regional sector, and pilots are able to fly larger and more sophisticated aircraft. "They make lifestyle choices to stay at regional carriers because benefits, compensation, (and the) type of flying suits them well." "This notion Americans are going to all of a sudden, because they're trained pilots, are going to go fly in India; it's still not the good old USA," he says. "What we just need to do is open up the mouth of the pipeline even wider, attract more people, get them into the programs and trained. This is really where the government has a major stake." For those already in the pipeline, the sky may literally be the limit, as pilots possibly win back benefits and perks that airlines cut in recent years amid restructuring efforts. "My son just got hired by a regional airline, and I told him, 'Your career is going to be explosive,'" Westbrooks says. "It's going to be a pilot's market." Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC