Flight Safety Information July 25, 2011 - No. 149 In This Issue AF447 investigators to release new findings on 29 July American jumbo jet makes emergency landing at D/FW Smoke from Eva Air engine not a fire: aviation officials Transport Canada issues emergency AD on DHC-8-400 wing Voluntarily report on hard landing: Air India Rockwell Collins Introduces Touchscreens For Bizjets AF447 investigators to release new findings on 29 July French investigators are preparing to publish a third interim report this week into the loss of the Air France Airbus A330-200 over the South Atlantic two years ago. The Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses is to issue its latest findings on 29 July. It said the report will give the "exact circumstances" of the accident along with initial points of analysis and extra information derived from flight recorder data. Investigators previously determined that the aircraft, having climbed from its cruising altitude of 35,000ft on 1 June 2009, entered a stall at about 38,000ft and descended rapidly. The inputs from the pilot, the BEA found, had been primarily nose-up, apparently in contradiction to the nose-down input typically necessary for stall recovery. BEA has not indicated whether the new findings provide any clarity over the reasons behind the inputs or the inability to recover the aircraft. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news AF447 investigators to release new findings on 29 July Back to Top American jumbo jet makes emergency landing at D/FW D/FW AIRPORT - An American Airlines Boeing 777 bound for Sao Paolo, Brazil was forced to make a U-turn Sunday night shortly after takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. An airline spokesman said there was a problem with one of the two engines on the jumbo jet, and the decision was made to dump its fuel and make an emergency landing at D/FW. FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said the problem involved an engine and landing gear fire. WFAA received numerous reports from people who saw Flight 963 flying at an unusually low altitude with streams of jet fuel exiting both wings. According to tracking information published on the FlightAware.com Web site, the jet took off from D/FW headed south, crossed Highway 183 and then turned sharply to the east before it could cross Interstate 30. The aircraft traveled east for only 8 miles before turning due north and flying over Northwest Dallas, Farmers Branch and Carrollton. The pilot then turned sharply west near the junction of Highway 121 and I-35E, traveled another 8 miles, and turned south over Flower Mound, headed back to the runway. The brakes locked up as the 777 touched down, and a tire blew out. Emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft. No injuries were reported among the 264 passengers and 14 crew members on board. American said passengers would be bused back to the terminal from the disabled plane on the runway. http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/American-jumbo-jet-makes-emergency-landing-at- DFW-126096494.htmlA Back to Top Smoke from Eva Air engine not a fire: aviation officials Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Aviation Safety Council (ASC) on Monday ruled out engine fire as the cause of Sunday's Eva Air flight incident. An Eva Air flight to Macau was aborted, and its passengers evacuated, after the pilot received abnormal signals at the control panel as the plane was on the runway preparing for take-off. The plane was brought to an abrupt stop and was taxied back to the ramp. Ground crew at the time discovered one of the engines was spewing smoke, while panic broke out on board as passengers began to smell smoke. The crew then decided to direct passengers down the evacuation slide despite the fact that a boarding bridge was being extended to the plane. 10 passengers were slightly injured during the evacuation process. The ASC, after examining the black box and interviewing crew members, found no sign of engine fire. The case was then transferred to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) for further investigation. As for why smoke broke out from the engine, CAA said according to the Mcdonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft technical manual, it is normal that potential oil leakage would happen when the plane was brought to an abrupt stop, which would then trigger smoke. The abnormal signal received at the control panel was unrelated to engine failure, the CAA said. The control panel problem is still under investigation. The CAA gave tacit approval of the way Eva Air handled the incident, but noted that the carrier should strengthen its emergency evacuation plan. Standard operation procedure dictates that if a pilot receives an abnormal signal at the control panel, the pilot should abort take-off, taxi the plane back to the terminal, connect the plane with the boarding bridge to let passengers off, and then start the inspection of the aircraft. CAA said it was not necessary to send passengers hurling down the evacuation slide when the boarding bridge was nearly connected. They also said the cabin crew did not appropriately follow the procedure of evacuating as outlined by the emergency exit brochures in the seat pockets, noting the crew did not open all emergency exits. CAA will conclude its investigation on the case within a week. ************* Date: 24-JUL-2011 Time: 09:00 Type: McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 Operator: UNI Air Registration: B-17918 C/n / msn: 53571/2193 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 159 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) - Taiwan Phase: Taxi Nature: Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: TPE Destination airport: MFM Narrative: Uni Air MD-90 B-17918 was operating for Eva Air flight BR807 to Macau. Engine fire alarm was on when the plane taxied on runway. The plane returned to apron for emergency evacuation. 15 passengers were injured. Sources: http://hk.news.yahoo.com/?????????15?-211331865.html www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Transport Canada issues emergency AD on DHC-8-400 wing to fuselage attachment joints Transport Canada issued an emergency airworthiness directive regarding wing to fuselage attachment joints on DHC-8-400 aircraft models. Transport Canada reports that there have been three in-service reports of cracked barrel nuts found at the front spar locations of the wing to fuselage attachment joints. Additionally, three operators have reported finding a loose washer in the barrel nut assembly. Failure of the barrel nuts could compromise the structural integrity of the wing to fuselage attachments. Preliminary investigation determined that these cracks are due to hydrogen embrittlement. The AD mandates an initial and repetitive detailed inspection of the barrel nuts. The AD applies to all DHC-8 aeroplane models 400, 401 and 402, serial numbers 4001 and subsequent that have accumulated 1900 or more total hours air time or 12 months or more in service since new More information: o http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20110721TCADCF201124.pdf www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Voluntarily report on hard landing: Air India NEW DELHI: National carrier Air India has finally learnt some lessons from the Mangalore crash. The airline recently asked pilots to voluntarily report hard landings so that engineering action could be taken on the aircraft body for safety while assuring them that they wouldn't be punished for not gently gliding down. AI had some years back warned its pilots against hard landings and used to take action against them for this. The commander of the ill-fated AI Express flight that crashed last May in Mangalore had also been pulled up for hard and then an attempted soft landing in Mangalore cost him a substantial length of the runway. The Boeing 737 could neither stop not take off again safely in the remaining length of the airstrip, leading to the crash that saw 158 casualties. The corrective action, in fact, came on May 18, 2011, -- four days before the first anniversary of the Mangalore crash - when AI's ED-flight safety, Captain Subodh Nigam, wrote a letter to all pilots. "Several hard landings have not been reported by pilots. This neglect is detrimental to safety of all concerned... It is pertinent to highlight that punitive action has never been intended/recommended for hard landings... All pilots are advised to voluntarily report hard landings for appropriate follow-up action in interest of safety." A senior AI pilot said the airline had decided to change its earlier practice of punishing pilots had led to fear among them due to which such instances were not being reported. "Hard landings lead to surface cracks and metal fatigue. If an aircraft has four to five hard landings in a month, the engineering has to check the airframe thoroughly for cracks or other damages. If not reported, such checks may not happen. About three years back a taxiing aircraft of erstwhile Indian Airlines saw its left landing gear simply dropping off the airframe as small cracks suddenly led to a tear in the airframe that held the part," said the pilot. The airline, which is usually on warpath with the pilots under the current management, finally had to smoke the peace pipe with them on this issue as the instruments used to measure landing values are not as reliable as the comfort feeling of passengers and crew while touching down. Action was routinely taken against AI pilots for hard landings despite the fact that very often one has to come down firmly for safe arrivals. For instance pilots must come down with a slight thud on wet runways to ensure that the aircraft breaks water films between tyres and runway so that the plane can stop safely. Otherwise "aqua planning" - a phenomenon where a plane's tyres do not make physical contact with the runway and remain on a film of water - can lead to loss of control and serious mishaps. The DGCA had after the Mangalore crash asked airlines not to punish pilots for hard landings as long as they remained within the limits advised by aircraft manufacturers. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9352119.cms Back to Top Rockwell Collins Introduces Touchscreens For Bizjets Rockwell Collins introduced new touch-control primary flight displays for business jets and turboprops at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh on Sunday. "These displays demonstrate our focus on empowering pilots with natural head-up, eyes-forward interfaces," said Colin Mahoney, vice president of sales and marketing for Rockwell Collins. "Touch- controlled, icon-based controls on the main displays help keep pilots' attention focused up and forward for safer and more efficient flying." The company said it is also working on an "autonomous backup control" that with one touch of a button will put the aircraft into a safe-altitude holding pattern until the pilot disengages the system. The touch-screen panels will be available in the company's Pro Line Fusion avionics system. Demos of the new system are available all week at the company's exhibit just outside Hangar C at EAA AirVenture. The company will also host a forum about "Advancing the Art of Avionics" on Wednesday on 2:30 p.m. Earlier this year, the company released a head-up synthetic vision system for small jets. http://www.avweb.com/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC