Flight Safety Information August 1, 2011 - No. 158 In This Issue United flight diverted to Cuba due to 'unfamiliar' odor in plane Guyana Crash Adds to Runway-Safety Worries Asiana pilots reported fire before crash Guyana Civil Authority to Lead Probe of Caribbean Airlines Crash 2009 Air France disaster leads to new air safety recommendations / Plus video Delta Aircraft Collide on Tarmac at Chicago's O'Hare Airport FBI: 'Credible lead' surfaces in D.B. Cooper case Partial FAA Shutdown Enters Fourth Day FAA Reports Mid-Air Collision in Alaska Wright brothers replica plane crash kills 2 Experimental airplane crashes near Aurora airport, pilot killed United flight diverted to Cuba due to 'unfamiliar' odor in plane A United Airlines flight was diverted to Cuba after a reported strong odor in the cabin. (CNN) -- A United Airlines flight was diverted to Cuba on Sunday after its crew reported a strong odor in the plane, U.S. aviation and airline spokesmen said. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Les Dorr said United Flight 831, an Airbus A320, landed safely at Jose Marti Airport in Havana at 12:07 p.m. local time. The flight had left Washington Dulles airport, located in northern Virginia, just before 9 a.m., according to United's website. It was supposed to land at 11:27 a.m. in Cancun, Mexico. But crew members "noticed an unfamiliar smell in the cabin," said United Airlines spokesman Charlie Hobart. Dorr noted that the crew detected a burning smell, saying it was in the cockpit. "In an abundance of caution, the pilots decided to land the aircraft in the nearest available airport," Hobart said, explaining how the plane ended up in Cuba. The aircraft had 135 passengers and five crew members -- two pilots and three flight attendants -- on board. It remained on the ground, in the Caribbean nation, as of 5:15 p.m. Hobart said the airline is "working to reaccommodate our customers," saying another plane was being ferried in from Cancun that will then take the passengers there. Normally, there are tight restrictions on the travel of U.S. citizens to the Communist state of Cuba, based on federal law. United does not typically fly to Cuba, according to its website. Back to Top Guyana Crash Adds to Runway-Safety Worries By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) The Caribbean Airlines jet that broke apart after a botched predawn landing in Guyana Saturday, without any fatalities, represents the type of accident international air-safety experts recently have been working the hardest to prevent. The four-year-old Boeing 737 with 163 people aboard careened off the end of the Georgetown runway in rainy weather, crashed through a fence and broke into two pieces, highlighting the persistent hazards of airliners being unable to stop on slick strips. Similar accidents and incidents may account for as much as 45% of the overall safety risks facing the global industry, according to Gunther Matschnigg, the top safety official of the International Air Transport Association, representing most of the world's airlines. Passengers on flight 523, which originated from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and made a stop in Port of Spain, Trinidad, recounted screams and the smell of fuel in the cabin before they scrambled down emergency slides. The jet's crumpled nose came to rest short of a deep ravine, with dozens of passengers receiving medical care but, according to local officials, less than a handful requiring hospitalization. One passenger told the Associated Press rescue crews were slow to appear, and a taxi driver charged $20 to drive her to the terminal. The Boeing 737 crash, according to safety experts, comes after an encouraging six- month period marked by a year-over-year improvement in the global rate of major accidents involving modern Western-built passenger aircraft. Recently, regulators and safety groups have focused on preventing runway accidents in which poor pilot decision-making results in landing aircraft being unable to stop safely. Nonetheless, the latest crash illustrates the persistent hazards of so-called runway excursions: accidents and serious incidents in which airliners careen off runways, often because pilots landed too fast, touched too far down the strip, or didn't recognize the difficulty of stopping on wet, slushy or snow-packed surfaces. But the Guyana accident, according to safety experts, also could involve other factors. Pictures and preliminary reports suggest that movable panels on the front and top of the Boeing 737's wings, and perhaps also near their rear edges, may not have been extended or failed to operate properly. The devices are designed to help planes decelerate before and after touchdown. Investigators are bound to look for possible mechanical problems or pilot mistakes that could have made it difficult to stop the plane. John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said on Sunday that "one of the first things investigators will determine is whether the plane was configured properly for landing," or if any systems failed. The front wing panels, for example, automatically retract during certain kinds of hydraulic failures. The Associated Press quoted a top aviation official in Guyana saying that the airport is in the process of upgrading landing aids to provide more-precise guidance for aircraft. The weekend's developments again shine the spotlight on air-safety challenges confronting Latin America and the Caribbean region, where annual commercial-aircraft accident rates typically have been significantly higher than in the U.S., across Europe and throughout certain parts of Asia. The major accident rate in Latin America and the Caribbean last year, for instance, was more than four times the rate in Europe and northern Asia, and three times higher than the 2010 rate recorded by countries that made up the former Soviet Union. In August 2010, amid a thunderstorm, an Aires Airlines Boeing 737 crashed 260 feet short of the runway on the Caribbean island of San Andres, resulting in two fatalities and more than 100 injuries. Preliminary findings suggest the pilots of the Colombian carrier failed to react appropriately to strong and shifting winds during the final approach, according to safety experts. According to statistics compiled by manufacturer Boeing Co., all types of runway accidents involving Western-built aircraft, including excursions during takeoffs and landings, accounted for more than 970 fatalities from 2001 to 2010. A report released last year by European air-traffic control officials cited runway excursions as "the most common type of accident reported annually" in the region and around the world, with landing overruns accounting for some 77% of all such accidents in that category. The NTSB will assist Guyana in the investigation. The airline said it dispatched a team of executives and technical staff "to offer full support to the injured," but didn't provide details about the event. A Boeing spokesman said the company also would assist, but declined to discuss the accident. For U.S. carriers, previous runway overruns prompted significant safety analyses and some operational changes. These highly publicized accidents included a Southwest Airlines Co. jet that landed in windy conditions and ran off the end of a slushy Chicago strip in December 2005. Four years later, an arriving American Airlines Boeing 737 equipped with enhanced visual-landing aids landed long and hurtled off the end of a Kingston, Jamaica, runway made slick by standing water. Nobody aboard either plane was killed. Still, the crashes prompted re-evaluations of safety margins- particularly for pilot handling and braking performance-affecting big jets landing on contaminated runways. Back to Top Asiana pilots reported fire before crash Investigators are expected to focus on the flammability of cargo carried by an Asiana Airlines Boeing 747-400 freighter that crashed Thursday off the coast of South Korea in the East China Sea, killing both pilots. The aircraft was destroyed. According to the airline and South Korean government officials, the pilots reported a fire and control problems about 1 hr. into the flight and were diverted to Jeju when contact was lost. According to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, the 747F departed Seoul Incheon at 3:05 a.m. bound for Shanghai Pudong. South Korea Deputy Transport Minister Kim Han-Young told reporters that "the crew told Shanghai traffic controllers that fire had erupted in the hold." He added, "We suspect some flammable material caught fire there." The CF6-powered freighter was carrying 58 tonnes of cargo, including 0.4 tonnes of materials such as lithium batteries, paint, amino acid solution and synthetic resin. According to The Korea Times, Asiana CEO Yoon Young-Doo said, "We load and manage lithium batteries according to the regulations set by the International Air Transport Assn. The goods on the cargo plane were also managed according to the checklist and double-checked by the captain." The captain had 14,123 hr. of flight time, of which 6,896 were on the 747. The co-pilot had 5,211 hr. of flight time. The aircraft that crashed had its first flight in February 2006, according to ASN. While there is discussion about a possible cargo-hold fire, there has been no conclusion reached regarding the crash's cause, authorities stressed. US FAA last year issued a Safety Alert for Operators on carriage of lithium batteries as cargo on aircraft http://atwonline.com/operations-maintenance/news/asiana-pilots-reported-fire-crash- 0729 Back to Top Guyana Civil Authority to Lead Probe of Caribbean Airlines Crash (Bloomberg) - Caribbean Airlines Ltd. said Guyana's Civilian Aviation Authority will lead the investigation into the crash landing of a Boeing 737-800 this past weekend that injured dozens of passengers. No one was killed. The plane, operating as Flight No. 523 from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Georgetown, Guyana, crashed at 1:32 a.m. local time on July 30, the airline said in a statement. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority will assist the Guyana aviation authority in the investigation, the airline said at a press conference this weekend in Georgetown. Terry Williams, a spokesman for the NTSB, confirmed yesterday that the board was sending a team to assist with the accident probe. Shanta Gohardhan, editor-in-chief for Guyana's Government Information Agency, said in a telephone interview the aircraft "ran off" the airstrip at Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown. The plane broke in two, forward of the wings, as it overshot the runway and wound up in a gully, the agency said. Fifty-two people were treated at two hospitals, the statement said. Passengers were forced to exit the plane through its rear doors by either jumping or climbing to the ground. Flights to Caribbean The airline said the flight had stopped in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and was completing its journey to Georgetown when the incident occurred. Caribbean Airlines has flights from Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto, to the Caribbean islands of Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela in South America. Venezuela borders Guyana to the west, Suriname to the east and Brazil to the south. The country was a former Dutch colony in the 17th century, and was controlled by the British by 1815, according to the CIA World Factbook. Guyana, which has a population of 744,768, gained its independence in 1966. Back to Top 2009 Air France disaster leads to new air safety recommendations The Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses (BEA), France's air accident investigation agency, issued new safety recommendations on Friday, in parallel with the release of its third interim report into the loss of Air France Airbus A330-200 F-GZCP, which crashed into the South Atlantic on June 1, 2009. These recommendations stem from its analysis of the lost aircraft's flight recorders (popularly known as Black Boxes). There are three recommendations regarding operations. These are that regulatory agencies look again at the content of training courses and pilot check programmes; require compulsory regular exercising of manual aircraft handling and the approach to and recovery from stall, including at high altitude; and that the authorities "define additional criteria for access to the role of relief Captain in order to ensure better task- sharing in case of relief crews". One recommendation relates to aircraft certification - the authorities should consider the importance of airliners having angle of attack indicators that are directly visible to the pilots. Four recommendations apply to the flight data recorders. The first of these is that passenger-carrying airliners be fitted with image recorders that can observe the entire instrument panel, while the second is related to this, namely the definition of strict rules regarding the use of such recorders. The remaining two recommendations are that additional parameters be recorded by the Black Boxes. Finally, there are two recommendations concerning the transmission of flight data. Firstly, regulators should make it compulsory that, when an emergency situation is detected on an aircraft, flight data would be automatically transmitted. This would also facilitate the location of the aeroplane. Secondly, studies should be launched into the practicality of automatic activation of emergency locator beacons when an emergency situation is detected on an aircraft. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/air-france-airbus-south-atlantic-disaster- leads-to-new-air-safety-recommendations-2011-07-29 ********* VIDEO: Rio-Paris crash inquiry urges better pilot training Back to Top Delta Aircraft Collide on Tarmac at Chicago's O'Hare Airport Two Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) planes collided on the taxiway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport yesterday, the fourth incident in four months involving the carrier's aircraft. Delta Flight No. 2207, which was scheduled for Minneapolis, and Flight No. 1777, headed to Atlanta, had a "taxiway incursion," said Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly Singley. She didn't know the full extent of the damage to the aircraft. After the incident, which occurred about 7:30 p.m. local time, the passengers of both planes were removed and rescheduled on other Delta flights or those of another airlines last night and this morning, Kelly Singley said. No injuries were reported, said Karen Pride, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation. "Delta's No. 1 priority is safety," Kelly Singley said in a telephone interview. Earlier this month, a Delta wide-body plane struck the tail of a smaller jet from regional partner Atlantic Southeast Airlines as they prepared for takeoff from Boston's Logan Airport. In April, a Bombardier CRJ-700 from Delta's Comair unit was clipped by the wing of an Air France Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, spinning the smaller plane and 66 occupants through 90 degrees. A month later, the wing of a Delta Boeing 737 struck the tail of another at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Delta's hometown hub. "Each of the incidents is being looked at individually, and by no means do we believe we have a trend," said Kelly Singley. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-30/delta-aircraft-collide-on-tarmac-at- chicago-s-o-hare-airport.html Back to Top FBI: 'Credible lead' surfaces in D.B. Cooper case SEATTLE (AP) - The FBI says it has a "credible" lead in the D.B. Cooper case, which involved the 1971 hijacking of a passenger jet over Washington state and the suspect's legendary parachute escape. FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo Dietrich tells The Seattle Times that a law enforcement member directed investigators to a person who might have helpful information on the suspect. Dietrich says an item belonging to the man was sent to a lab in Quantico, Va., for forensic testing. She did not provide specifics about the item or the man's identity. Federal investigators have checked more than 1,000 leads since a hijacker dubbed "D.B. Cooper" parachuted from a flight with $$200,000 in ransom. His fate remains unknown, although the Seattle Post Intelligencer reports agents have previously said they believe he died the night he jumped. Back to Top Partial FAA Shutdown Enters Fourth Day The stalemate in Congress regarding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization has entered its fourth day at a cost of an estimated $30 million per day. The shutdown, which has furloughed approximately 4,000 FAA workers, came as House Republicans made an amendment curbing the funding of a program, known as EAS, that subsidizes rural airports. The costs of the shutdown have come close to eclipsing the total cost of the program that is in dispute. Once the House and Senate can begin to take up action again-which could be July 27 at the earliest-the losses of the shutdown would almost certainly be greater than had the program been implemented. The EAS program costs the federal government $163 million a year. Both chambers' failure to agree on a temporary stop-gap measure for funding the FAA on a short-term basis before the previous funding expired strikes at the partisan paralysis that exists in Washington. On July 26, House Democrats filed a bill to extend FAA funding, including the EAS subsidy program. The bill is supported by all Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The ranking Democrat in the committee, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) said that his Republican counterparts should agree with the bill to get the 4,000 FAA workers back to work. "Instead of negotiating at gunpoint and forcing the Senate to adopt its ideological assault on the American worker, House Republican leaders should end their senseless shutdown of the FAA by bringing this clean extension to the floor for a vote today while a long-term FAA reauthorization is finalized," he said. "Republicans should stop jeopardizing the jobs of nearly 90,000 American construction workers and penalizing the people who keep our skies safe by holding their job hostage to their 'my way or the runway' approach," he continued. However, the Transportation and Infrastructure chairman, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) has made it clear that he has no intentions on giving in. "To put people back to work and restart FAA programs, the Senate needs to adopt the FAA extension passed by the House last Wednesday," he said. "If the Senate cannot agree to a simple provision, which it approved earlier this year, to eliminate excessive subsidies between $1,358 and $3,720 per ticket at three airports, then we don't need to convene a conference meeting," he continued. "Those 4,000 FAA employees have been furloughed so some in the Senate can protect their own political pork with airline ticket subsidies of more than $3,700 per passenger. I stand ready and committed to work with the Senate and all parties on an FAA bill, but the only way to get FAA employees back to work immediately is for the Senate to act now." Debate is expected to resume later this week. http://rotor.com/Default.aspx?TabId=177&newsid375=73530 Back to Top FAA Reports Mid-Air Collision in Alaska TRAPPER CREEK, Alaska - A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says two airplanes have collided above Alaska. The Alaska state patrol says the accident happened Saturday afternoon near Trapper Creek at about 2 p.m. One plane crashed to the ground after the collision, the other was able to land safely. The plane that landed safely, a Cessna single-engine, returned to the Anchorage International Airport. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told The Associated Press no other details were immediately available, including the model or size of the plane that crashed, or how many people were aboard the planes. Earlier this month, two small planes collided in midair along a narrow and treacherous mountain corridor in Alaska. No one was injured. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/30/faa-reports-mid-air-collision-in- alaska/#ixzz1TkVvvyyA *********** Date: 30-JUL-2011 Time: ~2:14pm LT Type: Cessna 180B Skywagon (float plane) Operator: Corey B. Carlson (rgd. owner & pilot) Registration: N5214E C/n / msn: 50514 Fatalities: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Near Amber Lake, Trapper Creek area, AK - United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: A Cessna 180 Skywagon (float plane) collided in mid air with a Cessna U206G Stationair (float plane) N756MP, c/n U20604202, near Amber Lake, Trapper Creek area, AK, and crashed. All four occupants were killed. The Cessna Stationair suffered severe damage but teh pilot was able to safely make an emergency landing at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC), AK www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Wright brothers replica plane crash kills 2 COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two men were killed in Ohio on Saturday while testing a replica of a Wright brothers biplane. The fabric-covered aircraft went down three to four miles south of the Springfield- Beckley Municipal Airport, at about 10:45 a.m. local time, airport manager Mick Lecocq said. The Ohio State Highway Patrol identified the fliers as Don Gum, 73, of Beaver Creek, Ohio, and Mitchell Cary, 64, of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Both were qualified pilots. The aircraft was owned by Wright B Flyer Inc., an organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of the Wright Brothers and their association with Dayton, Ohio. Dayton is where the Wrights lived and built the propeller plane flown in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in the first successful airplane flight in history. Phil Beaudoin, president of Wright B Flyer Inc., said Cary and Gum were volunteer pilots and members of the organization's board of trustees. "Mitch and Don were highly competent pilots with extensive experience flying Wright B Flyer's airplanes and other experimental aircraft," Beaudoin said in a statement. "They always observed the highest standards of safety. They made enormous contributions to our organization and to the aviation heritage community. They were good friends and we will miss them deeply," he added. Cary was a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former president of the organization, Beaudoin said. The replica plane that Gum and Cary were using when it crashed had its first test flight on June 14, according to the website for Wright B Flyer Inc. Lecocq said the two pilots had been keeping the aircraft at the airport. He said they had been able to get the biplane up between 4,000 to 5,000 feet, but would usually fly it at between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. "It's a very unfortunate incident," said Lecocq. He added that the Ohio State Highway Patrol was investigating the crash. Springfield is about 45 miles west of Columbus. http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/31/wright-brothers-replica-plane-crash-kills-2 Back to Top Experimental airplane crashes near Aurora airport, pilot killed John Morrisons E-Racer Varient project "X Treme" during construction. John Morrison of Aurora, was killed when this plane crashed about 7:48 a.m. near Granart Road and Camp Dean Road in Big Rock Township. A 73-year-old man who "loved flying" and survived two other crashes was killed today when a small experimental plane he built and was piloting crashed near Aurora on its first flight, officials said. The pilot, John Morrison of Aurora, was killed when the plane crashed about 7:48 a.m. near Granart Road and Camp Dean Road in Big Rock Township, said Kane County Sheriff Spokesman Lt. Patrick Gengler in an email statement. The plane, described by FAA officials as an E-Racer, was making a test flight and had never flown before, said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. He said Morrison called the control tower at Aurora Municipal Airport to return and land after experiencing trouble but the plane crashed before it could reach the airport, said Molinaro. According to FAA records, the plane was certified on May 31 and was described as a single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft. Records indicate that Morrison built the plane himself. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating today's crash. The plane had taken off from the airport and was heading north across Route 30 when it began to lose altitude for some reason, officials said. The plane soon crashed into a cornfield on the south side of Granart Road, Gengler said. As the plane was coming down, it made contact with an electrical line, causing a small power outage to the area, said Gengler. ComEd crews were on site trying to get the power restored, said Gengler. Morrison, an experienced pilot with a long history of flying experimental planes, was the only person on the plane and died on the scene, Gengler said. Gengler also said that Morrison was making a small flight this morning in the area to test the plane. "His wife described it as his passion. ... He loved flying," said Gengler. "The family is very stunned by this." Morrison was described by Gengler as a long-time Aurora man who is very well-known in the area and in local aviation circles. According to records, Morrison had previously owned a local body shop called Morrison Body and Paint Shop. He also had once worked for Aurora, an official said. Gengler said that there are several crashes in the area each year, some resulting in no fatalities. According to National Transportation Safety Board records, Morrison survived crashes in two other E-Racer airplanes that he had previously built over the past decade. On June 21, 2008, at about 12:30 p.m., Morrison had just departed Aurora Municipal Airport en-route to Frasca Field Airport in Urbana, when the engine speed started decreasing, according to an NTSB report about the incident. Morrison was at 2,000 feet and about one mile from the airport when he turned on a secondary fuel pump and then notified air traffic control that he was returning to the airport to land. But as he tried to return, he lost power completely and then the cockpit began to fill with smoke. Morrison notified controllers that the plane was filling with smoke and he then received clearance to land, according to the report. Seconds, later he told controllers that a fire had started in the cockpit near the fire- well of the plane, according to records. "Visibility and breathing were difficult due to the smoke," according to the report. As Morrison approached the runway, the report indicates that he was "intermittently losing visual contact with the runway due to the smoke in the cockpit." Morrison struggled to get the runway lined up and eventually made a hard landing which caused the left main landing gear to collapse and caused the plane to spin around and rest about 1,500 from the runway threshold, according to the report. "The pilot successfully evacuated the airplane, which was consumed by fire," according to the report. The report indicated that it officials were unable to locate the source of the fire. Morrison told officials he believed that crash was caused by a failure in the high-pressure fuel system. In a previous incident on Sept. 12, 2000 Morrison had to complete a "forced landing" when engine trouble occurred. He had flown out of Aurora Municipal Airport during a test flight in that airplane. According to records, the plane was "substantially damaged" in a bean field near Sugar Grove at about 5:30 p.m. where it went down after losing power. While that plane was destroyed, Morrison escaped without injury. He told officials that he had modified the engine and was testing it when he reported that the engine became flooded with fuel and quit. This afternoon a flatbed carrying the mangled wreckage of the plane slowly left the scene, as one of his friends and fellow pilots looked on. The man, who did not wish to give his name, said he had known Morrison for 10 - 15 years, and had great respect for his ability as both a plane builder and pilot. "He was a consumate builder - the best builder I've ever seen," the man said. He said Morrison could often be found in his hanger at the airport, working on his aircraft, and would often drop what he was doing to show visitors around his workspace. "I work a lot with foreign exchange students, and I'll often take them up flying, since a lot of them can't do that where they're from," the man said. "I'd always take them to see John, and he'd show them his plane and how he built it and everything." Morrison was also skilled at handling his aircraft in emergencies, and his friend said he marvelled that Morrison was able to safely land his plane during the 2008 incident. "His airplane caught on fire, and he got it down, which is an incredible job," the man said. "He was just a really good guy. I'm gonna miss him." Roch LaRocca, a fellow experimental plane enthusiast, had known Morrison for about four years. Morrison was featured on a Website run by LaRocca, who admired the Aurora man for his craftmanship. "The planes he built were just like factory built," said LaRocca. "I was always impressed with everything he built." http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-experimental-airplane- crashes-near-aurora-airport-pilot-killed-20110731,0,816843.story Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC