Flight Safety Information August 22, 2011 - No. 173 In This Issue Canadian Jet Crash Kills 12 NTSB TO ASSIST CANADIANS IN AVIATION ACCIDENT Arctic 'poses some big challenges' for pilots, says expert FAA Imposes Stricter Rules for Flights in Icing...Conditions American Airlines Flight Makes Two Emergency Landings FAA Issues Ethics Rule for Safety Inspectors Petrobras Helicopter Crashes In Atlantic Boeing expects ICAO 747-8 wake ruling "very soon" Canada Lags In Runway Safety Regs, TSB Official Says After airline grounding, Peru's military ferries tourists to capital Burbank businessman arrested over feeding of birds near airport GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Canadian Jet Crash Kills 12 Canadian officials say a lucky coincidence may be the reason three people survived a plane crash in the remote Arctic wilderness Saturday. Some 500 members of Canada's military, along with a team of investigators from the Transportation Safety Board, were less than two kilometers from the crash scene, getting ready to participate in a mock airline crash training exercise scheduled for Monday when the plane went down on the approach to the airport in the small town of Resolute Bay. The rescuers were able to arrive at the First Air Boeing 737 passenger jet by helicopter within minutes of the accident and assist the three survivors, who are listed in stable condition. First Air says 15 people were onboard the downed plane, including a crew of four. An airline spokesman confirmed all four crew were among the 12 dead in the crash. The official cause of the accident has not been determined, but thick fog was reported in the area at the time. The plane's flight recorders have been recovered. First Air says the charter flight was travelling between Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories and Resolute Bay, a small, remote town located nearly 600 kilometers from the North Pole, in the Arctic territory of Nunavut. Resolute Bay is often used as a launching point for North Pole expeditions. http://blogs.voanews.com/ ******** Status: Preliminary Date: 20 AUG 2011 Time: 12:40 Type: Boeing 737-210C Operator: First Air Registration: C-GNWN C/n / msn: 21067/414 First flight: 1975-05-08 (36 years 4 months) Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A (HK3) Crew: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Passengers: Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 11 Total: Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 15 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 8 km (5 mls) from Resolute Airport, NU (YRB) (Canada) Phase: Approach (APR) Nature: Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Yellowknife Airport, NT (YZF) (YZF/CYZF), Canada Destination airport: Resolute Airport, NU (YRB) (YRB/CYRB), Canada Flightnumber: 6560 Narrative: A Boeing 737-200 passenger plane was destroyed when it flew into terrain while on approach to Resolute Bay Airport, NU (YRB), Canada. There were 11 passengers and four crew members on board. At this time, 12 people are thought to be dead and three injured. The airplane had departed Yellowknife Airport, NT (YZF) on a domestic service, flight 6560, to Resolute Bay. Weather reported about the time of the accident (12:50 local / 17:50 Z): METAR CYRB 201900Z 15008KT 8SM VCFG OVC006 07/06 A2985 RMK SC7 VIS N-E 3 FG TOP OF HILL SLP113= METAR CYRB 201800Z 19008KT 10SM VCFG SCT003 OVC010 07/07 A2983 RMK SF3ST5 SLP108= www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top NTSB TO ASSIST CANADIANS IN AVIATION ACCIDENT Washington - The NTSB dispatched a team of investigators to assist the government of Canada in its investigation of yesterday's crash of First Air flight 6560, a Boeing 737-200 combi airplane. On August 20, 2011 at about 2:30 p.m. CDT, the airplane, en route from Yellowknife Airport to Resolute Bay Airport, crashed on approach, approximately 5 miles East of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada. There are reportedly twelve fatalities three survivors. The NTSB has designated air safety investigator Joe Sedor as the traveling U.S. Accredited Representative. Accompanying Mr. Sedor will be NTSB Operational Factors and Airworthiness investigators and representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Pratt & Whitney and Boeing. The investigation is being conducted by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which will release all information. The TSB phone number is: (819) 994-8053 and email address is: airops@bst.tsb.gc.ca www.ntsb.gov Back to Top Arctic 'poses some big challenges' for pilots, says expert MONTREAL - When it comes to air travel, very few places compare to Canada's North, experts say. Limited infrastructure, unpredictable weather, a unique solar cycle and even animal migrations all combine in the vast region to make it one of the most challenging environments in which to maintain and operate an aircraft. On Saturday, Canadians were reminded just how difficult flying in that environment can be when First Air Flight 6560 crashed just outside of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, killing 12 people and seriously injuring three others. Officials are now scrambling to determine what went wrong, but according to Yvan- Miville Des Chenes, a retired air traffic controller who helped guide planes in and out of the North for 30 years, narrowing down the cause of the crash may be difficult. Any number of factors could have been at play. "It's a very tough world," Des Chenes said. "The vastness of the Arctic area poses some big challenges ... especially for the air operations." The majority of airports in northern Quebec and Nunavut have short, unpaved runways that are lined with gravel. First Air has installed rock deflectors and metal plates on their large aircraft, Des Chenes said, which prevent loose stones from flying into the engines. In all but the largest communities, a paved runway is out of the question. "(The cement) would have to be flown in. It's impossible to fly asphalt or concrete. You'd have to make it on site, and the sheer price would be out of proportion." Mother Nature doesn't make things any easier. During the winter months, the sun lights the runways for just a few hours a day, or not at all. Winds howl across vast, undulating plains and the temperature plummets, freezing engine oil within minutes. When the short summer season finally arrives, pilots face a new series of challenges, Des Chenes said. "Because of the nature of the ground there with bodies of water, when it gets warm in the summertime, the water is still very cold, and that creates fog very rapidly," he explained. "(Resolute Bay) is right next to a big body of water, so fog rolls in often." If it isn't fog moving across the runway, it can be migrating caribou. A fence had to be installed recently in Kuujjuaq, Que., to keep the animals from crossing in front of planes, Des Chenes said. Taking off and landing in these conditions - in both summer and winter - requires reliable, highly trained crews on the ground, and in northern communities, those positions are filled almost exclusively by members of the local Inuit population. When hunting season arrives, good help gets harder to find. "Sometimes we had to delay flights because the airport operator is out hunting," Des Chenes said. Despite these challenges, air travel remains a necessity across much of the North. Most communities rely on planes to deliver everything from food to medical supplies, and if someone needs urgent medical care, an aircraft is often the only way out. The airlines that operate in the region have exemplary safety records, said Des Chenes. Between them, First Air, Air Inuit and Creebec airlines have seen a handful of serious accidents in recent memory, but only a few of those have been fatal. Pilots are re-tested every six months, just like in the southern areas of the country, said Des Chenes, and they know the terrain extremely well. Before getting in the driver's seat, a new pilot will fly countless hours alongside a more experienced one. Des Chenes said the fact that so many planes take off and land each day in the North without incident is a testament to the dedication of the men and women who work the region's skies and runways. "I've crossed oceans and seen volcanoes erupting under me, but northern Canada - especially in the wintertime ... it's like nowhere else." Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/ Back to Top FAA Imposes Stricter Rules for Flights in Icing Conditions By Alan Levin Commuter-airline pilots must take additional steps to combat ice buildup on wings under rules released today by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Prompted by a series of incidents, the FAA will require airlines flying planes weighing less than 60,000 pounds to install sensors that detect ice and warn pilots, or tell their pilots to automatically switch on anti-icing equipment sooner than has been the case. The FAA said in the rule, which takes effect in 60 days, that there has been a series of cases in which pilots didn't realize ice was forming on a plane's wings and didn't activate anti-icing equipment. Even microscopic layers of ice crystals can destroy wings' ability to keep a plane aloft. "This rule is meant to prevent that from happening again by giving flightcrews a clear means of knowing when to activate the airframe ice protection system," the FAA said. The rule will cost airlines $12.7 million while saving them $27.2 million by preventing crashes and deaths, the agency said. Regional jets such as the Bombardier CRJ-100 and the Embraer ERJ-145 weigh less than 60,000 pounds. The majority of the 2,500 planes flown by U.S. regional airlines will have to comply with the rule, according to data from the Washington- based Regional Airline Association, whose members include AMR Corp. (AMR)'s American Eagle and Great Lakes Aviation Ltd. (GLUX) "We want pilots to have the best technology available to detect icing conditions so they can take the steps necessary to ensure passenger safety," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. American Eagle The FAA said its research into icing hazards began after the Oct. 31, 1994, crash of an American Eagle ATR-72 turboprop plane in Roselawn, Indiana, due to ice, killing all 68 people aboard. U.S. and European regulators had not done enough to protect planes from ice, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board found in its investigation. The NTSB, in correspondence between the two agencies, praised the new standards while asking the FAA to broaden the rule to larger planes such as Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 turboprop. The FAA declined, saying there was no evidence that these planes are susceptible to icing. Larger jets made by Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. (BA) use hot air from jet engines to melt ice off wings and have not been as plagued by ice hazards as smaller turboprops, the FAA said. http://www.bloomberg.com/ Back to Top American Airlines Flight Makes Two Emergency Landings An American Airlines flight made two emergency landings Sunday, once for a medical emergency and then a second time for a problem with its landing gear. Passengers aboard an American Airlines flight got a double dose of excitement Sunday when the plane made two emergency landings, once for a medical emergency and then a second time for a problem with its landing gear. Flight 223 departed from Boston on its way to LAX when a woman passenger experienced a medical emergency. The pilot diverted to Louisville International Airport and landed safely where the woman was taken off the plane, according to Trish Burke, Louisville Airport spokesperson. The woman reportedly had a heart condition and kept going in and out of consciousness, according to passenger Chris Buchanan. After about three hours on the ground, the plane took off for LAX. "I felt a bump as we were taking off but didn't think much about it," he said. Later, the pilot told passengers that Louisville airport officials found one of the planes tires on the runway and they would be making another emergency landing at LAX. "It's a little scary, I was coming back from vacation with my wife and two boys," Buchanan said. "My boys were fascinated and scared at the same time. But we didn't feel any panic by the crew or the passengers." The plane flew by the control tower at LAX so officials could inspect the damage before heading over the ocean to dump excess fuel. As they approached, Buchanan said he saw a spotlight from an LAPD helicopter lighting up the planes landing gear and emergency crews gathering on the runway. "When we saw emergency vehicles, we said 'wow that's pretty serious,'" he said. "It comforts you and makes your stressed out at the same time." Air traffic controllers cleared Runway 25 Left, and the plane touched down about 2:30 a.m. No injuries were reported, but a photographer at the scene said some sparks shot from what appeared to be a mangled piece of landing gear. "One we landed, everybody kind of cheered," Buchanan said. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/128149963.html Back to Top FAA Issues Ethics Rule for Safety Inspectors By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) The Federal Aviation Administration issued on Friday an ethics rule requiring safety inspectors and managers to wait two years after leaving the agency before taking certain jobs at any airline they previously oversaw. The restrictions stem from a 2008 scandal sparked by cozy ties between some local FAA managers and Southwest Airlines Co., the largest U.S. low-cost carrier. Agency managers knowingly permitted Southwest to carry passengers on thousands of flights without first completing mandatory safety inspections. The abuses rocked the FAA and prompted a congressional outcry. Dallas-based Southwest agreed in 2009 to pay a $7.5 million federal penalty for missing required structural inspections on 46 of its older-model jets. Local FAA officials had knowingly allowed the planes to make nearly 60,000 flights before the inspections were completed. An independent, blue-ribbon study for the Department of Transportation faulted close ties between certain FAA officials and an ex-agency manager, who was hired by Southwest to represent the airline in its dealings with the local FAA office. The ethics rule "establishes clear restrictions that will improve our safety culture here at the FAA and throughout the aviation industry," said FAA chief Randy Babbitt. Under the rule, an FAA inspector or manager who had direct responsibility for inspecting or overseeing the operations of an airline is barred for two years from serving as a consultant for that carrier, or representing it "in any matter before the FAA." The FAA determined that "aviation safety could be compromised" if a former inspector or manager "is able to exert undue influence" over agency employees "with whom he or she had established close working relationships" while at the agency. The tough new post-employment restrictions, however, only cover local FAA officials and don't extend to regional or headquarters personnel. They also don't apply to any officials at local FAA offices who weren't directly responsible for overseeing a specific airline. The agency already has implemented policies barring the hiring of airline employees and then immediately assigning them to inspect the maintenance or oversee the operations of their former employer. The same two-year "cooling off" period applies. The final rule doesn't make any distinctions between FAA officials who retire or decide to leave for other reasons. It also established the same ethical standard for former FAA employees hired by large carriers, commuter airlines or other types of operators. But the FAA decided it would be unnecessarily burdensome to apply the restrictions to former FAA inspectors hired for jobs that don't involve personally representing airlines before the agency. While the 2009 penalty was less than the $10.2 million proposed by the FAA, it was the second-largest penalty ever levied against a carrier. And the FAA also demanded a lengthy series of revisions to Southwest's maintenance practices. The carrier agreed to make various changes, including commitments to rewrite its maintenance manuals; increase the number of maintenance officials on hand for certain tasks; and grant "FAA inspectors improved access to information used for tracking maintenance and engineering activities." The 2009 penalty agreement , coupled with a series of widely publicized maintenance problems at AMR Corp.'s American Airlines that same year, sparked furious criticism of the airline industry and FAA regulators. Because much of the criticism alleged that regulators were too "cozy" with airlines, since then the FAA adopted internal changes designed to create distance between the agency and carriers. Back to Top Petrobras Helicopter Crashes In Atlantic A helicopter taxi rented out by Brazilian oil major Petrobras crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rio de Janeiro on Friday. Three of the four bodies were recovered 324 feet below sea level on the ocean floor, approximately 62 miles from the coast where much of Brazil's newest and deepest oil discoveries are taking place. The company said that the rental helicopter owned by Senior Taxi Aereo asked for authorization for an emergency landing at the Macaé Airport in Rio on Friday and that emergency procedures were immediately put into place. The airport said it lost contact with the Senior Taxi helicopter around 17:00 local time, according to Petrobras. No Petrobras employees were killed in the crash, but the two pilots, an engineer from Brazilian consulting firm Engevix and an inspector from Brasitest were also killed. Three of the four bodies have been recovered. The Brazilian Air Force is looking for the fourth body. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/08/21/petrobras-helicopter-crashes-in- atlantic/ Back to Top Boeing expects ICAO 747-8 wake ruling "very soon" Boeing is expecting a formal announcement "very soon" from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regarding the wake separation requirements for both freighter and passenger models of the 747-8, said 747 vice president of engineering, Todd Zarfos. Zarfos said all the data for the vortex evaluations have been submitted to ICAO and the results were "in line with what we expected" for the aircraft's 68.5m (224ft 7in) wingspan. During its flight trials, Boeing compared the wake of a 747-400 to that of the -8F, seeking to carry over the 7.4km (4nm) separation requirement that currently applies to the 747-400. With its now-awarded US Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency certifications, Boeing expects to deliver the first 747-8F to launch customer Cargolux in early September. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Canada Lags In Runway Safety Regs, TSB Official Says Canada has a rate of runway incursions that is three times that of the U.S., a rate of runway excursions that is higher than in the U.S., and wet runway incidents that are on the order of four times that of the U.S., says Mark Clitsome, director of air investigations for the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada. Additionally, controlled flight into terrain incidents are 5% of all accidents in Canada but account for 25% of all fatalities. "Canada is lagging behing the U.S. in regulations for these types of incidents," Clitsome said at the Air Line Pilots Association Air Safety Forum in Washington last week. Noting that many runways at Canada's airports cannot be extended, Clitsome said the TSB is recommending equipping more runways with engineered mass arresting systems. http://www.aviationweek.com Back to Top After airline grounding, Peru's military ferries tourists to capital LIMA, Peru (AP) - A Peruvian military plane has flown 75 tourists to Lima after they were stranded in the highland city of Cuzco by the grounding of a commercial airline over alleged safety lapses. State aeronautics safety official Ramon Gamarra said the tourists were flown to Peru's capital Sunday so they could make international flights. He said there are plans to ferry more tourists out of Cuzco, which is the gateway to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, on Monday. Authorities suspended all Peruvian Airlines flights last Thursday, citing maintenance shortcomings. The airline was Peru's No. 2 domestic carrier after LAN, with 16 percent of inland flights. President Ollanta Humala has announced plans for Peru to again have a national flag carrier. Aero Peru went bankrupt in 1999. ******** Peru suspends operations of Peruvian Airlines The Peruvian Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) has suspended the operations permit of Peruvian Airlines for 90 days after inspections of its maintenance base uncovered "lack of compliance with [mandatory safety] standards". A DGAC source says the suspension could lead to the withdrawal of the AOC should the airline "fail to address the detected shortcomings". A Peruvian Airlines spokesman confirmed the suspension to Air Transport Intelligence, and said the company will comply with the DGAC mandate, although "under protest". "All potential findings are related to our Boeing 737-200 fleet. There is no reason to suspend also the flights of our two last generation Boeing 737-300s, but the DGAC suspended also their operation, which is beyond our understanding", he says. Peruvian Airlines was founded in 2009 by racing car pilot Cesar Cataño, operating a network of domestic flights from Lima to Arequipa, Tacna, Cusco, Ilo, Iquitos and Piura. In a TV interview, Cataño attributes the suspension to a "black hand [acting against him]" and "dirty tricks of the competition". Cataño, whose real name is Adolfo Carhuallanqui, has been accused by Peru's anti-drug public prosecutor Sonia Medina of money laundering. With the advance of the DGAC investigations, Cataño recently offered Peru's newly elected president Ollanta Humala to convert his airline into the new national flag carrier that Humala aims to develop. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Burbank businessman arrested over feeding of birds near airport Officials worry that hundreds of pigeons flocking near Bob Hope Airport could pose a danger to aircraft. An aircraft approaches a runway behind planes parked by the main terminal at Bob Hope Airport. Officials are worried that flocks of pigeons flying over the airport could result in dangerous bird strikes by aircraft. For nearly a year, officials have been trying to figure out what to do with Charles Douglas. The 59-year-old owner of Precise Roofing Co. in Burbank has been feeding flocks of pigeons since at least September 2010, officials say, which - beyond violating municipal code - has created a major safety hazard for jet airplanes using the nearby Bob Hope Airport as the birds' numbers have grown into the hundreds. On Friday, after two court citations and a bench warrant for feeding the pigeons, Burbank police arrested Douglas at his business on Hollywood Way and Tulare Avenue. Airport police Cmdr. Allen Schmitt said a plane strikes a bird at the airport once every two months on average. But the rate of strikes has increased recently, with five incidents in July alone, he added. "Most of those were multiple - 10 to 20 to 30 birds at once," Schmitt said. "Now it's becoming extraordinarily dangerous." In July, a Southwest Airlines flight was diverted to Ontario after it flew into 20 to 30 pigeons during takeoff, he said. "A pigeon is not a problem, but a flock - that's a problem," he said. Douglas' arrest was the culmination of months of legal wrangling to stop the feeding. In December 2010 and again in February, he was found guilty of feeding pigeons so as to create a nuisance, court documents show. On July 31, Douglas was again cited for feeding pigeons, Schmitt said. The arrest warrant was issued Aug. 11. "Our interest in this and the reason we are so invested - we're not talking about 20 or 30 pigeons in the middle of nowhere; there are upward of 200 to 300 to 400 pigeons flying over runways," Schmitt said. Douglas, a Glendale resident, was arrested on suspicion of disobeying the court order and creating a public nuisance by feeding pigeons, according to police. Burbank Assistant City Atty. Denny Wei said the maximum penalty for a conviction on one of the misdemeanors is six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. For Douglas' employees, and those who work at adjacent businesses, the arrest was a surprise. Jared Garay, who works at the nearby Hub Network, said he regularly saw "more birds than you're ever gonna see in most circumstances." "I always wondered why all these birds are there," he added. White streaks of bird feces coat the black gates behind Precise Roofing Co. Gray and white feathers dot the sidewalk. Chaz Miseroy, an employee at the motorcycle shop next to Dougals' roofing company, said he had seen a lot of pigeons but never saw any feedings. "Whether it's true or not, I don't know," Miseroy said. "If it is true, what's more important? Feeding birds that can feed themselves or risking the lives of people on a plane?" Multiple attempts to reach Douglas were unsuccessful. Bird strikes can cause significant damage to an airplane, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, recalling that about 11 years ago, a plane leaving Los Angeles International Airport hit a bird, damaging the engine and causing chunks of it to rain down on Dockweiler State Beach, near picnickers. Bob Hope and other commercial airports are required to have wildlife mitigation plans, but those requirements don't apply outside airport grounds, Gregor said. "Obviously it's not a good idea to attract wildlife to areas around the airport. Threats of a bird strike are a very real one," he said. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bob-hope-pigeons- 20110822,0,1666029.story Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY My name is Santiago Cerna and I'm currently pursuing a Master degree at Embry-Riddle University. Right now, I'm in the deadline of finishing my Final Project which is called "Weather Cockpit Displays: FIS-B vs. Onboard Weather Radar". In order to complete it I've created a survey - kindly seeking for pilots and student pilots who might be interested in taking it. The survey contains nine simple questions pointed to discover the human factors that are caused by the use of both Weather Cockpit Displays. Overall, this project is based in the paradigm that the primary goal of the aviation weather system is the accident prevention. However, a ten year accident statistic report deducted that, the 70% of air travel delays and 23% of passenger airlines and cargo carriers accidents happened in US are attributed to weather-related. In response to these statistics and for unifying the weather broadcast system in a sole source of information in the national airspace, the FAA decided to launch the FIS-B (Flight Information Service-Broadcast) Program Implementation. According to the Requirement and Technical Concepts for Aviation (RTCA) organization said, the initial implementation of FIS-B is not intended to replace existing voice radio FIS services, but to supplement or complement established sources of weather and operational information. Therefore, the objective of this project is to analyze how much pilots know about FIS-B and to establish which system gives more viable information. Attached is the link of the survey: Cockpit Weather Displays: FIS-B vs. Onboard Radar http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JHP75F7 Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC