Flight Safety Information September 2, 2011 - No. 182 In This Issue FAA Safety Briefing - September/October 2011 Second plane this week skids off runway in India Husband of woman killed in medical copter crash files suit FAA Updates Flight-School Rules Back to Top Second plane this week skids off runway in India MUMBAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying 104 passengers skidded off the runway at Mumbai Airport on Friday, the second incident in a week to raise concerns that some Indian airports are over-stretched. Air traffic over India is on the rise as its fast-growing economy attracts business and its 1.2 billion population increasingly takes to the skies. New airports have been built in several cities but others such as Mumbai are heavily congested. The main runway at Mumbai -- India's most populous city -- was still closed late on Friday as authorities struggled to remove the plane. The Airbus 340 plane lost control shortly after landing on a flight from Istanbul. The passengers and the crew were evacuated and there were no injuries, Turkish Airlines said in a statement. Turkish Airlines said the incident happened "as a result of excessive rainfall" and the carrier and local authorities were still investigating the cause of the event. It was the second such mishap this week. On Monday, a Gulf Air plane skidded off the runway in Kerala's Kochi airport, which was also lashed by heavy rain. Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is no stranger to safety incidents. Over the last year it has suffered a series of power blackouts, including one that shut down air traffic control as four planes were preparing to land. Last year in May, an Air India Express airliner crashed and burst into flames outside Mangalore airport in Karnataka, killing 158 people in India's worst air disaster in a decade. India's airlines are expanding their fleets with massive orders for new planes as demand balloons. The country has revamped ailing airports in three major cities -- New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad -- but planes often circle over Mumbai due to congestion. Smaller cities suffer similar issues. *********** Date: 02-SEP-2011 Time: 04:15 LT Type: Airbus A340-311 Operator: THY Turkish Airlines Registration: TC-JDM C/n / msn: 115 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 97 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: None Location: Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport - VABB/BOM - India Phase: Landing Nature: Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Atatürk International Airport - LTBA/IST Destination airport: Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport - VABB/BOM Narrative: A THY Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-311, performing flight TK-720, plane has skidded off the runway after landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (former Sahar International Airport, VABB/BOM), but no one had been injured. The Airbus A340-311 flight from Atatürk International Airport (LTBA/IST), Istanbul, was carrying 97 passengers and crew. It is not clear what caused the incident. Officials said the runway had been inspected 15 minutes before the plane landed. A Mumbai airport spokesperson said the Turkish Airlines plane "veered" off the runway after landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (VABB/BOM) around 0415 (2245 GMT). www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Husband of woman killed in medical copter crash files suit The husband of a patient killed in last week's medical helicopter crash is going to court, claiming the operator took unnecessary risks by running with low fuel. Terry Tacoronte's husband, Victor, filed a lawsuit Thursday in Clay County Circuit Court against Air Methods Corp. of Englewood, Colo., LifeNet Air Medical Services and Heartland Regional Medical Center. The lawsuit contends that Air Methods didn't put enough fuel in the Eurocopter AS350 to transport Tacoronte from a hospital in Bethany, Mo., to Liberty Hospital. "Terry Tacoronte was killed as a direct result of the careless, improper, negligent reckless actions of the defendants," the suit says. Officials from Air Methods and the hospital declined to comment Thursday afternoon. The lawsuit alleges that Air Methods didn't have a policy in place for transporting patients with adequate fuel reserves. "This was more than negligence. It was an inexcusable accident based on a flawed operating policy," said Kansas City attorney Gary C. Robb. Robb said medical helicopters rarely run on a full fuel tank because of weight issues associated with the aircraft and the onboard equipment. The National Transportation Safety Board has been looking at the aircraft's fuel level in its investigation of last Friday night's crash in Clay County that killed all four aboard. Federal aviation officials said the pilot indicated he wanted to stop for fuel at the Midwest National Air Center near Excelsior Springs. A preliminary report on the crash is due within the next week, but the full investigation probably won't be complete for about a year or so. Robb said all indications point to the aircraft running out of fuel. Robb said the pilot couldn't be blamed in this case because he was only following corporate policy. Air Methods bills itself as the world's largest air ambulance operator, with a fleet of about 300 helicopters and about 2,700 full-time employees. The company had total revenues of $562 million in 2010. Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/01/3115509/husband-of-woman- killed-in-medical.html#ixzz1WnhV4C20 Back to Top FAA Updates Flight-School Rules The FAA on Wednesday published a final rule with updates to regulations that affect pilot, flight instructor, and flight-school certification. The rule allows pilot applicants to apply concurrently for a private pilot certificate and an instrument rating, and permits flight schools to apply for a combined private pilot certification and instrument rating course. The rule also allows pilot schools to offer internet-based training programs even if they don't have a physical ground-training facility and revises the definition of "complex airplane" to include airplanes with full authority digital engine control (FADEC). The proposed rule would have replaced the 10 hours of complex airplane time required for commercial pilot applicants with 10 hours of advanced instrument training, but that provision has not been adopted in the final rule. The FAA published the proposed changes in 2009, and received more than 400 comments. The most significant change from the original proposal relates to the proficiency checks for pilots of experimental turbojet-powered aircraft, taking into account whether or not those pilots fly with passengers. Other aspects of the rule revise the procedures for converting a foreign pilot license to a U.S. pilot certificate. The FAA said it has determined all of these changes are needed to enhance safety, respond to changes in the aviation industry, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens. http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/FAAUpdatesFlightSchoolRules_205303-1.html Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC