Flight Safety Information September 28, 2011 - No. 200 In This Issue Cathay, Dragonair crews heed warnings on separation loss Investigation under way into airliners' near-collision over Hong Kong NTSB Due to Release Early Report on Reno Air Crash talian ENAC-ENAV: technical panel on safety Two Washington universities land federal aviation biofuels research grants Aviation industry asks gov't to deal with safety systems to regain 'category 1' status (Philippines) Aircraft compete for $1.65 million prize Virgin Galactic is close to finalizing the initial flight crews Cathay, Dragonair crews heed warnings on separation loss Cathay Pacific Airways said a loss of separation incident that occurred on 18 September between one of its Boeing 777-300ERs and an Airbus A330 that was operated by its subsidiary Dragonair presented "no risk of collision" after both crews responded to traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) warnings. Cathay Pacific flight CX841 from New York and Dragonair KA433 from Kaoshiung were holding approximately 40nm (74km) southwest of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) at around 13:00 local time after adverse weather conditions caused extensive delays at the airport. The bad weather caused the aircraft to be restricted to narrow tracks when descending in the hold, Cathay said. "The CX841 and KA433 aircraft were at the same altitude southwest of HKIA when a loss of separation resulted," the airline said. "The pilots of the two aircraft properly responded to their respective TCAS warnings and advisories, with KA433 climbing and CX841 descending immediately to resolve the conflict and maintain appropriate separation," the airline added. Both aircraft landed safely shortly before 14:00 local time. "At the closest, they were one nautical mile apart when abeam from each other with increasing vertical separation," Cathay said Both aircraft's TCAS equipment generated appropriate alerts and the pilots took immediate action to maintain adequate separation," the carrier added. The airline has reported the incident to Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department. The adverse weather conditions during the afternoon on 18 September led to eight Cathay Pacific flights having to divert to Taipei, Kaoshiung, Macau and Guangzhou, with their arrivals at HKIA delayed by approximately two to three hours. In addition, two freighter services and a passenger flight from London declared fuel emergencies while at the requested holding position. A freighter diverted to Macau, while the other two flights landed at HKIA. "All landed without incident with sufficient spare fuel ranging from 30-50 minutes of flight," Cathay said. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Investigation under way into airliners' near-collision over Hong Kong (CNN) -- An investigation is under way into a previously unrevealed incident last week in which two jetliners nearly collided over Hong Kong, aviation authorities said Tuesday. The September 18 incident reportedly did not come to light publicly until an article revealing it was published Tuesday in the English-language newspaper The Standard of Hong Kong. The two jets, carrying more than 600 passengers and crew members, came within seconds of colliding, the newspaper reported, citing a former Hong Kong aviation official. According to a statement issued by Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department, a Cathay Pacific Airways flight that was bound for Hong Kong International Airport came within 1 nautical mile (2 km) of a Dragonair A330 airplane that was in a holding pattern for landing. The international standard for separation between aircraft is 5 nautical miles (9.26 kilometers) horizontally or 1,000 feet (304) meters vertically), the department said. The incident happened during a stormy afternoon when aircraft were stacked up for landing over Hong Kong, the department said. An air traffic controller was trying to shuffle waiting aircraft around so that the Cathay Pacific flight, which was low on fuel, could land more quickly. That's when controllers noticed the flights were too close. The pilots of both aircraft failed to respond to commands to change course at one point or another during the incident, the department said. Collision avoidance systems on both aircraft activated after the crew of the Cathay Pacific flight failed to respond to a command to climb to a higher altitude. Cathay Pacific said in a statement that "both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair pilots had taken appropriate actions under the circumstances to re-establish standard separation between the two aircraft." The pilots could see each other's planes during the incident and there was no risk of collision, the department and Cathay Pacific said. But The Standard quoted Hong Kong's former civil aviation chief Albert Lam Kwong-yu as saying that, based on normal speeds of the airliners involved, they were about six seconds from colliding. "The chance of a crash is absolutely high," the paper quoted Lam as saying. "The passengers really came back from hell." The flights involved were Cathay 841 from New York to Hong Kong, and Dragonair 433 from Kaoshiung, Taiwan, to Hong Kong. The Cathay jet had 317 people aboard and the Dragonair jet had 296 aboard, according to aviation officials. Investigators have ruled out air traffic controller fatigue as a cause of the near-collision, the department said. The air controller in charge of the flights was appropriately rested and has since returned to work, the agency said. Investigators will examine air traffic procedures, staffing levels and flight crew operations, the department said. Hong Kong has been the site of four other near-collision incidents in the last 11 years. -- In September 2010, a Cathay Pacific plane taking off for London after midnight had to deviate from the runway center line at high speed because the tail of another plane was too close to its path. -- In July 2006, a Dragonair Airbus and a Northwest Airlines Boeing -- both heading for Tokyo -- were reported to be just 100 meters apart vertically while 80 nautical miles east of the Hong Kong airport. -- In September 2004, a China Southern Airlines plane leaving Hong Kong and an incoming Malaysia Airlines cargo plane came within 304 meters of each other 55 nautical miles south of the airport. -- In June 2001, a Dragonair Airbus to Shanghai and a Cathay Pacific flight arriving from Seoul were reported 210 meters apart 110 nautical miles east of Hong Kong. Back to Top NTSB Due to Release Early Report on Reno Air Crash Federal investigators are expected to release a preliminary summary of their probe of a racing plane crash that killed 11 people in Reno, Nevada and injured at least 80. A National Transportation Safety Board official says there won't be any conclusions in the report due out Friday. Key clues are expected to come from an onboard data box and camera equipment believed to be from the plane. NTSB member Mark Rosekind has said investigators collected numerous spectator videos and photos along with "tremendous amounts" of other material from the scene of the Sept. 16 crash during the National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport. Florida pilot Jimmy Leeward was among those killed when his modified World War II-era P-51 Mustang fighter plane crashed nose-first into a section of VIP box seats. http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/west/2011/09/26/191901.htm ********** NTSB Identification: WPR11MA454 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Friday, September 16, 2011 in Reno, NV Aircraft: NORTH AMERICAN/AERO CLASSICS P-51D, registration: N79111 Injuries: 11 Fatal,66 Serious. This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. On September 16, 2011, about 1626 Pacific daylight time, an experimental North America P-51D, N79111, impacted terrain following a loss of control while maneuvering at Reno Stead Airport, Reno, Nevada. The airplane was registered to Aero-Trans Corp, Ocala, Florida, and operated by the pilot as Race 177 under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Casualties on the ground included 10 fatalities and 74 injured. As of the time of this preliminary report, eight of the injured remain hospitalized, some in critical condition. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed for the local air race flight, which departed from Reno Stead Airport about 10 minutes before the accident. The airplane was participating in the Reno National Championship Air Races in the last event of the day. The airplane had completed several laps and was in a steep left turn towards the home pylon when, according to photographic evidence, the airplane suddenly banked momentarily to the left before banking to the right, turning away from the race course, and pitching to a steep nose-high attitude. Witnesses reported and photographic evidence indicates that a piece of the airframe separated during these maneuvers. After roll and pitch variations, the airplane descended in an extremely nose-low attitude and collided with the ground in the box seat area near the center of the grandstand seating area. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration examined the wreckage on site. They documented the debris field and identified various components of the airplane's control system and control surfaces. The wreckage was removed to a secure storage facility for detailed examination at a later date. The airplane's ground crew noted that the airplane had a telemetry system that broadcast data to a ground station as well as recorded it to a box on board the airplane. The crew provided the ground station telemetry data, which includes engine parameters and global positioning satellite system data to the NTSB for analysis. The onboard data box, which sustained crush damage, was sent to the NTSB's Vehicle Recorder laboratory for examination. Investigators recovered pieces of a camera housing and multiple detached memory cards from the airplane's onboard camera that were in the debris field. The memory cards and numerous still and video image recordings were also sent to the Vehicle Recorders laboratory for evaluation. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Reno Air Race Association are parties to the investigation. www.ntsb.gov Back to Top Italian ENAC-ENAV: technical panel on safety in collaboration with "Fondazione 8 ottobre 2001" and the Flight Safety Foundation di Washington Rome, Italy - Part of a series of international meetings (WAPA) - "It was held this afternoon, at the Directorate General of ENAC, the meeting on safety which was attended by ENAC, ENAV, the Foundation October 8, 2001 and the heads of the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) of Washington, the association which has been dealing with aviation safety since 1945. The occasion makes part of a series of international meetings sponsored by the Foundation October 8, 2001, a member of the Flight Safety Foundation as part of ceremonies for the tenth anniversary of the tragic accident at Linate. Today's technical panel was also attended by delegates of the International Air Safety Seminar (IASS) on behalf of the FSF. Since 1947, IASS has been the entity responsible for organising annual worldwide meetings during which aviation institutions and operators could discuss and compare matters regarding the security. The meeting, held in a cordial and constructive climate, addressed issues concerning matters of safety covering also the concern expressed by the American Foundation in regards to ENAC's eternal problem of staff shortage, especially the number of inspectors of flight activity. Among the various initiatives that emerged from the discussion, international workshops for air operators and representatives of the judiciary have been proposed. These meetings will be aimed at increasing their knowledge about aviation and the importance of access to documentation in order to carry out complete technical investigations. Among today's participants, there were the Director General of ENAC Alessio Quaranta, Director General of ENAV Massimo Garbini, ENAC's Deputy Director General Benedetto Marasą, the President of the "Fondazione 8 ottobre" Paulo Pettinaroli, and delegations of the Flight Safety Foundation and International Air Safety Seminar, led by Bill Voss". http://www.avionews.com/index.php?corpo=see_news_home.php&news_id=1134274&pagina_chiamante=index.ph p Back to Top Two Washington universities land federal aviation biofuels research grants U.W. and W.S.U will study turning Washington trees like these into jet fuel, under a federal grant. Washington state universities will receive big chunks of $80 million in federal Department of Agriculture grants to develop aviation biofuels, as will be announced by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at Sea-Tac International Airport Wednesday. Half of the grants, or $40 million, will go to a six-university team, headed by the University of Washington and including Washington State University, that will investigate turning "woody biomass" into aviation fuels. This team will work with the entire forest products supply chain, to promote the construction and operation of bio- refineries, although not necessarily in Washington, he said. The second $40 million grant will go to a seven-university team led by Washington State University, and including the University of Washington, to look at a range of green sources for biofuels, including trees and other agricultural plants, Vilsack said. Both grants will extend for five years. The two grants are just the local portions of $136 million in nationwide research and development grants to public and private-sector organizations to develop aviation biofuels, also announced Wednesday. Any aviation fuels produced in Washington would be used by the military, as well as possibly by commercial carriers, Vilsack said in an interview. "This basically dovetails the effort announced during the rural tour the president took, when the Navy announced a partnership between three agencies to build commercial refineries to develop drop-in fuels for general and aviaon use," he said. "The Navy will, with these bio-refineries, purchase fuel being produced under the Defense Production Act." The federal initiative meshes with a local study released in May, that said that Washington state's aerospace and agricultural industries make it well positioned to become a leader in bio aviation fuels. In July, aerospace organization ASTM International ruled that biofuels can now be used in commercial airlines, without any mechanical conversions at all. http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2011/09/two-washington-universities-land.html?page=2 Back to Top Aviation industry asks gov't to deal with safety systems to regain 'category 1' status (Philippines) APART from the call of domestic airline companies for a fair open skies policy, the government should also double its efforts in improving the country's aviation safety system if it wants to get a large number of tourists. Philippine Airlines assistant vice president for government affairs Jose Perez de Tagle said that it is not only reciprocity in open skies policy that they are actively pushing, industry players are also hoping that the country will regain the "category 1" status of its aviation safety system after it was downgraded by US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to category 2 in 2008. "A rating upgrade is important if the country wants to boost its tourism industry, apart from the efforts on aggressive marketing promotions, maintaining peace and order as well as product development," de Tagle said in an interview. Important A rating upgrade is important especially for airline companies that have plans to either mount or expand operations in United States. De Tagle said the government should urgently address the issue as this has already burdened airline companies. The FAA downgraded the Philippines' civil aviation rating to category 2, citing policies and systems that were below standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the United Nations, including the lack of qualified safety personnel. According to FAA, category 2 means a country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or that its civil aviation authority is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping or inspection procedure. But de Tagle said the country's aviation safety system downgrade has nothing to do with the airlines. "It is the government that doesn't have resources and trained safety personnel that operate, audit and regulate," he said. Trainings He said airline companies constantly conduct trainings to improve their workforce as well as enhance airport navigations systems to ensure airline's safety systems. He said they have been actively doing their share in the promotion of the country's tourism industry. In a report, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) announced that the country is preparing for an audit on the country's commercial aviation system this December to be conducted by a team from the US FAA. Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on September 28, 2011. Back to Top Aircraft compete for $1.65 million prize The e-Genius electric aircraft, one of the competitors at the Green Flgiht Challege. Credit: (e-Genius team/Eric Raymond) SANTA ROSA, Calif., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Five teams from across the United States that built alternative-powered aircraft are competing for a $1.65 million prize in California, NASA says. At this week's Green Flight Centennial Challenge at the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, the teams each hope to demonstrate their electric-, biofuel- and hybrid-powered small aircraft is the most fuel-efficient in the world, a NASA release said. Competing for what NASA says is the largest aviation prize ever offered are: Team Feuling, Phoenix Air, Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University, Pipistrel-USA and e-Genius, the aviation news Web site AVWeb.com said. NASA and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation of Santa Rosa said competitors would tackle a fuel efficiency competition and a speed competition. To win the fuel competition, an aircraft must fly 200 miles in less than 2 hours using less than one gallon of fuel per occupant or an equivalent amount of electricity. The winning aircraft also must achieve an average speed of at least 100 mph over a 200-mile race circuit and deliver a decibel level below 78 dBA at full-power takeoff, organizers said. Of the 13 teams that initially took on the challenge, five successfully completed aircraft and are competing for the big cash payoff, NASA said. Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/09/27/Aircraft-compete-for-165-million-prize/UPI- 17301317172406/#ixzz1ZEvFHW30 Back to Top Virgin Galactic is close to finalizing the initial flight crews for its space tourism and science operations. Three pilots will make up the first cadre of crew who will fly both the SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle and WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) mothership. "There were 550 applicants and we downselected to the finalists this summer," says Virgin Galactic President and CEO George Whitesides. Speaking at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium in Anaheim, Calif., he adds that the first announcements are expected "this fall." The three pilots will fly with Virgin Galactic Chief Pilot David Mackay, who made his first sortie in WK2. www.aviationweek.com Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC