Flight Safety Information September 29, 2011 - No. 201 In This Issue Aircraft carrying 18 feared crashed in Indonesia Passengers Said Unaware as Japanese Airliner Turned Belly-Up Sikorsky defends itself against accusations that it hid damning La. crash report Qantas engineers fined for air safety warning Training for a Plane Crash British Airways Puts Fliers in Mock Disasters Power outage shuts down Mexico airport Guardian Mobility Updates its FDM STC for AS350 Helicopters Foreign pilots call for better safety systems (China) European Council approves aviation safety agreement with Brazil Air Astana passes third IATA operational safety audit Boeing Names Former Ambassador Hrinak to Head New Brazil Office Aircraft carrying 18 feared crashed in Indonesia MEDAN, Indonesia (AFP) - A small aircraft with 18 people on board is feared to have crashed on Thursday in Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said. The Casa 212, carrying 15 passengers and three crew, was flying from Medan city in North Sumatra to the nearby province of Aceh when it lost contact with air traffic control, Bambang Ervan said. "It took off at 7:18 (0018GMT) and was supposed to land at 8:00," the spokesman told AFP, adding that a search and rescue team was trying to find the aircraft. "Most probably it crashed as it sent an emergency signal," he said, adding it was not known whether there were foreigners on board. Local search and rescue chief Suhri Sinaga said that the aircraft sent an emergency signal in the Bahorok area of North Sumatra province. "We are trying to locate the aircraft," he told. A helicopter chartered by US giant Newmont Mining crashed on Sunday in central Indonesia, killing two people on board. Earlier this month, an Australian and a Slovak pilot were killed when their small Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft, which was carrying fuel and food to a remote area in Papua province, went down. Another small aircraft, which was also transporting supplies to remote villages for a Christian humanitarian association in Papua, crashed last week, killing its American pilot and two passengers. The sprawling Indonesian archipelago relies heavily on air transport and has a poor aviation record. Back to Top Passengers Said Unaware as Japanese Airliner Turned Belly-Up Japanese aviation officials say analysis of a recent mishap shows an airliner plunged almost two kilometers in 30 seconds and turned almost upside down before the pilots recovered control. Pilots on the trans-Pacific All Nippon Airways flight managed to land safely in Tokyo on September 6. Officials said Wednesday that two crew members were slightly injured and four passengers reported air sickness. Air safety officials say the mishap occurred when the co-pilot hit a rudder control instead of the door lock when the pilot returned from a toilet break. The flight recorder shows the Boeing 737 banked right slightly, turned left, circled sharply and turned almost upside down. The plane descended 1,900 meters in half a minute. Officials say that because it was dark outside, many of the 112 passengers did not realize what had happened. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/09/29/passengers-said-unaware-as- japanese-airliner-turned-belly-up/ Back to Top Sikorsky defends itself against accusations that it hid damning La. crash report NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The manufacturer of a helicopter that crashed in Louisiana in 2009, killing eight people, is defending itself against accusations that it hid a damning internal report to conceal its liability. The owner of the helicopter, PHI Inc., wants a federal judge to sanction Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for allegedly hiding a report by one of its engineers that concluded that Sikorsky's faulty design caused its helicopter to crash near Morgan City. On Wednesday, lawyers for Sikorsky acknowledged making mistakes during court proceedings, but said the company did not hide the document. U.S. Magistrate Karen Wells Roby took the case under advisement, saying the charges were serious and that she would not make a hasty ruling. Back to Top Qantas engineers fined for air safety warning SIX aircraft maintenance engineers want their names cleared and Qantas fined after they were stood down for pointing out safety defects, a court heard yesterday. The engineers reported last October that cockpit locks on Dash 8 planes operated by Qantas subsidiary Sunstate Airlines could be opened with an ice-cream stick or a rolled-up boarding pass and the cockpit door could be opened by leaning against an adjacent toilet wall. The Federal Court in Brisbane heard yesterday that each of the engineers received a letter from Qantas later that month accusing them of misconduct over claims that the complaints were part of unauthorised union action. Barrister Eugene White, who is representing the men on behalf of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, told the court the men were stood down for 13 weeks during an inquiry. They have since started working again, but each was docked four hours' pay and had an official warning letter put on their permanent record. The men argue that Qantas' action breaches the federal government's Fair Work Act. http://www.news.com.au/qantas-engineers-fined-for-air-safety-warning/story-e6freuzi- 1226150555497 Back to Top Training for a Plane Crash British Airways Puts Fliers in Mock Disasters (WSJ) Smoke poured into the airplane cabin and activity came to a screeching halt. As the captain yelled "Evacuate! Evacuate!" passengers did what comes naturally: They froze. The "emergency," staged with theatrical smoke in a full-motion airline cabin simulator, was part of an unusual British Airways safety course. Sixteen travelers from some of the airline's top corporate customers and its advertising agency practiced jumping down evacuation slides, opening heavy airplane doors and scampering out smoke-filled crashed cabins. They also learned simple tips that could save lives. "The ones who think about what they'd do are the ones who get out first," said Geof Fearon, one of the BA instructors. An airplane runs off the end of a runway and a small fire erupts and begins to spread. Would you coolly know what to do next? As Scott McCartney explains on Lunch Break, British Airways is now offering a course on how to survive a crash. Statistically, a majority of accidents are survivable, but hesitation can kill or result in injury. An analysis of 283 accidents world-wide in which there were fatalities found that only 31% of passengers survived, according to a 2008 study by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. In the precious first moments after a crash, when experts say a half-second head start can get you to an aisle first, the most basic elements of human character are revealed. Some instincts help survival and others hinder escape. Some people are panicked into pushing, shoving and fighting. For many, the brain shuts down and they are slow to react. That's why practice and familiarity can help. Balking at the top of a three-story evacuation slide can lead to a push, sending you cart-wheeling down and resulting in broken ankles. Research shows even practicing with the seat belt latch can help quicken escape. On average, 6% of passengers in an evacuation get delayed by seat-belt struggles, the CAA study found. When a 737 collided with another plane on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport in 1991, 10 passengers died of smoke inhalation queued up at an over-wing emergency exit. They had a difficult time opening the escape door, survivors said, and two got into a scuffle, slowing the evacuation. On the US Airways Hudson River landing in 2009, only 10 of 150 passengers thought to grab a life jacket before evacuating, and only about half took a seat cushion for floatation, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's report. All survived. British Airways started a one-day emergency safety course for passengers five years ago at the request of oil company BP, which has lots of employees flying around the world. Other companies, many of them energy concerns that send workers into undeveloped parts of the world, began sending groups of road warriors to the course. It seems odd that an airline would want to train people to deal with catastrophe, but British Airways believes the course engenders customer loyalty and helps calm nervous fliers. The airline plans to open up the course, which costs about $210, to individual travelers next year, possibly letting passengers redeem frequent-flier miles to attend. About 11,000 people have gone through the class so far. Enlarge Image Andy Clubb, a British Airways flight-attendant trainer, demonstrates how to remove an over-wing door. . "We teach people to react faster than anyone else so they are in the aisle first and down the slide first," said Andy Clubb, a British Airways flight-attendant trainer who conceived of and runs the passenger course. But it's not simply survival of the fittest. Other passengers seeing someone react positively will quickly follow, and the prepared passengers become leaders, making the entire evacuation faster. The primary lesson: Spend two minutes before takeoff formulating your own emergency plan so you will be prepared and instead of freezing or panicking. Count how many rows you are from exits, in front and behind you, so you'll know when you reach an exit if you are crawling blindly on a floor underneath layers of smoke. The course, held in BA's crew-training facility at London's Heathrow Airport, rotates participants through drills in different cabin mockups. In one simulated emergency, participants listened to standard pre-takeoff briefings and, like typical travelers, ignored the safety briefing from flight attendants. As the simulator mimicked takeoff, smoke poured into the cabin. Flight attendants began yelling for passengers to undo seat belts and then come toward them. They did, even if they were sitting next to an over-wing door. Over-wing doors are passenger-operated. No one tells you to open them. "I try to get the exit row for the extra legroom, but I'd be reluctant to open that door unless I was told. This opened my eyes to that one," said Aiden Whitty, a travel booker for Thomson Reuters, a media company. Smoke training was the most important exercise. In a smoke chamber heated to simulate real conditions, participants stood up in a cabin filling with smoke and realized how quickly they became disoriented. The more they moved around, the more the smoke distributed through the cabin-like stirring a pot. Drop down low and get out fast. "It is possibly one of the most frightening things you will ever experience," said Sue Thorne, another of the British Airways flight-training staff. Mr. Clubb said statistically, seats within five rows of an exit are the most survivable. One study of four accidents involving 737 and DC-9 aircraft found the mean travel distance for survivors was 2.89 seat rows. The distance to the nearest exit for fatalities was 5.31 seat rows, according to the U.K. aviation authority. Also, aisle seats have historically had more survivors than other seats. When the class practiced opening emergency-exit doors, participants were surprised at how heavy the things were-about 40 pounds for a 737 over-wing door-and hard to maneuver. "I'm one of those people who doesn't look at the safety briefing card. I can't think of the number of times I've sat in the emergency exit row and never considered the responsibility," said Paula Wilson, who works for a financial consulting firm in London. A Crash Plan: What Experts Advise Planning ahead and keeping calm make a difference amid the chaos. Some tips from British Airways experts: · PREFLIGHT PLAN. Count how many rows you are from the exits, both in front and behind you, so you'll know when you reach an exit if you are blindly crawling on the floor underneath layers of smoke. Make sure your seat has a life vest on airplanes equipped with them. (Some vests can be stolen by passengers as souvenirs.) · PREPARE FOR IMPACT. The brace position really works, studies have shown. But you have to do it properly. Bend so your head drops down to your knees. Put your hands on the back of your head-not on your forehead, where they can get crushed when your head hits the seat in front of you. You need those fingers unbroken to unfasten your seat belt. And put your feet flat on the floor, sliding them back under your seat. · PATH LIGHTS. Red lights mean exits, not danger. Red light is more visible through smoke. · OVER-WING DOOR. Unbuckle your seat belt before opening the door, because you may need to stand up and move to get rid of it once it's in your hands. Then be sure to lean your head backward when you open it, because once you pull the handle, the door comes cascading into the cabin and can easily clunk your head. · ESCAPE SLIDE. Remove high heels before reaching the emergency escape slide-they can rip the plastic. Cross your hands on your chest and hold your collar so you don't get friction burns. Walk straight out the cabin and jump fanny-first onto the slide, leaning slightly forward as you shoot down at rapid speed. Back to Top Power outage shuts down Mexico airport MEXICO CITY (AFP) - A power outage affecting runway lighting shut down Mexico City's international airport overnight into Thursday, diverting dozens of flights, according to officials. The power failure set off a small fire at around 8:00 pm Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday, according to airport spokesman Victor Mejia. "There are no takeoffs or landings on either of the two tracks," he said, adding that flights were being diverted to Veracruz in the east, Monterrey in the north, and Guadalajara in the west. The airport is one of the busiest in Latin America. Back to Top Guardian Mobility Updates its FDM STC for AS350 Helicopters Modifications will allow real-time access to an expanded data set Helitech, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK (PRWEB) September 29, 2011 Guardian Mobility today announced that its STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) for installation of its Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) equipment on the Eurocopter AS350 family of helicopters, already in service, has been modified to enhance functionality. These enhancements add real-time satellite communications and a powerful Air Data Computer. Approval is imminent. In addition to the full-featured FDM system to support Flight and Maintenance Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA/MOQA), the set of monitored parameters has been expanded to include a complete set of altitude and speed parameters. The cost- effective satellite communications system allows the real-time transmission of exceedances and FOQA/MOQA events to authorized ground users as they happen. The communications system also allows the addition of a tablet to provide real-time, two- way text messaging. Howard Pearl, Guardian's President and CEO, said, "These innovations add genuine value and practical tools required to provide a safer cockpit and a better bottom line." He added that "Our customers will have unprecedented access to flight data immediately and/or post flight that has been analyzed and summarized into information that is usable and provides immediate returns." About Guardian Mobility Guardian Mobility is the provider of global tracking, voice and data communications and data management solutions to the aviation marketplace. Guardian has developed a full range of products and services targeted at assisting aircraft operators increase safety and efficiency, reduce costs and improve reporting. Guardian introduced the first portable GPS tracking device in 2002, delivering location and status information, and has since developed solutions to facilitate 2-way text messaging and automatic data communications between the aircraft and the ground. Guardian's products are approved for government-mandated Automatic Flight Following (AFF) and are used by fleet operators worldwide for Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) and Engine Trend Monitoring (ETM) to support Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) and Maintenance Operations Quality Assurance (MOQA) as part of a Safety Management System (SMS). Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/29/prweb8835491.DTL#ixzz1ZKoTmWWE Back to Top Foreign pilots call for better safety systems (China) SHANGHAI - After being blamed for several accidents, foreign pilots are calling for the airline industry to adopt better safety systems. In a recent notice, the Civil Aviation Administration of China's East China regional administration said it will strengthen its oversight of foreign pilots. The stricter supervision comes after a Korean captain from Juneyao Airlines last month refused to yield to a mayday call made by another plane. Roy Weinberg, an US citizen who joined Spring Airlines a year ago, said the installation of safety management systems would help to prevent such incidents. He said the Juneyao incident, rather than being a mishap that can be easily blamed on one person, showed that China should work to make airlines safer. In Shanghai alone, 219 foreign pilots from six airline companies - China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines, China Cargo Airlines and Yangtze River Express - are to be subject to the heightened scrutiny before the end of October. "They visited us earlier this month and were especially interested in knowing what standards we use in recruiting foreign pilots, whether we have guide booklets on management and how much (the pilots) follow the regulations of the Civil Aviation Administration of China," said Xiao Fei, who is with Spring Airlines' foreign pilot and student pilot management office. Xiao said most Chinese airlines give foreign pilots no special privileges. He said the pilots undergo tests every six months to gauge their knowledge of aviation theory and their flying ability. "But this time more background checks on foreign pilots are required," he said. Earlier this month, the civil aviation administration sent a telegraph bearing the title "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Foreign Pilots" to the six airline companies. It, in part, said, "the Juneyao Airlines incident revealed that some foreign pilots are subject to serious lapses in their professional ethics and discipline. It also showed the flaws airline companies have in their hiring, training and managing of foreign pilots". On Aug 13, the Korean captain on a Juneyao Airlines flight ignored instructions given by air-traffic controllers at the Shanghai Hongqiao airport and refused to give way to another aircraft that was trying to make an emergency landing. The captains of both airplanes claimed they were running out of fuel. A subsequent investigation revealed, though, that the Juneyao Airlines plane had enough fuel to stay in the air for 42 minutes, while the other plane could only remain in flight for 18 minutes. Zhang Qihuai, an aviation law expert with the Beijing-based Lan Peng Law Firm, wrote in a recent blog entry that poor discipline and disorderliness are common among foreign pilots. "They were not the backbones of the airlines in their home countries and they came to China for better pay," said Zhang. With the recent expansion of Chinese airlines, a shortage of capable pilots has become increasingly apparent. By 2015, China's aviation industry will be seeking to hire 18,000 pilots, according to China Business News. China Daily Back to Top European Council approves aviation safety agreement with Brazil The Council of Ministers approved, on 27 September, the conclusion of a civil aviation safety agreement with Brazil. Signed in July 2010, the agreement establishes mutual recognition of procedures for certification of the airworthiness of aeronautical products and approval of related services, manufacturing installations and maintenance bodies. The agreement will prevent the duplication of evaluations, tests and certification procedures and thus speed up product authorisation procedures. It will also allow for reciprocal use by airlines of approved repair and maintenance installations. The European Parliament has already endorsed the agreement. http://www.europolitics.info/sectorial-policies/council-approves-aviation-safety- agreement-with-brazil-art314074-46.html Back to Top Air Astana passes third IATA operational safety audit Air Astana has once again successfully passed the latest International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), which testifies to the airline's relentless commitment to the highest standards of operational safety. The audit was completed with Air Astana remaining the only airline from Kazakhstan to maintain repeated audit success, since it was first undertaken in 2007. During the latest audit in May 2011, safety documentation and implementation of more than 900 IOSA standards were verified on all aspects of the airline's activities. These included organization and management, flight operations, operational control and flight dispatch, engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, ground handling, cargo operation and security. "Achieving the IOSA audit reaffirms Air Astana's status of leadership in operational safety issues across the Central Asia/ CIS region. We constantly strive to improve all aspects of our operations and this latest success is a credit to the spirit and hard work of all Air Astana employees involved in this critical process," said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana. Maintaining compliance with IOSA standards will allow Air Astana to improve operational performance through compliance with internationally accepted standards, effective communication and focused risk management. IOSA was conducted for the third time by an IATA accredited Audit Organization, with previous audits having been undertaken in September 2007 and May 2009. Based on the audit results, the next IOSA of Air Astana will take place in 2013. Air Astana currently operates a fleet of 24 aircraft comprising two Boeing 767-300, four Boeing 757-200, ten Airbus A321/A320/A319, two Embraer E190 and six Fokker 50. The airline serves 23 domestic and 31 international destinations. Air Astana is a joint venture between the National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna JSC and the British company BAE Systems, with shares of 51% and 49% respectively. http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/45490-Air-Astana-passes-third- IATA-operational-safety-audit Back to Top Boeing Names Former Ambassador Hrinak to Head New Brazil Office (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. named Donna Hrinak, a former U.S. ambassador to Brazil, to lead a new office being established by the world's second-largest maker of commercial aircraft to expand in the South American nation. Hrinak will start Oct. 14 as president of Boeing Brazil at the office in Sao Paulo, the Chicago-based company said today in a statement. She held the diplomatic post in Brazil from 2002 to 2004 and most recently was PepsiCo Inc.'s vice president for global public policy and government affairs, Boeing said. "Donna has the right combination of business, government, regional and local experiences to lead Boeing in this important market," Shep Hill, president of Boeing International, said in the statement. Hrinak will report to Hill. Brazil is Latin America's biggest economy. The nation offers Boeing the opportunity to expand sales of products and services and form partnerships in technology, industry and finance, Hill said. The country's biggest airlines now fly 152 Boeing aircraft, and the company is among three competitors for a contract to supply Brazil's military with 36 fighter jets. Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC