Flight Safety Information December 9, 2011 - No. 249 In This Issue Passengers, Crew Evacuated From HK-Bound Cathay Pacific Jumbo Jet In Shanghai Pills in passenger's carry-on bag set off airport security Global airline safety up in 2011, Russia down NTSB looking into Reno air control tower complaint Latino Tapped as FAA Interim Chief Report: Inadvertent brake application leads to rejected takeoff at V2 Report: No change in numbers of U.K. airprox incidents involving commercial aircraft in 2010 Airbus begins mating A350 cockpit to forward fuselage American Airlines - Kingston overrun triggers tailwind training recommendations Losses loom for world's airlines Passengers, Crew Evacuated From HK-Bound Cathay Pacific Jumbo Jet In Shanghai -- Nine people suffered minor injuries in evacuation from a Cathay Pacific flight in Shanghai -- Cathay Pacific operating extra flight to fly affected passengers to their destinations HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Nine people suffered minor injuries when evacuating from a Hong Kong-bound Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) jumbo jet after crew members detected smoke in the cabin before departing Shanghai, the blue-chip carrier said Friday. The Hong Kong-based airline said all 351 passengers and 19 crew members on board the Boeing 747-400 aircraft returned to the terminal building at Pudong Airport after evacuating through emergency slides, adding the carrier is investigating the incident and is cooperating with Shanghai authorities. The affected aircraft was operating flight CX365 to Hong Kong, one of the airline's three daily services between the two Chinese cities. China-focused unit Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd. operates over a dozen daily flights on the route. Cathay Pacific said it has scheduled an additional flight and is using bigger aircraft on another to fly the affected passengers to their destinations. As one of Asia's best-run carriers, Cathay Pacific has had a solid safety record in recent decades. Nonetheless, the evacuation comes seven months after one of its Airbus jets experienced engine trouble upon departure from Singapore, forcing it to return for an emergency landing at the airport. Separately in April 2010, a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330 made an emergency landing in Hong Kong after both engines malfunctioned as it approached the city, resulting in a much higher-than-normal touchdown speed that led to a small fire in its landing gear as the brakes overheated. Authorities later said that fuel contamination was the likely cause of the malfunction. The jumbo 747--one of Boeing's best-selling widebody aircraft--involved in Friday's incident is one of the airline's oldest passenger aircraft in service. Cathay Pacific said earlier it planned to accelerate the retirement of its older, less fuel-efficient aircraft. It expects to retire all its Boeing 747-400 passenger jets before the end of the decade as new, more efficient aircraft arrive. Cathay Pacific has been investing heavily in fleet expansion in recent years. In August, it announced plans to buy four Boeing 777-300 extended range passenger aircraft and eight Boeing 777-200 freighters from Boeing Co. as part of the airline's expansion plans. The order followed in March its plan to buy 15 Airbus A330s, two Airbus A350-900s, and 10 more Boeing 777-300ERs. Back to Top Pills in passenger's carry-on bag set off airport security CHICO (CA) - A Chico man will be flying out of Chico Municipal Airport a day late today, after Transportation Security Administration officials said dozens of pills in unlabeled containers were found in his carry-on bag Thursday. The discovery was alarming enough to prompt security agents to order a code three response - lights and sirens - from the Chico police. TSA inspector Tim Kumaskai said a request for police is standard procedure when a potentially serious threat exists, and said the number of pills passenger Chad Weaver had in the bag was concerning. Police arrived about 7:45 a.m. and talked with Weaver, who had prescription pills he takes for several medical conditions in unlabeled plastic containers. Weaver told police the containers had prescription labels on them, but he took them off. He keeps tracks of the pills, what they are for and who prescribed them, in a journal, which he produced for police. Officers spent about two hours Thursday calling local physicians and verifying the prescriptions, said Kumaskai. For unknown reasons, Weaver's bag also set off an alarm in a baggage X-ray machine, but Kumaskai said agents were able to clear it, and it may have been a simple malfunction. The TSA said removing labels from prescription medications is a bad idea and probably a violation of law, but Weaver will be allowed to board his flight today. No flights were affected at the airport Thursday as a result of the incident. A friend of Weaver's said he is flying to Fort Wayne, Ind., to assist his ailing mother. http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_19503918 Back to Top Global airline safety up in 2011, Russia down Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev places flowers at the site of a plane crash near the Russian city of Yaroslavl September 8, 2011. GENEVA (Reuters) - Global airline safety rates, covering total crashes and passenger deaths, have improved by nearly 50 per cent this year over the first 11 months of 2010, the International Air Transport Association said on Wednesday. Geneva-based IATA said 2011 was heading to be proportionately the safest year on record for travellers and the aircraft they fly in. Total fatal accidents up to November 30 were 22, causing the deaths of 486 passengers and crew. Last year's totals were 23 and 786. In 2006, 855 people died in 20 crashes. All world regions including Africa, long one of the most dangerous for air travel, have this year seen a proportional drop in fatalities and plane losses -- with the lone exception of Russia and countries linked to it in the Commonwealth of Independent States CIS.L, IATA said. "As of the end of November, the global safety performance (of the industry) is at the best level recorded, and is 49 percent better than the same time last year," IATA senior vice-president for safety Gunther Matschnigg told reporters. IATA's membership incorporates some 240 airlines in 118 countries operating international services accounting for 84 percent of total global traffic. Low-cost, or budget, airlines have their own grouping and are not included in the figures. IATA measures its members' safety performance by the number of accidents and aircraft losses per million take-offs. By this reckoning, North America has an accident rate so far this year of 1.18 against 1.51 in 2010, Europe has a rate of 1.39 against 1.59, Asia-Pacific has 1.39 against 2.61, Latin America 4.57 against 6.85, and Africa has 6.34 against 17.11. The overall global rate so far this year is 4.57 against 6.85 in 2010. But in Russia and the CIS -- an area where under Soviet rule until 1991 safety standards were low and air accidents went largely unreported -- the rate had risen from 7.15 in 2010 to 11.07 so far this year, IATA said. One of 2011's most high-profile Russian air disasters was September's crash at Yaroslavl, on the Volga north-east of Moscow, which killed 45 passengers, including the 37 members of the local Lokomotiv ice hockey squad. An official report last month said the pilots of the plane, a Russian Yak-42 jet operated by a small local company whose licence has since been revoked, were inadequately trained and the co-pilot was under the influence of banned sedatives. Matschsnigg, speaking at IATA's annual briefing for journalists covering the industry, said a key problem in Russia was that pilots and ground technicians were having to adapt to a growing number of highly sophisticated aircraft. He said Russian aviation officials and the country's political leaders had accepted that pilot training needed rapid improvement and would shortly be implementing IATA's safety programme, IOSA. The IATA safety chief credited the seven-year-old programme, which provides for thorough and regular checks on all aspects of flight security and aircraft maintenance as well as training of personnel, for the major improvement in Africa. Back to Top NTSB looking into Reno air control tower complaint Reno, Nev. (AP) -- The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a pilot's complaint that he received bad information about the wind from the control tower at Reno-Tahoe International Airport before damaging his plane in a landing in September. But Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said Thursday the FAA reviewed the incident and found "no issues of concern." The NTSB was expected to release its report next week on the complaint filed by Leon Roberts of Noxon, Mont., according to the Reno Gazette-Journal, which first reported the incident this week. Roberts, 62, said he and a pilot of another single-engine plane almost crashed in the unexpected wind gusts in excess of 20 mph on Sept. 16, the same day 11 people were killed in a plane crash at the National Championship Air Races about 10 miles north at Reno-Stead Airport. Roberts said he was landing his Cessna 180 to the south when he was hit by a strong gust that caused it to spin when it reached the ground, damaging the left wing. "The actual winds were considerably higher than I was told," he told the newspaper. Roberts said he had been told through an automated report put out by the tower that the winds were at 250 degrees from the west at about 15 mph. But after his near-crash, Roberts said he was told that the winds actually were coming from about 280 degrees - a sharper angle - at about 22 mph. Roberts said in those conditions, planes should have been directed to a different runway with an approach toward the north as to avoid part of a tail wind. "Something was wrong in that tower," he said. "This thing was not right. I hope the NTSB reaches that conclusion." Gregor said that was not the conclusion his agency reached after an internal review shortly after the complaint was filed. He said the FAA forwarded its review to the NTSB, which will make its own independent findings. "Any time there is an aircraft incident or accident, the FAA reviews the performance of our air traffic control facilities," Gregor told The Associated Press. "In this instance, our review did not identify any issues of concern." "That was our own internal conclusion at both the local level and at (FAA's) western headquarters in Seattle, which reviewed it as well after the tower did its own investigation," he said. Gregor, who is based in Los Angeles, said he "strongly caution anybody against drawing any conclusions until the NTSB issues their probable cause." Brian Kulpin, spokesman for the airport, said he could not comment until the NTSB report was made public. Kulpin said the FAA is responsible for the air traffic control tower. Gregor said the staffing of the air traffic control tower at Reno-Stead Airport for the air races had no impact on Reno-Tahoe International, which was routinely staffed based on the amount of traffic that day. "Any time we operate a satellite tower - be it for an air race or a temporary tower for firefighting efforts - we do it through overtime or moving schedules around," he said. "We don't reduce staffing." ___ Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, www.rgj.com Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/08/state/n120501S75.DTL#ixzz1g2WHgLGx Back to Top Latino Tapped as FAA Interim Chief The sudden resignation of its chief leaves the Federal Aviation Administration in the hands of a Latino. Deputy Administrator Michael Huerta, a well-regarded manager, assumed the No. 1 spot at the FAA this week, at least on an interim basis - becoming the first Latino to head the federal agency. The historic appointment comes following the resignation of Randy Babbitt, who quit Tuesday following his arrest over the weekend on charges of drunken driving. The former airline captain and pilot union leader had been FAA administrator since 2009. An appointee of President Barack Obama, he was about halfway through a five-year term. Now Huerta will serve as acting administrator. Industry officials and lawmakers said they expect him to continue in the post through next year since the White House probably will want to avoid a possible nomination fight before the Nov. 6 presidential election. In a speech at the National Hispanic Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees Annual Training Conference four months ago, Huerta spoke about his humble upbringing and the discrimination he faced growing up. "Now looking back, years later, I do know that certain experiences were unfair or discriminatory. But at the time, in my youth, I did not think that," he said during a speech. "Those experiences rolled past me." In recent months, Huerta has been leading the FAA's troubled NextGen effort to transition from an air traffic control system based on World War II-era radar technology to one based on satellite technology. Babbitt had placed Huerta over NextGen after a key technology acquisition program that underpins the effort ran into delays and cost overruns, and airline industry officials began to balk at the cost of adding expensive equipment that will be necessary to take advantage of the new system. Huerta was managing director of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and held several senior transportation department posts during former President Bill Clinton's administration. There was concern that Babbitt's sudden departure could delay or jeopardize several important safety efforts under way at the FAA that are opposed by the airline industry. "His departure creates a serious setback, leaving FAA in limbo at a critical time for the agency," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. One effort involves crafting the first new regulations in decades governing pilot work schedules in an effort to prevent fatigue. The National Transportation Safety Board has identified pilot fatigue as one of the airline industry's most pressing safety problems. Industry opponents lobbied White House officials against the proposed regulations, saying they would cost too much or be too burdensome. In a statement announcing his resignation, Babbitt expressed confidence in the ability of FAA officials to continue "the critical safety initiatives under way and the improvements" the agency has planned. Babbitt, 65, was arrested Saturday night in Fairfax City, Va., by a patrolman who said the nation's top aviation official was driving on the wrong side of the road. "I am unwilling to let anything cast a shadow on the outstanding work done 24 hours a day, seven days a week by my colleagues at the FAA," Babbitt said. "They run the finest and safest aviation system in the world and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to work alongside them." LaHood thanked Babbitt for his service, saying that under his stewardship the nation's aviation system "became safer and stronger." Earlier Tuesday, LaHood said he told Babbitt he was "very disappointed" that he learned of the administrator's arrest from a news release issued by the Fairfax City police department. It is the police department's policy to disclose the arrests of public officials. Babbitt, who lives in nearby Reston, Va., was the only occupant in the vehicle, police said. He cooperated and was released on his own recognizance, they said. They refused to disclose the results of Babbitt's blood alcohol test. The legal limit is .08. LaHood has aggressively campaigned against drunken driving and is working with police agencies and safety advocates on an annual holiday crackdown on drinking and driving later this month. Safety advocates credit LaHood with doing more to raise the visibility of human factors in highway safety - including drunken driving, drivers distracted by cellphone use and parents who fail to buckle in their children - than any previous transportation secretary. Babbitt's easy manner, commitment to safety and long experience in the airline industry generated respect in Congress, as well as aviation circles. Babbitt was a former airline captain and internationally recognized expert in aviation and labor relations when Obama tapped him to head the FAA. He was a pilot for now-defunct Eastern Airlines for 25 years and had served as president of the Air Line Pilots Association in the 1990s. As head of the pilots association, he championed the "one level of safety" initiative implemented in 1995 to improve safety standards across the airline industry. Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/12/08/latino-tapped-as-faa-interim- chief/#ixzz1g2ZBTbHr Back to Top Report: Inadvertent brake application leads to rejected takeoff at V2 Final position of D-CKDM, about 5 m from the end of the paved surface of Runway 25 (photo: AAIB) The crew of a Gulfstream G150 corporate jet rejected the takoff from Northolt Airport, London just before V2 speed because the airplane failed to rotate. A report by the U.K. AAIB details the serious incident that happened on February 6, 2011. A takeoff was attempted from runway 25 at Northolt Airport, London. When the commander pulled the control column back to rotate at rotation speed, VR, and subsequently fully back, the aircraft only pitched up to 1º. The takeoff was rejected just before V2, full braking was applied and the aircraft came to a stop at the end of the paved surface. A fire broke out around the left main wheels which was suppressed quickly by the Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS). The flight data showed that the aircraft's acceleration during the takeoff roll was below normal but the investigation did not reveal any technical fault with the aircraft. The most likely explanation for the lack of acceleration and rotation was that the brakes were being applied during the takeoff, probably as a result of inadvertent braking application by the commander, which caused a reduction in acceleration and a nose-down pitching moment sufficient to prevent the aircraft from rotating. However, it could not be ruled out that another factor had caused partial brake operation. A similar occurrence led to a fatal accident in Yaroslavl, Russia on September 7, 2011 when a Yak-42 passenger plane crashed on takeoff when the airplane stalled. Forty-four occupants died in the accident. Investigation revealed that one of the crew members probably activated the brakes during the takeoff roll. In the case of the Gulfstream incident, the AAIB reiterated two safety recommendation issued to EASA in 2009 pertaining specifications for a takeoff performance monitoring system which provides a timely alert to flight crews when achieved takeoff performance is inadequate for given aircraft configurations and airfield conditions. More information: * AAIB Investigation Report (PDF) www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Report: No change in numbers of U.K. airprox incidents involving commercial aircraft in 2010 The number of airprox incidents in the United Kingdom involving commercial passenger aircraft remained static in 2010, according to a report by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB). There were 35 incidents involving passenger aircraft in 2010, the same number as 2009. The majority of these incidents involved the airliner conflicting with a military or general aviation light aircraft. However, for the first time in over 10 years none of these incidents were regarded as 'risk-bearing'. As it published its 2010 data analysis, the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) said that year-on- year airspace conflicts involving two commercial aircraft had halved, with only 5 incidents in 2010 compared to 11 in 2009. The steady decline in these types of incidents from the early 2000s (in 2002 there were 39 such incidents) is due a combination of factors including the airline industry's adoption of sophisticated collision avoidance systems and the combined efforts of operators and air traffic controllers tackling the issue. Overall, however, the total numbers of incidents increased on 2009, with 167 incidents in 2010, compared to 147 the previous year, largely as a result of an upturn in conflicts involving military and general aviation aircraft. UKAB reports, produced jointly for the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force, are principally aimed at UK pilots and air traffic controllers, both civil and military. Their purpose is to promote air safety awareness and understanding by identifying and sharing the lessons arising from UK Airprox incidents. More information: * Analysis of Airprox in UK Airspace Jul-Dec 2010 Report No 25 (PDF) www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Airbus begins mating A350 cockpit to forward fuselage Airbus has commenced mating of the cockpit section of its first A350 to the twinjet's forward fuselage at its Saint Nazaire plant in France. The mating process will "continue over the coming weeks", the airframer said, before the entire forward section is flown to the final assembly line in Toulouse. Aerolia has produced the cockpit and nose section components while the fuselage section was manufactured in Germany by Premium Aerotec. "This will be the first major section of the A350 to enter the final assembly line," said Airbus. It will form part of the static test airframe but will be "closely" followed by the initial flying prototype, one of five flight-test A350s to be manufactured. Airbus had been intending to begin final assembly of the static aircraft by the end of this year, but has slipped the schedule into the first half of 2012. The maiden flight will take place in the first half of 2013, with A350 delivery set for 2014. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top American Airlines - Kingston overrun triggers tailwind training recommendations A 2009 overrun of an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 at Kingston, Jamaica has prompted the US National Transportation Safety Board to recommend that the US Federal Aviation Administration require training for landing in tailwind conditions. The aircraft landed roughly 1,219m (4,000ft) down the 2,716m runway with a 14kt tailwind and was unable to stop on the remaining runway length. Once the aircraft ran off the runway, it went through a fence, across a road, and came to a stop on sand dunes and rocks about the Caribbean Sea's waterline, said NTSB. Pilots opted to perform a straight-in approach on runway 12 even after controllers advised the crew it might be necessary to circle and land on runway 30. The tower advised the pilots runway 12 was wet. NTSB said the crew configured the aircraft for landing with a flap setting of 30 degrees instead of the full flap setting of 40 degrees. The board pointed out the American Airlines 737 operating manual recommends the 40 degree setting when landing with tailwinds. But in a post-accident interview the Captain stated the 30 degree setting "was normal for this situation", adding that "for these conditions and for the go-around, flaps 30 was the better choice". NTSB has concluded that the American accident "highlights deficiencies in operational procedures and flight crew training and guidance concerning landing in tailwind conditions that should be addressed". The board stated federal regulations do not require airlines to train pilots for tailwind landings, and believes "because of a tailwind approach and landing, particularly on wet or contaminated runways, expose flight crews to additional risks and challenges, they should be provided current and comprehensive guidance regarding the risks associated with tailwind landings and made aware of reduced margins of safety during tailwind operations". Stressing the risks posed by landing in those conditions NTSB said any tailwind "increases the approach and touchdown groundspeed of an aircraft, requiring more runway length to decelerate". Landing within the touchdown zone - the first third of the available landing distance and no more than 914m down the available landing distance - is a task made more challenging in tailwind conditions, said the board. The board also concluded that if the American crew had performed an arrival landing distance assessment, they would have determined, based on the airline's landing distance charts, the aircraft was capable of landing with a 30 degree flap setting in the 14 knot tailwind. "However the arrival landing distance assessment would also have alerted pilots that the stopping margin under these conditions was reduced, which may have prompted them to consider overrun risk mitigation strategies, such as using full flaps and maximum manual breaking, selecting a different runway, considering a go-around or choosing to divert," said the board. Recommendations stemming from the Kingston overrun include requiring FAA principal inspectors to review flight crew training programmes to ensure training in tailwind landings is provided during initial and recurrent simulator training, is conducted with an emphasis of landing within the touchdown zone and being prepared for a go-around and conducted at the maximum tailwind component certified for the aircraft on which the pilots are being trained. The board also believes the FAA needs to revise guidance on preventing runway overruns to include risks related to tailwind landings, including tailwind landings on wet or contaminated runways. NTSB also reminded FAA of a previous recommendation the board deemed unacceptable that would require operators to accomplish landing distance assessments before every landing based on a standardised methodology "involving approved performance data, actual arrival conditions, a means of correlating the airplane's breaking ability with runway surface conditions using the most conservative interpretation available, and including a safety margin of 15%". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Losses loom for world's airlines Airlines will have fewer passengers if eurozone debt crisis broadens... Global airlines could face losses of more than $US8 billion ($A7.83 billion) next year if eurozone leaders fail to tackle the region's financial crisis, the industry's main trade group says. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 240 airlines and 84 per cent of global traffic, said in a statement it was downgrading its forecast for airline profits next year from $US4.9 billion to $US3.5 billion, with a net profit margin of 0.6 per cent. It also warned that the eurozone crisis was putting "severe downside risk on the 2012 outlook" amid fears it will evolve into a full-blown European recession. "The biggest risk facing profitability over the next year is the economic turmoil that would result from a failure of governments to resolve the eurozone debt crisis," IATA chief Tony Tyler said in the statement. "Such an outcome could lead to losses of over $US8 billion - the largest since the 2008 financial crisis," he said. The Geneva-based group said its outlook for 2011 profitability "remains weak but unchanged" at $US6.9 billion, with a net profit margin of 1.2 per cent. "The global forecast for 2011 is unchanged... But regional differences have widened, reflecting the very different economic environments facing airlines in different parts of the world," Tyler said. "And the overall margin of 1.2 per cent tells you just how difficult the battle for profitability in this business is," he added. In 2010 airlines had enjoyed $US15.8 billion in profits after losses of $US4.6 billion amid the economic downturn in 2009. "The aviation industry is a sector that is sensitive to the economic environment, with a volatile business model... it creates no value," said Pierre Boucheny, an analyst with Kepler Capital Markets. "European carriers are by far in the most challenging position," the IATA said. "Higher passenger taxes and weak home market economies have limited profitability in Europe." It said Europe's carriers are forecast to generate collective profits of just $US1 billion this year, down from a previous forecast of $US1.4 billion. For 2012, it said, "European carriers are expected to fall into losses of $US600 million, hit by the weakness of their home market economies and further increases in passenger taxes." In contrast, North American carriers are expected to generate profits of $US1.7 billion next year, Asia-Pacific carriers of $US2.1 billion and Middle East carriers of $US300 million. Passenger demand meanwhile is expected to grow by 4.0 per cent next year, down from a previous forecast of 4.6 per cent, while cargo demand is expected to remain unchanged, it said. In the worst-case scenario of a European economic meltdown, all global airlines could expect to suffer losses, IATA said. Europe would post the deepest losses at $US4.4 billion, followed by North America at $US1.8 billion and the Asia-Pacific region at $US1.1 billion. The Middle East and Latin America would both be expected to post $US400 million losses, while Africa would lose $US200 million. "This admittedly worst-case, but by no means unimaginable, scenario should serve as a wake-up call to governments around the world," Tyler said. "In a good year, the airline industry does not cover its cost of capital, much less in a bad one. But in a bad year, aviation's ability to deliver connectivity and keep the heart of the global economy pumping becomes even more vital to initiating a recovery," he said. AFP Curt Lewis