Flight Safety Information December 21, 2011 - No. 276 In This Issue FAA to issue rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from flying while dangerously fatigued Plane crashes on N.J. interstate; 5 killed Air Races Crash NTSB Hearing Agenda Announced This Overrunning Boeing 737 Got Stopped Safely By Concrete Boeing 737 Runway Excursion (Indonesia) KLM 737 crew lost position awareness before taxiway take-off FAA to issue rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from flying while dangerously fatigued WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly three years after the deadly crash of a regional airliner flown by two exhausted pilots, the Federal Aviation Administration is releasing rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from flying while dangerously fatigued. The pilot work schedule rules, which were expected to be made public Wednesday, have been the focus of rival lobbying campaigns by pilot unions and airlines since the FAA released a draft proposal more than a year ago. That proposal was a mixed bag: Work hours would be shortened for pilots who fly at night, while some pilots who fly during the day could wind up spending more time in the cockpit. Pilots would be required to have a minimum of nine hours off to rest between work shifts, one hour more than under present rules. Researchers say fatigue can impair a pilot's performance by slowing reflexes and eroding judgment, much like alcohol. The National Transportation Safety Board has been campaigning for two decades for an overhaul of pilot work schedule rules. An effort by the FAA in the late 1990s to develop new rules stalled when pilot unions and airlines were unable to find common ground. The effort was revived after the February 2009 crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 people aboard and a man on the ground. An NTSB investigation found that both pilots were probably suffering from fatigue. Neither pilot appeared to have slept in a bed the previous night. The flight's captain had logged onto a computer in the middle of the night from an airport crew lounge where sleeping was discouraged. The first officer had commuted overnight from Seattle to Newark, N.J., much of the time sitting in a cockpit jumpseat. They could be heard yawning on the ill-fated flight's cockpit voice recorder. However, by a 2-1 vote the board decided not to cite fatigue as a contributing factor to the crash. The board agreed that the captain's incorrect responses to a stall warning caused the accident, and that other pilot errors contributed to the crash. But investigators said it wasn't possible to determine whether those errors were the result of fatigue. The families of victims killed in the crash, however, have relentlessly lobbied Congress and the Obama administration for new regulations to ensure that airlines use schedules that give pilots enough time for rest and reflect an understanding of how travel through time zones and the human body clock's response to light and darkness can affect performance. They won congressional passage of a law requiring the FAA to issue new rules by Aug. 1 of this year, but the White House Office of Management and Budget delayed release of the rules. Airlines for America, an industry trade association, has estimated that the draft rules would cost airlines as much as $2 billion a year and, over time, cut as many as 27,000 jobs directly tied to the industry. Much of the cost would be to hire relief pilots for longer flights and to adjust schedules, including cutting back flights to some smaller cities. The companies argue that the cost isn't justified by the risk. U.S. airlines are in the midst of a period of exceptional safety. There have been no fatal airline crashes in the U.S. in the nearly three years since Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo. That flight was operated for Continental Airlines by regional carrier Colgan Air Inc. Pilot unions say airlines have significantly inflated their cost estimates. Cargo carriers like Federal Express and United Parcel Service, which do much of their flying at night, would be especially affected by the new rules. The same holds true for charter airlines that transport nearly 90 percent of U.S. troops and about half of the military cargo around world. They've urged the administration to allow them to operate under different rules than scheduled airlines, warning that some military missions could be jeopardized. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has said the industry's argument isn't credible. They can still fly the same missions, Hersman told The Associated Press earlier this year, but they may have to add extra pilots to their crews and make sure pilots have places onboard or on the ground where they can get sufficient rest before flying again. Back to Top Plane crashes on N.J. interstate; 5 killed (CNN) -- A small plane headed from New Jersey to suburban Atlanta crashed onto an interstate shortly after takeoff Tuesday, killing five people, authorities said. Two men, one woman, two children and a dog aboard the plane died in the crash in Morristown, New Jersey, just after 10 a.m. ET, said Robert Gretz, a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. The plane, a six-seater Socata TBM700, was headed from Teterboro, New Jersey, to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in suburban Atlanta when it crashed onto Interstate 287 about 14 minutes into the flight, Gretz said. The plane was at about 17,500 feet when "there was some discussion between the pilot and the controller of locations of icing conditions," he said. He told reporters Monday night the conversation seemed "routine" and was "not a distress call." A fatal plane crash on Tuesday shut down most of Interstate 287 in Morristown, New Jersey. Gretz said he did not know whether the conversation concerned a cloud that might contain ice; actual icing on the airplane; or whether the pilot was inquiring where ice might be or reporting it. "I've heard this thirdhand. ... That's something I need to listen to the tapes to know," he said. Gretz said he was not aware of any icing conditions on the ground at Teterboro that would have required the plane to be deiced. However, he stressed that the investigation is in its infancy and it is too soon to speculate what might have caused the crash. "It's too early to tell whether it was something mechanical or something the pilot did -- we just don't know," he said. Preliminary information is that the five were headed to Atlanta for a combination business-leisure trip, Gretz said. Authorities did not release the names of those who died, pending positive identification by the medical examiner and notification of relatives. But New York investment banking firm Greenhill & Co. reported that those on board were two of the firm's managing directors, Jeffrey Buckalew, 45, and Rakesh Chawla, 36; Buckalew's wife, Corinne, and their two children, Jackson and Meriwether. Ages for the children were not given. "The plane belonged to Mr. Buckalew, an experienced pilot whose passion was flying," the company said in a statement. "The firm is in deep mourning over the tragic and untimely death of two of its esteemed colleagues and members of Jeff's family." No one on the ground was injured, although a pickup truck narrowly missed the plane, Gretz said. The debris field from the crash was spread over about a half-mile, with part of a wing and the plane's tail found in a tree in a residential area, he said. Witnesses reported the plane was in an "uncontrolled spin" before it crashed. A Federal Aviation Administration radar facility in New York lost radio contact with the plane, and also lost it on radar, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. The crash site was about 30 miles southeast of the Teterboro airport, Peters said. Gretz said Monday evening he was not sure how long after the conversation regarding icing that the plane dropped off radar, saying investigators will be determining that. The plane struck the southbound lanes of I-287, continued through a wooded median and came to rest on the northbound lanes, New Jersey State Police Lt. Stephen Jones said. Most of the interstate was shut down after the crash, Jones said. One northbound lane and two southbound lanes were open as of Tuesday afternoon, but officials were "still trying to recover both the pieces of the plane and the remains of the victims." Gretz said Monday night the wreckage recovery was halted about 6 p.m. because of darkness and would resume after Tuesday's morning rush hour, at 9:30 a.m. The New Jersey Department of Transportation said motorists had two of three travel lanes in each direction available for Monday evening's rush hour. ************* Date: 20-DEC-2011 Time: ~10:15am LT Type: Socata TBM700 C2 Operator: Cool Stream Media LLC Registration: N731CA C/n / msn: 332 Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Interstate 287 in Harding, NJ - United States of America Phase: Initial climb Nature: Private Departure airport: Teterboro Airport (TEB/KTEB) Destination airport: Atlanta-DeKalb Peachtree Airport, GA (PDK/KPDK) Narrative: Five people including a child were killed this morning when a SOCATA TBM700 C2 headed for Georgia crashed onto Interste 287, near Harding, NJ, shortly after takeoff from Teterboro Airport - TEB/KTEB. Flightaware data shows a Socata TBM 700 on the route and time as reported by nj.com. The FAA has confirmed the plane was a Socata TBM 700, registered N731CA. According to FAA records, the plane was built in 2005 and registered to Cool Stream Media, based in New York City. The TBM 700 is a single-engine aircraft capable of seating up to six people. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Air Races Crash NTSB Hearing Agenda Announced RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) - More answers about just what caused the deadly National Championship Air Races crash are expected early next month according to a hearing agenda just announced by the National Transportation Safety Board. The hearing will take place in Washington D.C. on January 10, 2012. NTSB spokesperson Terry Williams wrote in a news release to News 4: "The purpose of the meeting is to (1) bring public attention to the safety issues involved in aviation event operations; and (2) provide NTSB Members and investigative staff with a deeper understanding of regulations, protocols and practices used in the planning and operations of air shows and air races. Information gathered in the hearing will assist NTSB staff in the investigation of air show and air race incidents and accidents." The NTSB has invited to the proceedings, entitled "Air Race and Air Show Safety Hearing", government agencies, aviation event trade associations, show organizers, and air show participants to serves as witnesses. During the hearing, they will give presentations on regulations and oversight and aviation event operations. Following each topic area presentation, there will be a question and answer discussion with Board Members. Organizations and individuals can submit written materials for inclusion in the NTSB's Public Docket for this hearing. Submissions should directly address one or more of the hearing's topic areas and should be submitted to airrace_airshow@ntsb.gov. The deadline for receipt is February 17, 2012. The hearing will be held in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C.. The public can view the forum in person or by webcast at www.ntsb.gov. Back to Top This Overrunning Boeing 737 Got Stopped Safely By Concrete There's a simple reason why this Boeing 737 wasn't destroyed this week at Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport, China, and instead destroyed this concrete runway using its landing gear: it's neither a runway nor concrete. At least, not in the traditional sense. It's something called EMAS, Engineered Materials Arresting System, and it may save your life one day. The Boeing 737 was used to test the effectiveness of the material. As you can see in the images, it worked perfectly. What is it? EMAS is a paving system made of "foamed concrete", a "bed of cellular cement blocks encased in an environmental cover that is placed at the end of a runway to decelerate an overrunning aircraft in an emergency." How does it work? When the airplane overruns the runway, it crushes the foamed concrete in a process that gently stops the aircraft without causing catastrophic damage. This invention can truly save the day. How important is this? During the last 15 years there have been more than 30 runway overrun accidents per year involving commercial aircraft. 25 percent of them were classified as "major accidents", involving significant damage and injuries or deaths. And 10 percent resulted in fatalities. That's more than one thousand people dead since 1995. Which airports have EMAS? Surprisingly, EMAS is not an obligatory safety system in the US or anywhere in the world. By the end of 2010, only 51 runway ends at 35 airports in the US had implemented this system instead of the obligatory Runway Safety Area. The RSA is just a cleared space that is not designed to stop the aircraft and may end in disaster. Outside the US, only a few airports around the world-like Jiuzhai Huanglong in China or Madrid-Barajas in Spain-have EMAS. After learning about those runway overrun accident statistics, I wish it became obligatory in every major airport through the world. [Tiexue (Chinese) and Icao (PDF) via Chinese Defense Blog] http://gizmodo.com/5869715/why-did-this-airplane-landing-gear-destroy-this-concrete- runway Back to Top Boeing 737 Runway Excursion (Indonesia) Status: Preliminary Date: 20 DEC 2011 Time: 17:13 Type: Boeing 737-4Q8 Operator: Sriwijaya Air Registration: PK-CKN C/n / msn: 26281/2380 First flight: 1992-10-09 (19 years 3 months) Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-3C1 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 131 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Yogyakarta-Adisutjipto Airport (JOG) (Indonesia) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) (CGK/WIII), Indonesia Destination airport: Yogyakarta-Adisutjipto Airport (JOG) (JOG/WARJ), Indonesia Flightnumber: 230 Narrative: A Boeing 737-4Q8 passenger jet, registration PK-CKN, was damaged in a runway excursion accident at Yogyakarta-Adisutjipto Airport (JOG), Indonesia. There were 131 passengers on board. Several passengers were injured in the evacuation. Sriwijaya Air flight SJ230 had departed from Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) on a regular flight to Yogyakarta (JOG) but poor weather forced the crew to divert to Solo City (SOC). However, the flight could not land there because of inclement weather. The flight then proceeded to Surabaya-Juanda Airport (SUB). The airplane was refueled at Surabaya and departed again for Yogyakarta. Flight 230 landed on runway 09 in strong rain. The airplane failed to stop on the runway and went off the side onto the grass. Media reports indicate that the right hand main gear and the nose gear had collapsed. Runway 09-27 is a 7218 feet asphalt runway. The IJOG localizer for ILS approaches to runway 09 was Notamed out of service. Back to Top KLM 737 crew lost position awareness before taxiway take-off Pilots of a KLM Boeing 737-300 were not using an airport map in darkness and snowy conditions before they turned onto, and departed from, a taxiway at Amsterdam Schiphol. Dutch investigators, in their final report into the 10 February 2010 incident, said the crew lost positional awareness within Schiphol's "relatively complex" taxiway layout while heading for Runway 36C. Runway 36C has two parallel taxiways, B and A, on its eastern side. While taking taxiway A, the crew accepted a ground clearance for a quicker, but less familiar, route to the runway via taxiway W8. This short-cut involved crossing taxiway B, and then turning right onto the runway. But the aircraft instead turned prematurely and lined up on the taxiway. The Dutch Safety Board pointed out that the crew was not using an airport map because the pilots "felt sufficiently familiar" with Schiphol, the home base for KLM. But having accepted the short-cut, the pilots came under increased operational pressure, making changes to the flight management system and giving themselves little time to visually confirm their position. Air traffic control devoted "less attention" to the KLM flight than proved necessary, because it was assisting with a problem on a China Airlines Boeing 747 taxiing ahead of the 737. The KLM captain was "distracted" by the radio communication, said the inquiry board. While the infrastructure and lighting met ICAO standards, the lighting configuration in the vicinity of taxiway W8 played a "role in the error" by the crew, particularly given the snowfall. KLM has addressed the issues raised by developing a runway verification process, by which crews positively identify entry points before proceeding. It has also considered installation of a runway awareness and advisory system. But while it made a decision in principle in March this year to equip its fleet, said the Dutch Safety Board, the carrier has not committed to implementation because it is "not satisfied" with the operation of the system. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC