Flight Safety Information December 29, 2011 - No. 262 In This Issue Kyrgyz Tu-134 crash is 'wake-up call': prime minister Will the FAA's New Fatigue Rules Do Enough for Pilots? Family of Marine jet crash victims awarded $17.8 million Fatal chopper crash headed toward lengthy investigation US safety chiefs outline ambitious 2025 strategy PRBA Assails Fundamental Flaws in FAA Safety Study on Air Shipments of Lithium Batteries BYU scholar finds safety risk highest when airlines are closer to financial targets Feds probe Southwest's double-tire blowout in Sacramento Russian airline orders four Boeing Dreamliners United Express CRJ reportedly makes an emergency landing in Vermont World Food Programme, Regional Aviation Safety Office - Sharjah UAE, receiving an award from UAE-DG Kyrgyz Tu-134 crash is 'wake-up call': prime minister Kyrgyzstan's prime minister, Omurbek Babanov, has described yesterday's Tupolev Tu- 134 accident in Osh as a "wake-up call" and vowed a comprehensive review of air transport safety across the Central Asian state. He made the comment after arriving in the city and inspecting the wreckage of the aircraft, which lost its entire starboard wing, rolled inverted and caught fire after a hard landing upon arrival from Bishkek. There were no fatalities among the 73 passengers and six crew on board although several occupants sustained injuries. "This case should be a wake-up call for us," said Babanov. "We should seriously re- examine the system, to ensure passengers' safety, and perform a thorough review of the status of all airports, aircraft and crews in Kyrgyzstan." Osh airport is set to become a regional transport hub, he added, under a 2012 modernisation plan. The runway is to be extended by 400m (1,310ft) and safety levels reinforced. Kyrgyzstan's transport ministry said a commission was being established to look into the accident. It has also published the latest statistics on the country's air transport fleet. The registry, it said, contained 70 fixed-wing aircraft and 21 helicopters. Just 26 of the aircraft and 13 of the helicopters were airworthy, it added. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Will the FAA's New Fatigue Rules Do Enough for Pilots? Some experts argue that despite the regulations, the skies are still not as safe as they could be. By Frances Romero Airlines must now consider several factors when scheduling, including pilots' duty periods, the number of time zones crossed and the time at which pilots start their first flight. Pilots must now have a 10-hour rest period before reporting for duty, a two-hour increase over previous regulations. The FAA has also increased the number of consecutive free hours pilots must have per week to 30 hours. And, added acting FAA administrator Michael Huerta, "If a pilot reports that he or she is fatigued, then the airline must remove the pilot from duty," says acting FAA administrator Michael Huerta. But the problem, some say, is that pilots might fear being reprimanded for not getting sufficient rest. As House Transportation Committee member John Mica noted, "Pilots must take personal responsibility for coming to work rested and fit for duty. The government cannot put a chocolate on every one of their pillows and tuck them in at night." While the new rules ensure that pilots aren't forced to work too much, they also place a bigger onus on pilots to make sure they aren't falling asleep on the job. Another issue that critics say hasn't been addressed with the update, is that the rules aren't stringent enough to help commuting pilots. According to a July report by the National Research Council, 20% of the nation's airline pilots live more than 750 miles from their work stations and have to travel great distances and bunk in makeshift beds before their shifts, leaving them especially vulnerable to fatigue. ABC News airline consultant John Nance, a former pilot himself, called the changes "abysmal." But it doesn't look like much will be done to address these fears, considering that the FAA called it a "Final Rule on Pilot Fatigue." Perhaps energy would be best spent now focusing on air-traffic controller fatigue, considering the rash of incidents this year in which pilots were found to be asleep on the job. Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/28/will-the-faas-new-fatigue-rules-do- enough-for-pilots/#ixzz1hwbASicd Back to Top Family of Marine jet crash victims awarded $17.8 million LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The surviving relatives of four family members killed when a Marine fighter jet crashed into their San Diego home in 2008 were awarded $17.8 million by a federal judge on Wednesday. Don Yoon, who lost his wife, his mother-in-law and two of his children when an F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet crashed into and incinerated their home, was awarded $9.6 million by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller, court documents show. Yoon's father-in-law, Sanghyun Lee, 67, was awarded $3.7 million in the decision, according to the court papers. Yoon's three surviving children were awarded $1.5 million each. Yoon was at work on December 8, 2008 when the fighter, which was approaching the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar after taking off from an aircraft carrier during a training exercise, smashed into his home. The crash killed his wife 36-year-old wife, Youngmi Lee Yoon, his daughters Grace Yoon, 15 months, and Rachel Yoon, 7 weeks, and his mother-in-law Seokim Kim-Lee, 59, who was visiting from South Korea to help take care of the children. The pilot ejected from the plane before the crash and survived. The United States admitted sole liability for the crash, fire, and deaths of those who perished, according to the court decision. Yoon's older brother testified during a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in San Diego that his brother used to be funny, cracking jokes and playing with children. Now, he said, Yoon visits the graves of his family every day, and no longer smiles or sees people. Yoon told the court that reuniting with his wife and daughters in death is "all I have to look forward to," according to court documents. An attorney for the plaintiffs, who sought $56 million in damages, could not immediately be reached for comment. A U.S. Department of Justice attorney representing the government in the case did not immediately respond to request for comment. Back to Top Fatal chopper crash headed toward lengthy investigation It could take up to 6 months to a year to determine the cause of Monday's crash that killed the pilot and 2 Mayo clinic staffers. Teams of experts will soon begin a checklist-style investigation as the final remnants from Monday's helicopter crash that killed the pilot and two Mayo Clinic staffers is hauled to an undisclosed location in Georgia. The National Transportation Safety Board said the wreckage would be moved away from the Clay County site southwest of Green Cove Springs no later than this morning. It will be taken to a "salvage facility" somewhere near Atlanta where a lengthy follow-up investigation will take place, air safety investigator Jose Obregon said. He said the investigation may take anywhere from six months to a year. One factor will be the size of the crash site: 450 feet by 100 feet. That suggests the helicopter still had forward momentum, as opposed to a vertical dive, when it crashed into the dense pine forest, Obregon said. Killed were Mayo cardiac surgeon Luis Felipe Bonilla, 49, procurement technician David W. Hines, 57, and pilot E. Hoke Smith, 68, of SK Jets in St. Augustine. They were en route to Gainesville to retrieve a heart for transplant from Shands at the University of Florida hospital. With just 10 percent to 15 percent of the aircraft not destroyed by the crash fire, analyzing each component is a necessity. But it is also protocol of crash investigations performed by the Transportation Safety Board, an aviation expert said. "They will have teams with agents from all disciplines," said Jim Campbell, editor in chief of Aero-News Network. Campbell has spent more than 18,000 hours in the air, much of it conducting test flights in fixed-wing aircrafts and helicopters. Familiar with the workings of the Transportation Safety Board, Campbell said engineers will examine everything on the hel- icopter from its structure and engine to its history and, most importantly, its maintenance history. He said the aircraft's owner, SK Jets, is required to keep up with a strict maintenance plan and to track it in a log, which the Federal Aviation Administration can audit at any time. The Transportation Safety Board said it was in the process of obtaining the maintenance records Wednesday afternoon. Campbell said that although the Bell 206B-3 helicopter certified in 1979 was not equipped with a recording device, it is likely that an after-market device, such as a GPS system, was often later installed. However, it is unclear if any instrumental equipment has been recovered after the fire. A medical examiner's report on pilot Smith also will be factored in. Diagrams from the site, which include such factors as tree damage and analysis from a weather expert, will be used to help determine a probable cause, if possible. In a report from the Transportation Safety Board, the agency cited actions of the pilot as a probable cause in 38 of the 44 crashes involving the Bell 206B-3 since January 2007. "It's an exhaustive process," Campbell said of the investigation procedures. "But they are very good at what they do." Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-12- 28/story/fatal-chopper-crash-headed-toward-lengthy-investigation#ixzz1hwbwfW5b Back to Top US safety chiefs outline ambitious 2025 strategy Ken Hylander, responsible for safety at Delta Air Lines, and Peggy Gilligan, the Federal Aviation Administration's top safety official, spoke recently about a new goal to halve the current low accident risk by 2025. That would mean approximately one fatality for every 22 million flights - that equates to one death roughly every two and a half years, a period in which more than 1.4 billion passengers will have boarded scheduled flights operated by US airlines. The FAA's Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), announced earlier this month that it planned to move beyond its 'historic' approach of examining past accident data to a far more proactive approach that will focus on risk prediction and mitigation strategies through developing prognostic safety analysis using significantly more data sources - including air traffic data. CAST is co-chaired by Hylander, Senior Vice President - Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance, Delta Air Lines and Gilligan, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety at the FAA. "Like all good goals, these are rather aggressive," Hylander told reporters. "The question really becomes, how do we get to the next step?" Safety experts are now turning their attention to these new approaches to anticipate and counter incipient hazards often in ground operations. Runway incursions, or two aircraft mistakenly ending up on the same strip now account for the largest single safety problem, according to Mark Rosenker, another former FAA safety board member. Steps are also underway to re-calculate risk. Instead of focussing on rates of fatal accidents, experts now want attention to shift to a far tougher standard: individual fatalities per millions of flights. Voluntary programmes such as the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) program, and the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) currently feed into the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) programme which connects 46 safety databases across the industry. The programme today has matured to the point where the FAA can now look at data from air carriers representing 92 per cent of US commercial operations and identify emerging vulnerabilities and trends. As part of that effort, at least 37 US airlines are now actively encouraging pilots to voluntarily file reports about a whole gamut of safety lapses, with assurances of no punishment. In future databases documenting the full range of incidents before they turn into accidents will be expanded, giving safety experts access to more than 100,000 reports, along with some 30,000 voluntary incident reports filed by air traffic controllers nationwide. http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/view_news.asp?ID=4686 Back to Top PRBA Assails Fundamental Flaws in FAA Safety Study on Air Shipments of Lithium Batteries WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- PRBA--The Rechargeable Battery Association today said a recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) study on the potential risks posed by the air transport of lithium batteries was based on flawed assumptions, unsound methodology and faulty data. "Unfortunately, the FAA study has provoked unwarranted scare-mongering in the news media and distracted attention from important safety issues. Everyone agrees improperly packaged lithium batteries should not be shipped as cargo. This safety goal can best be achieved by rigorous enforcement that will ensure compliance with existing international battery transportation regulations," PRBA Executive Director George A. Kerchner said. In a letter to the Secretary of the International Civil Aviation Organization's Dangerous Goods Panel, PRBA detailed its concerns about the methodological mistakes in the FAA study. The FAA based its study on five aircraft incidents. In two of the five incidents, batteries were onboard the aircraft. The FAA study assumed these batteries contributed to the two incidents, then developed its risk model from this assumption. "But no facts are presented that indicate any involvement of batteries in the incidents," PRBA's letter noted. "The presence of batteries onboard certainly is not enough to justify this assumption and should not be the basis for FAA's next study on the cost benefit ratios for various mitigation strategies." The FAA assumed bulk shipments of lithium batteries likely contributed to two incidents involving air cargo planes. "This assumption is unfounded," PRBA's letter said. In one incident, the National Transportation Safety Board did not identify bulk shipments of lithium ion or lithium metal batteries onboard the aircraft. An investigation into the recent incident in Dubai never said bulk shipments were "likely contributors" to the accident. The FAA claimed air shipments containing batteries pose a more significant risk than those without batteries. "However, in fact, there is no statistically significant difference between the 'battery-related' and 'non-battery-related' incident rates," PRBA's letter said, and explained why. In fact, the risks of an incident may be higher for air cargo shipments that do not include batteries, the letter noted. The FAA failed to distinguish between the very different shipping practices for lithium ion and lithium metal batteries, and then incorrectly stated that 50 percent of both are shipped on U.S. all-cargo airlines for an average of 2,116 miles. "This is not true," the letter said, because the bulk of lithium metal batteries are transported by ships and trucks. Most lithium ion batteries are in consumer electronic products or shipped with laptops, mobile phones and other electronic goods. As a result, the FAA is "greatly overstating the risk," the letter said. "PRBA has expressed serious doubts about efficacy of the FAA study because it seems to have either misunderstood or misused data on the basis of faulty premises. It is not a study on which any policy changes could reasonably be based," Kerchner said. About PRBAThe members of PRBA power the consumer electronics revolution. We deliver a safe, efficient, and essential power source for portable electronic equipment such as notebook computers, cell phones, power tools, PDAs, and MP3 players, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles. PRBA members produce approximately 70 percent of the world's lithium ion cells and account for billions of dollars in annual worldwide sales. With more than 70 members, PRBA is widely recognized as the nation's authoritative source for information on rechargeable batteries. Visit PRBA online at www.PRBA.org . SOURCE PRBA - The Rechargeable Battery Association Back to Top BYU scholar finds safety risk highest when airlines are closer to financial targets A new statistical analysis by a Brigham Young University business scholar has found that the closer an airline comes to meeting its financial targets, the more likely it is to crash a plane. Yet as profitability increases beyond expectations, the accident rate goes down, confounding the notion that airlines trade safety for profits. "Risk tapers off when airlines move away from their target in either direction," said study author Peter Madsen, assistant professor of organizational leadership and strategy at BYU. "Once you are operating beyond your goals there is less pressure to operate as efficiently as you can." Madsen studies the association between profits and risk-taking in many industries. Aviation lends itself to this pursuit thanks to a wealth of available data. Even privately held airlines must disclose financial results, and federal agencies track all safety-related incidents. "The true implication of this work is that organizational profitability impacts safety risks in predictable ways and that this effect occurs even in very safe industries," Madsen writes in the study, to be published in the Journal of Management and available online. "The analysis presented here clearly demonstrates that safety fluctuates with profitability relative to aspirations, such that accidents and incidents are most likely to be experienced by organizations performing near their profitability targets." Airlines for America, a Washington-based trade group, is reviewing the study. "Safety is the foundation on which our industry was built and remains our No. 1 priority," spokesman Steve Lott said in an e-mail. "Airlines never compromise on safety and the impressive record speaks for itself. Our skies are the safest they have ever been in modern history." Madsen examined data generated by 133 U.S. airlines between 1990 and 2007. All were large commercial carriers with more than $20 million in annual revenue. Madsen excluded smaller carriers, such as charters and air taxis, because they are not required to report the data he needed to construct the variables his study required. During those years, the airlines experienced 915 accidents, 54 of which resulted in fatalities. Accidents were defined as collisions that resulted in injuries or structural damage to the aircraft. Madsen's study controlled for a number of variables, such as airlines' average flight duration, portion of flights going oversees, portion of revenue derived from passenger fares versus cargo, and level of capitalization expressed as a ratio of assets to departures. His analysis documented a 7 percent decrease in the likelihood of an accident for every 10 percent deviation in an airline's performance from its profitability goal. To confirm his results, he applied his methodology to another 5,829 "incidents," episodes that didn't qualify as accidents, but could affect safety. He came up with similar results, but without the symmetry. Firms that were 10 percent below financial targets were 4 percent less likely to log an incident, while those exceeding targets were 10 percent less likely. Madsen cautioned that his findings in no way impugn the nation's commercial airlines, which have perhaps the best safety record of any mode of mechanical transport in history. He noted that it would take a U.S. passenger, on average, 36,000 years of taking a domestic flight every day to die in a plane crash. "It would be a mistake for anyone to use my findings to try to decide which airline to fly with," Madsen said. Prior studies of the relationship between safety and profitability have been inconsistent and plagued with conflicting results, according to Madsen. He believes this relationship is more complex than previously assumed. "I don't think people are saying consciously, 'We really want to hit this financial target. Let's cut back on our safety expenditures,'" Madsen said. "But it's well documented that people will take risks to achieve goals, even if they don't realize they're doing it. Just being aware of these findings, and when you are close to hitting your targets, reminding people that safety is your No. 1 concern, could reduce that tendency." He believes his findings have significance beyond air transport because airline safety is so highly regulated. The subtle influences of profitability on safety could be more pronounced in less regulated arenas, and Madsen intends to test his theories on the mining industry. "It is entirely possible that the risk of industrial accidents in several high-hazard industries, as well as the risk of worker injury, increases in firms performing near their profitability aspirations," his study concludes. "One clear implication of this work, then, for organizational leaders is that conscious efforts may be needed to counteract the subconscious tendency to reduce attention to safety when the attainment of financial objectives is in question." http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53193506-78/safety-madsen-financial- airlines.html.csp?page=2 Back to Top Feds probe Southwest's double-tire blowout in Sacramento Federal officials spent Wednesday investigating an unusual double-tire blowout on a Southwest Airlines jet at Sacramento International Airport, but said they hadn't come to any firm conclusions about the incident."We examined the plane and talked to Southwest but haven't determined a cause of the blown tires. (We're) still looking into it," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.Flight 2287 to Seattle, with 130 passengers, aborted its take-off about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday after two tires blew on the runway. No injuries were reported. A Southwest Airlines spokesman said the company's mechanics were examining the Boeing 737, but no preliminary findings had yet been issued."The plane will not be back in service until they are assured they know what happened," Southwest's Brad Hawkins said.Gregor said tire failures are rare, but not unheard of."They can result from mechanical problems in the wheels, structural failure of the tires themselves or debris on the runway," he said. "Tires can also blow if a pilot applies the brakes hard. We'll work with the airline to determine what happened and to ensure the problem is corrected before the plane is returned to service."Airport officials said crews inspected the runway after the incident but found no indication that the runway had caused the failure.It was the second aircraft tire blowout at Sacramento in a little more than a year. In August 2010, four tires popped and the brakes caught fire on a JetBlue flight arriving from Long Beach. Passengers were evacuated via emergency slides. Some suffered minor injuries.A federal review of the 2010 incident indicated the parking brake was on, locking the tires. "According to airplane recorded flight data, the parking brake had become engaged during the landing approach ... and it remained engaged throughout the landing," a National Transportation Safety Board report states. "Neither pilot recalled any abnormal indications or warnings associated with the braking system prior to landing."A second Southwest flight ran into trouble Wednesday morning when it collided with a bird after take-off. The Ontario-bound plane returned to the airport as a precaution. The plane suffered minor damage, airport spokeswoman Laurie Slothower said.Bird strikes are not unusual at Sacramento International. A review of federal records shows 650 bird strikes at the airport in the last four years, many during migration periods in December and January. Most flights continued as normal, but in several dozen cases, jets aborted takeoffs or returned for damage assessments.Last January, a cargo jet suffered $3million in engine and other damage in a collision with a goose, forcing an emergency landing in Oakland. Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/29/4150230/feds-probe-southwests- double-tire.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top United Express CRJ reportedly makes an emergency landing in Vermont Various news reports are indicating a United Express Bombardier CRJ700 made an emergency landing on earlier today in Burlington, Vermont. The aircraft reportedly had an engine failure and landed safely after being airborne for approximately 10 minutes. Airport officials told The Huffington Post they believed the aircraft was bound for Chicago. Schedules in the Innovata database show that Express carrier Mesa Airlines operates 12 flights per week from Burlington to Chicago, with one single flight departing on Wednesdays at 06:00. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top BA to extend A318 fuel-efficient coating test to 777 British Airways is to paint a Boeing 777-200 aircraft with a fuel-efficient coating after positive results from tests using an Airbus A318. The coating, which is known as 'Triple0', creates a polarising bond with the aircraft surface structure and achieves a "perfectly smooth" finish, said the carrier, which improves aerodynamic performance. Year-long tests with one of the two BA A318s operating transatlantic services from London City to New York showed the twinjet consumed less fuel than the one without the coating. BA said the 777 will be similarly coated to extend the trial period and added that it looked to save more than £100,000 ($154,000) over the duration of the tests with the larger aircraft. "We have been exploring a number of initiatives to improve fuel efficiency," said BA director of engineering Garry Copeland. "[This coating] not only delivers a significant saving, it also improves aircraft appearance." BA said the coating - which lasts about two years - has fringe benefits including less- frequent cleaning and painting. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top World Food Programme, Regional Aviation Safety Office - Sharjah UAE, receiving an award from UAE-DG GCAA As a leader in the region for promoting safety through numerous global and local activities, an award was handed by H.E. Saif Al Suwaidi Director General of UAE GCAA on behalf of the UAE Minister of Education and Economy to Capt. Samir Sajet the Regional Aviation Safety Officer - WFP Sharjah Aviation Safety Office and that's during the First National Aviation Safety Conference. The World Food Programme has heavily relied on air transport for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in countries affected by internal conflicts or in response to natural disasters, WFP logistics was given the mandate by the United Nations to provide air transport capacity to all relief agencies and non-governmental organizations. Generally and since the Aviation Safety Unit was created, WFP aviation around all of our operations has enforced and strengthened its safety measures and regulations to become the most and often the only reliable way of transports in the countries where WFP operates. Part of that outstanding track record came from the steady improvements in technology and certification standards, and various requirements that have made WFP Aviation safer for those flying and those on the ground. As a leader in the region for promoting safety through numerous global and local activities, an award was handed by H.E. Saif Al Suwaidi Director General of UAE GCAA on behalf of the UAE Minister of Education and Economy to Capt. Samir Sajet the Regional Aviation Safety Officer - WFP Sharjah Aviation Safety Office and that's during the First National Aviation Safety Conference which had a main goal of enhancing the efficiency of communication between all stakeholders in the national civil aviation industry, and identifying all factors endangering aviation safety to reduce the risk in preemptive manner. http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2011/12/28/world-food-programme-regional-aviation- safety-office-sharjah-uae-receiving-award-uae-dg-g Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC