Flight Safety Information March 26, 2012 - No. 060 In This Issue FAA extends reprisal-free safety reporting program Jetstream gear collapse prompts call for inspection change FAA shelves icing overhaul PRISM ANNUAL SMS AUDIT RESULTS India bans its airlines from paying EU carbon tax Embraer studying return to turboprop market FAA extends reprisal-free safety reporting program The Federal Aviation Administration has expanded a project that allows controllers who make a mistake to report the incident without fear of instant reprisal. The Air Traffic Safety Action Program, or AT-SAP, is now in its third year. So far, the program has received 50,000 reports. "The advantage that we have under the AT-SAP program is the controller's going to be speaking very, very freely about what was going on, what they were thinking at the time, what types of distractions were in the environment. In the past, the controller may not be so forthcoming," said David Conley, president of the FAA Managers Association, in an interview with The Federal Drive with Tom Temin. The program has forced a culture change among FAA managers, which Conley said "is not easy." "When managers have been in the system for five, 10, 15, 20 ... I'm going on 30 years already - you become ingrained with a style of management, with a way of dealing with issues," Conley said. AT-SAP was rolled out very quickly, and the learning curve for managers was slower to catch up to the program's deployment, he said. Conley said FAA has stepped up training. He said he would like to see the agency continue the training and boost the number of frontline managers at understaffed airports. Another challenge is the sheer number of report. The program is receiving, on average, 70 reports a day, Conley said. The incidents range from minor transgressions to controller concerns. Most are not "serious safety events," he said. But the number of reports coming in do require people to review, classify and identify trends from these incidents, Conley said. http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=530&sid=2801731 Back to Top Jetstream gear collapse prompts call for inspection change UK investigators are seeking a review of BAE Systems Jetstream 31 airworthiness directives aimed at identifying landing-gear cracks, after a gear-collapse accident on the Isle of Man earlier this month. The aircraft's starboard main gear failed as it landed on Runway 26 on 8 March. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch says the gear detached, and the 25-year old turboprop (G-CCPW) veered off the runway, although there were no injuries among the 14 occupants. It states that the detachment resulted from failure of the forward yoke pintle, which forms part of the assembly housing the undercarriage. Metallurgical analysis showed that a crack on the top edge of this pintle grew to 120mm before the remainder of the structure failed through overload. While the inquiry has not determined how long the crack had taken to grow, evidence of corrosion suggest the cracking was present during visual inspections 11 days earlier and "may have been present" during an eddy current inspection 10 months earlier. The AAIB states that a European Aviation Safety Agency directive aimed at detecting yoke pintle cracking was not sufficient to prevent the accident, and is recommending that the effectiveness of the inspection regime is reviewed. Links Air had been operating the flight from Leeds Bradford, on behalf of Manx2. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top FAA shelves icing overhaul An effort to update commonly used definitions of icing accumulation used by pilots and controllers since 1968 is temporarily on ice after what federal officials are calling a flawed rollout of the new terms in February. The changes had been made partially in response to US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations from the icing-related 1994 crash of an ATR 72 near Roselawn, Indiana. The recommendations called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make its definition of severe icing compatible with the "published definition" of the term, and working groups later developed quantitative rather than qualitative definitions to be used. The legacy, qualitative definitions include "trace, light, moderate and severe" icing levels, where "severe" calls for an "immediate flight diversion" because the aircraft's de- icing or anti-icing equipment would "fail to reduce or control the hazard". The update, published in the Airman's Information Manual (AIM) in February, included quantifiable accumulation rates for each level of icing, plus the addition of a "heavy" accumulation rate. The definition of "severe" had also been modified to include a condition where "ice accumulates in locations not normally prone to icing, such as areas aft of protected surfaces" In the Roselawn accident, a ridge of ice had accumulated behind the wing's pneumatic deicing boots, causing a "sudden and unexpected aileron hinge moment reversal", according to the NTSB. However in the 22 March notice, the FAA says that after a meeting with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca) and others earlier this month, it decided to rescind the update. "A decision was made on March 6 during a meeting of [FAA offices] to rescind the recent AIM change and the associated [general notice] that redefined icing levels in the pilot controller glossary since that change was not fully coordinated," the FAA states. "Numerous directives, advisory circulars, and automation systems were not concurrently updated." The agency says that the new icing intensity levels in the pilot-controller glossary are "cancelled immediately" and that icing levels "will revert back to trace, light, moderate and severe". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Back to Top India bans its airlines from paying EU carbon tax India has barred its airlines from complying with the European Union's carbon taxation ... India has barred its airlines from complying with the European Union carbon tax scheme, joining China in resistance to plans that have caused a backlash among the EU's trade partners. The European Union imposed a carbon levy on air travel with effect from January 1, but no airline will face a bill until 2013 after this year's carbon emissions have been tallied. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told parliament on Thursday that "the imposition of carbon tax does not arise" because Indian airlines would simply refuse to hand over their emissions data. "Though the European Union has directed Indian carriers to submit emission details of their aircraft by March 31, 2012, no Indian carrier is submitting them in view of the position of the government," he said. India's resolution to boycott the scheme follows China's decision last month to prevent its airlines from complying with the EU directive. The two Asian giants have attacked the EU scheme, calling it a unilateral trade levy disguised as an attempt to fight climate change. According to a so-called Moscow declaration adopted last month by countries opposed to the tax, governments have decided on a list of retaliatory measures to be taken if necessary, including banning their airlines from participating. It also allows governments to take tough retaliatory measures against EU carriers and aviation companies and impose their own taxes on EU airlines. The 27-nation EU has said the carbon tax will help it achieve its goal of cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and that it will not back down on the plan. It claims that the cost for the airlines is manageable, estimating that the scheme could prompt them to add between 4.0 euros ($5.50) and 24 euros to the price of a long-haul round-trip. Industry insiders have expressed concern that the scheme could spark a trade war between the EU and the countries opposed to the tax. The chief executive of European plane manufacturer Airbus, Thomas Enders, called for a "freeze" on the EU plan Thursday, saying that it would otherwise cost the sector thousands of jobs. "Delay it, freeze it for one or two years," he said according to Dow Jones Newswires, arguing that the scheme "will do nothing but induce strife... retaliation and counter- retaliation." Earlier this month the head of the Airbus parent company EADS said Beijing had already begun to block purchases of Airbus planes by Chinese companies in reaction to the dispute. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/india-bans-airlines-paying-eu-carbon-tax-071522596.html Back to Top Embraer studying return to turboprop market Embraer is "seriously studying the possibility of a return to turboprop manufacture" according to president of Embraer Aviation Europe, Luiz Fuchs. Speaking at French Connect 2012 in Paris he said that studies were being undertaken given that the regional jet market was tending towards larger 100-150 seat aircraft. Embraer's vice-president of commercial aviation Europe, Simon Newitt says to Flightglobal Pro: "It's fair to say that we're an aircraft manufacturer andwe wouldn't be doing our job if we weren't looking at the broad picture to see where opportunities could arise." He says that Embraer is "in study mode, it's on our radar like many other things". However Newitt says questions remain on whether the turboprop market is big enough to sustain a third manufacturer. "Typically speaking when the fuel price is so high, everyone starts focusing on turboprops, when fuel price drops, turboprops become a niche programme," he says. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC