Flight Safety Information April 2, 2012 - No. 065 In This Issue Plane Crash in Siberia Kills 31 of 43 on Board Helicopter crash site still unreachable Tampa-bound airplane diverted to Knoxville Pilot gun training up in air PRISM ANNUAL SMS AUDIT RESULTS Pinnacle Airlines files for bankruptcy protection Japan Airines Boeing-777 Tailstrike Commercial jet-sized asteroid came close to Earth April 1 Plane Crash in Siberia Kills 31 of 43 on Board A passenger plane crashed in Siberia shortly after taking off Monday morning, killing 31 people. WSJ's Greg White says this comes after investigations in previous crashes found a raft of gross violations and errors. MOSCOW - A passenger plane crashed in Siberia shortly after taking off Monday morning, killing 31 of the 43 people on board, Russian emergency officials said. The 12 survivors were hospitalized in serious condition. The ATR-72, a French-Italian-made twin-engine turboprop, operated by UTair was flying from Tyumen to the oil town of Surgut with 39 passengers and four crew. Enlarge Image Russian emergency workers at the site of Monday's ATR-72 plane crash outside Tyumen, in Siberia. The aircraft went down on a snowy field outside Tyumen, a regional center in Siberia about 1,000 miles east of Moscow. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. UTair published a list of the passengers and crew, and none of them appeared to be foreigners. The Emergency Situations Ministry gave the figures for the dead and for survivors. Russia has seen a string of deadly crashes in recent years. Some have been blamed on the use of aging Soviet-era aircraft, but industry experts point to a number of other problems, including poor crew training, crumbling airports, lax government controls and widespread neglect of safety in the pursuit of profits. Pilot error was blamed for a September crash in Yaroslavl, a Russian city 150 miles northeast of Moscow, that killed 44 people, including a professional hockey team. Earlier: Russia's Air-Safety Crisis (12/7/2011) Pilot error and fog also were ruled the main causes of a crash in April 2010 that killed Poland's president and 95 other people as their plane was trying to land near Smolensk, in western Russia. The ATR-72 has been involved in several accidents in past years. Most recently, one went down in bad weather in Cuba in November 2010, killing all 68 people on board. Cuban aviation officials said the investigation showed there was nothing wrong with the aircraft. In August 2009, an ATR-72 flown by Bangkok Airways skidded off the runway and crashed into a building after landing in stormy weather on the Thai resort island of Samui, killing the pilot and injuring seven people. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304023504577319190389055860.html?mod=googlenews_wsj *********** Status: Preliminary Date: 02 APR 2012 Time: 07:44 Type: ATR-72-201 Operator: Utair Registration: VP-BYZ C/n / msn: 332 First flight: 1992-10-20 (19 years 6 months) Engines: 2 PWC PW124B Crew: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Passengers: Fatalities: 27 / Occupants: 39 Total: Fatalities: 31 / Occupants: 43 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 2,5 km (1.6 mls) SW of Tyumen Airport (TJM) (Russia) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Tyumen-Roshchino International Airport (TJM) (TJM/USTR), Russia Destination airport: Surgut Airport (SGC) (SGC/USRR), Russia Flightnumber: 120 Narrative: An ATR-72 passenger plane was involved in an accident shortly after takeoff from Tyumen Airport (TJM), Russia. According to the airline, UTAir, there were 39 passengers and four crew members on board. The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported there 12 passengers were sustained serious injuries. Flight 120 took off from Tyumen Airport runway 21 on a regular domestic passenger flight to Surgut (SGC). The airplane crash-landed in a snowy field approx. 2,5 km past the end of the runway. It broke up and a fire erupted. Weather reported at the Tyumen Airport (01:30 UTC / 07:30 local time) was: USTR 020130Z 24006G09MPS 9999 BKN013CB M01/M01 Q1002 TEMPO 26015MPS 1500 SHSN BLSN BKN005 RMK QFE742/0989 21290060 30750029 Wind 6 m/s (gusting to 9m/s) at 240 degrees; Visibility: 10 km or more; Clouds: Broken, at 1300 feet above aerodrome level, cumulonimbus; Temperature: -01 degrees Celsius; Dewpoint: -01 degrees Celsius; QNH (Sea- level pressure): 1002 hPa; The following weather phenomena are expected to arise temporarily: Wind: 260 degrees, Speed: 15 m/s; Visibility: 1500 m; Weather: Showers of Snow; Clouds: Broken sky, at 500 feet above aerodrome level; Runway state: Runway 21: wet or water patches, contamination 51% to 100%, deposit less than 1 mm deep, friction coefficient 0.60 www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Helicopter crash site still unreachable The Transportation Safety Board of Canada still hasn't been able to reach the site of a helicopter crash that took the life of a B.C. pilot, citing weather and difficult terrain as obstacles. "The wreckage is in a very remote site, and it's very difficult terrain above the treeline in the mountain. It's very steep where the helicopter came to rest," said spokesman Chris Krepski. "Weather is also a challenge." Four tourists from the United Kingdom were aboard the Bell 205 helicopter operated by Kananaskis Mountain Helicopters and flown by Kananaskis Heli Tours. The tourists were on a 20-minute sightseeing trip and heading to the South Ghost area for an hour-long snowshoeing jaunt when the chopper crashed Friday morning by Grotto Mountain near Canmore. The tourists walked away with minor injuries, but the pilot, 28-year-old Matthew Godine of British Columbia, died before he could be transported to hospital. His family declined to comment when reached Sunday by the Herald. "We are grieving right now," said a woman who answered the phone at his family's home. Krepski said the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is arranging for wreckage recovery to take place sometime this week. The four passengers have been interviewed by phone, and officials are still planning to speak to two of them in person. "I don't have information about their disposition," Krepski said. "We don't release personal information about people involved in an accident." The investigation is still in the information gathering phase, which includes wreckage recovery, documenting the state of the wreckage and examining traffic control, weather, pilot training, and aircraft maintenance, among other things, Krepski said. Next, officials will conduct an analysis of the crash, identifying safety deficiencies, the cause, contributing factors and factors that may have added to the risk. And finally, a report will be prepared at the end of an investigation, which could take up to a year, Krepski said. Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Helicopter+crash+site+still+unreachable/6395897/story.html#ixzz1qt8lNsqO Back to Top Tampa-bound airplane diverted to Knoxville An airport spokesman said 146 people were off-loaded from a Spirit Airlines plane so non-emergency repairs could be made during an unscheduled landing at McGhee-Tyson Monday morning. The plane alerted the Knoxville airport around 7:07 a.m. that it had what the spokesman called an "Alert 1" emergency. The plane landed safely. Spirit Airlines does not operate out of McGhee-Tyson, so arrangements were made with other airlines for the passengers. A Spirit Airlines spokesman confirms Flight 639 originated in Detroit. Tampa was its destination. The nature of the repair is not known. http://www.wbir.com/news/article/214143/2/Tampa-bound-airplane-diverted-to-Knoxville Back to Top Pilot gun training up in air WASHINGTON (NYP) - The Obama administration is on a collision course with House Republicans over its call to dial down a program that trains pilots to handle guns in the cockpit. The Federal Flight Deck Officer program spends $25 million a year on the training for certain pilots; thousands have been accredited so far. But now, President Obama contends screening 100 percent of passengers, combined with locking cockpit doors, has made the program less necessary. The training program is "one of the most efficient deterrents, in addition to being the last line of defense," said Rep. Chip Cravaak (R-Minn). Marcus Flagg, president of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association, says the program costs about $15 a flight, compared to $3,300 per flight for the air-marshals system. Back to Top Back to Top Pinnacle Airlines files for bankruptcy protection NEW YORK (AP) - Pinnacle Airlines Corp., a regional carrier that flies under contract for Delta, United, Continental and US Airways, has filed for bankruptcy protection to deal with its mounting debt. The Memphis, Tenn.-based airline said late Sunday its current business model isn't sustainable. In its filing Sunday, it lists $1.42 billion in debt and $1.54 billion in assets. It ended the third quarter - the most recent quarter for which financial results are available - with just $81.8 million in cash and cash equivalents. Pinnacle, which mostly flies between major airports in the East, has been hurt by rising costs and integration problems. It plans to wind down the United Express flights it operates for United Continental Holdings Inc. It will continue Delta Connection flights for Delta Air Lines Inc. It's already in the process of winding down its service with US Airways. The airline lost $8.8 million in the first nine months of this year in contrast to a profit of $17 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue improved in that time, but costs accelerated at a faster pace. Traffic in the first two months of the year was virtually flat while the carrier dramatically scaled back its number of available seats. After a review, the company's board decided that reorganization under Chapter 11 was its best option. With Pinnacle's filing, one-quarter of the regional airline industry market is in bankruptcy protection. American Eagle filed along with American Airlines under parent company AMR Corp. in November. Pinnacle said it will ask its pilots and other employees, both union and non-union, to help it cut costs. That almost certainly means that some of the company's 7,800 employees will lose their jobs. The airline is also examining its overall business structure and executive functions for possible ways to streamline its operation. Pinnacle's President and CEO Sean Menke also oversaw a Chapter 11 filing at Frontier Airlines. Pinnacle is losing its chief financial officer to Spirit Airlines Inc. this month. Pinnacle has received a commitment for $74.3 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Delta that will allow it to continue operating while it restructures. Back to Top Japan Airines Boeing-777 Tailstrike Date: 31-MAR-2012 Type: Boeing 777-246ER Operator: Japan Airlines Registration: JA701J C/n / msn: 32889/410 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 308 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Tokyo Haneda International Airport - HND/RJTT - Japan Phase: Approach Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: SHA/ZSSS Destination airport: HND/RJTT Narrative: A Japan Airlines Boeing 777-246ER, performing flight JAL82, was apporoach to land at Tokyo Haneda International Airport - HND/RJTT after a flight from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport - SHA/ZSSS, China, when it was hit by a strong gust of wind which forced the crew to perform a go-around. The tail of the Boeing 777 struck the runway and the crew got the aircraft back in the air. The crew of flight JAL82 landed on its second apporoach about 28 minutes. The aircraft received substantial damage. None of the 296 passengers and 12 crew were injured. www.aviation-safety.com Back to Top Commercial jet-sized asteroid came close to Earth April 1 On Sunday, April 1, an asteroid came close to the earth, but had no chance of impacting our planet according to NASA. The asteroid in question is about the size of a commercial jet and is called 2012 EG5. When the asteroid passed the earth, it was closer to the planet than the moon. The rock was about 150 feet wide according to NASA and its flyby had been announced last Friday. The official distance from the earth was on 143,000 miles at the asteroid's closest point. That distance puts it roughly half the distance between the Earth and the moon. Two smaller asteroids had passed relatively close to the earth a week prior to EG5s flyby. None of the asteroids posed a risk of impact with the Earth. The two smaller asteroids were large enough to survive a trip to the Earth's atmosphere intact according to researchers. It's not clear if 2012 EG5 could have survived a trip to the atmosphere the impact the surface of the earth. http://www.slashgear.com/commercial-jet-sized-asteroid-came-close-to-earth-april-1-02221049/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC