Flight Safety Information April 12, 2012 - No. 074 In This Issue U.S. soldiers die in helicopter crash in Morocco Safety watchdog probes air scare over NT (Australia) Aspen flights diverted over FAA equipment failure Pilot smoke warning actions slammed PRISM ANNUAL SMS AUDIT RESULTS FAA Grounds $75,000 Surveillance Drone Due to Crowded Skies (Hawaii) Air India's turnaround plan approved Boeing bears down on 737 fuel-savings target U.S. soldiers die in helicopter crash in Morocco RABAT (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and two others injured when a helicopter crashed on Wednesday in southern Morocco, the spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Rabat said. The crash of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey in the southern province of Tan Tan is being investigated as a "helicopter incident", Rodney D. Ford told Reuters by telephone. "We have been informed that this was a helicopter incident that the marines are investigating," Ford said. The two wounded soldiers were taken to a military medical facility in Guelmim, 730 km (450 miles) south of Rabat. The victims were among some 1,200 U.S. marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who arrived in Morocco earlier this month for the annual African Lion joint exercise with Moroccan forces at Cap Draa, on the Atlantic Coast. Radio Plus reported that the crash happened as the helicopter was taking part in an exercise. In July, 78 people were killed when a Moroccan military transport plane crashed into a mountain near Guelmim during bad weather. Back to Top Safety watchdog probes air scare over NT (Australia) The air safety regulator says two passenger airliners were seen to be on converging tracks at the same flight level, resulting in a "breakdown of separation". The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating a serious incident involving two passenger airliners in skies near Katherine in the Northern Territory. The ATSB says a Qantas Boeing 737 was on its way from Darwin to Sydney last week while an Air China Airbus was flying in the same air space en route from Melbourne to Shanghai. The safety regulator says the two planes were seen to be on converging tracks at the same flight level, resulting in a "breakdown of separation". The aircraft came within several nautical miles before air traffic controllers realised the mistake and changed the flight paths. A spokesman for the ATSB says no further information will be released. A similar incident involving two aircraft happened near Tennant Creek in 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-11/atsb-probes-air-scare-in-nt- skies/3944172/?site=sydney Back to Top Aspen flights diverted over FAA equipment failure ASPEN, Colo. (APOnline) - Several American Eagle flights headed to the Colorado ski town of Aspen were diverted to other airports over the weekend because of airport equipment failure. Investigators say the equipment that guides landing planes failed on Saturday and Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration says it had problems after moving the equipment and expects it to be fixed by Friday. Aviation director Jim Elwood tells the Aspen Times that he wants to make sure the problem has been corrected Back to Top Pilot smoke warning actions slammed Pilots of a passenger plane who assumed a spurious smoke warning was valid took actions which "significantly degraded the operational capability of the aircraft", an accident report has said. The cockpit crew of the Edinburgh-bound Dash 8 aircraft, with 47 passengers on board, carried out checklist actions designed to tackle fire or smoke from an unknown source, the report said. The actions caused the aircraft to begin to depressurise, the commandeer had to fly manually and the co-pilot's flight displays were blank, the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. A smoke warning light had lit up as the aircraft, operated by airline Flybe and flying from Newquay Airport in Cornwall on the morning of July 21 last year, was about 25 miles south west of Carlisle in Cumbria. The co-pilot had asked the senior cabin crew member to look for smoke and she reported back that she could not smell any smoke. The captain told her that "we had to fight the fire" and that they would be making an emergency descent into Edinburgh, the report said. The AAIB added that the captain had told the co-pilot that no smoke had been seen but they agreed that the situation would have to be treated "as real". When the plane landed safely at Edinburgh, passengers were evacuated through the four cabin doors, two at the front and two at the back, rather than via chutes in a rapid disembarkation. Passengers used steps at the front left door but the other doors had neither steps nor slides, said the AAIB, which described the incident as "serious". Some passengers tried to put on coats and take belongings with them and the evacuation was slowed by some being reluctant to jump down from the door sills which were more than 5ft (1.6m) above the ground. Passengers were taken to the business lounge at Edinburgh and were able to leave about three hours after the evacuation. http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/pilot-smoke-warning-actions- slammed-1-2229531 Back to Top Back to Top FAA Grounds $75,000 Surveillance Drone Due to Crowded Skies (Hawaii) The state of Hawaii spent $75,000 to purchase a drone to conduct aerial surveillance over Honolulu Harbor, but the aircraft has been sitting in storage since it was delivered last year because authorities have been prohibited from flying it. The Federal Aviation Administration refused to give the state permission to fly the device over the harbor. The FAA told the state the drone could not be deployed in airspace near the Honolulu International Airport and Hickam Air Force Base because the skies were too crowded, according to the Hawaii Reporter. "It works, we're maintaining it, but we just can't fly it," Harbors Division administrator Davis Yogi told the Reporter. The state bought the unmanned drone in November 2010 before bothering to check with the FAA to get approval to fly the aircraft, and only sought permission after the local newspaper began inquiring if authorities had secured a certificate of authorization to fly the device over the harbor. The drone, which is equipped with a high-tech camera to scan and track ground activity, was part of a $2 million Honolulu and Maui harbor security system that was financed with $1.4 million in federal grants and $900,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/drone-grounded/ Back to Top Air India's turnaround plan approved New Delhi, April 12 - Beleaguered flag carrier Air India can now look forward to a total rehaul of its financial and operational efficiency, with the government Thursday approving its much-awaited comprehensive turnaround plan. But another decision on the entry of foreign carriers into domestic commercial aviation sector was deferred by a meeting here of the federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A decision on this is now expected next week, said Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, who was among those at the cabinet meeting. Officials said some ministers wanted some more clarity before applying their minds to the issue. According to officials in Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the office of the civil aviation ministry, the board of Air India had already approved the restructuring plan after which a consortium of its lenders had given the go ahead to its debt reconstruction plan. Air India had borrowed some Rs.21,412 crore towards acquisition of new aircraft, another Rs.22,368 crore towards working capital and owes around Rs.2,000 crore to oil retailers, besides facing accumulated losses worth Rs.22,000 crore. The financial restructuring had involved Rs.18,000 crore by a consortium of 19 banks led by the State Bank of India under which Rs.10,500 crore will be converted into long-term debt with a repayment period of 10-15 years. The remaining Rs.7,400 crore will be repaid through government-guaranteed bonds. Earlier, the government had announced an infusion of Rs.4,000 crore during the current fiscal to increase the airline's equity base to Rs.7,345 crore. The comprehensive turnaround plan involves an operational aspect along with a financial restructuring plan to help Air India improve its functional and financial position, officials said. http://india.nydailynews.com/article/b142014ec77bcfedfd4f6ddc271d54ea/air-india-s- turnaround-plan-approved Back to Top Boeing bears down on 737 fuel-savings target (Reuters) - Boeing Co on Wednesday put some finishing touches on a make-over of its popular 737 aircraft as the U.S. planemaker battles with European arch-rival Airbus to deliver fuel savings to airlines hammered by near-record oil prices. The company unveiled several design choices meant to lower weight and wind-resistance for its upcoming 737 MAX. The planemaker said it had decided on an 8-inch nose gear extension to give ground clearance for a larger engine fan. The world's largest planemakers are revamping their workhorse models with bigger engines to offer double-digit percentage fuel savings in one of the most competitive market battles of the last two decades, affecting a vital source of cash generation at both companies. "My feeling about it is what they're saying is plausible. And I'll just wait until we see the results," said Hans Weber, president of technology management consultancy Tecop International. More decisions about the design are expected, and Boeing (BA.N) said on Wednesday that it would have a firm configuration for the plane next year. Last year, Boeing unveiled plans to put new engines in its existing 737 design, providing fuel savings of up to 12 percent over the current 737. Boeing named the aircraft the MAX and said it would enter service in 2017. Weber said the announcements shed light on the MAX program and gave clarity to the design. He said he did not expect the decisions to add to the undisclosed cost of the MAX program. In its 40-year history, the Boeing 737 has become the world's most-sold aircraft and the backbone of airline fleets worldwide. But Boeing has taken several months to finalize the design of the upgraded 737 MAX while juggling engineering considerations, market opportunities and costs. The airplane will compete with the Airbus A320neo, which also will feature new engines and offer fuel savings of 15 percent over the current A320. UPDATING A BEST SELLER Boeing said it would improve the aircraft's aerodynamics by extending the tail cone, update its flight controls and strengthen landing gear, wings and the fuselage to accommodate the weight of the larger engines. Boeing said the decisions were within the scope of the original design goals. Wednesday's announcement, which had been eagerly awaited by investors and the industry, came after months of deliberations over engine improvements and aircraft design. Engineering experts said Boeing's response had been hampered by the fact that there was comparatively little space to place the industry's bigger and more efficient engines under the wing of the 737, which was initially designed low to the ground to speed up baggage loading and aircraft turnaround times. To fit inside the available space, the current engines already have a squashed appearance underneath to give the engine housing adequate ground clearance. "Based on design work and preliminary testing results, we have even more confidence in our ability to give our customers the fuel savings they need while minimizing the development risk on this program," said Michael Teal, chief project engineer and deputy program manager of the 737 MAX program. The MAX will be powered by engines made by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric Co (GE.N) and Safran (SAF.PA). BOEING PUSHES BACK In 2011, Boeing had 36 percent of new plane sales, while Airbus (EAD.PA) stacked up record sales of its revamped A320neo. Now Boeing, based in Chicago, is hitting back with strong sales of its own redesigned narrowbody and is aiming to win the order race in 2012. Boeing has taken more than 1,000 orders and provisional orders for the MAX since winning its first provisional order for the plane from AMR Corp's (AAMRQ.PK) American Airlines last year. Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) will be the first operator of the plane. Boeing has reported firm contracts for 451 of the 737 MAX 15 customers. The company said that when provisional orders were factored in, the total exceeded 1,000. Airbus has reached definitive agreements to sell 1,289 A320neos, making what it describes as the fastest-selling new aircraft in history, and reported provisional deals for an additional 266. Boeing is working to get performance guarantees in place for its MAX customers as it attempts to convert hundreds of provisional orders for the MAX to firm this year. It is also spotlighting performance of its current 737 as a key selling point. The company illustrates 737 reliability with data showing the 737 family of planes has a higher rate of reliability than the A320. Boeing's internal data show that 99.68 percent of the current generation of 737 flights are ready to depart within 15 minutes of schedule. That compares to the A320's reliability of 99.35 percent, according to Boeing. Based on these figures, the company said a fleet of 100 737 MAX airplanes flying five flights a day would have 590 fewer delays and avoid disrupting an estimated 66,600 fewer passengers. "The reliability of the 737 has always been higher than the competitor," said Beverly Wyse, general manager of the 737 program. "There's more and more attention in this industry paid to protection of the passenger and passenger rights," Wyse said, noting the cost of rebooking and penalties airlines sometimes must pay customers for delays. Both Boeing and Airbus routinely claim to have the edge in the crucial 150-seat category. According to the Airbus website, the A320 delivers "unmatched efficiency plus the best in technology for operators". "No one can reasonably challenge the reliability of the Airbus A320," said Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell. "If you look at similarly sized and similarly aged fleet, the data would not support Boeing's claims." Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC