Flight Safety Information May 25, 2012 - No. 105 In This Issue NTSB Names New Head Of Office Of Aviation Safety Private jet door lands on South Florida golf course fairway Philippine aviation makes headway on FAA reinstatement bid Airbus Wing Crack Retrofit Needed On 120 Airframes Antrak Air stresses commitment to maintenance and safety (GHANA) PRISM CERTIFICATION CONSULTANTS GULF FLIGHT SAFETY COMMITTEE AGM - DUBAI 6 JUNE 2012-05-21 ISASI regional meeting in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) Kiwi aviation school to train pilots for Qatar Air Faceless but connected: Welcome to Airport 2025 Escaped monkey delays Air China flight from New York Bird strikes posing increased risk to air flight safety (Taiwan) NTSB Names New Head Of Office Of Aviation Safety National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah Hersman announced John DeLisi as the new director of the Office of Aviation Safety (OAS). DeLisi will assume the position on June 2, 2012, following the retirement of Tom Haueter, the current director. DeLisi has been serving as the deputy director of OAS since 2007. During his 20 years with the NTSB, he has overseen numerous major investigations, including the January 2009 ditching of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River and the February 2009 Colgan Air accident in Buffalo, N.Y. www.ntsb.gov Back to Top Private jet door lands on South Florida golf course fairway; no injuries reported HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Federal authorities are investigating how a private jet's main cabin door became an unconventional hazard at a South Florida golf course. The Federal Aviation Administration reports that the Canadair CL60's door landed Wednesday afternoon on the 16th fairway of the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa's golf course in Hallandale Beach. No injuries were reported. The jet had just taken off from the Opa-Locka Executive Airport and was headed about 30 miles north to its home base at Pompano Beach Municipal Airport when it lost the door. The pilot diverted the plane to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where it landed safely. Wednesday happened to be one of two days during the year that the golf course closes for maintenance. The course is also surrounded by private residences and businesses. Back to Top Philippine aviation makes headway on FAA reinstatement bid THE CIVIL Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has progressed in its efforts to persuade the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade the nation's aviation safety rating. Following last month's technical review by FAA officials in Manila, CAAP director Mon Gutierrez said the eighty-eight 'significant findings' discovered during the FAA pre-audit in January had since been cut down to two. CAAP is currently acting on FAA requests to develop a new technical training programme based on recognised international aviation standards. It will also facilitate a revalidation process of Philippine carriers flying international routes. It will apply for a new FAA audit once these requirements are met. The Philippine government is intent on regaining Category 1 status with the FAA, which downgraded the country's aviation industry to Category 2 in December 2007. Meanwhile, Gutierrez said CAAP was working to address the "significant safety concerns" that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) raised during their last visit, such as "the lack of (qualified) technical personnel," noting that the concerns echoed those of the European Union when it imposed a blanket ban on Philippine carriers in April 2010. ICAO officers are scheduled to visit Manila for an airline compliance inspection in July- August. Aileen Clemente, president, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, said: "CAAP is fast- tracking the (reinstatement) process with support from the government. We will be over the hump very soon - they know what needs to be done." http://ttgasia.com/article.php?article_id=3710 Back to Top Airbus Wing Crack Retrofit Needed On 120 Airframes Airbus will have to retrofit 120 A380s to resolve a problem with wing component cracking before a permanent fix will be implemented on new-build aircraft. The aircraft maker has already delivered 74 A380s , but the total number in need of retrofit will grow to 120 aircraft because of work already in the production system, says Tom Williams, Airbus 's executive VP-programs. Airbus has developed two fixes it says will permanently deal with the cracking of some rib-feet, which has already resulted in an airworthiness directive requiring enhanced inspection intervals and fixes where component cracking is found. One solution addresses the retrofit fix while the other alters the production process so the problem never occurs. The fixes should restore the aircraft to 19,000 flight cycles and regular inspection intervals , Williams says. Airbus expects the cost of resolving the situation to top €260 million ($327 million). There are several causes for the problem. One was the use of a specific aluminum alloy and its heat treatment; the alloy delivered weight savings, but the component was more brittle, causing cracking. Another problem occurred in attaching the wing skin to the ribs, where excessive loads were placed on components during assembly. The problem was compounded by a failure to properly account for the temperature- induced material expansion and contraction during operations. The European Aviation Safety Agency still has to approve the repairs, which Airbus will need to validate inflight trials using an instrumented Airbus A380 test aircraft, which Williams expects to be flying in the fall. To avoid future problems, Airbus has decided to make changes beyond those immediately needed. For instance, Rib 48 and Rib 49 at the outer end of the wing will be replaced even though they have not shown cracking because they are made of the same alloy that has caused problems. The ribs will be replaced with ones made of a more traditional alloy. Airbus is now deliberating how it will implement the retrofit and is in discussions with its airline customers. Options include parking the aircraft several weeks to fully install the fix, or a phased enhancement during several C-checks. The repair comes with a relatively modest 90 kg weight penalty. Some airlines also may defer taking delivery of the aircraft until the permanent solution is installed. In the retrofit, all 23 hybrid ribs will be replaced with all-metallic ribs, and the rib feet will be strengthened. An inspection hole in the area where the cracking takes place also will be strengthened. The permanent fix , which replaces all the composite ribs with metal ones, should be available in early 2013; the change should not affect the aircraft's weight . Airbus also has adapted its A380 design process to improve its finite element modeling techniques to catch such problems earlier, and is applying more stringent measures to the development program for its A350 widebody. In most cases, the materials are different, but where the aluminum alloy involved in the A380s has been used it has been replaced with aluminum lithium. Meanwhile, Airbus is gradually seeing improvements in dispatch reliability of the A380 to 97.6%, and as high as 98.6% in March. "It is going in the right direction," says Airbus Chief Operating Officer for Customers John Leahy, although he acknowledges this reliability rate still trails that of the company's other aircraft products. Leahy also hopes to book 30 A380 orders this year, but says that is "a stretch." http://www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Antrak Air stresses commitment to maintenance and safety (GHANA) Antrak Air, a domestic airline operator said on Thursday that it had never compromised on maintenance of its aircrafts and its commitment to safety was not in doubt. "The safety records of Antrak Air over the period have never been compromised and stringent safety procedures are followed which has enabled us to pass many international safety audits." The international safety audits include "HART" aviation safety audits since inception of the airline to date, Antrak Air stated in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra. Antrak Air Management said maintenance and safety was of paramount concern to the company and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority was also stringent on their oversight of all airlines including Ghanaian airlines. The statement said in addition, Antrak Air subjected itself to external independent audits as well, which were more stringent. It said despite this, "Aircrafts are machines and mechanical failures are a possibility and at times unpredictable". The statement said maintenance of "Our aircraft is not done independently; Antrak Air has technical partners in France who assist in the maintenance of the Aircraft. "They are charged with tracking all components on the aircraft and are in constant contact with us and the manufacturer to ensure all maintenance, updates and modifications are done at the right time. "Our engineers are all fully licensed ATR engineers with many years experience and have the requisite qualifications to do so in line with maintenance on the aircraft. "The manuals governing the maintenance of the aircraft are all approved by the GCAA and are internationally accepted. We strictly adhere to the guidelines set out in the ATR manufacturers' maintenance manual." Outlining the facts of the Antrak Air Flight O4 322 from Tamale to Accra, Management said on board were 33 passengers. The flight crew went through all normal start up procedures after boarding, during which a technical problem developed and the pilots became aware of it and shutdown the engine. The statement said the flight crew then announced to the passengers to disembark after making a visual inspection on the number two engine, which was unserviceable hence the need for an engineer to rectify the problem. It said the passengers were not aware the aircraft had developed a technical fault until the crew informed them. "The aircraft was not about to take off, in fact, it had not even started taxiing and doors were still open, awaiting authorisation from the Captain," it said. It said modern aircraft designs were such that there were redundancies built in and they were capable of flying on one engine if need be. "All our pilots undergo continuous training twice a year to keep up to date with all safety and emergency procedures under the supervision of Ghana Civil Aviation Authority approved instructors. "At no point is an emergency declared and the situation was not managed professionally and controlled by the flight crew as they have been trained to do," it said. This, the management said had been confirmed in the official statement by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority.** http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=240007 Back to Top Back to Top GULF FLIGHT SAFETY COMMITTEE AGM - DUBAI 6 JUNE 2012-05-21 The Gulf Flight Safety Committee, the regional aviation safety forum for the Gulf, will hold its annual general meeting at the Emirates Training Centre in Dubai from 0830 to 1630 on 6 June 2012. In addition to the annual appointment of the executive committee and other GFSC business, there will be the usual mix of incident reviews and industry debate, followed by some informative safety presentations. All existing members are urged to attend and take part in shaping the next steps for the GFSC, and others with an interest in regional safety matters and perhaps thinking of joining are welcome to attend on this occasion. Further information is available on the website www.gfsc.aero and queries should be directed to chair@gfsc.aero or to the current chairman Jo Gillespie jgillespie@gatesaviation.com . Sponsored by NEXUS Flight Operations Services in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Back to Top Back to Top Kiwi aviation school to train pilots for Qatar Air CTC in Hamilton will be training pilots for Qatar Airways in light aircraft like the DA42 Twinstar. Photo / CTC A Hamilton aviation centre will soon begin training pilots for Qatar Airways, including a group of students from Qatar who head downunder later this year. The sovereign Arab state's national carrier has selected global training organisation CTC Aviation to supply it with pilots, as it plans significant growth. Ian Calvert, CEO of CTC Aviation Training NZ, said the contract means Kiwis trained at its Hamilton centre will have an excellent route into flying for a leading airline. "In the first instance, CTC will supply Qatar Airways with cadets from New Zealand and the UK. "These will be pilots who have completed their training as part of the CTC Wings programme," he said. The initial numbers will be relatively small, about five or six cadets per course, but as the airline increases growth, those numbers will rise, Calvert said. Qatar Airways has orders worth over US$50 billion for various aircraft, meaning it is carrying out a strong pilot recruitment campaign around the world. Later in the year the Hamilton centre will begin training pilots for the airline through its Multi-Crew Pilot License (MPL) course and the first intake will be populated solely by Qatari nationals. Six Qataris will begin their initial theory training in the UK in July, before heading to the Waikato around Christmas for light aircraft training. Following intakes for the MPL training should include more Kiwis, Calvert said. "There will not be enough Qatari nationals to meet the airline's needs so they will need international recruits. "The reason they're looking to us to take care of the whole training process is because they are concentrating on getting their airlines in the air." Voted Airline of the Year 2011, Qatar Airways operates 108 aircraft and flies to 113 destinations worldwide. Calvert said the reason students are sent from all over the world to train in Hamilton is because the school's light-aircraft training is exceptional. "Our light aircraft training is much better, much cheaper and to a higher standard than anyone else." The first 18 pilots selected by the airline will complete their training at CTC's UK-based training centre in the coming months and commence line operations with Qatar operating out of Doha during summer 2012. CTC Aviation trains about 2,000 pilots each year at its training centres in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, supplying around 50 airlines. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10808453 Back to Top Faceless but connected: Welcome to Airport 2025 (Reuters.com) - The airport environment will be unrecognisable by 2025, but only if the industry shifts paradigm to create a "streamlined, stress free and holistic service", a new report says. And there's a trade-off: Automated, customer-centric processes mean travellers will need to relinquish data and do more logistics. As well as depositing and collecting luggage at self-bag drops - something which frequent fliers in Australian hubs are becoming familiar with under a new Qantas scheme - by 2025 passengers will be expected to self-load their bags in containers, or even direct to the aeroplane. By then airlines will know automatically if customers are delayed in traffic and, if necessary, rebook their flight, says Amadeus, author of the May 24 report "Reinventing the Airport Ecosystem". Premium travellers won't even need to incur the inconvenience of passing through a terminal - they will check-in off-site and pass through a virtual screening process en-route. Promotional offers pinged onto travellers smartphones - in response to their location, or as a softener after a flight delay - are likely to increase exponentially as travel providers try to, in the words of the report, "own and engage" their customers, who are sure to demand an optional opt-out from this communication. Personal devices are set to become far more important than mere notification receptacles; Near Field Communication technology embedded in passengers' smartphones or travel documents will fast-track them through check-in and airport touch-points. Again, this is already happening: fitted out with sensors, Toulouse-Blagnac Airport will become the world's first airport to trial SIM-based NFC this summer when 50 selected passengers will trial the service on BlackBerry devices, allowing them access to car parking, the boarding area and a premium passenger lounge. Running the programme, air transport IT specialist SITA's lab director Renaud Irminger says NFC is an extremely secure process; will work when the device is powered off; does not require the passenger to launch an app or retrieve an SMS or an email; and is not affected by reading problems caused by dirty screens. The benefits of technology are certainly being enjoyed by the aviation industry. The International Air Transport Association's "Simplifying the Business" programme is, it has said, saving around $5.5 billion a year from the switch to e-ticketing, bar-coded boarding passes and self-service kiosks. Futuristic security gates will need more of a personal touch. Already coming online in airports like the UK's Gatwick, Heathrow and City airports, sensors which match your biometric information will be the norm everywhere by 2025, though this will include behavioural traits like gait and biodynamic heartbeat patterns. Genetic profiling may eventually be called into play to check for disease risk. A survey of 838 global passengers which was carried out as part of tech solutions provider Amadeus' research establishes that the majority of people are comfortable with "non-invasive solutions" like electronic tags and location-based tracking services, but most draw the line at "behavioural, biological and implant solutions." While frequent-flying air warriors might not need much help fighting their way through airports, occasional passengers, the elderly, or the infirm will still need human beings on the ground. Amadeus concurs, but argues that: "Technology and self-service means ground handlers are no longer wedded to desks or processes such as check-in and baggage." "If you look to Asia-Pacific where a lot of self-service is already in operation, you tend to see ground handlers walking around and helping less able travellers to navigate the airport." THE CITY-SIZED AIRPORT In its report, Amadeus goes on to predict airports will become self-sufficient mini-city or resort-style destinations. We may see more examples like Seoul's Incheon Airport, which is planning a $3 billion resort to attract Chinese tourists. This may, however, be confined to Asia-Pacific and Middle-East hubs, where higher growth rates mean a greater level of investment in airports, an Amadeus spokesperson clarified to Reuters. Some of the futuristic options listed in the report aren't too far-fetched; the authors ask, "Imagine an airport where the retail experience is so impressive you choose to shop there without even flying". Singapore residents use the excellent Changi as a dining and hang-out hub. In 2011 it generated $1.18 billion in retail spending. Munich Airport hosts volleyball tournaments, mini golf and a Christmas market. Its architect is quoted in a case study as calling the facility an "actual place". In what a few years ago would have been considered sci-fi territory, an augmented reality app can guide passengers through Copenhagen airport, while digital cameras monitor queues at George Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby and Ellington airports in Houston. In Paris Orly, hologram "boarding agents" are in limited operation after a trial late last year. While automated processes replace some of the need for human staff, social media is "re-introducing the human touch", Amadeus says; 69 percent of airlines sell or plan to sell tickets through the social web by 2014. Several airlines, like KLM, already do this, while Estonian Air facilitates video check-in via Skype. By 2015, expect social-media interaction between flight crew and passengers. In the survey, 43 percent of travellers told Amadeus they wanted to re-establish the wonder and magic historically associated with air travel. It looks like the high-tech airport of the future may not have a human face, but a 3D interface. Back to Top Escaped monkey delays Air China flight from New York New York - An escaped monkey delayed a Beijing-bound flight for four hours at New York's JFK Airport on Thursday. The monkey escaped its crate in the cargo hold of an Air China Boeing 747 scheduled to depart at 4:50pm, Port Authority police said. Emergency services officers and an airport worker caught the monkey and handed it over to the airline. The animal never got out of the jet's cargo hold. The foot-tall monkey was one of about 50 to 60 being shipped to China for medical research, police sources said, with one saying, "He was a slippery little beast." Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/25/escaped-monkey-delays-air-china- flight-from-new-york/#ixzz1vsuqwc5t Back to Top Bird strikes posing increased risk to air flight safety (Taiwan) More than 150 bird strikes - collisions between birds and airplanes - at civilian or military airports were recorded last year, and the number of cases involving birds of prey has increased, an aviation safety group said yesterday. Statistics compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation--Taiwan show that there were 159 bird strikes last year, 18 incidents more than in 2010, and the highest number in four years, during which period more than 100 cases were reported annually. A total of 28 of the 159 bird strikes caused damage to the planes, the foundation said. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport recorded the highest number of bird strikes each year, with 64 incidents last year, the foundation said. The number of cases involving birds of prey is increasing, the foundation said, adding that airport authorities in Taoyuan have reported planes being hit by nighthawks, ospreys, serpent eagles and Asian crested goshawks, for a number of years. Taoyuan airport is close to a military airport that has a pond within its area, the foundation said, adding that the pond and construction work at Taoyuan airport provided a perfect habitat for birds to breed. Problems occur at night when the birds are attracted by the bright lights of the neighboring international airport. Taichung Airport is near farmland and also attracts a lot of birds, the foundation said. Over the past two years, the black-winged kite has become a potential threat to air traffic at the airport. Taipei International Airport in the city's Songshan District is a small airport and is not as ideal as other airports in terms of bird habitat, but migrant doves have become a worry for planes' safety. The foundation attributed the growing number of bird strikes to over-- -development, which has resulted in the destruction and disappearance of birds' natural habitats. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/05/06/2003532131 Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC