Flight Safety Information May 31, 2012 - No. 109 In This Issue Russian jet's flight recorder found in Indonesia Jumbo Jet Clips American Eagle Plane at O'Hare Airport Safety board probes dramatic engine failure of Air Canada jet Navy pilots eject safely during training exercise crash near NAS Kingsville U.S. Aviation Official's Plane Severed in Mid-Air Collision PRISM CERTIFICATION CONSULTANTS FAA clears Virgin Galactic spaceship for test flights GULF FLIGHT SAFETY COMMITTEE AGM - DUBAI 6 JUNE 2012-05-21 2012 US/Europe International Aviation Safety Conference...June 12-14, 2012 Russian jet's flight recorder found in Indonesia JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Villagers have found the flight data recorder from a Russian passenger jet that slammed into an Indonesian volcano three weeks ago and killed 45 people, officials said Thursday. The device could help explain what caused the crash. Another part of the Sukhoi Superjet 100's "black box," the cockpit voice recorder, was found about a week after the May 9 accident during a demonstration flight for potential buyers. However, the flight data recorder - which logged data such as the jet's altitude, speed and route - was buried in a landslide after the plane smashed into the side of Mount Salak, said Daryatmo, chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency. He said the recorder was in good condition when a group of nine villagers found it Wednesday in a deep ravine. They found the device after rains washed away some of the earth, said the search mission chief, Col. A.M. Putranto. Digging with farm tools, dozens of villagers who assisted in the search also found remains of victims and other parts of the plane, including its tail, a control lever and a compressor, Putranto said. Indonesian and Russian investigators are analyzing both recorders in a laboratory in Jakarta to try to determine the cause of the crash, said Tatang Kurniadi, who heads Indonesia's transportation safety commission. It might take up to a year to finish the investigation, he said. The Superjet is intended to help resurrect Russia's aerospace industry. The plane was being demonstrated for representatives of Indonesia's fast-expanding domestic airlines, which are among its biggest potential buyers. Back to Top Jumbo Jet Clips American Eagle Plane at O'Hare Airport (Bloomberg) A Boeing Co. (BA) (BA) 747 jumbo cargo carrier clipped the tail of an American Eagle regional jet at Chicago's O'Hare airport today as the smaller aircraft was taxiing to a gate. No injuries were reported among the 21 passengers and crew on Eagle Flight 4265, which had just arrived from Springfield, Missouri, Mary Frances Fagan, a spokeswoman for American Eagle parent AMR Corp., said in an e-mail. Passengers were taken off the Embraer SA (EMBR3) 140 after the incident happened at 1 p.m. local time and damage is being assessed, she said. The EVA Cargo wide-body jet, operating as Flight 661, was on a taxiway when it "made contact" with the smaller jet, said Karen Pride, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation. It wasn't immediately clear whether both planes were moving at the time, or if one was stationary, she said. The incident didn't disrupt flight operations, Pride said. Managers at EVA's Chicago office weren't immediately available to comment, said a man who answered the phone and declined to give his name. O'Hare is the second-busiest airport in the U.S. behind Atlanta, with about 67 million passengers per year, according to Airports Council International, a trade group. The incident was similar to one last year at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when an Air France (AF) Airbus SAS (EAD) A380 superjumbo jet clipped a commuter plane operated by Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) (DAL)'s Comair unit, spinning the smaller plane about 90 degrees. The A380 is a double-decker aircraft that can carry more than 500 passengers, making it the largest commercial jet in service. Back to Top Safety board probes dramatic engine failure of Air Canada jet Jonathan Bergen's (blue shirt, back to camera) rear window of his vehicle was hit by falling debris when an Air Canada Boeing 777, en route to Tokyo. OTTAWA-Canadian safety experts have launched a formal investigation into an Air Canada jet's dramatic engine failure that dropped debris across Mississauga. Calling the incident unusual, officials with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada confirmed Wednesday they will be doing a full investigation into the engine failure, with a written report at the end of their probe. "It's kind of unusual that we're going to be shedding parts out of this engine. So it attracts our attention right off the bat. It's the latest generation of aircraft and engine," said Don Enns, regional manager for the Transportation Safety Board. "The Americans are quite interested in it as well. They built and certified the airplane," Enns said Wednesday. Air Canada Flight 001 had departed Pearson International Airport for Japan Monday when the pilots of the Boeing 777-333 heard a loud bang and temperatures in the number two engine spiked. The pilots dumped fuel over Lake Ontario and returned to Pearson for a safe landing. There were no injuries. However, the massive GE-90-115B engine had dropped a trail of debris under the plane's flight path. The blackened pieces of metal have been identified as pieces of turbine blades, Enns said. "We're looking at some kind of failure in the turbine section," Enns said, referring to the rear section of the engine. It was a rare and dramatic failure for an engine which has a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most powerful jet engine in the world. The same Boeing 777 had suffered engine damage in the past, according to safety board records. In 2009, the aircraft struck geese while landing in Vancouver, causing damage to parts of the plane, including four fan blades in the number two engine. On another flight a few months before that, pilots reported vibrations in number two engine. Mechanics later found that "numerous" fan blades were "delaminated" and had to be replaced. Enns said investigators will be looking at whether the incidents are related and whether it's even the same engine - it might have been swapped out with another one. "All of that will come out in the history as we continue this investigation," he said. Enns said the length of the investigation depends in part on how long it takes to get the engine into an overhaul shop so it can be dismantled for inspection. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1202913--safety-board-probes- dramatic-engine-failure-of-air-canada-jet Back to Top Navy pilots eject safely during training exercise crash near NAS Kingsville KINGSVILLE - Two pilots ejected from a Navy training jet Wednesday on a remote ranch about 45 miles southwest of Naval Air Station Kingsville. The T-45C Goshawk jet crashed after the pilots ejected about 3:30 p.m., according to a news release. Parachutes for both pilots deployed and they were rushed to a hospital, a public affairs officer said. Base officials said their outlook appeared good. "We're very thankful that the pilots made it out and that they seem to be OK," said Lt. John Supple, public affairs officer for the Chief of Naval Training. The two-seat training aircraft was assigned to Training Squadron 22 based out of Kingsville, base officials said. The two pilots, an instructor and a student, were conducting a routine training mission when they ejected. Their conditions and names have not been released. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The Navy has sent a team of investigators to examine the wreckage. The T-45C Goshawk jets cost about $17.2 million. The single-engine aircraft are used to train students to transition into larger Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The jet is the 11th aircraft from NAS Kingsville involved in a crash since 2000. In November, a training aircraft crashed during takeoff at the naval base. Both pilots ejected safely. AREA MILITARY CRASHES A look at crashes in South Texas since 2000: Nov. 1: A training plane crashed during takeoff at Naval Air Station Kingsville. The two pilots ejected safely and were treated at a hospital for minor injuries. Aug. 24: Two Navy pilots bailed out of a T34-C Turbomentor before it crashed about 5 miles south of Bob Hall Pier. The Coast Guard rescued the pilots, who were on a training flight out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. June 15: A T-45 Goshawk Navy training jet from Naval Air Station Kingsville crashed in a remote field in McMullen County after the pilot safely ejected. June 10, 2010: A student pilot was attempting to land at NAS Kingsville when the T-45 he was flying skidded off the runway, prompting him to eject. He sustained minor injuries and the aircraft landed upside down. Oct. 28, 2009: Lt. John Joseph Houston and Lt. Bret Travis Miller left NAS Corpus Christi on a routine flight in a T-34 propeller-driven trainer and lost communication with the base. Miller's body was found Oct. 30 in the Gulf of Mexico and Houston's remains were recovered Nov. 18 from the plane's cockpit. A Navy report said the pilots performed a standard maneuver called a stall, or a nose dive, from which they did not recover. Jan. 16, 2008: An MH-53 Sea Dragon from NAS Corpus Christi crashed into a TV antenna in Petronila, killing three of its four crew members. Nov. 1, 2007: Two pilots ejected as a T-45 from NAS Kingsville crashed shortly after taking off from Acadiana Regional Airport near New Iberia, La. Oct. 1, 2007: A T-45 crashed 2 miles north of NAS Kingsville. The pilots ejected and weren't injured. Sept. 27, 2007: An NAS Kingsville student pilot ejected from a T-45 2 miles north of Kleberg County Airport during a training mission. The pilot suffered minor injuries. Jan. 27, 2006: A T-34 from NAS Corpus Christi crashed in a field off Yorktown Boulevard, between Linda Lee Road and Madison Street. The pilot and student died. Oct. 31, 2005: A T-45 from NAS Kingsville crashed on King Ranch property. Two pilots suffered minor injuries. May 11, 2005: An NAS Kingsville T-45 crashed during a training mission northwest of the base. The pilot suffered minor injuries. Feb. 21, 2001: A T-45 from NAS Kingsville crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., killing two. Aug. 10, 2000: A Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off Padre Island, killing four and injuring two. March 19, 2000: An Air Force F-16 jet crashed at NAS Kingsville, ending a recreational air show, killing the pilot. http://www.caller.com/news/2012/may/30/officials-searching-two-pilots-ejected-during- trai/ Back to Top U.S. Aviation Official's Plane Severed in Mid-Air Collision By Alan Levin (Bloomberg) A small plane owned by a U.S. aviation official was sliced into pieces when it collided with another aircraft over Virginia on May 28, an accident investigator said today. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board's medical adviser, James Michael Duncan, 60, died along with another person in the plane when it plunged to the ground and caught fire, Jon Lee, an investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said in a phone interview. Lee was called in to oversee the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest, according to an e-mailed statement from the NTSB. The other plane was owned by Thomas Proven, an accident investigator for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA said in an e-mailed statement. Proven, 70, survived after his plane crash-landed in Sumerduck, Virginia, Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said in an interview. He was flying a Piper Cherokee PA-28, Lee said. Duncan, a physician who lived in Bethesda, Maryland, was the NTSB's chief technical adviser for medical issues, Kelly Nantel, an agency spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. He previously served as chief of space medicine at NASA, according to that agency's website. Tail Severed The passenger in Duncan's plane was Paul Gardella Jr., 57, of Burke, Virginia, Geller said. Investigators haven't reviewed radar data or interviewed Proven, so they don't know the paths the planes were on or how high they were when the collision happened, Lee said. The rear of Duncan's Beechcraft Bonanza BE-35, a single-engine plane that can carry as many as six people, was found away from the main wreckage, Lee said. That suggests the tail section was torn off by the impact, he said. Evidence indicates the front section and wings fell almost straight down into a wooded area, and that the plane caught fire after it hit the ground, he said. Because U.S. government employees were involved, NTSB Chairman Debbie Hersman, after consulting FAA acting Administrator Michael Huerta, asked the TSB in Canada to handle the investigation, the NTSB said in the release. The U.S. safety board, an independent agency that reports directly to the White House, determines the cause of aviation accidents and makes non-binding safety recommendations. The FAA regulates the aviation industry. Back to Top Back to Top FAA clears Virgin Galactic spaceship for test flights CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has cleared SpaceShipTwo, a commercial six-passenger spacecraft owned by Virgin Galactic, to begin rocket-powered suborbital test flights, the company said on Wednesday. SpaceShipTwo manufacturer Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, received a one- year experimental launch permit on May 23 for test flights beyond the atmosphere, FAA spokesman Hank Price said. The six-passenger, two-pilot spacecraft is based on the prototype SpaceShipOne, also built by Scaled, which clinched the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the first privately funded human spaceflights. SpaceShipOne made three suborbital hops beyond the atmosphere, each with a solo pilot aboard, ultimately reaching an altitude of nearly 70 miles (112 km) above Earth. SpaceShipOne is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Virgin Galactic is owned by British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS. Branson hired SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan, who has since retired from Scaled, to create a fleet of spaceships for commercial use. Virgin Galactic has taken deposits from more than 500 people for rides, which cost $200,000. Participants will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curve of Earth set against the black sky of space. NASA's first two manned spaceflights in 1961, by Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil "Gus" Grissom were suborbital flights. Like SpaceShipOne, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo will be flown into the air beneath a carrier jet and released. Once separated, the spaceship's rocket engine will fire to blast it into the sky. SpaceShipTwo has completed 16 free flight tests. The FAA permit will enable Scaled, now wholly owned by Northrop Grumman(NOC.N), to move on to rocket-powered flights, the first of which is expected toward the end of the year, Virgin Galactic said in a statement. Company President George Whitesides called the permit an important milestone "that positions the company a major step closer to bringing our customers to space." In addition to flying wealthy tourists, Scaled has signed contracts to fly researchers and science experiments. The experimental permit allows Scaled to fly only its own test pilots, not passengers, Price said. A date for the start of Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceflights has not yet been set. 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 2012 US/Europe International Aviation Safety Conference June 12-14, 2012 Cleveland, Ohio USA Time is short but it is not too late to register for the 2012 US/Europe International Aviation Safety Conference scheduled June 12-14, 2012 at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. The FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are joining forces for the advancement of aviation safety through global leadership. In keeping with the conference theme, "Maintaining the Course for International Collaborative Success", FAA and EASA are teaming with colleagues from civil aviation authorities around the world as well as international companies whose products and services contribute to the safety of air travel. Continuing the tradition of previous years, this conference will provide a forum for aviation safety leaders to share ideas and initiatives on international cooperation, harmonization, and emerging safety challenges. The conference will be of interest to government aviation standards, certification, operations, and maintenance personnel as well as representatives from both domestic and international aviation industries and associations. Deadline for registration is June 1, 2012. For more information on site and agenda, call or email Diane Migliori (202 385-8948; diane.migliori@faa.gov) or visit the conference website at: http://www.faa.gov/news/conferences_events/2012_us_eu. ********** 2012 US/Europe International Aviation Safety Conference June 12-14, 2012 Cleveland, Ohio USA Maintaining the Course for International Collaborative Success The FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are again joining forces to advance aviation safety through global leadership at this year's International Aviation Safety Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, June 12-14, 2012. FAA and EASA look forward to teaming with colleagues from civil aviation authorities around the world and international companies whose products and services contribute to the safety of air travel. Continuing the tradition of previous years, this conference will provide a forum for aviation safety leaders to share ideas and initiatives on international cooperation, harmonization, and emerging safety challenges. Bill Ayer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alaska Airlines, has accepted our invitation to deliver the Keynote Address on the second day of the conference. Who Should Attend: * Government aviation standards, certification, operations, and maintenance personnel * Representatives from both domestic and international aviation industries and associations Conference Sessions Contact For more information, contact: Diane Migliori (202) 385-8948 diane.migliori@faa.gov Registration Hotel Cleveland Agenda Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC