Flight Safety Information June 14, 2012 - No. 122 In This Issue Air Force Osprey crash at Florida base injures five Africa's skies getting safer - IATA FAA had disciplined pilots flying tourists before Boulder City crash Severe turbulence injures five FAA announces safety projects at Logan Airport ARGUS PROS Aviation Auditing Boeing 747-400 Prices Tumble as Fuel Costs End 23-Year Reign Qantas, Engineers at Odds Over Visual Safety Checks 2012 First Annual FAA Flight Standards Asia-Pacific Meeting Air Force Osprey crash at Florida base injures five Hurlburt Field, Florida (CNN) -- An Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed Wednesday during a routine training mission north of Navarre, Florida, injuring five crew members aboard, a military official said. The crash occurred about 6:45 p.m. at Hurlburt Field's Eglin Range, said Amy Nicholson, chief of public affairs at the airfield. The five injured crew members were taken to an area hospital, Nicholson said. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known. The cause of the accident is under investigation, she said. The Osprey was assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing, the Air Force said. The tilt- rotor aircraft can fly like an airplane and land like a helicopter. The Army began developing the Osprey in 1982, though the program was nearly scrapped in 1989 when then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney sought to cancel it because of ballooning costs. Questions were raised about the safety of the Osprey after two crashes, including one in 1992 at a Marine Corps air base in Virginia that killed the crew. In late 2000, the Marine Corps grounded the Osprey fleet after two crashes -- one in Arizona that killed four crew members and 15 passengers, and another in North Carolina that killed the crew. A redesign was ordered on the Osprey, and it resumed flights in 2002. The Air Force began using Ospreys in 2008 after testing the aircraft in 2006. They were first deployed by the Marines in Iraq in 2007 after 18 years and $20 billion in development. Back to Top Africa's skies getting safer - IATA International aviation body notes improvement in safety performance in Africa, with accident rates falling 61%. Latest safety stats from IATA Safety Report 201 show a dramatic improvement in safety performance in Africa with accident rates falling 61% to 6,17 accidents per million departures, sharply down from the 15,68 per million in 2010. Africa's air safety record, the world's worst, has been under scrutiny again after two accidents in Nigeria this month, and the International Air Travel Association (IATA) will meet with African heads of state in Abuja next month to adopt the Africa Strategic Improvement Action Plan, according to Gunther Matschnigg, IATA's Senior Vice President for Safety, Operations and Infrastructure. The latest safety statistics from the IATA Safety Report 2011, published this year, show a dramatic improvement in the safety performance in Africa last year with total accident rates falling 61% to 6.17 accidents per million departures, sharply down from the 15.68 per million in 2010. Even with the most recent accident in Nigeria with Dana Air, in which more than 153 people were killed, the overall safety performance of the sector is higher than last year, Matschnigg said in an interview in Beijing on Tuesday. There is growing recognition among African states that without a reliable and safe airline industry the development of their economies will not be as robust as it could be as people and companies will be less inclined to travel or contract the services of companies that are unsafe. "There is momentum on the issue now and we have to act, these are not the first actions we are taking in Africa, there have been improvements already," he said. In Nigeria at least 12 airlines have been shut down because of their poor safety records, Matschnigg said, and this type of action was a credit to the political will that is being demonstrated to improve the image and the performance of the sector on the continent. A new five part programme was adopted by delegates at an IATA-sponsored meeting in Johannesburg in May which was focused on improving the safety of the industry on the continent. Next month this five step programme, which will be implemented between now and 2015, will be presented to the African heads of state and their ministers of transport for political support in Abuja. "We had a really good meeting in Johannesburg with many people from the industry, government people and industry institutions and they recognise the problems with safety and are very eager to do something to improve the industry, they want things to be better and safer," Matschnigg said. The biggest priority under the new programme is providing support to African governments to "drive more robust safety oversight". According to the safety report oversight in Africa was the highest contributing factor to poor safety performances. Addressing the causal factors was second most important on the agenda and this included the most common accident type in Africa which are runway excursions, described by Matschnigg as when an aircraft veers off of the runway either upon arrival or departure. Better training will be offered to African pilots to better equip them with how to deal with mechanical malfunctions and on how to prevent loss of control situations in an aircraft. Analysing flight data and assisting with identification of the most common causes of accidents as well as where they occur is also high on the list. Improvements in infrastructure and training are all required and will be implemented along with a continent-wide safety management system programmes. There are more than 1,000 airlines in Africa with Nigeria being home to about 260 airlines, even though only 150 of these seem to be active. Nigeria's safety record was virtually unblemished between 2007 and 2011 when there was only one accident recorded and it did not result in a hull loss, Matschnigg said. The country with the most safety concerns for the industry is the Democratic Republic of the Congo where 20% of all of Africa's accidents take place, he said. http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/sa_markets/2012/06/14/africas-air-safety- record-again-under-scrutiny Back to Top FAA had disciplined pilots flying tourists before Boulder City crash The wreckage of a jet plane lies about a half mile west of Boulder City Airport on May 18. Both pilots who were flying passengers out of Boulder City Airport before a fatal crash had had their FAA certificates revoked previously, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman confirmed Wednesday. One pilot and his passenger were killed when a Czech-built trainer jet crashed in the desert May 18. "The FAA is very actively investigating this accident and the circumstances behind the aircraft operations," said Ian Gregor, public affairs manager for the FAA's Pacific Division. But he said he couldn't comment on the ongoing investigation. "FAA regulations prohibit charging for rides on experimental aircraft such as L39s except, under certain circumstances, if the purpose of the operation is flight instruction," Gregor wrote, responding to an email query from the Review-Journal. A source close to the fatal crash investigation said the FAA was trying to determine whether David Glen Riggs, the Southern California pilot whose L-39 Albatros didn't crash, was illegally selling rides to the public on the trainer jet. Authorities have said Riggs was piloting his Cold War-era, Soviet-Bloc trainer jet next to the one that crashed. Riggs' civilian airmen certificates were revoked for a year after he buzzed the Santa Monica, Calif., pier in 2008, Gregor said. Attempts to reach Riggs by telephone were unsuccessful Wednesday. Two numbers listed for his previous addresses in Santa Monica and Universal City, Calif., had been disconnected. Gregor said the pilot who was killed in the Boulder City crash, Douglas Edward Gilliss, also had his pilot certificate revoked after a fatal crash on July 4, 2009, of an Aero Vodochody L-29 in Tehachapi, Calif., for falsifying a check ride of a pilot involved in that crash. On May 18, Gilliss, 65, of Solano Beach, Calif., and passenger Richard A. Winslow, 65, of Palm Desert, Calif., were killed after the two-seat L-39 jet piloted by Gilliss crashed in the desert about a half mile west of Boulder City's airport after losing power shortly after takeoff, witnesses said. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board released last week said Winslow was part of a group of eight who were taking 45-minute flight tours from Boulder City. The report said passengers were boarding two planes that came from Van Nuys, Calif. Each jet could hold only one passenger. The group of passengers would be provided films of their flights, the report said. FAA records show Gilliss' airline transport pilot certificate was revoked for a year under an emergency order on Sept. 28, 2009. "You signed a Flight Review Endorsement sticker indicating David Zweigle had completed a flight review in an Aero-Vodochody model L-29 aircraft on July 4, 2009. Your entry was fraudulent or intentionally false since, at no time on or about July 4, 2009, had you given David Zweigle a flight review in an L-29," the order stated against Gilliss, a Vietnam War veteran and former Air Force captain. Zweigle, 42, who was airport director for Tehachapi, Calif., was killed along with Robert Chamberlain, 63, a former Air Force test pilot, when their L-29 suddenly flew up and to the left of a formation of planes flying in Tehachapi's Independence Day parade in 2009. The jet crashed between houses in the community of Golden Hills. Gregor said a second count against Gilliss in the FAA's emergency order to revoke his certificates was later dismissed: for taking a passenger on a flight below 1,000 feet above ground level over a congested area of Tehachapi. FAA records show that at the time of the Boulder City crash, Gilliss held airline transport pilot, flight instructor and ground instructor certificates that had been issued on Feb. 28, 2011. He was rated as an airline transport pilot and authorized to fly experimental L-29 and L-39 aircraft. http://www.lvrj.com/news/faa-had-disciplined-pilots-who-were-flying-tourists-before- boulder-city-crash-158979375.html Back to Top Severe turbulence injures five Flight from Houston to New York struck by severe turbulence Five on board were injured Flight was diverted to Lake Charles Regional Airport in Louisiana (CNN) -- Turbulence forced a United Airlines flight bound for New York's LaGuardia Airport to land shortly after takeoff Tuesday night and sent five people to the hospital, a United spokeswoman confirmed. Shortly after United Airlines Flight 1632 took off from Houston's Intercontinental Airport at 8:08 p.m., the flight "experienced severe turbulence and diverted to Lake Charles, Louisiana, at 8:41 p.m.," spokeswoman Amy Ryan said. Lake Charles Regional Airport Executive Director Heath Allen told CNN affiliate KPLC that three of the injured were members of the flight crew. A total of five people sought medical attention, Ryan said, but she declined to characterize the extent of their injuries. There were two pilots, three flight attendants and 76 passengers aboard. Flight attendants were preparing to serve drinks about 30 minutes into the flight. "Right about that time, we hit some really severe turbulence, and ... several people flew up and hit the ceiling of the plane and then were immediately slammed down to the floor of the plane," first class passenger Jeff Hornback told KPLC. "I heard both the pilot and a flight attendant say that they had been flying for 20 or 30 years and had never seen anything like what they saw today," he said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. According to Allen, a relief flight crew arrived from Houston, and the flight departed Lake Charles Regional Airport after 2 a.m. Wednesday and landed at LaGuardia just after 6 a.m. Back to Top FAA announces safety projects at Logan Airport The head of the Federal Aviation Administration was in Boston Wednesday to highlight two runway safety initiatives at Logan Airport. Acting FAA administrator Michael Huerta announced a $10 million grant to complete a buffer zone at the end of the airport's longest runway intended to stop airplanes that overshoot it. The grant marks the final phase of a two-year $65 million project to construct the buffer, a 470-foot-long concrete pier, topped with a bed of lightweight concrete blocks engineered to crush under the weight of an aircraft to slow it. The pier would extend into Boston Harbor. The Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, expects work to be finished in November. Huerta also discussed satellite-based technology being tested at Logan to track aircraft, fuel trucks, snowplows, and other vehicles on the airport surface. Vehicles equipped with transponders will transmit their identification and location to pilots, aircraft controllers, and drivers, allowing them to see all the traffic on and around the runways at night or during a snowstorm. http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/06/13/faa-announces-safety-projects-logan- airport/00h1RUZn6zT7Y7uTymMyRJ/story.html Back to Top Back to Top Boeing 747-400 Prices Tumble as Fuel Costs End 23-Year Reign Exposed wiring is seen on the engine of a partially dismantled Boeing 747-400 aircraft at Air Salvage International, at Kemble airfield near Cirencester, U.K. (Bloomberg) Prices for Boeing (BA) Co. 747-400s, the most popular wide-body plane, are tumbling as carriers rush to replace what were once their flagship aircraft with newer and more fuel-efficient models. Ten-year-old passenger 747-400s are worth a record low $36 million, about 10 percent less than similar aged planes last year, according to Ascend Worldwide Ltd., amid high fuel costs and a cargo slump that has damped interest in converting aircraft into freighters. Forty-eight of the 404 humpbacked passenger 747-400s worldwide have also been placed in storage, according to the London-based aviation consultancy, as the once "Queen of the Skies" is shunned for 777s and Airbus SAS A380s. "There's not a lot of demand for the 747," said Paul Sheridan, Ascend's Hong Kong- based head of risk analysis. "They're mostly being broken up for parts." The decline in prices contributed to Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) having a surprise loss in the quarter ended March after the sale of the carrier's last 747-400 raised less than it expected. Japan Airlines Co. has also stopped using the planes, and operators including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (293), Korean Air Lines Co. and Malaysian Airline System Bhd. (MAS) are following suit to help counter fuel prices that have jumped about 30 percent in two years. "When oil prices are high, you want your new airplane," Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer John Slosar said this week in Beijing. "The last thing you want to do is hold onto your older planes." The Hong Kong-based airline said last month that it's speeding up the retirement of its 21 passenger 747-400s. The carrier plans to shed nine through early 2014 as it adds more 777-300ERs for long-haul flights. Cathay is also retiring three -400 freighters this year because of the arrival of new 747-8 cargo planes. 1960s Development The first four-engine 747-400 was delivered to Northwest Airlines in 1989. The standard version can fly as far as 7,260 nautical miles (13,450 kilometers), carrying 416 passengers in three classes, according to Boeing's website. The Chicago-based planemaker delivered the last of 694 -400s in 2009. The original 747 was developed in the 1960s. The passenger version of the newest 747, the -8, entered service this year. It can fly 467 passengers in three classes as far as 8,000 nautical miles. The twin-engine 777- 330ER, first delivered in 2004, can carry 365 people as far as 7,930 nautical miles. "We're seeing a lot of airlines understanding that they need more fuel-efficient planes and that bodes very well for us," Jim Albaugh, the head of Boeing's commercial-plane business, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. Newer aircraft use less fuel because of the development of more efficient engines and of lightweight materials. The 787 has a fuselage built from reinforced plastics, compared with the 747's heavier aluminum shell. Thai Airways Thai Airways International Pcl (THAI) is in the process of selling four 747-400s and it will begin phasing out the model next year, outgoing-Chief Executive Officer Piyasvasti Amranand said May 31 in Bangkok. The carrier will begin receiving six on-order A380s this year. Flying 747-400s now "doesn't make sense," Amranand said. "It's obvious that with this sort of fuel price that it will cost you." Malaysian Airline System Bhd., which received its first A380 last month, will consume 1,181 barrels of fuel flying the 494-seat aircraft to London from Kuala Lumpur, according to Maybank Kim Eng Securities analyst Wong Chew Hann. The carrier's 359-seat 747- 400s use about 999 barrels of fuel on the same route, he said. Fuel accounts for about a third of airlines' costs, according to the International Air Transport Association. A380 Prestige The A380, which surpassed the 747-400 as the world's largest commercial plane on entering service in 2007, has become the flagship for carriers including Singapore Air and Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN) Airlines still reliant on 747-400s are at a disadvantage in terms of costs and prestige, said Maybank's Wong. "It takes an A380 to beat an A380," he wrote in a June 8 note. European carriers, operating in slower growth markets than Asian airlines, are replacing 747-400s less quickly. British Airways, the biggest operator, will only retire the last of its fleet in about 10 years. The carrier has 55 747-400s, according to Ascend. "It's a great aircraft, customers love it," said Willie Walsh, chief executive officer of BA's parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA. (IAG) "We could replace some of them with 777-300ERs, which we are doing, but we are not looking to replace all of them." 'Attractive Aircraft' BA has also ordered 12 A380s, which will start arriving in about a year. Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) has already begun flying A380s and it has ordered 747-8s. It will still continue using 747-400s, partly because it owns rather than leases them, said Chief Executive Officer Christoph Franz. "We still think it's an attractive aircraft and we will use it for quite a number of years," Franz said. "They are very competitive aircraft in the market for us." Newer and smaller long-haul planes are also allowing carriers to open new routes that wouldn't be profitable with the 747-400. All Nippon Airways Co. (9202), which will retire its last seven 747s by March 2016, is starting flights from Tokyo to San Jose and Seattle using new 787s. Japan Air is using Dreamliners to open routes to Boston and San Diego. The move away from larger planes has curtailed sales of the A380 and the 747-8, according to Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia forecaster. Airbus has sold 253 A380s. Boeing has orders for 106 747-8s, of which only 27 are for commercial passenger operations. "The market for large aircraft in general is disappearing fast," Aboulafia said. "Most of the 747-8 planes are cargo. There's just a limited market." Back to Top Qantas, Engineers at Odds Over Visual Safety Checks SYDNEY--Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) said Thursday it has applied to Australia's workplace umpire to stop engineers performing pre-flight visual safety checks, as tensions continue to simmer between the country's flag carrier and trade unions. Qantas on Wednesday commenced a new maintenance system for Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A330 aircraft that the airline said brings it into line with aircraft-manufacturer guidelines and other airlines. In a separate statement, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said the visual safety checks were "crucial for identifying safety issues on an aircraft before they become a danger for passengers". Qantas intends to rely on a "pilot walk around" to identify any aircraft defects instead, the union claimed. The union has instructed its members to continue carrying out the checks, which Qantas said amounts to unprotected industrial action. It has applied to Fair Work Australia to force engineers to drop the checks. "Modern aircraft have sophisticated systems which alert us to mechanical issues, meaning engineers don't need to check the aircraft before every single domestic flight," Lyell Strambi, the chief executive of Qantas Domestic said in a statement. The company rejected the union's claim that its new practices breach policies on the management of change formulated by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority. The regulator has already approved the system, Qantas said. Qantas last year grounded its entire global fleet for two days to combat strike action from trade unions, forcing Fair Work Australia to intervene and mandate a forced outcome to an industrial dispute over pay and conditions. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120614-700158.html Back to Top 2012 First Annual FAA Flight Standards Asia-Pacific Meeting August 14-16, 2012 Long Beach, CA USA The FAA Flight Standards Service is initiating a meeting with the States from the Asia Pacific Region that will provide a unique opportunity to share information on our best practices in the safety oversight of operations and continuing airworthiness with civil aviation authorities in the Asia-Pacific Region. Continuing a tradition of other FAA international outreach activities, this meeting will provide a forum for aviation safety leaders to delve more deeply into the FAA Flight Standards Service activities as well as receive information on safety oversight topics key to the Region. The first two days of the meeting will be open to civil aviation authorities only. The authority only session will be followed by a half day industry session which will provide additional focus on topics related to air carrier operations into the United States. Mr. John Allen, the Director of the Flight Standards Service, will chair this event. Notional topics to be addressed include: International Aviation Safety Assessment Program Technical Review and Technical Assistance FAA requirements for Foreign Air Carrier Service into the United States International Aviation Safety Data Exchange (IASDEx) Ramp Inspection Data Sharing FAA Certification of Maintenance Repair Organizations Pilot Training and Fatigue Risk Management Update to Rulemaking Activities NextGen Safety Management System ICAO Support Initiatives Model Civil Aviation Regulations Government Safety Inspector Training Safety Inspector Training Profiles Work-Tracking System We are also soliciting additional topics of interest that you would like to have addressed at the meeting. Suggested topics can be sent to the contact listed below. Who Should Attend Government aviation standards, certification, operations, and maintenance personnel Industry Participation Half day session on August 16th open to industry representatives Contact For more information, contact: Daniel Chong (202) 385-8076 Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC