Flight Safety Information September 10, 2012 - No. 183 In This Issue CAA U.K. recommends airlines to analyse flight data by runway Landing gear door falls on Wash. neighborhood United Airlines aircraft damaged in de-icing drill at Newark airport Nigeria: The Safety Failings of Nigerian Airlines PRISM Certification Support China's jet set grounded by lack of pilots, paperwork Ridgway Quits as Virgin Atlantic CEO Avro Arrow redesign pitched as alternative to F-35 stealth fighter jets (Canada) Dubai-bound passenger caught in India smuggling monkey in his trousers CAA U.K. recommends airlines to analyse flight data by runway Boeing 767 hard landing damage prompted AAIB to issue two safety recommendations on Flight Data Monitoring The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued a Safety Notice, recommending that all U.K. operators ensure that they are analysing their Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) data relating to landings not only by airport, but also by runway. The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) recently investigated an incident involving a Boeing 767 hard landing at Bristol International Airport and have since made two specific recommendations, 2012-014 and 2012-015, with regard to FDM and data analysis. The incident happened on 3 October 2010 when a Boeing 767 landed heavily on runway 09 at Bristol Airport and resulted in a crease over the fuselage crown. Upon investigation of the incident it was discovered through historic data that the operator had an unusually high rate of hard landings at runway 09 versus the other runway at Bristol Airport. Prior to this incident the operator had carried out their analysis on an airport by airport basis, the results of which did not indicate an unusually high rate at Bristol. The operator had not analysed and aggregated their heavy landing data for individual runways as part of their routine analysis of FDM data, thus the high rate at runway 09 was not identified. In addition to this it was discovered that the operator had not set a threshold limit, above which action should be taken, for the rate of hard landings. In light of this incident the CAA recommend that all U.K. operators ensure that they are analysing their FDM data relating to landings not only by airport, but also by runway. This will ensure that any adverse trends specific to one runway are more readily identifiable. When routinely monitoring data trends, it is important to be able to identify significant changes or deviations from what is deemed to be acceptable. The CAA recommend that operators should establish trigger levels and maximum rates beyond which action should be taken to reduce the occurrence of issues such as individually heavy landings or abnormally frequent firm landings. This should be accomplished in conjunction with aircraft manufacturers and take into consideration both Airworthiness (structural) and Operational (pilot proficiency) perspectives. More information: * CAA Safety Notice SN-2012/014: The Proactive Use of Flight Data * AAIB incident investigation report Boeing 767 G-OOBK www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Landing gear door falls on Wash. neighborhood KENT, Wash. - The Federal Aviation Administration confirms that a piece of metal that fell to the ground in a Kent, Wash., neighborhood was part of a Boeing 767's landing gear door. Witnesses say the refrigerator-size panel hit the ground and skipped about 30 feet before stopping in a street Friday morning. No one in the neighborhood about 15 miles south of Seattle was hurt. Neighbors say a cargo jet flew low over the area at about the same time the part came down. FAA officials aren't saying if they've located the plane that the part came from. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120907/us-falling-airplane-panel/ Back to Top United Airlines aircraft damaged in de-icing drill at Newark airport NEWARK - Temperatures were in the high 70's under sunny skies at Newark Liberty International Airport midday today, when a United Airlines plane was damaged after being struck by de-icing equipment, officials said. The Boeing 757 aircraft was struck when a United employee lost control of the de-icing truck he was driving during a drill, and the de-icing equipment struck the port-side engine, said Megan McCarthy, a United spokeswoman. No one was hurt in the 11:45 a.m. accident, McCarthy said. The plane was being used in the de-icing drill outside Terminal C and was not scheduled for a flight, McCarthy said, adding that no service disruption resulted from the accident. "Our crews were conducting deicing training on an aircraft and the de-icing mechanism did come into contact with the aircraft, but there was no one on the aircraft," McCarthy said. "There is damage. We're evaluating and we will make repairs." http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2012/09/united_airlines_aircraft_damag.html Back to Top Nigeria: The Safety Failings of Nigerian Airlines By Uche Uduma While the Nigerian aviation sector is still trying to redeem its image following the Dana plane crash, one of its worst air disasters in two decades, domestic airlines in Nigeria have already started breaching air safety guidelines. Uche Uduma reports. The Dana plane crash in June 3, 2012, brought to the fore, the inherent danger of air travel in Nigeria. Shortly after the accident which killed 153 people on board and 16 people on ground, there was a renewed determination by the Nigerian aviation sector to get things right. The Ministry of Aviation and other regulatory agencies immediately swung into action to plug the holes in the industry, and many domestic airlines began to tighten their loose ends to ensure that they meet international standards in order to avert further accidents. However, barely two months after the Dana crash, many domestic airlines are finding it difficult to stick to aviation safety and standards and are beginning to relapse. It is a requirement for flight dispatchers and pilots to get weather reports from the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) before they take off, as bad weather is known to play a significant role in aviation accidents. However, a few weeks ago, some domestic aircrafts took off to their destinations and were not able to land due to poor weather. This recklessness on the part of the airline operators and their pilots pose a serious danger to their passengers, who are oblivious of the fact that the pilot took off without ascertaining the weather conditions. LEADERSHIP SUNDAY discovered that some airlines receive the weather report, but when adverse weather is forecast they are too impatient to wait for the conditions to improve before they commence their flight. The special assistant to the Minister of Aviation on media, Mr. Joe Obi, decried such actions in an interview with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY. "About two weeks ago there were about two or three air returns. Normally by just listening to the weather forecast pilots know when they are not supposed to fly. The standard is already there and they are supposed to comply with regulations. We will definitely sanction airlines if they fail to comply." In a press statement, Mr. Obi said, "lately, it has been observed that only flight dispatchers go to the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) to obtain metrological folders without the pilot themselves actually receiving the weather briefing. This accounts for why aircraft take off and get to their destination but are unable to land. "There is therefore no reason or justification for an aircraft to make air returns on the basis of poor weather conditions, since the initial weather report from the AIS would have been adequate to indicate the futility of an initial take-off under such harsh weather." In a press release, the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. H.O. Demuren, warned airline operators to comply with the weather forecasts, as bad weather can be dangerous to air planes. "We are in the mid-stream of the rainy season, which is usually characterised by severe thunderstorms and line squalls and its attendant turbulence, microburst, lighting and low- level wind shear. Suffice to say that such weather conditions can be deadly to aircrafts on approach or departure from airports and has been responsible for a number of fatal accidents in the world and in Nigeria." He urged airlines to comply with the stipulated guidelines, "it is therefore mandatory for pilots to obtain weather briefings from the Nigeria Metrological Agency (NIMET) including departure, en-route and destination weather information prior to flight operations." So far airlines are yet to comply with this order by the NCAA and have continued to flout the stipulated guidelines for their safety operation. LEADERSHIP SUNDAY discovered that NIMET released a list of four airlines that have not been complying with AIS in the last four months to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, but no sanctions have been meted on these airlines and they have continued to default. A source from the NCAA, who asked to remain anonymous, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY about the need for pilots to be aware of weather conditions before taking off. "The lift of the aircraft is dependent on the direction of the wind; there is what we call headwind and tailwind. The tailwind is going in the same direction with the plane while the headwind is going against the speed of the plane. If there is going to be headwind then there is need for the aircraft to carry less passengers and more fuel as it will take the aircraft more time to get to its destination. The pilot is supposed to know the condition of the weather on take-off and at his destination." Apart from the issue of non compliance with the AIS, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY found that some airlines are still breaching safety standards by not adequately documenting the maintenance and repairs carried out on airplanes. A report by the Technical and Administrative review panel on domestic airlines carried out in June, revealed that the maintenance practice by some domestic airlines were not in line with international standard practice. It also revealed that surveillance by NCAA inspectors on the airlines' maintenance practices found that they were below expectations. These failings by airline operators not only ridicule the efforts to sanitise the aviation industry but also endanger the life of passengers that board flights in bad weather. http://allafrica.com/stories/201209090254.html Back to Top Back to Top China's jet set grounded by lack of pilots, paperwork HONG KONG (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc, the world's No. 3 aircraft maker, thinks Chinese executive jet buyers will take delivery of 2,400 new planes in the next 20 years. All China needs now is pilots to fly them, mechanics to fix them, and airports to land them. With fewer than 200 private jets for a population of 1.3 billion people, China's growth potential is huge. But reams of red tape, snarled-up air space and a shortage of trained pilots suggest it won't live up to the promise any time soon. The private jet potential has caught the attention of some big-name investors. Warren Buffett's NetJets made the world's largest order of executive jets in June in a deal worth $9.6 billion, months after it announced a China venture with private equity firm Hony Capital. China is forecast to take delivery of about 100 business jets this year. Before they can fly, buyers need to secure an Air Operator's Certificate from the country's aviation regulator or a management company that has already been granted one. Then the jet owner has to wait for an import licence. "The process you have to go through to get the importation approval has to be signed off by nine departments," said Jeffrey Lowe, general manager of Asian Sky Group, a business aviation consulting firm. Private jet ownership was illegal in China until 2003, and the aviation regulator has been slow to process paperwork for new operators. About 80 are awaiting certificates, with only up to 20 expected to get one in the next three years, taking the total number of business jet operator certificates in China to 30 by the end of 2015, under the regulator's working plan. The Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, has also capped at 12 the number of jets that can be imported annually by each certificate holder. Most of the existing 10-12 holders are new to the industry and lack sufficient skilled staff to take their full quota. China had just 180 airports as of the end of 2011, and the powerful military controls 70 percent of its air space, leaving limited room to navigate and land planes. Then there is the matter of finding people trained to fly and maintain them. Boeing Co (BA.N) estimates China will need 71,300 pilots and 99,400 technicians in the next 20 years to handle a growing commercial fleet. AMBITIOUS TARGETS Boeing said on Wednesday that China would need 5,260 new airplanes by 2031, although that figure covers larger aircraft normally flown by commercial airlines. For the business jet market alone, Bombardier (BBDb.TO) expects China will take delivery of 1,000 aircraft from 2012-2021 and a further 1,400 in the following decade. Another airplane maker, Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA), thinks China will need 635, or $21 billion worth, of new executive jets over the next 10 years. Swiss-based Vistajet, which signed a deal in March with Air China Ltd's (601111.SS) (0753.HK) private jet arm, Beijing Airlines, hopes to get approval to fly one of its jets from China in the first half of 2013 on its Chinese partner's certificate. NetJets, which is owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), did not respond to requests for comment on this story. But some industry analysts think expectations are running a bit too high because of the shortage of skilled staff, slow development of infrastructure and the government's reluctance to hand out operator certificates. "The giddy aviation-company lemmings who rushed into China should now trim their near-term expectations," said business aviation market analyst Brian Foley, of Brian Foley Associates. "Although the China region provided a steady sales stream of large and expensive jets at the height of the world economic downturn, we see that trend rapidly losing steam." Foley expects China will account for 3-4 percent of global business jet deliveries over the next decade, or less than half of the more than 10 percent forecast by Canada's Bombardier. A slowing economy also casts doubt on short-term growth prospects. Zhou Xiaozhou, marketing manager of Shenzhen-based business jet operator Donghai Jet Co Ltd, said corporate clients were cutting back on overseas trips. "Our business has slowed a lot this year and (is) likely to be just half of that in 2011, due to the weak global economy and increased competition," Zhou said. At least one industry executive welcomes a bit of doubt about China's potential. "Sure there is scepticism and I think it's helpful because it brings sanity to projections," said Ernest Edwards, the head of Embraer's executive aviation division. Back to Top Ridgway Quits as Virgin Atlantic CEO Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Steve Ridgway, seen in April, is stepping down after 23 years with the airline. LONDON (WSJ) -Virgin Atlantic said Chief Executive Steve Ridgway is stepping down after 23 years with the trans-Atlantic carrier, leaving an unenviable task to his successor as the U.K. airline grapples with high fuel prices, tough competition and a sluggish British economy. Mr. Ridgway said he would lead the search for his successor, who will likely be in place early next year. The airline's chief commercial officer, Julie Southern, would be "a likely leading internal candidate" to replace Mr. Ridgway, a person in the industry said. "I've seen many great times and a few bad and have always remained firm that we must offer something different to that of our competitors," Mr. Ridgway said in a written statement Sunday. Richard Branson's Virgin Group owns 51% of the carrier, and the rest is held by Singapore Airlines Ltd. C6L.SG +0.38% Virgin Atlantic recently lost a partner when International Consolidated Airlines Group SA IAG.MC +0.87%acquired British Midland Ltd. from Deutsche Lufthansa LHA.XE +3.06%AG. Bmi, as the regional airline is known, provided Virgin Atlantic with connecting traffic under a code-sharing agreement. IAG is the parent company of Virgin Atlantic's arch rival British Airways. Virgin Atlantic, which flies 5.5 million passengers a year, said last month it would start operating flights between Manchester in northern England and London starting early next year. The resignation of Mr. Ridgway, 62 years old, comes amid a shakeout in Europe's airline sector. High fuel costs and growing competition on domestic and regional routes from budget carriers have contributed to the financial collapse of small airlines and left many of the region's flag carriers nursing steep losses. Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers recently identified Virgin Atlantic as being among roughly 50 airlines that are in the "squeezed middle" of small and midsize carriers facing the threat of losing market share or being bought by stronger players. Singapore Airlines declined to comment on Mr. Ridgway's resignation and possible successors. Mr. Ridgway joined Virgin Atlantic in 1989 and has been CEO since 2001. Back to Top Avro Arrow redesign pitched as alternative to F-35 stealth fighter jets (Canada) OTTAWA - A Canadian company is seeking to go back in time to help fly Canada's air force into the future. Documents obtained by the Global News program The West Block indicate an update to the storied CF-105 Avro Arrow was put forward as an alternative to the purchase of F-35 stealth fighter jets. And among the project's champions is one of Canada's top soldiers, retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie. The Arrow was an advanced, all-weather supersonic interceptor jet developed in the 1950s but the project was scrapped before a single plane could be built. Maj. Gen. MacKenzie told The West Block that the Arrow's basic design and platform still exceed any current fighter jet and it is perfect for Canada's needs. "It's an attack aircraft. It's designed for attacking ground targets and its stealth is most effective against short range radar, protecting ground targets," he said. "What we need in Canada is something that can go to the edge of our airspace, from a sovereignty point of view, and be able to catch up with intruders." The plan to build an updated Arrow in Canada instead of buying into an international deal for a fleet of F-35s was originally put before the Harper Conservatives in 2010 by a company called Bourdeau Industries, which has offices in the U.K. and Canada. Canadian Air & Space MuseumCanada's Snowbirds fly over the a full-scale model of the Avro Arrow in celebration of the 100th anniversary of powered flight on Sept 8, 2009 at Downsview Park in Toronto.. The proposal, which was updated in 2012, suggested the plane could fly 20,000 feet higher than the F-35, soar twice as fast and would cost less. For example, the proposal said that the total cost of the Arrow program would be $11.73-billion, compared to the $16- billion the federal government says the F-35 program will cost. That F-35 figure has been disputed by the auditor general and parliamentary budget officer, who peg the true cost of the new stealth fighters at closer to $25-billion. The Arrow project would also create a made-in-Canada plane and an industry that would add thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the Canadian economy, the proposal's author wrote. "The government of Canada is in a position to project foreign policy initiatives within the global community while simultaneously leading Canada's socio-economic capabilities to rise to real security, defence and industrial policy challenges at home and abroad," the proposal said. But in June, the government rejected the plan, saying too much money and time was required, and the plane didn't meet technical specifications. "Unfortunately, what is proposed is not a viable option for Canada's next generation fighter," said a letter from Julian Fantino, who was then Canada's associate minister for national defence. Meanwhile, the plans for the F-35s remain on hold. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/09/avro-arrow-redesign-pitched-as-alternative- to-f-35-stealth-fighter-jets/ Back to Top Dubai-bound passenger caught in India smuggling monkey in his trousers NEW DELHI (AFP) A man attempting to board a flight with a monkey in his underwear has been arrested at New Delhi's international airport. The man, who was arrested along with two other travellers, had arrived from Bangkok on Sunday and was about to take a connecting flight to Dubai on Jet Airways, the Press Trust of India reported today. Personnel at the airport found the 17-centimetre loris, a type of monkey native to India and South East Asia, "in one of the passengers' underwear during the security check", PTI reported. Another loris was discovered in a dustbin at the Indira Gandhi International airport. "They had abandoned him as they were unable to carry him," a security official said. The passengers were handed over to Wildlife and Customs Department for further questioning and were later arrested by customs police. Authorities were trying to determine the exact origin of the monkeys. Customs officials recently caught an Indian man at Mumbai's main airport with 10 turtles in his underwear, which he was trying to smuggle into the city from Bangkok, the Hindustan Times reported last week. They also seized six Persian cats, three poisonous tarantula spiders and 11 birds eggs from the man and his two accomplices, the report said. The newspaper quoted a customs official saying the men were fined and sent back to Bangkok with the protected species and eggs they were trying to smuggle. Curt Lewis