De: Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC de la part de Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC Envoyé: vendredi 14 septembre 2012 14:39 À: fgae@club-internet.fr Objet: Flight Safety Information [September 14, 2012] [No. 176] Flight Safety Information Flight Safety Information September 14, 2012 - No. 187 In This Issue GE jet-engine failure in China is second for model in U.S. probe Flight Recorders Discovered at An-28 Crash Site in Kamchatka Laser disrupts Coast Guard helicopter, reward offered for information leading to arrest Philippines implementing reforms to improve air safety rating Italian Team Finds Wreck Of Giant German Airplane From WW II Off Sardinian Coast PRISM Certification Support Hot pilots, jets coming to New Mexico FlightSafety Starts Gulfstream G650 Customer Training Nigeria's Dana Air begins recertification process Thai Airways names new president Lease of Boeing aircraft: PIA caught between the devil and the deep blue sea GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - FDM Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC - Services GE jet-engine failure in China is second for model in U.S. probe General Electric is investigating a second failure of its GEnx jet engine after a Boeing 747-8 freighter flown by AirBridgeCargo Airlines lost thrust during takeoff in Shanghai three days ago. The GEnx-2B engine will be sent to the U.S. to be taken apart "in a matter of days," and all units in service are being inspected, spokesman Rick Kennedy said in an email. Visual checks found damage to the low-pressure turbine, with no breach of the casing, he said. The failure is the second in less than two months involving a GEnx power plant from GE, the world's biggest maker of jet engines. U.S. safety officials are investigating why a GEnx component called the fan mid-shaft fractured and spewed hot metal parts during a test run of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on July 28. "If this is another mid-shaft failure, it places the engine and the airframes that are powered by it under a cloud," said Robert Mann, a former American Airlines fleet manager who is now an aviation consultant. While a single part breakdown would be seen as a "one-off," a second on a different plane "would be a problem," he said. GE has finished its review of GEnx engines on the global 787 fleet, Kennedy said. About a dozen of Boeing's four-engine 747-8 freighters remain to be checked, he said. The data are being shared with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as that agency investigates the Dreamliner case. GE has introduced a new coating process to the affected part of new engines, Kennedy said. An NTSB spokesman declined to comment on the Shanghai incident. Under international treaties, the board would participate in the Shanghai probe because the plane maker and engine manufacturer are U.S. companies. Bret Jensen, a Boeing spokesman, said the company couldn't discuss the case because of the NTSB inquiry. AirBridgeCargo, a unit of Russia's Volga-Dnepr Group, is the country's largest cargo carrier and has a fleet of 12 Boeing 747s. A call placed to the airline's Moscow headquarters before regular business hours Thursday was answered, then terminated. The carrier received its first 747-8, the latest variant of the iconic, humpbacked jumbo jet, in January and the second in March. It has three more on order. The company has delivered 10 GEnx-1B engines for the twin-engine Dreamliner and 108 GEnx- 2B engines for the 747-8. The GEnx is the only engine option on the 747-8, while GE competes with Rolls-Royce Holdings for engines on the 787. "GE continually monitors and analyzes the performance of the GEnx fleet in service, and we are not aware of operational issues that would affect the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines," Kennedy said. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019150175_geenginexml.html Back to Top Flight Recorders Discovered at An-28 Crash Site in Kamchatka VLADIVOSTOK, September 14 (RIA Novosti) Rescuers discovered flight recorders of an Antonov An-28 passenger aircraft, which crashed on Wednesday in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka region killing 10 people. The twin-engine An-28, en route from the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, was carrying 12 passengers, including two children, and two crew members, when it crash landed. Four people, including a child, survived the crash and were hospitalized. A statement from a committee investigating the incident said that the flight recorders will be handed over to the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) for decoding. The aircraft lost radio contact with traffic control at 12:28 local time [00:28 GMT] on Wednesday shortly before it was due to land at an airfield in the village of Palana, about 990 kilometers north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The pilots had been trying to make an emergency landing when the plane came down in woodland some 10 kilometers from Palana. http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120914/175947740.html Back to Top Laser disrupts Coast Guard helicopter, reward offered for information leading to arrest MUSKEGON, MI - A green laser disrupted an otherwise routine Coast Guard helicopter training mission in Muskegon on Aug. 17. Now the Coast Guard is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for it. The Coast Guard's MH-65C Dolphin helicopter was conducting training in Lake Michigan with a small Coast Guard boat around 9 p.m. when someone pointed a green laser point at the aircraft from shore. About an hour and a half later at 10:30 p.m., a Coast Guardsmen on the boat again spotted the laser pointed at the helicopter. The laser appeared to be following the aircraft as it moved. Authorities tracked the source of the laser to Pioneer Park on Lake Michigan in Laketon Township. A press release from the Coast Guard's Great Lakes headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, says the guardsmen on the boat that was training with the helicopter approached the shore at Pioneer Park and witnessed a group of people around a campfire "flashing a pattern of light signals with a red light." The group scattered and fled the area when the Coast Guard crew shined a light on them. The Muskegon incident follows a similar incident in which lasers from the Canadian shore disrupted another Coast Guard helicopter crew. Pointing a laser at any aircraft is a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison, an $11,000 fine and five years of probation. The Federal Aviation Administration says laser incidents involving aircraft increased by 902 percent from 2005 to 2011. The Coast Guard statement says green lasers are a hazard to flight crews, especially when they are operating at low altitude at night. Boat crews working at night also can be affected. The lasers can obscure the crew's vision and lead to delays in searching for missing people, which could mean the difference between life and death. Coast Guard Commander Joseph Deer, commanding officer of Air Station Detroit that staffs the Muskegon air facility, is concerned with the recent spate of laser incidents and the risks they pose. "We've been very fortunate that the green laser incidents haven't yet resulted in tragedy," said Deer. "But, whoever is committing these crimes is endangering the lives of their fellow citizens, as well as the aircrews performing training and rescue missions. We're simply asking the public to help us put a stop to this reckless behavior by reporting it immediately if they see it happening." The Coast Guard is urging anyone who sees someone point a laser at one of its crews to call 911. Anyone with information about the Aug. 17 incident in Muskegon is asked to call the 9th Coast Guard District Command Center emergency line at 1-800-321-4400. http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/09/laser_disrupts_coast_guard_hel.html Back to Top Philippines implementing reforms to improve air safety rating MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BNO NEWS) -- The government of the Philippines is implementing further aviation reforms in the hopes of restoring the country's air safety rating in the United States, officials said on Thursday. The government is also hoping it will be removed from the European Union (EU) aviation blacklist. Philippines presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government is implementing additional reforms to improve the country's aviation status, but he gave no specific details about the reforms. The statement comes just two months after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) elected Lt. Gen William Hotchkiss III as the agency's director general. "They have been making the necessary reforms and in due time we hope we will be removed from Category 2 status (in the United States)," Lacierda said during his daily press briefing at Malacañan Palace. "It not only affects the budget airlines, it also affects our airlines leaving for Europe, leaving for the United States. So that's what we want to achieve, to be taken out of Category 2 status as early as possible." The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in January 2008 downgraded the air safety rating of the Philippines from Category 1 to Category 2, saying the local aviation sector failed to meet international safety standards. The decision prohibits Philippine carriers from increasing their flights to the United States and from changing the type or number of aircraft used on existing routes. Lacierda assured that the government is working hard to ensure that the aviation status of the Philippines is reverted back to Category 1. CAAP in April 2011 promised President Benigno Aquino III that the agency would implement sufficient reforms to receive an upgrade to Category 1 by the end of 2011, but progress was slow. In March 2011, President Benigno Aquino III signed an executive order to liberalize the entry of foreign carriers into the Philippines and allowing more competition as a result. "Under this order, we will allow foreign carriers to fly into key destinations in the Philippines," the president said at the time. "Beyond that, we are also addressing technical and regulatory issues that have been allowed to worsen in the previous decade." To address some of the concerns raised by the FAA and the European Union, the Philippines government hired a number of technical personnel and consultants in April 2011. The government said it also hired more pilots to address foreign concern about a lack of qualified personnel at regional carriers. Back to Top Italian Team Finds Wreck Of Giant German Airplane From WW II Off Sardinian Coast A team of Italian researchers have found the wreckage of a huge German Luftwaffe aircraft from World War II off the coast of Sardinia. The vessel is believed to be the last surviving Messerschmitt-323 Gigant craft, the largest land-based transport aircraft from the war. A team of Italian researchers have found the wreckage of a huge German Luftwaffe aircraft from World War II off the coast of Sardinia believed to be the last surviving Messerschmitt-323 Gigant craft, the largest land-based transport aircraft from the war. The German transport plane, which was designed to carry tanks and artillery, was apparently shot down by a British fighter jet, reports the Daily Telegraph newspaper, on July 26, 1943, during a flight from a Nazi base in Sardinia on its way to Pistoia in the Italian mainland. The Me-323 crashed in the water near Maddalena Island. Originally intended for a campaign to invade Britain, as part of Operation Sea Lion, the plane instead was diverted to duty in the Mediterranean and North Africa. "It was a pure emotional charge to suddenly see the aircraft in the veiled blue of the sea," Cristina Freghieri, an Italian diver who led the crew that found the wreckage 200 feet below the surface of the sea, told the ANSA news agency. "First, we saw a piece of sheet metal, then another until the plane appeared in all its beauty. My heart skipped a beat. "Until now, no Me-323 had survived from the war, which makes this discovery of great historical importance," she added. The Me-323 model weighed 45 tons, featured a wingspan of 180 feet and could reach a maximum speed of 177 miles per hour. Only about 200 of the giant planes were manufactured prior to April 1944, when production ceased. "The Me-323 can carry 120 fully equipped men, or an alternative load of small tanks or motor vehicles, when the upper deck is detached," a U.S. intelligence report on the airplane from March 1943 stated. "Freight is loaded through the double doors that form the curved nose of the airplane; this is accomplished by a jacking system enabling the nose to be lowered to a convenient height. "The aircraft is fitted with six machine guns, which fire through apertures in the sides of the fuselage, a plywood frame being provided for each aperture," the report added. "Fore and aft armament has not as yet been reported." "It was just by chance that we found it, because we were actually looking for a different plane wreck," Aldo Ferrucci, a diving instructor and photographer who took pictures of the wreck, told the Telegraph. "We had understood that the Me-323 was in a totally different location, so we were lucky to stumble on it. It is in good condition -- it is almost intact, with the six engines still all in line." Only three months ago, Italian researchers discovered another remnant of World War II off the Sardinian coast -- the wreck of the Roma, an Italian navy battleship, which was sunk by the Germans in September 1943, just after Italy joined the Allies. Almost 1,400 died in that incident. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/384104/20120913/messerschmitt-323-airplane-wreck-italy- germany.htm Back to Top Back to Top Hot pilots, jets coming to New Mexico Unusual company relocating to Alb. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - An unusual company is relocating to Albuquerque and it will need several hundred highly skilled workers. It's core business is flying warplanes that are about to become familiar sights in the sky around New Mexico. Air USA is a civilian organization that helps train military pilots from the U.S. and other countries in advanced fighter pilot skills. To do that it operates it's own squadron of high-performance jets, including Russian-made MIG- 29 Fighters still one of the top performing warplanes in the world. Company president Don Kirlin says it's our Tacos that helped lure him here. Not the Mexican food but the famed Fighting Tacos , the New Mexico Air Guard F-16 unit that flew out of Kirtland for decades until it was disbanded three years ago. Many of those air guard veterans, both air and ground crews, are still here. They and other vets have skills Air USA need as the company eventually expands to as many as 200 employees. "We will be hiring admin people, accountants, pilots, technicians, ordinance loaders and on and on. All these people that would be in a squadron," Kirlin said. In addition to direct jobs, New Mexico will get economic benefits from military units that will come here to train. Governor Martinez is hoping that will have a domino effect. "It's exciting because another company will come and another will follow because they will share their experience they're having with New Mexico," Martinez said. http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/business/hot-pilots-jets-coming-to-new-mexico Back to Top FlightSafety Starts Gulfstream G650 Customer Training FlightSafety International began customer training in its Gulfstream G650 simulators yesterday at its Savannah Gulfstream Learning Center. The G650 received FAA type certification last Friday. FlightSafety International began customer pilot training for the Gulfstream G650 yesterday at its Savannah Gulfstream Learning Center, just three days after the aircraft received FAA type certification. There are 16 pilots enrolled in the first class, which is expected to last 3.5 weeks and will be supported by two FAA-approved full-motion simulators, four graphical flight simulators (GFS) and 14 pilot instructors. One sim is also approved for EASA training; the other will receive this nod early next year. FlightSafety is building two more G650 simulators and will deploy them to as-yet undetermined locations for service entry in 2014. For the past year, FlightSafety has been training Gulfstream factory pilots on the G650 and conducting maintenance training with the help of the GFS units. It also obtained interim level-C approval for its G650 simulators from the FAA so it could use them to train factory pilots. "Thanks to our close relationship with Gulfstream and its engineering team, we were able to demonstrate to the FAA that the simulator does in fact operate just like the aircraft even though the aircraft did not have type certification at that point," notes David Davenport, FlightSafety's vice president and general manager of the Savannah center. Level-D approval is pending. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2012-09-11/flightsafety-starts-gulfstream- g650-customer-training Back to Top Nigeria's Dana Air begins recertification process Nigeria's Dana Air is undergoing recertification with the country's civil aviation authority and plans to retrain personnel following the lifting of a grounding order on the carrier. Dana Air's services were suspended following the fatal accident involving a Boeing MD-83 on approach to Lagos on 3 June. Two of the airline's five aircraft are having C-checks at the Istanbul base of maintenance provider MyTechnic. The other three are parked at Lagos's main airport. Dana Air has not given a date to resume flights but says the recertification process "has begun" and adds: "All the staff of the airline will shortly be undergoing refresher programmes in preparation for commencement of operations." Investigators are still trying to understand the reasons behind an apparent loss of thrust in both engines which preceded the crash. There were no survivors among the 153 occupants, and 10 fatalities on the ground. http://www.flightglobal.com/ Back to Top Thai Airways names new president Thai Airways has appointed Sorajak Kasemsuvan as its new president. Kasemsuvan will replace acting president Chokchai Panyayong, who assumed the position in June after former president Piyasvasti Amranand was sacked by the carrier's board. Kasmesuvan was previously chairman of Thai media company MCOT Public Company, according to filings on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Thai did not state when he will assume the position. Thai's board sacked Amranand on 21 May because of "communication issues". He had succeeded in reversing the flag carrier's losses and helping it return to profitability over the last few years. Amranand, however, lacked support from some sections within the Thai government, especially in their refusal to give the green light to a plan to form a joint venture with Singapore's Tiger Airways. That led to Amranand publicly taking the government to task several times, a tactic that sources say made him unpopular with many in the government. http://www.flightglobal.com/ Back to Top Lease of Boeing aircraft: PIA caught between the devil and the deep blue sea Pakistan International Airlines appears to have been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea over the dry lease of four Boeing 737-800 aircraft on dry lease. The airline had invited sealed bids, adopting "two stage two envelop mode" of tendering, from interested parties for the dry lease of these aircraft for a period of three years to be delivered in September. Although the bids were opened on July 16 at the PIA head office here no decision has yet been taken on the acceptance of the aircraft offered by the bidders. The first stage tender proceedings included the technical proposal and second stage the financial proposal. Of the four bidders who had participated in the tender only Exel Air had offered to provide the required Boeing 737-800 aircraft, two of the 1998 model, one of the 2003 model and one of the 2007 model. Of the other three bidders, none had offered the aircrafts belonging to the B737- 800 family. Air Speed had submitted bid for two B777-200ER and seven B777 manufactured in 2001 and 2002. Alasco Air had offered three B777-300ER of the 1998 model and Standard Chartered had offered seven B737-700 of the 1998 model. None of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Boeing and Airbus, nor any renowned aircraft leasing company came forward with their offers. Those who participated in the tender either offered older aircraft or ones that were not required. Indeed PIA management has to act fast to arrest the traffic, enormous as it is, being picked up by Emirates, Ethad and Qatar airways under the 3rd Freedom ie, the right to carry traffic from your own country (A) to the country (B) of your treaty partner and the 4th Freedom ie, the right to carry traffic from country (B) back to your own country (A). Those who pay heavily wants to travel in comfort and these airlines provide the best of services, the luxury of flying a new aircraft and offer a choice of several connecting destinations. As against these attractions the old and depleted PIA fleet flying to limited destinations with little choice of required destinations finds it difficult to attract traffic, which in fact is PIA's traffic. Things in PIA appear to be moving at a snails pace, unmindful of the fact that it is costing the airline heavily in terms of revenue and traffic. A meeting was held here in May to discuss the evaluation of the narrow body aircraft to be inducted as replacement of the A310 and B737 but nothing has come out of that meeting as yet. According to details of the meeting available here, the Society of Aircraft Engineers (SAEP) had enquired about the issues raised by Transparency International Pakistan in the evaluation criteria of the tender document. It had further inquired about the maintenance, training and support facilities in the region along with performance limited sectors for the narrow body aircraft. Director Corporate Planning (DCP) had explained in detail the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Rules and the evaluation criteria to be followed in aircraft selection. In the meeting Flight Engineers National Association (FENA) had pointed out that the utilisation of a narrow body aircraft on over four hour (medium haul) routes may be inconvenient for passengers. The DCP said, that the reason for utilising narrow body aircraft on medium haul routes was enhanced frequencies instead of utilising wide body aircrafts with fewer frequencies. He mentioned that medium haul operation was only 4 to 5% of the total narrow body operations and the management had to take a decision whether to induct an additional aircraft type for this medium haul operation. Further more it was apprised that a study would be carried out to gradually replace the narrow body aircraft on these routes with wide body aircraft. It was further explained that there is no wide body aircraft with equivalent size, capacity and range available in the market as replacement of A310 aircraft. However, it was noted that the narrow body aircraft to be operated on medium haul routes should be catered for maximum passenger comfort. On a query regarding baggage limitation on gulf routes, the DCP explained that baggage limitation on certain routes has already been accounted for in the evaluation criteria by specifying the passenger and baggage requirements. Based on the discussions held during the meeting on the narrow body evaluation, all the representatives of the union/associations adopted the following resolution: "Realizing that for efficient operation it is imperative to replace aged aircraft and appreciating the fleet replacement plan 2020, the committee: ---- agrees with the evaluation criteria provided to it with minor adjustments for seating configuration and advantage for additional seat utilisation on aircraft with higher capacity. The comparison shall be made on new aircraft. ---- Recommends provisioning of additional narrow body capacity demanded by marketing (four additional aircraft) and replacement of six B737 aircraft. ---- Recommends that initially bids may be invited for 10 aircraft, five to be delivered in 2012 and remaining five in 2013. Bids for additional aircraft may be invited later for induction to synchronise with retirement of A310 aircraft and to meet additional capacity requirement to meet the expected growth. ---- Recommends that PIA should train its own crew and technical personnel to maintain and operate the aircraft, however, during transition foreign crew may be deployed to meet the necessary training and operational requirements. ---- Recommends that in the interest of PIA due consideration should be made of the fleet type being operated in the region, of the training and other support packages that are offered and opportunities of spares' pool arrangements and MRO/simulator business potential. ---- Recommends that aircraft bridging arrangements (from now till delivery of new aircraft) should preferably be made on operating (dry) lease and the aircraft acquired later may be on (dry) operating lease, financing lease or purchase. http://www.brecorder.com/business-a-economy/189/1236768/ Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY The purpose of the present survey is to gather information about the implementation of Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) programs in the military and civilian aviation sector. The information gathered will serve to highlight the different challenges with implementing such programs as well as identify any differences between the two sectors (i.e. military and civilian sectors). In the 21st century it is becoming more and more difficult to find new ways to further improve safety of flight. Additional benefits can be drawn from optimizing the current safety measures. This way, not only we minimize the costs coming from new initiatives, but we also get the most from the already implemented and ongoing safety programs. Our research rests on your responses to the survey and we thank you in advance for taking the time to answer each of the questions to the best of your knowledge of your respective organization. The survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. The survey is open until 30 Sept 2012. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FDM-Survey If you have any question about the present research and/or survey, please send your queries to leblanc.martin@videotron.ca Back to Top Back to Top Quick Links Products Services Training Contact us... Contact Information "Flight Safety Information" is a free service of: Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC (Targeting Safety & Risk Management) curt@curt-lewis.com www.curt-lewis.com www.fsinfo.org PH: 817-303-9096 Cell: 817-845-3983 Fax: 682-292-0835 Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC is an international, multi-discipline technical and scientific consulting firm specializing in aviation and industrial safety. Our specialties are aviation litigation support, aviation/airport safety programs, accident investigation, safety & quality assessments/audits, system safety (PRA), human factors, Safety Management Systems (SMS) assessment/implementation & training, safety/quality training & risk management, IS- BAO Auditing, airfield/heliport lighting products and Technical Support. Forward email This email was sent to fgae@club-internet.fr by curt@curt-lewis.com | Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Curt Lewis and Associates, LLC | Post Office Box 120243 | Arlington | TX | 76012