Flight Safety Information October 15, 2012 - No. 207 In This Issue Sriwijaya Air faces audit after pilots land at wrong airport (Indonesia) US Airways flight from Tampa to Phoenix diverts to Albuquerque, NM, after windshield crack Falcon 900 jet tyres burst as it lands at Biggin Hill Airport (UK) Israel grounds fighter jets after midair near-collision Yemen fighter jet crashes on takeoff killing pilot PROS IOSA Audit Experts Bad Joke Prompts Alaska Airport Evacuation Yeager re-enacts historic flight to break sound barrier Facebook hijack joke gets boxer banned from flight Jambo Jet gets license for 22 routes (Kenya) AAR to Open New Aircraft Maintenance Facility in Duluth, Minnesota ERAU - Aviation Safety Program Management - Course GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Sriwijaya Air faces audit after pilots land at wrong airport (Indonesia) The Transportation Ministry says it will audit safety practices at Sriwijaya Air after one of the airline's planes landed at the wrong airport. "We are going to audit the airline as a corrective action to improve its safety because this is a serious incident," ministry spokesman Bambang S. Ervan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. Official from the ministry's air transportation directorate were on the way to Padang to investigate, while the plane's pilot and co-pilot were grounded, Bambang said. Sriwijaya SJ0021 departed from Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra on Saturday. The plane was bound for Minangkabau International Airport in Padang but instead landed at Tabing Air Force Base, about 20 kilometers south of its intended destination. According to Sriwijaya senior corporate communications manager Agus Soedjono, all of the passengers on the flight were safe and transferred by bus to Minangkabau International Airport. He said that the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) was also investigating the case aside from the regulator.(iwa) http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/10/14/sriwijaya-air-faces-audit-after-pilots-land-wrong-airport.html Back to Top US Airways flight from Tampa to Phoenix diverts to Albuquerque, NM, after windshield crack ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A US Airways flight from Tampa, Fla., to Phoenix has made a precautionary landing in Albuquerque, N.M., after the pilots reported a crack in the plane's windshield. Airline spokesman Davien Anderson says the Airbus A319 did not lose cabin pressure and the landing was routine. The pilots did not declare an emergency. US Airways Flight 265 was carrying 119 passengers and took off just after 7:30 a.m. Eastern time Sunday with a planned arrival at about 9 a.m. MST in Phoenix. Anderson says US Airways is sending another plane to bring the passengers to Phoenix. Back to Top Falcon 900 jet tyres burst as it lands at Biggin Hill Airport (UK) FIVE people and a dog managed to get off their plane safely after its tyres burst as it landed at Biggin Hill Airport on Saturday. The Falcon 900 jet was landing on the runway in Biggin Hill when two of the tyres burst and the undercarriage collapsed at around 7.18pm. Biggin Hill Airport's fire and rescue team got to the plane less than two minutes later and dealt with the incident. Bromley police and firefighters from Biggin Hill were called as a backup. The three members of crew, two passengers and their dog exited the German registered plane in the normal way and were taken to the passenger terminal. They did not sustain any injuries in the incident. The plane, which had come from Biarritz, was then towed off the runway. http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/9984641.Falcon_900_jet_tyres_burst_as_it_lands_at_Biggin_Hill_Airport/ Back to Top Israel grounds fighter jets after midair near-collision Jerusalem : The Israel Air Force (IAF) Sunday grounded all fighter jet squadrons after a midair near collision last week capped a series of serious accidents over the last year. IAF chief Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel imposed the order after two aircraft almost collided Thursday, Xinhua reported citing Israel Radio. Investigators said the two planes exceeded the mandatory "safety envelope" during maneuvers. An Iair force source said the near-miss was due to "pilot error". While regular operations and flights would continue, instructors were ordered to refresh fighter squadron pilots on adhering to air safety procedures and policies during mock air combat before taking back to the skies on Monday. The Israeli Air Force has suffered from a number of deadly accidents and safety incidents in the last few years, including an emergency landing by a fighter jet and refueling plane earlier this year when the fuel hose hit and cracked the war plane's canopy. The squadrons were grounded for two days last year after a fighter jet clipped a tree while landing at a northern airbase. The pilot was able to land the aircraft despite the damage, according to The Times of Israel news site. In July, 2010, an Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion crashed while on a training flight in Romania's Carpathian mountains, during a joint Romanian-Israeli military exercise. Four Israeli pilots, two Israeli aircraft mechanics and a Romanian liaison officer were killed when the helicopter slammed into a fog-shrouded mountain. Results of a probe showed that the accidents was most likely due to pilot error. http://twocircles.net/2012oct14/israel_grounds_fighter_jets_after_midair_nearcollision.html Back to Top Yemen fighter jet crashes on takeoff killing pilot ADEN: A Yemeni fighter jet crashed on takeoff on Monday on a routine training mission in the south, killing the pilot and wounding another crew member, the defence ministry said in a statement. The aircraft, a MiG-21, crashed due to "technical failure," the statement said. A military official told AFP that the jet caught fire after taking off from the Al-Anad air base in the southern province of Lahij. Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-15/191455-yemen-fighter-jet-crashes- on-takeoff-killing-pilot.ashx#ixzz29MXH519E Back to Top Back to Top Bad Joke Prompts Alaska Airport Evacuation ANCHORAGE, Alaska October 14, 2012 (AP) - The main terminal of Anchorage's largest airport was evacuated Sunday after a man made comments about a bomb, which he later said were meant to be taken as a joke. Police at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport took the matter seriously and arrested Peter Friesema on charges of making terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. Friesema was jailed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex with bail set at $5,000, airport manager John Parrott said by email. The incident began shortly after midnight. A man checking in for an Alaska Airlines flight "made a statement about a bomb in a bag," Parrott told the Anchorage Daily News ( http://bit.ly/RvbhFq ). "That caused us and the airlines, the TSA, the airport police, to have to evacuate the building, the terminal," he said. Many passengers were not dressed for freezing temperatures on a night that saw snowfall but they were ordered outside the terminal. Some huddled in doorways to keep warm. After 1 a.m., airport shuttle buses took passengers to another terminal but could only carry a dozen people or so at a time from the hundreds who waited in the cold. To give people more places to warm up, the rental car center also was opened, and its buses were used to transport passengers, Parrott said. Police set up a roadblock on a street leading to the airport to prevent drivers from getting to the terminal. That created a long stretch of traffic along Anchorage's International Airport Road. The terminal reopened at about 3 a.m. Back to Top Yeager re-enacts historic flight to break sound barrier Yeager Re-enacts Historic Sound Barrier Flight Living up to his "right stuff" reputation as the wise-cracking test pilot and daring World War II hero, the legendary Chuck Yeager returned Sunday to Nellis Air Force Base after re-enacting in a blue-gray F-15D Eagle jet what he did 65 years ago in a mustard-colored X-1 rocket plane: break the sound barrier soaring high over California's Mojave Desert. Upon landing, with his escort pilot Capt. David Vincent taxiing the Eagle under plumes of water shot from two firetrucks, the 89-year-old Yeager climbed down a ladder from the cockpit. He did so to the applause of Nellis airmen, their families, his wife, Victoria, and film crews who documented the 65th anniversary of his most cherished feat as the first human to fly faster than sound. What was going through his mind when Vincent, 30, throttled the aircraft into a blurry descent from 45,000 feet to 30,000 feet and leveled off with a speed of Mach 1.4, or more than 670 mph, sending a sonic boom across Edwards Flight Test Range? "Nothing," Yeager deadpanned. "Flying is flying. You just can't add a lot to it." He said he just gazed out the jet's clear canopy, looking down on the many dry lake beds that he landed on as a test pilot. Like the other times he achieved supersonic flight, the F-15D on Sunday sent a shock wave through the azure sky over the same patch of desert Yeager flew over for decades, at the same time he did it 65 years ago, 10:24 a.m. Meanwhile, as Yeager was returning to Nellis, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, wearing a pressurized suit, emerged from the capsule of a towering, helium-filled balloon and leaped from a metal platform 128,000 feet over New Mexico near Roswell. In his descent he reached 833.9 mph or Mach 1.24. Yeager was not impressed. "Joe Kittinger did that years ago. He's not doing anything new," he said. Yeager was referring to U.S. Air Force Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, who, on Aug. 16, 1960, stepped from the gondola of a helium balloon at 102,800 feet and sped to 714 mph, breaking the sound barrier in a four-minute free fall through the stratosphere before his parachute opened. The speed of sound is about 750 mph at sea level and roughly 660 mph at 30,000 feet altitude. About an hour after his anniversary flight, Yeager spoke to U.S. Air Force pilots, airmen and their families gathered in a Nellis auditorium. At the end of his presentation, while fielding questions from the audience, Yeager used the occasion to mock Baumgartner's supersonic achievement. "Hey, what are you proving?" he asked, questioning the accuracy of Baumgartner's reported speed. "I don't know where you stick a pitot tube in him," he said, referring to an instrument that protrudes from the nose of an aircraft to measure its velocity. Yeager said he loved flying the Bell X-1 rocket plane that vaulted him into aviation history on Oct. 14, 1947, but it's no comparison to the twin-engine F-15 Eagle, a warplane that is more reliable and economical, he said, than the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor, a stealthy air-superiority jet, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter touted as the workhorse warplane of the future. "If I was going to fight a war, I'd take an F-15 over anything we've got," he said. He said he chose to fly from Nellis instead of Edwards Air Force Base because the test center at Edwards didn't have a two-seat, F-15 available and he didn't want to fly an F-16 Fighting Falcon. And this ace, who shot down five German Messerschmitt-109 fighter planes in a single day in October 1944, knows airplanes, having flown 180 different ones during his storied career. He said by far the slowest one he's flown was a Wright Flyer, like the one Orville and Wilbur Wright flew in their groundbreaking first powered flights at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903. "It didn't go faster than sound. It just sounded faster than it was flying," Yeager recalled. His fame soared in 1979, when Chuck Yeager, who was born Charles Elwood Yeager, became a household name with author Tom Wolfe's book, "The Right Stuff." The book, which was later made into a movie, recounted the story of the day the bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket plane made history when Yeager guided it beyond Mach 1. The plane was strapped to the belly of a B-29 bomber and released at a high altitude before he powered it up for the record-setting feat. "The most important thing that I did was fly the X-1 through Mach 1," he told reporters gathered on the Nellis ramp Sunday. "Up until that time we had never been able to get above the speed of sound. We had problems with controls and stuff like that. Finally, on October 14, '47 we succeeded in pushing Mach 1 and it opened up space to us," he said. Just before he took off Sunday, his wife, Victoria Yeager, shared her excitement and noted the parallel of having Vincent, a young captain, have the honor of being the escort pilot like her husband was in 1947. "This is so cool," she said. "This captain is as much of a maverick as General Yeager is. He (Yeager) is in the back seat where the instructor pilot sits because he's the elder statesman." After the flight, Vincent remarked about his role in the re-enactment flight and how Yeager made him feel at ease. He said Yeager held up "better than I did" during the flight and made the chase plane's pilot, Col. Pete Ford, jealous because of all the stories that Yeager told him in the cockpit. "He was talking it up like he was back home," said Vincent, who flies with the 65th Aggressor Squadron. "That was the best flight of my life. It was a dream come true. ... And to be there with one of the world's greatest plots was an absolute honor," he said. "It was like being there with Christopher Columbus or Orville and Wilbur Wright. He broke the sound barrier, something that everyone was terrified of doing. He had the bravery and skill to be able to do that. It was amazing," Vincent said. http://www.lvrj.com/news/yeager-set-to-to-re-enact-historic-flight-174069461.html Back to Top Facebook hijack joke gets boxer banned from flight Wayne Avison was banned from his Scoot flight after making a joke about hijacking on Facebook. An Australian muay thai boxing trainer has been barred from his flight home from Singapore after posting a threat on Facebook to hijack and crash the plane. Queenslander Wayne Avison paid a high price for venting his spleen on social media last month after his flight from Singapore to Bangkok was delayed five hours, causing him to miss a connecting flight to Australia. Mr Avison complained on his Facebook page on September 25 that the missed flight had left him stranded in Singapore, adding that the airline Scoot had not offered him a night's accommodation either. His son replied a short time later: "Well that sucks. Make sure you file a complaint when u get back". Mr Avison responded: "I'm going to high-jack the plane on the return flight and crash it ... that'll fix the f...ers". The airline, Singapore-based Scoot, cancelled his flight in response, citing concern for the safety of its passengers. Mr Avison later posted online what he said was the airline's explanation for barring him: "You have exhibited threatening behaviour thereby posing a serious safety threat to our passengers and cabin crew. We cannot risk such behaviour, as that would be irreconcilable with the airline's overriding duty to ensuring safety and security of its passengers and crew." But Mr Avison posted in reply that the threat was "an obvious joke", claiming that Scoot had in fact cancelled his flight because of his many complaints about the airline's poor standard of service. "I'm Australian and live in Australia, a democratic society, which gives me the right to think, say and write whatever I bloody want!" he wrote. He has not yet deleted the comment about hijacking the plane from his Facebook page, which is publicly viewable. Fairfax Media is awaiting comment from Scoot Airlines. Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/facebook-hijack-joke-gets-boxer-banned- from-flight-20121015-27mqa.html#ixzz29Mf0y56R Back to Top Jambo Jet gets license for 22 routes (Kenya) (eTN) - The formal notice filed in the Kenya Gazette on Friday made the decision of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority public and affirmed what the aviation grapevine had been whispering about for days now, Jambo Jet is now a reality and has traffic rights for 22 routes across Kenya and Eastern Africa. Kenya Airways (KQ), with the license now given, is expected to react vigorously to the competition on domestic and regional routes and will undoubtedly be ready ahead of the launch of FastJet later in the year, which intends to take to the air on the Dar es Salaam to Nairobi route with up to three flights a day. Domestically, Jambo Jet will be able to operate from Nairobi to Mombasa, Malindi, Eldoret, and Kisumu, routes presently flown by Kenya Airways directly, but also to such other destinations as Lamu, an aerodrome not able to accommodate the jet aircraft used by KQ and likely to be transferred to Jambo Jet, i.e., the Embraer E170. This opens room for speculation if Kenya Airway's lower-cost operation, Jambo Jet, may in fact introduce turboprop aircraft, which in the past allowed KQ to fly to Lamu before going all jet. Regionally, destinations like Juba, Entebbe, Goma, and Kisangani from which KQ withdrew earlier this year, also Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Bujumbura, and Kigali, and as far as Antananarivo and Hargeisa, have been granted to Jambo Jet, in direct competition with privately-owned airlines currently flying there. A dedicated team has been put into place by Kenya Airways' top management to support the Jambo Jet launch and with the license now in the bag, they will be working flat out to attain the Air Operator Certificate from the KCAA, being able to count on the fullest support by KQ to move to flight status on the fast track. "This license will allow Kenya Airways to use some of their aircraft like the Embraer 170 to fly certain routes now as Jambo Jet and in line with lower-cost operations offer of either no catering on board or else passengers may have to buy their drinks. It is important for KQ to start very soon to be in the skies before FastJet can begin and then offer fares which those cannot beat, mainly because the larger Airbus A319 used by FastJet will cost more to operate than an E170. I think flying will become cheaper for those who only want to get from point A to point B without the full service on Kenya Airways flights, like a business class or free meals and drinks. I think the strategy team at Kenya Airways has been keeping a close watch on market developments to pre-empt major new competition gain a strong foothold in their backyard. Domestically it will throw the gauntlet to other airlines like Jetlink and a few others, where again the fares on offer will be hard to beat for them. If the fares are the same and the flights are conveniently scheduled and one can earn frequent flyer miles, why then fly with another airline, many travelers will ask themselves. This will make Jambo Jet immediately a strong force and will for sure give others a headache how to counter with fares and services. Mind you, they MUST make a profit while Jambo Jet can count on the deeper pockets of KQ for the time being. "Also let us be candid here, the recent staff reorganization now comes into a different light with this development. If Kenya Airways vests a good number of their flights on those routes to Jambo Jet, they needed to adjust their direct staffing requirements as Jambo Jet will have their own crews at different terms and conditions to what KQ has. In fact it is an open secret that cabin crews will be sourced from a separate company, keeping the new airline's exposure to stringent labor contracts like at KQ to a minimum. "Kenya Airways has gotten a lot of uninformed criticism over the past weeks, and I think you are right to point the fingers in some of your articles to politicians, that lot should just stay out of business, because the mess they make in our politics has no place in business," said a regular source from Nairobi when discussing the development over the weekend on mail and by phone. At the same time, a number of other regular contributors decry the level of regulatory charges and taxes levied on tickets, which in some cases now runs into a multiple of fares proposed by the lower-cost carriers, those already flying and those soon to take to the skies, which in their opinion now requires the East African Community to rationalize their aviation operations too and do away with the costly and unproductive duplication and multiplication of national regulators in favor of a regional regulatory body with only branches in the respective member states. That would not only allow to share meager resources but also offer the chance for immense cost savings as the entire "back office" would be shared while allowing to shift attention to the operational departments and strengthen monitoring and supervision. One thing is certain though, that the entry of Kenya Airways into the regional lower-cost league will radically alter the ball game and ultimately benefit travelers with lower fares and yet the assurance to be flying within the framework of an airline, which has stood the test of time. Back to Top AAR to Open New Aircraft Maintenance Facility in Duluth, Minnesota Top aircraft maintenance provider receives FAA approval to commence operations DULUTH, Minn., Oct. 15, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- AAR (NYSE: AIR), the leading North American provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to commercial airlines announced today that it has passed the Federal Aviation Administration's certification approval process for a new aircraft maintenance facility in Duluth, Minnesota. The certification process is a key regulatory milestone that paves the way for AAR to commence operations. The addition of the Duluth facility increases AAR's aircraft maintenance capacity by approximately 10% and will leverage the Company's world-class MRO systems and processes to provide customers with an additional geographic location and increased flexibility. AAR currently maintains MRO facilities in Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Miami and Hot Springs, Arkansas, which operate as part of the Company's nationwide "1MRO" network. "The Duluth facility extends AAR's industry-leading position as the top provider of aircraft maintenance services in North America," said Timothy J. Romenesko, President and Chief Operating Officer of AAR CORP. "The new operation is designed to be efficient and scalable, enabling us to start with a single line of maintenance and quickly expand to accommodate additional work." AAR expects the 188,000-square-foot facility to operational with a launch customer by December 2012 and anticipates that it will be running at full capacity within a year. AAR has already begun hiring in Duluth and has immediate openings for additional aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs). "We appreciate the tremendous collaboration of the FAA, Duluth Airport Authority, local officials and economic development teams for their assistance in securing our regulatory approval and preparing the facility for operations," Romenesko continued. AAR provides a wide range of products and services to the commercial aviation, government and defense industries, with sales of more than $2 billion. Aircraft MRO represents approximately 20 percent of AAR's overall business. Earlier this year, AAR was voted by customers as Best Airframe MRO Provider - The Americas, ranked the No. 5 MRO in the world and named Aircraft Parts Supplier of the Year in an independent survey of 11,000 airline executives and industry professionals. AAR combines its diverse maintenance, engineering and technical capabilities as part of its "1MRO" approach, providing customers with customized, integrated solutions that lower costs, increase asset availability and ensure high levels of quality, safety and service for commercial airline customers. About AAR AAR is a leading provider of value added products and services to the worldwide aerospace and government/defense industries. With facilities and sales locations around the world, AAR uses its close-to-the- customer business model to serve aviation and government/defense customers through two operating segments: Aviation Services and Manufacturing & Systems. More information can be found at www.aarcorp.com. SOURCE AAR Back to Top Aviation Safety Program Management Center for Aerospace Safety Education Professional Development Course Description: This course and respective topics are designed to provide the participant with the working knowledge of the development and management of an effective safety program. The philosophical and historical development of major concepts are examined with particular emphasis on areas of special concern. The participant will review problems facing today's aviation safety program manager and learn how to deal with basic safety and risk management concepts, as well as analyze program elements typically found in aviation safety programs. Participants will partake in classroom exercises based on real world experiences to learn how to use additional tools and techniques to promote safety management in their organization. Course topics include, but are not limited to: Safety Culture, Economics of Safety, Risk Management, Internal Reporting Systems, Human Factors, Accident Investigation, and Introduction to Safety Management Systems (SMS). Who should attend: This course is valuable for full-time and additional duty safety managers. It contains a complete review of the requirements for aviation safety management in Part 91, 121, and 135 Operations. This course is also valuable to pilots, mechanics, ground employees, and other employees who have safety duties listed in their job descriptions. What you will learn: ? Concepts of risk management as applied to aviation safety ? Factors that influence "risk taking" by people, and management's controls over "risk taking." ? Typical goals of an aviation safety program and various techniques to achieve these goals ? Elements of an effective safety culture ? Reasons for and the requirements of a pre-accident plan ? Four pillars of safety management systems ? Safety inspection procedures and techniques ? Goals of an internal reporting systems ? Role that human performance and human error play in aircraft incidents/accidents C.E.U.'s: 4.0 Date: Oct.29 - Nov.2, 2012 (8am-5pm Monday-Friday) Location: Daytona Beach Campus, FL Tuition/Materials Fee: $2,000 (USD) Email: case@erau.edu Web: www.erau.edu/case Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY: My name is Steve Buckner, and I'm a Doctoral candidate at Northcentral University. I'm soliciting your participation in my research study by conducting a 5-10 minute survey. The topic of the dissertation is titled "Examination of Safety Management Systems and Aviation Technologies in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Industry". This anonymous survey examines the opinions and associations if any, of air medical rotor- and fixed-wing pilots with regard to their organization's safety culture, the support of safety by management, and use of technology to enhance operational safety. To take the survey, click on the following URL or copy and paste it into your browser's address bar. http://www.hostedsurvey.com/takesurvey.asp?c=NCUHEMS2012 Thank you in advance for you participation..! Curt Lewis