Flight Safety Information December 5, 2012 - No. 243 In This Issue EU updates list of banned airlines Chinese military jet crashes into house in southern city Plane makes emergency landing at N.O. airport Airlines Try to ClipCriminal Litigation FAA orders check for fuel leaks on 787 Dreamliners San Jose allows airport staff to shoot at birds Man's arm severed by airplane propeller in airport accident PROS IOSA Audit Experts Snake on a plane forces emergency landing Iraqi Airways takes delivery of its first Airbus A330 HI-RES PHOTOS: First Flyable Airbus A350 Illinois researcher awarded $1.5 million to develop adaptive control method for enhanced aviation safety Stall Training Issue Addressed by FAA, Aviation Industry EU updates list of banned airlines All air carriers certified in Eritrea are now included in the black list of airlines banned from operating in the EU. The measure is justified by "unresolved safety concerns notified by the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organisation] and the absence of satisfactory remedial measures by the competent authorities in Eritrea," explained the European Commission as it unveiled its updated black list, on 4 December. There was good news for Mauritania, on the other hand, all of whose carriers were taken off the list. This is the first such case of removing from the list all air carriers certified in a particular state. The Commission spoke of "exceptional progress" by this country. The executive noted that the situation of Jordan Aviation has also improved and it has consequently been taken off the list. "These improvements were confirmed by an on-site assessment carried out by the Commission." There has also been "progress" in the case of Libya. This country's authorities have nevertheless agreed to maintain the restrictions that exclude them from flying into the EU until the carriers are fully recertified in accordance with international safety standards. "Implementation of the measures decided by the Libyan authorities remains subject to close monitoring by the Commission," explained the executive. Background All air carriers from 20 non-EU countries - 287 in total - are fully banned from operating in the EU. The following countries are concerned: Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon (apart from three carriers subject to operating restrictions), Indonesia (apart from six carriers), Kazakhstan (apart from one carrier subject to operating restrictions), Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mozambique, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia. The list includes three individual carriers: Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), Meridian Airways (Ghana) and Conviasa (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela). It also includes ten air carriers authorised to operate flights to the EU under special conditions: Air Astana (Kazakhstan); Afrijet, Gabon Airlines and SN2AG (Gabon); Air Koryo (Democratic People's Republic of Korea); Airlift International (Ghana); Air Service Comores; Iran Air; TAAG Angolan Airlines and Air Madagascar. Further information is available at: ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/safety/air-ban/index_en.htm http://www.europolitics.info/sectorial-policies/eu-updates-list-of-banned-airlines- art345920-46.html Back to Top Chinese military jet crashes into house in southern city; 4 inside injured in fire BEIJING (AP) - A military jet on a routine training flight crashed into a house in southern China on Tuesday, setting the building on fire and injuring several people inside, state media reported. China Central Television said the pilot ejected and parachuted to safety before the crash in Shantou city in Guangdong province. It said one of the four people inside the house managed to escape. The three others were hospitalized and one, a 26-year-old woman, was in critical condition, it said. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that four civilians were injured and received treatment at a hospital. Citing the Ministry of Defense, it said the J-7 fighter jet had a mechanical failure just after takeoff from a Shantou airport. The mostly retired fighter jets are a 1960s-era Chinese copy of the Soviet MiG-21. The Shantou city government's emergency office referred calls to its propaganda office, where calls rang unanswered. Calls to the Defense Ministry's news office also rang unanswered. Back to Top Plane makes emergency landing at N.O. airport NEW ORLEANS -- A plane headed to New Jersey was forced to make an emergency landing today at Armstrong Airport in New Orleans. United flight 1146 to Newark was diverted to New Orleans after "a mechanical issue arose following departure from Houston," said a statement from United Airlines. According to United, the plane, a Boeing 787 aircraft, landed safely and without incident. The flight carried 174 customers and 10 crew members. United is working to get the passengers to their New Jersey destination. http://www.houmatoday.com Back to Top Airlines Try to ClipCriminal Litigation By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) International aviation officials will take a big step Wednesday in their campaign to shield pilots and airline officials against criminal cases stemming from flight accidents around the world. At an unusual public meeting in Washington, legal and air-safety experts will discuss ways to protect officials from such legal liability in the event of serious accidents. The session is intended to set the stage for a January report by a high-level study group- working under the auspices of the United Nations-that would urge countries to embrace standards and legislation aimed at preventing future criminalization of aviation accidents. From Asia to Europe to Latin America, judges and prosecutors over the years have aggressively pursued charges against aviation officials in the wake of aircraft accidents. Sometimes, the targets include mechanics or air-traffic controllers. In many jurisdictions outside the U.S., "every big accident automatically prompts" some type of criminal probe, said John Goetz, a partner at the law firm Jones Day, based in Pittsburgh. Last week, a French appeals court ended what had been a lengthy and controversial criminal case sparked by the crash of an Air France AF.FR +0.27%supersonic Concorde in 2000. The court reversed an earlier ruling, dropping charges against Continental Airlines and two of its employees, who had been held responsible for causing the crash in Paris because the Concorde ran over a metal strip that fell off a Continental plane. Continental is now part of United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL +0.15% American judges and prosecutors generally have refrained from interfering with commercial air-crash probes. Globally, by some estimates, there have been more than two dozen documented criminal investigations in the past decade sparked by crashes of airliners or business jets. Experts say there could be many more that received little public attention. Since 2008, on average there have been about 17 major passenger jet accidents per year involving scheduled airline flights world-wide, according to the Flight Safety Foundation. Safety advocates argue that criminal prosecution threatens to chill voluntary reporting of hazards, and prevents airlines from benefiting from other confidential safety information. U.S. courts also have wrestled with questions over keeping internal airline safety data confidential. "Even in the U.S., it's an extremely tough issue," said Doug Latto, a plaintiffs' attorney in New York with Baumeister & Samuels. Airline officials say when accidents spark criminal cases-sometimes resulting in prison sentences-it becomes more difficult for safety officials to identify and fix budding problems. "The accident investigator's job is to find out what happened, but it's the prosecutor's job to blame someone," said Kenneth Quinn, vice chairman of the task force created by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. arm. "Yet legal systems are woefully behind safety officials in protecting" the confidentiality of essential safety data, he said. Prosecutors counter that in many countries, laws and traditions require them to determine if pursuing defendants is warranted. Some also say airline accidents are treated the same way as train or marine incidents. "Aviation shouldn't be immune from the ordinary application of criminal law," Mr. Quinn said.Mr. Quinn, a partner in the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, says legal protections shouldn't extend to accidents caused by reckless or egregious behavior, including use of drugs or alcohol. Wednesday's meeting is intended to solicit comments from more than a dozen law firms, industry organizations, labor groups and representatives of the families of crash victims. The final recommendations are likely to include barring prosecutors and judges from gaining access to cockpit-voice or flight-data recorders, as well as to drafts of crash reports prepared by accident investigators, say people familiar with the matter. Members of the task force, they said, also are looking at how crash investigators and prosecutors can set up cooperative agreements-long before they confront an actual crash-covering access to documents, witnesses and other ground rules. Those arrangements could prohibit prosecutors from relying on statements and interviews gathered by crash investigator. "The pendulum is starting to swing back," according to Mr. Quinn. In Spain, for example, the government has dropped criminal cases stemming from the 2008 crash of a Spanair McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in Madrid that killed 154 people. The pilots failed to extend movable panels on the wings, necessary to provide extra lift for takeoff, before trying to get airborne, but experts didn't consider the mistake reckless. In addition, training programs have been organized for Spanish judges to highlight the importance of allowing safety investigations to continue unfettered. Brazil has also moved to shield internal airline safety data or pilots who make good faith mistakes from criminal cases. Brazilian judges earlier this year reduced prison sentences previously imposed on two U.S. pilots for their role in a 2006 midair crash in which part their business jet clipped the wing of a Brazilian airliner at 37,000 feet. The Gol Airlines Boeing BA +0.04%737 plummeted into the jungle, killing more than 150 people, though the business jet landed safely. The judges ruled that community service in the U.S. would be acceptable. Brazilian legislators also recently passed a bill protecting aviation safety data from being pulled into criminal proceedings. And some of the country's judges are attending special courses to more fully understand the possible safety implications of prosecutions. Airline Jeopardy Some major jetliner crashes that sparked criminal cases: June 2009 An Air France Airbus A330 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people aboard. Probe ongoing. March 2007 A Garuda Airlines Boeing 737 burst into flames in Central Java, killing 21 people. The captain was convicted of negligence. August 2005 A Helios Airways Boeing 737 ran out of fuel and crashed, killing all 121 people aboard. Four officials were convicted and jailed. Back to Top FAA orders check for fuel leaks on 787 Dreamliners The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering airlines to inspect all of Boeing's 787s for improperly installed fuel-line connectors that could result in leaks or even fires. The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering airlines to inspect 787 Dreamliners for improperly installed fuel-line connectors that could result in leaks or even fires. The safety directive, to be published Wednesday, gives airlines a week to check fuel-line system fastening wires and 21 days to check connectors inside the pylons that hold the engines. Fuel leaks were reported by airlines on two in-service Dreamliners, and subsequent inspections by Boeing of jets in service or still in production revealed that some fuel line connectors were installed incorrectly. Such leaks "could result in fuel leaks and consequent fuel exhaustion, engine power loss or shutdown, or leaks on hot engine parts that could lead to a fire," according to an FAA notice Tuesday in the Federal Register. Boeing recommended such inspections to 787 customers on Nov. 25. The FAA airworthiness directive makes it mandatory. "Certainly we would prefer not to have workmanship issues," said Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter. "But the system finds them, we report them and we develop a solution." Gunter said the inspections have already been completed on approximately half of the 38 airplanes delivered so far. "Boeing is also taking appropriate steps to ensure proper installation on airplanes in production," she said. Gunter would not disclose which two foreign airlines reported the original fuel leaks. The pylons are struts, attached at right angles to the front edge of the wing, that hold the engines. Inside the pylons, a complex spaghetti of electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and fuel systems feed into the engine. When the engines are hung at the final stage of final assembly of the airplane, all these systems must be meticulously connected from the pylon to the engine. The jet fuel is fed into the engine from gas tanks in the wings. Two key connectors, one rigid and one flexible, are installed to couple the fuel lines in the pylon with those in the engine. In addition, a safety wire - known as a lockwire - is twisted between adjacent fasteners to ensure that they do not loosen during service. The FAA said inspections revealed "missing or improperly installed lockwire." They also foundsome connectors with parts installed in the wrong locations, some with incorrect parts installed, and some with extra parts installed. Inspection of the connectors involves some disassembly, replacement of the o-rings, and checking of all the seals and retainer rings. Without that, the FAA concluded that "the unsafe condition ... is likely to exist or develop in other" Dreamliners. The FAA estimates that complying with the inspection mandate will take about 10 work hours at a cost of about $2,712 per airplane for parts and labor. Gunter said there is no relation between the fuel leaks and the incident that caused an emergency landing in New Orleans Tuesday of a United Airlines Dreamliner. The FAA airworthiness directive, first reported Tuesday by Bloomberg News, is the second that applies to the Dreamliner. The first was issued last September when a fan shaft of the Dreamliner's GE engine cracked during pre-delivery ground tests in North Charleston, S.C. That directive requires repeated ultrasonic inspections of the engine shafts for potential cracks. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019828980_dreamlinerfaaxml.html Back to Top San Jose allows airport staff to shoot at birds SAN JOSE -- The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to allow airport staff to shoot blank and live ammunition at birds on the airfield that can pose a hazard to approaching and departing aircraft. The council's vote had been scheduled for approval last week but was postponed a week due to concerns raised by council members and some residents. It changes a city ordinance that previously allowed only police to discharge firearms at the airport. Birds can cause serious damage when they collide with jets, particularly if they get sucked into the engine intakes where they can knock out power during critical takeoffs and landings. City officials noted the most dramatic recent example: On Jan. 15, 2009, when pilot Chesley Sullenberger landed a bird-stricken US Airways jet in the Hudson River. Since 2009 there have been 180 reported bird strikes at the San Jose airport including one in June that caused $50,000 in damage to the engine of a landing Southwest Airlines 737. Councilman Ash Kalra said he understood the use of firearms would be strictly monitored but wanted it documented "to see if it's working." Airport Director Bill Sherry said that already is in the plan. http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_22124060/san-jose-allows-airport- staff-shoot-at-birds Back to Top Man's arm severed by airplane propeller in airport accident FAA officials are probing an accident at the Stanly County Airport, where a man's arm was severed by an airplane propeller. Airport officials said the victim was a flight school student with Pressley Aviation. He had started his day by flying from Goose Creek Airport in Union County to Stanly County Airport. Officials said the victim, Vineet Singh, was piloting the Cessna 172 Sunday afternoon, and had landed the plane when the accident happened. "Somehow or another, he ended up in the propeller. A propeller moving on an aircraft, you're not going to be able to see, but you can hear it," said airport director David Griffin. Singh's arm was severed above the elbow. Griffin said Pressley Aviation owner Leighton Pressley, and his 16-year-old daughter were at the airport when the accident happened and a flight instructor was in the plane at the controls. Pressley was able to use his belt as a tourniquet until emergency responders arrived, and may have saved Singh's life, according to officials. Singh was airlifted to CMC Main, where he was listed in fair condition Tuesday afternoon. Officials said Singh had completed nearly 60 hours of flight experience and was close to reaching his private pilot certification. "His goal, as I understand it, was to finish up this week," Griffin said. In October, another plane owned by Pressley Aviation crashed shortly after takeoff near Rocky River Road in Union County. At the time, FAA officials said a certified pilot was at the controls and no one was hurt. Leighton Pressley says a pilot not affiliated with Pressley Aviation rented that plane. Tuesday, FAA officials told Channel 9 that Pressley Aviation is not an FAA-certified flight instruction school, but officials said that four of the five pilots listed on the company's website are FAA-certified instructors. http://www.wsoctv.com/ Back to Top Back to Top Snake on a plane forces emergency landing Egyptian cobra like this one escaped from a carry-on bag on an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Kuwait. (CNN) -- Ninety passengers aboard an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Kuwait could have used actor Samuel L. Jackson this week after a snake reportedly bit a Jordanian man who smuggled the reptile onboard. Jackson's character in the movie "Snakes on a Plane" tries to figure out how to save the aircraft after crates of hyped-up serpents started killing the cast. There wasn't quite that kind of drama on Monday, but the incident forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in the Egyptian resort town of Al Ghardaqa on the Red Sea, according to The Jordan Times. An Egypt Air official told the paper an investigation revealed that the 48-year-old passenger, who owns a reptile shop in Kuwait, had hidden the Egyptian cobra in a carry- on bag. The passenger was trying to control the snake after it bit his hand and started slithering under the seats. The Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm reported that the man refused medical treatment, claiming his wound was only superficial. The plane resumed its flight to Kuwait after local authorities confiscated the snake. Egyptian cobras are commonly found across North Africa. According to wildlife experts, the cobra's venom is so deadly it can kill a full-grown elephant in three hours or a person in about 15 minutes. The venom destroys nerve tissue and causes paralysis and death because of respiratory failure. Legend has it that in ancient times Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen, used the Egyptian cobra to commit suicide. Back to Top Iraqi Airways takes delivery of its first Airbus A330 On behalf of Iraqi Ministry of Transportation, Iraqi Airways, the national carrier of Iraq, has taken delivery of its first A330-200 becoming a new operator for the type. This will be the first Airbus widebody aircraft to be operated by Iraqi Airways. The carrier already operates two A321 aircraft. Accommodating a two-class configuration of 24 business and 264 economy seats, the aircraft is powered by GE CF6-80 engines and will be deployed on European routes including Germany, Austria and the UK. "The A330-200 will allow us to grow our international routes while offering high quality of service and flight experience to our increasing number of passengers," said Captain Saad Mahdi Saeed Al-Khafaji, Iraqi Airways General Manager, "The aircraft will service a number of international routes, namely to Europe, providing passengers a more comfortable journey with spacious seating." "We are pleased to welcome Iraqi Airways as a new operator of the A330 family aircraft. Iraq has a big potential and we are seeing more flights being operated to several cities in the country," said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. "With the A330-200, Iraqi Airways will benefit from the aircraft's low operating costs, proven reliability and great passenger appeal." The A330 is one of the most widely-used widebody aircraft in service today. Airbus has recorded over 1,200 orders for the various versions of the aircraft and more than 900 are in service with 90 operators worldwide today. http://www.eturbonews.com/32582/iraqi-airways-takes-delivery-its-first-airbus-a330 Back to Top HI-RES PHOTOS: First Flyable Airbus A350 XWB Completes Main Structural Assembly The first A350 XWB flight test aircraft has moved to the Station 30 ground test station at Airbus' final assembly line in Toulouse, France following its structural assembly and initial electrical power-on in the facility's main assembly hall (Station 40) . Image from Airbus. Airbus has successfully completed the main structural assembly and system connection of A350 XWB 'MSN1' - the first flight-test aircraft. The aircraft is depicted here on its wheels for the very first time moving out of the main assembly hall (Station 40) at the recently inaugurated "Roger Béteille" A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse. It then entered the adjacent indoor ground test station (Station 30). The structurally-complete no. 1 A350 XWB flight test aircraft is shown during its transfer at the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse, France - moving from Station 40 in the main assembly hall to the adjacent indoor ground test station (Station 30) . Image from Airbus. The assembly work performed in Station 40 included the successful electrical power-on of the aircraft's entire fuselage and wings. Soon work in Station 30 will start by testing the aircraft's hydraulic system, followed by the full electric and hydraulic power-on of the aircraft which will be completed by around the end of the year. This will mark the start of several weeks of comprehensive functional system testing. With its main structural assembly and system connections complete, the first A350 XWB flight test aircraft (designated MSN1) was moved from the main assembly hall to the adjacent indoor ground test station at Airbus' final assembly line in Toulouse, France . Image from Airbus. Click for larger. After the A350 XWB MSN1 exits station 30, the aircraft will go through a series of extensive production and certification / development tests, be painted and have its engines installed. It will then be delivered to the flight-line and be readied for its first flight in mid-2013. http://blog.seattlepi.com/airlinereporter/2012/12/04/hi-res-photos-first-flyable-airbus- a350-xwb-completes-main-structural-assembly Back to Top Illinois researcher awarded $1.5 million to develop adaptive control method for enhanced aviation safety NASA recently awarded Naira Hovakimyan, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, $1.5 million to develop an integrated reconfigurable controller for vehicle resilience (iReCoVeR) that will enhance next-generation aviation safety. The iReCoVeR architecture is based on Hovakimyan's L1 adaptive control methodology, which is a promising technology for loss-of-control situations-the leading cause of commercial airline fatalities during the last 20 years. NASA's AirSTAR is a twin-engine commercial jet dynamically-scaled to 5.5 percent of an actual aircraft. Loss of control refers to situations in which the aircraft is flying outside its normal flight envelope, or the margins within which the aircraft is structurally designed to fly safely. Ice forming on the wings, wake vortices, wind gusts, and bird strikes could all cause loss of control, which makes it difficult for the pilot to stabilize the aircraft. With the NASA grant, Hovakimyan and her research team will integrate the L1 adaptive flight controller with flight envelope estimation and protection schemes, an upset onset detection scheme, and a fault detection and isolation module. "The iReCoVeR system will be designed to perform under a combination of pilot input errors and multiple adverse conditions, including sensor and actuator failures, vehicle impairment, turbulence, and wake vortices," said Hovakimyan, noting that her team will place special emphasis on sensor failures and adverse icing conditions. In the past, adaptive control schemes could only guarantee stability in steady-state operations; they could not adapt to unexpected circumstances. With L1 architectures, the controller maintains robustness, which enables the system to keep functioning-with a priori predictable performance-despite rapidly changing operating conditions. L1 is able to compensate for large changes in system dynamics, which is important for providing consistent pilot handling qualities in off-nominal adverse conditions. Another benefit is that it keeps the plane within the boundaries of the flight envelope for a few more seconds than existing control technology, thus giving the pilot additional valuable time to regain control. Moreover, L1 may help reduce the need for gain-scheduling, a common non-linear control process that is expensive and time-consuming because it requires designing a different control for every flight condition. According to NASA Senior Research Engineer Irene Gregory, L1's biggest advantage over other control methods is its ability to deal with uncertain, rapidly changing dynamics in a predictable way. "The design process is very systemic and follows the long-established practice of trading off performance and robustness in a conventional way," said Gregory. Illinois aerospace engineering graduate students Enric Xargay and Ronald Choe are working with Hovakimyan to add new features to the L1 adaptive control technology, including flight envelope protection schemes for preventing loss of control. These new features may prevent crashes like the 2001 disaster near New York City. In that instance, an American Airlines jet flew into the wake of another plane and rolled on its side. In trying to stabilize the plane, the pilot applied too much rudder causing the plane's tail to break, which resulted in a fatal crash. "We'll create a system that recognizes if the pilot is being too aggressive," said Xargay who is developing the algorithms to recognize whether a pilot's corrective actions during an emergency are suitable and capable of returning the plane to stable flight conditions. "Our system would take the good part of what the pilot is doing, but leave his bad actions out." The NASA grant is a continuation of work that Hovakimyan started several years ago and culminated with NASA Langley adopting L1 as the baseline control law for the next- generation of flight vehicles at NASA's AirSTAR test facility, which uses sub-scale planes to test loss of control technologies. IEEE Control Systems Magazine featured L1's NASA flight test results in its October 2011 issue on safety-critical control. "Being a baseline control law means L1 adaptive control will function as the default control law that the pilot will be flying to take the aircraft into adverse conditions for any particular research objectives and to safely recover from these conditions," said Gregory. Hovakimyan is collaborating on iReCoVeR with University of Illinois computer science professor Alex Kirlik and aerospace engineering professor Michael Bragg, as well as University of Connecticut Professor Chengyu Cao, who co-developed the L1 adaptive control theory starting in 2004. She will validate the iReCoVeR architecture on a full- scale aircraft model flight simulator at the University of Illinois Beckman Institute with a pilot in the loop, before transitioning testing to NASA facilities. Aviation isn't the only application for Hovakimyan's L1 adaptive control method, which industry is adopting for energy production and national security. Norwegian energy company Statoil is applying L1 to off-shore oil and gas production and exploration. In October, Statoil sent Hessam Mahdianfar, a doctoral student from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, to Hovakimyan's lab to learn L1. "We saw L1 was very successful in aerospace engineering, so we thought we should try it in the drilling industry, too," said Mahdianfar, who is learning how to apply L1 to managed pressure drilling (MPD), a relatively new technology to extract oil reserves from deep-sea fields. MPD is a promising technique because it allows drilling in deep, high pressure and high temperature environments. "The industry has been looking at L1 for about 3-4 years because the situation on deep, offshore oil wells is really uncertain," said Mahdianfar. "We think the L1 controller might be useful in practice to guarantee a safe and secure drilling system." As for national security applications, Hovakimyan is collaborating with the Naval Post Graduate School on a project to use L1 technologies to improve the robustness of fleets of drones performing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. To date, the Naval Postgraduate School has satisfactorily performed more than 100 flights with L1 flight control systems onboard unmanned aircraft. These flight tests were featured in the October 2012 issue of IEEE Control Systems Magazine. Hovakimyan was pleasantly surprised recently to learn about the success a Danish research team has had with L1 by implementing the technology in an unmanned watercraft it developed for the Danish Royal Navy to use in security and search and rescue operations. The team received a prestigious best paper award at an IFAC workshop for their work. "It's a success story, of which we had no idea," said Hovakimyan. "The Danish team's work was based on our book and it shows just how far the L1 adaptive control theory has transitioned. L1 was developed enough for them to [successfully] use it without even contacting us." According to lead researcher Casper Svendsen, the Danish team deployed L1 in its design of the jet ski autopilot because L1 enables the controller to adapt to changing dynamics of the vehicle while also ensuring stability. In other words, as the vehicle accelerates on a choppy sea, it will function properly. "The L1 adaptive control theory has shown to guarantee both robustness and performance of the closed loop system in different operational conditions," said Svendsen. # # # Contact: Naira Hovakimyan, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, 217/244-1672; nhovakim@illinois.edu William Bowman, associate director of communications, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, 217/244-0901; wbowman@illinois.edu http://engineeringatil.scienceblog.com/2012/12/03/illinois-researcher-awarded-1-5- million-to-develop-adaptive-control-method-for-enhanced-aviation-safety/ Back to Top Stall Training Issue Addressed by FAA, Aviation Industry Firefighters extinguish flames at the crash site of Continental Connection Flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air, near Buffalo, N.Y., on Feb. 13, 2009. Forty-nine people were killed when the Bombardier Q400 crashed into a house and burned. At a time when aviation has achieved an extraordinarily high level of safety, regulators and safety organizations are pushing for more improvements in pilot training to preempt future accidents and ensure that new pilots entering the ranks start off with the right approach. One of the key areas receiving extensive examination is stall training, both in the early stages of ab initio training and how it is taught later to pilots who are flying sophisticated high-performance jets. While accidents such as Air France 447 and Colgan Air 3407 drew attention to this subject, there are many examples of stall-related accidents in which two well trained professional pilots failed to recover from low- and high-altitude stalls. In the U.S., politicians reacted to the Colgan accident by mandating that all new-hire airline pilots have logged a minimum of 1,500 hours, as if that would magically help prevent stall-related accidents. The FAA, while forced to accommodate the politicians' legislation by enacting new regulations, also made a major change to its advisory material to reflect changing attitudes about stall training. That change is embodied in Advisory Circular 120-109, which was released in August this year. The changes are also reflected in the Ifalpa Pilot Training Standards, Guide for Best Practices, published by the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations in September. In the Ifalpa guide, the key factor related to stalls is figuring out how to incorporate the startle factor into training. It says, "Startle helps explain why a pilot can demonstrate proficiency in a maneuver during simulator training yet fail to do the maneuver correctly when a similar situation is encountered during flight." As the guide notes, pilots brief the maneuver before training flights, but still may be surprised when the same maneuver is encountered during normal flight. "The response of a startled pilot might include confusion, wrong identification of the situation or possible over-aggressive flight control inputs that could further complicate the situation (such as a stall) or result in an unrecoverable aircraft state." Ifalpa's recommendation is that more effective training and not just rote checklist procedure accomplishment is better preparation for the startle effect: "The crew must be trained to suppress the startle response, confirm the situation then apply measured and proportional corrective inputs during realistic training scenarios to help create an appropriate response to unexpected aircraft states encountered during flight." This version of AC 120-109 is just the first part of an FAA effort to address full aerodynamic stall training, according to the FAA, and once developed, that information will be added to 120-109. The agency says that the purpose of the AC, for now, is to "provide best practices and guidance for training, testing, and checking for pilots, within existing regulations, to ensure correct and consistent responses to unexpected stall warnings and stick pusher activations." The AC clearly and unequivocally summarizes what every pilot should know from the earliest training, knowledge that has been subsumed in procedures that have emphasized minimal loss of altitude rather than reducing angle of attack: "This AC emphasizes reducing the angle of attack (AOA) at the first indication of a stall as the primary means of approach-to-stall or stall recovery [AIN emphasis]. Additionally, this AC provides guidance for operators and training centers in the development of stall and stick-pusher event training." According to the FAA, the way some pilots were being trained-minimal altitude loss during a stall-is no longer correct. The AC explains, "recovery profiles that emphasize zero or minimal altitude loss and the immediate advancement of maximum thrust have been eliminated. Emphasis is now placed on recognition and avoidance of those conditions that may lead to a stall event. Recovery procedures now emphasize: * the immediate reduction of the airplane's angle of attack, * management of thrust and * returning the airplane to a safe flying condition. The FAA is not only emphasizing this tried-and-true yet neglected method by disseminating it widely but is also requiring that training organizations adopt this technique immediately. "The primary goal of testing/checking should be to evaluate a pilot's immediate recognition and response to a stall warning and [his] timely, correct accomplishment of the stall recovery procedure," says the FAA. The evaluation criteria should be changed, too. According to the FAA, "Evaluation of the recovery from an approach-to-stall should no longer be based on altitude loss. Pilots should be evaluated on their timely response and effective use of available energy (that is, altitude and speed) during stall recovery." The AC goes into much more detail on how training providers should update their stall training procedures, but two emphasized items are worth examining further. In one, the FAA discusses "abrupt pitch up and trim change commonly associated when the autopilot unexpectedly disconnects during a stall event. This dramatic pitch and trim change typically represents an unexpected physical challenge to the pilot when trying to reduce AOA. In some airplanes, this may be exacerbated by an additional pitch up when the pilot increases thrust during stall recovery." This is the conspiracy of factors for not only the Colgan accident but also the February 2005 Circuit City Cessna Citation 560 crash, in which pilots failed to add power after leveling off during an approach. (The NTSB seemed more concerned with icing in the Citation accident, but the level-off without power and the autopilot disconnect during the stall were factors in both accidents.) The other interesting emphasized item is this one, and it is fundamental, critically important and should be underlined and printed in bold type: "Reducing AOA is the proper way to recover from a stall event. Pilots must accept that reducing the airplane's AOA may often result in altitude loss. The amount of altitude loss will be affected by the airplane's operational environment (entry altitude, airplane weight, density altitude, bank angle, airplane configuration and so on). At high altitudes, stall recovery may require thousands of feet." The AC contains a lot of excellent advice, including training with stick pushers, startle factors, stall prevention and so on. But the essence, as emphasized above, is clearly and unambiguously stated, an example of FAA material that is on target, important and clearly aligned with the FAA's goal of improving safety. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2012-12-04/stall- training-issue-addressed-faa-aviation-industry Curt Lewis