Flight Safety Information December 31, 2012 - No. 260 In This Issue Authority clears runway of blame for Moscow air crash Plane crash puts Russia's airline industry in spotlight - again Flying Is Safest Since Dawn of Jet Age Fatality Statistics Meaningless as Safety Measure Jet Slips off NY Runway and Into Snow; No Injuries Gadget Batteries Get New Scrutiny PROS IOSA Audit Experts Internet gear on aircraft licensing being eased Travel insurance claims for airplane crashes decrease New airline operating licences in Saudi may take 3-6 months How Dana flight data recorder was lost to fire, by AIB (Nigeria) Authority clears runway of blame for Moscow air crash Moscow, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The condition of the runway was not the cause of an air crash at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, the Interstate Aviation Committee said Monday. The runway had been cleared about one and a half hours before the crash, and the friction coefficient was rechecked 15 minutes after the incident, the committee said in a statement. "It (friction coefficient) stood at 0.63, which satisfies the landing requirements for this kind of airplane," the statement said. The Tu-204 passenger plane, operated by Russian airline Red Wings, slid off the runway and broke into three parts while landing at the country's third busiest airport. Five people were killed and three injured. All eight were crew members on the plane, which was carrying no passengers. The Moscow city transport prosecutor's office has launched a criminal investigation into the case. The Moscow municipal government promised Sunday each victim's family would receive a million rubles (32,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation. Back to Top Plane crash puts Russia's airline industry in spotlight - again A Russian plane carrying only crew slid off the runway and crashed yesterday, the latest in a steady stream of such incidents that has given Russia one of the world's worst air traffic safety records. Rescuers work at the site of careered off the runway plane at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. A Russian airliner flying without passengers broke into pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed onto a highway outside Moscow upon landing on Saturday, killing four of the eight crew on board and leaving smoking chunks of fuselage on the icy road. The crash during peak holiday travel ahead of Russia's New Year's vacation, which runs from Sunday through Jan. 9, cast a spotlight on the country's poor air safety record despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls. Television footage showed the Tupolev Tu-204 jet with smoke billowing from the tail end and the cockpit broken clean off the front. Some witnesses told state channel Rossiya-24 they saw a man thrown from the plane as it rammed into the barrier of the highway outside Vnukovo airport, just southwest of the capital, and another described pulling other people from the wreckage. "The plane split into three pieces," Yelena Krylova, chief spokeswoman for the airport, said in televised comments. Police spokesman Gennady Bogachyov said: "The plane went off the runway, broke through the barrier, and caught fire." The pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, and a flight attendant were killed and the other four crew members aboard - all flight attendants - were in a serious condition in the hospital with head injuries, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. Officials said earlier that there were 12 crew on board. The mid-range Tu-204 was operated by Russian airline Red Wings and was traveling from the Czech Republic, Krylova said. Warning Wreckage from the crash was scattered across the highway and the plane's wings were torn from the fuselage, witnesses said. "We saw how the plane skidded off the runway ... The nose, where business class is, broke off and a man fell out," a witness, who gave his name as Alexei, said. "We helped him get into a mini-bus to take him to the hospital." Another witness described pulling four people from the wreckage when he arrived at the scene before emergency service workers. "We could not get the pilot out of the cockpit but we saw a lot of blood," he told Rossiya-24. Russian investigators said preliminary findings pointed to pilot error as the cause of the crash. Russia's aviation authority said it had sent state-owned Tupolev a warning ordering it to fix problems that may have caused a Tu-204 with 70 aboard to go off a Siberian runway on Dec. 21 after suffering engine and brake trouble on landing. It said similar problems had occurred before. The billionaire owner of Red Wings, Alexander Lebedev, said the airline had already carried out the order on its Tu-204s. Red Wings' website said it operated nine of the aircraft. Lebedev said the Tu-204 in Saturday's crash was built in 2008 and that the pilot was experienced, with 14,500 hours of flying time. He offered condolences to the victims' families and promised financial compensation and other help. Russia and other former Soviet republics had some of the world's worst air traffic safety records last year, with a total accident rate almost three times the world average, the International Air Transport Association said. A passenger jet crashed and burst into flames after takeoff in Siberia in April, killing 31 people, and an airliner slammed into a riverbank in September 2011, wiping out the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team in a crash that killed 44 people. The Russian-built Tu-204, which is comparable in size to a Boeing 757 or Airbus A321, is a Soviet- era design that was produced in the mid-1990s but is no longer being made. There have been no major accidents reported involving Tu-204s. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1230/Plane-crash-puts-Russia-s- airline-industry-in-spotlight-again/(page)/1 Back to Top Flying Is Safest Since Dawn of Jet Age By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) travel is now the safest it has been since the dawn of jet planes, with the global airline industry set to mark its lowest rate of fatal accidents since the early 1960s. There have been 22 fatal crashes world-wide this year, a number that includes all passenger and cargo flights, down from 28 crashes in 2011, according to data assembled by the Aviation Safety Network, which compiles accident and incident information online. That crash count is down from a 10-year average of 34 fatal accidents per year. The figures were compiled before Saturday's crash of a Russian-built jet near Moscow, in which four people were killed when the plane careened off a runway and caught fire. Close.The U.S. hasn't had a fatal accident since a commuter plane crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009. Airline safety has improved steadily over the years, and accident rates in the U.S. and elsewhere began dropping with the advent of voluntary incident-reporting programs that encourage pilots and mechanics to pass on information about mistakes without fear of retribution. Other reasons for the safety improvements include better and more reliable equipment, improved pilot training, advances in air-traffic-control procedures and tighter regulatory oversight in some developing countries. Of the year's 22 fatal crashes, just 10 involved passenger aircraft, and just three of those were larger Western-built jetliners. The other seven passenger-plane incidents involved Western- or Russian-built turboprops, according to Ascend, an international consulting firm that assembles a separate year-end safety breakdown. Russian-built planes typically fly relatively few passengers but historically have suffered much higher crash rates than aircraft made in the U.S. or by European manufacturers. "Overall, it was the certainly the safest year ever," according to Paul Hayes, director of safety at Ascend. With one fatal accident per 2.5 million flights world-wide, this year "was almost twice as safe as 2011, which itself had previously" attained that distinction, according to Ascend. But such improvements also underscore persistent safety problems that mean significantly higher crash rates-often by a factor of four or more-across much of Africa, Latin America and other developing regions. And even in the U.S., safety experts warn of potential dangers from pilots becoming confused by cockpit automation and increasing ground-collision hazards posed by congested airports. .There were 470 fatalities from air accidents in 2012, compared with an average of more than 770 people who died annually over the decade. Mr. Hayes and his staff stressed in their year-end report that "unfortunately, we do not believe that the world's airlines have suddenly become this much safer." Instead, the report says the unexpected sharp drop in the global accident rate perhaps "should be considered more of a fluke than the new norm." Experts believe that for regions with already record-low accident rates, future improvements primarily will require analyzing huge volumes of incidents and other flight data, culled from multiple carriers around the globe, to identify and eliminate safety threats. The results are particularly impressive given the growth in world-wide passenger traffic. Some 2.9 billion passengers took to the air in 2012, a 5.5% bump from the previous year, according to the latest figures released by the International Civil Aviation Organization, an arm of the United Nations. With traffic climbing by double digits in some regions, ICAO projects total passenger numbers will double by 2030. The Ascend report says Western-built jets had one fatal accident per 10 million flights in 2012. "It's very hard to point to one reason to explain why this year was particularly so safe," according to Harro Ranter, president of the Aviation Safety Network, an affiliate of the Flight Safety Foundation, a global advocacy organization based in Alexandria, Va. Mr. Ranter said industry and regulatory initiatives, combined with outside audits by international organizations, "continue to stimulate countries to improve air safety." Corky Townsend, director of aviation safety for Boeing Co.'s commercial-airliner unit, said "we are pleased and encouraged that the numbers" demonstrate steady improvement. But she said it "doesn't mean there is any less" focus on pushing toward further improvements. The statistics again underscore that turboprop operations, which typically carry fewer passengers and often tend to serve smaller airports than scheduled jets, have significantly higher crash rates. To serve the developing world, turboprops generally fly into fields that are less advanced and are equipped with less-reliable air-traffic-control equipment than major Western airports. International groups and independent safety organizations are stepping up efforts to help enhance pilot training, improve maintenance and tighten government oversight of turboprop operators. The last deadly airline accident in the U.S. was the early 2009 crash of a Colgan Air turboprop approaching the airport in Buffalo, N.Y., which killed 50 people. Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean continue to rack up a disproportionately large share of overall accidents and fatalities. The regions together account for roughly 7% of today's global passenger traffic but have recorded nearly half of all 2012 airline accidents, according to Mr. Ranter. Boosting safety in areas that are lagging behind will require enhanced technical cooperation and data sharing with the rest of the world, according to Kevin Hiatt, the Flight Safety Foundation's chief operating officer and its next president. "We really need to start comparing what's going on around the world," said Mr. Hiatt, and then broadly distribute the lessons learned. Some regions already are spearheading ways to achieve greater safety. Airlines, U.S. regulators and trade associations have successfully joined forces in Latin America and elsewhere to reduce accidents. But in addition to turboprops, some other parts of commercial aviation aren't doing as well. For the first time since the Flight Safety Foundation began compiling its detailed annual safety analysis in the late 1990s, this year has produced more business-jet crashes than passenger- plane accidents world-wide, Jim Burin, the foundation's director of technical programs, told a recent industry conference. The result has prompted some safety experts to consider placing more emphasis on assessing that segment of commercial aviation. Back to Top Fatality Statistics Meaningless as Safety Measure As certain as the ball will drop in New York's Times Square on Monday midnight, there will be a round of news stories summing up 2012 in terms of aviation safety. Oh wait a minute, it's already started. "Overall, it was certainly the safest year ever," Paul Hayes told UPI.com. Hayes is the director of safety at Ascend, a consulting firm, that specializes in the commercial and financial aspects of aviation. I've got no problem with good news, or with the numbers that Hayes and Ascend present. The problem is the meaninglessness of the particular criteria used. Ascend is restricting its safety data to accidents with fatalities. In the vast majority of aviation accidents, nobody dies. When the National Transportation Safety Board did an in depth statistical study 10 years ago, the survival rate in reportable accidents was 95%. If that surprises most people, and I suspect it does, Arnold Barnett, a professor of statistics at the Massachsetts Institute of Technology can explain why. "The events that make the greatest impression are the ones that involve fatalities," he said. The disconnect between perception and reality - (which has as its spokesman, Ryanair boss, Michael O'Leary) may be confusion over the term, "accident". To the general public, airplane accident brings to mind the scene from Denzel Washington's new movie Flight, in which a plane smashes to earth trailing tongues of fire. But an accident is also an aborted takeoff and a runway overrun, an in-flight upset and a structural failure. Turbulence and plane to plane collisions are also accidents and while people can be injured seriously, all this mayhem is not in the statistics Ascend is feeding to reporters as it raves enthusiastically about the safest year ever in aviation. When safety is measured by an absence of fatalities, the significance of non lethal events is diminished even though most safety specialists think these percursors are the most indicative of an overall safety culture. A preventive approach to reducing risk is so important commercial operators in most parts of the world are required to have safety management systems. Several years ago, at the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) annual seminar, the entire three day program was dedicated not to presentations on the big accident investigations, but on how to better probe the little ones. "Our biggest opportunity to make things better is before someone dies," one participant told me. Robert Sumwalt, a member of the NTSB is fond of telling people that culture of safety, is one where people do the right thing - the safe thing - even when no one else is watching. That's not the spectacular crash, everybody is has an eye on that. Nope, it's a loose row of airliner seats and the ruptured fuselage at thirty-four thousand feet. It's the engine failure on an Airbus A380 and the flight attendant's severed finger. When we see a reduction in these events we really will have something to celebrate. Posted by Christine Negroni http://christinenegroni.blogspot.com/ Back to Top Jet Slips off NY Runway and Into Snow; No Injuries ALBANY, N.Y. December 30, 2012 (AP) - A plane has skidded into a snow bank at an upstate New York airport and become stuck, temporarily stranding passengers. A spokesman for the Albany County Airport Authority says there were no injuries. GoJet Airlines flight 3645 was leaving the gate in Albany en route to Chicago on Saturday when it slid off a paved roadway. It had been snowing lightly all day. The flight was operating as a United Express flight. The 66 passengers and four crew members were sent back to the airport by bus. Airport authority spokesman Doug Myers says the accident didn't cause any other airport delays. The plane was removed from the snow bank. A GoJet spokesman says the aircraft will remain in Albany and undergo a full inspection by maintenance crews. Back to Top Gadget Batteries Get New Scrutiny By DANIEL MICHAELS and ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) Stricter international safety rules will kick in next year to tackle hazards from shipments of lithium batteries aboard planes, but pilot groups and power-cell makers are battling over whether there should be even tougher measures. Each year, more than one billion rechargeable batteries-used in mobile phones, laptops, electric cars and other products-are produced globally, with a total value exceeding $9 billion, according to several industry estimates. The ubiquitous batteries normally are safe, but damaged or overheated cells can spontaneously ignite and create fierce fires-especially when thousands are jammed in cargo planes. . Debate is escalating over the safest ways to package, label and handle the potentially volatile shipments. In the U.S. alone, air-safety regulators say, lithium cells have been implicated in at least 24 combustion incidents on or around aircraft in the past three years, both in cargo and carry-on bags. Lithium batteries are suspected of contributing to two fiery crashes of jumbo-jet freighters since 2010, including an Asiana Airlines Inc. - Boeing Co. that plunged into the Pacific Ocean in July of last year. The accidents, which killed four pilots, helped persuade the air-safety arm of the United Nations, the International Civil Aviation Organization, to adopt stricter shipping standards that take effect Jan. 1, closing loopholes that have allowed some battery packages to avoid special precautions. The final report is expected in coming weeks on the other accident, a United Parcel Service Inc. UPS that went down in Dubai in 2010 after thick smoke obscured cockpit instruments an arm's reach from the pilots. The report's findings, coupled with a recent call by U.S. crash investigators for improved fire- suppression systems on all cargo planes, are heightening pressure for additional action. "Lithium batteries are becoming a big risk issue," said Alain Bassil, chief operating officer of Air France. The Air France-KLM unit recently decided to limit the number of batteries it carries in freighter aircraft and isolates them in compartments with enhanced firefighting equipment. On passenger planes, Air France is training cabin staff to douse smoldering personal electronics with water or juice because fire extinguishers are generally ineffective. Pilot unions and independent safety experts want further protections, particularly because of the skyrocketing popularity of rechargeable electronics world-wide. They want strict controls on the number of batteries permitted in individual shipments, along with greater safeguards for damaged batteries and certain oversize versions that power vehicles. Lithium-battery technology "is going to be part of our lives and transportation, so we need to step up and find a way to appropriately oversee it," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, a global safety advocacy group. Battery suppliers and a powerful array of consumer-electronics manufacturers oppose tougher regulations, saying they are unnecessary. "What should be done is a lot more enforcement" of existing standards, said George Kerchner, executive director of the Rechargeable Battery Association, which represents companies that produce and use 70% of the world's lithium cells. The association, which led an industry coalition that killed earlier U.S. proposals to unilaterally tighten shipping controls, continues to emphasize that investigators haven't officially cited batteries for causing either of the two recent crashes. Despite resistance, many aviation officials see momentum for change. "It's a top priority and a very hot-button issue for industry leaders," said Guenther Matschnigg, the top safety official at the International Air Transport Association, the largest airline trade group. People on both sides of the issue expressed concerns about substandard batteries, often sold on the Internet as replacements or that end up in low-quality products. Cargoes of such cells, which industry officials say are mostly produced in China and shipped globally from ports around East Asia, frequently carry insufficient or misleading labels to avoid scrutiny, regulators warn. Officials worry that some governments in the region lack resources or the political will to aggressively police battery shipments. The potential danger of lithium batteries stems from the same chemistry that makes them so useful: the ability to store a huge amount of energy. If one overheats or something slams into it, combustion can begin and a single battery can ignite others. The internal reaction can take hours to become dangerous, which means an incident that goes unnoticed on the ground can spark a fire once a plane is airborne. For now, advocates of tighter regulation can claim several victories. January's International Civil Aviation Organization rule change will close a loophole that permitted routine air transport of battery bundles weighing up to 22 pounds without any special protective packaging, warning labels or pilot alerts about the location of such shipments. Starting next year, any battery shipment containing more than two lithium-ion batteries will have to comply fully with those detailed ICAO hazardous-goods requirements. ICAO and postal officials around the world last month agreed to begin cracking down on bulk shipments of batteries, as well as on portable devices containing them, that are sent through the mail. Potential dangers of lithium batteries have been widely debated among aviation officials since 2006, when a UPS DC-8 cargo jet caught fire and was destroyed on landing in Philadelphia. The crew escaped. After that fire, and again after the UPS crash in Dubai, U.S. regulators considered tightening rules for handling lithium batteries. The latest proposals withered under intense industry and congressional opposition, and federal regulators have no plans to resurrect them. Companies that make and use the batteries argued the compliance costs would far outweigh the benefits of combating what they described as a minimal risk. Before new global rules take effect, UPS is taking steps, on its own, to minimize exposure to battery fires. The Atlanta-based shipping company is developing a new class of flame-retardant cargo containers and aerosol fire suppressants. "We're trying to give the crew more time" to get back on the ground, said Capt. John Ransom, the company's chief pilot for McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft. "The UPS crash was a big shock to a lot of us," said Tim Clark, president of Dubai's Emirates Airline, which has put special fireproof bags in the cabins of its passenger jets in case portable electronic devices catch fire. The cause of the 2010 UPS accident may never be determined because the inferno and the impact of the crash destroyed critical evidence. Yet many air-safety specialists are confident that bulk shipments of batteries on board aggravated the blaze. "Whatever started the fire, lithium batteries significantly exacerbated the situation," said Capt. Mark Rogers, chairman of the dangerous-goods committee of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations. Back to Top Back to Top Internet gear on aircraft licensing being eased The FCC is making it easier to launch in-flight Internet services on planes in the U.S. by setting up a standard approval process for onboard systems that use satellites. Since 2001, the Federal Communications Commission has approved some satellite based Internet systems for airplanes, called Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft (ESAA), on an ad-hoc basis. On Friday, the agency said it had formalized ESAA as a licensed application, which should cut in half the time required to get services approved, according to the FCC. In-flight Internet access is typically delivered via Wi-Fi in an airplane's cabin, but that access requires a wireless link outside the plane to the larger Internet. Some services make that link via special 3G cellular towers on the ground, while others exchange their data over satellites. Row44, a provider of satellite-based in-flight Wi-Fi, names Southwest Airlines and Allegiant Air as customers on its website. Under the new rules, all it will take for airlines to implement onboard ESAA systems is to test the technology, establish that it meets FCC standards and doesn't interfere with any aircraft systems, and get Federal Aviation Administration approval, the FCC said. The result should be quicker deployments and more competition among in-flight Internet systems, according to the agency. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023504/internet-gear-on-aircraft-licensing-being-eased.html Back to Top Travel insurance claims for airplane crashes decrease This is the result of a considerable decline in the number of accidents that have occurred. For the first time since 1991, travel insurance airline claims for aircraft accidents will have fallen below the $1 billion mark this year, as the number of fatalities from airplane accidents and the number of destroyed planes have dropped to record lows. The number of large accidents involving aircraft has plummeted throughout 2012. Ascend, an advisory firm, made the estimations regarding the number of destroyed aircraft and passenger fatalities and has recently released this data. Losses from damaged aircraft and legal liabilities will reach a total of around $980 million this year. This represents a figure that is approximately $300 million less than it was in 2011. This year's travel insurance claims relating to aircraft crashes have fallen significantly. The travel insurance industry, along with airline insurers, have seen notable decreases over the last twelve months when compared to the year before. According to the report that was released by ascend, claims relating to aircraft crashes were nearly half the $1.8 billion that had been written in premiums within the same period of time this year. According to information from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) that was released earlier in December, jets that were built in Western nations suffered "hull loss" accidents 0.19 times for every million flights from January through November. This, as the industry heads into the safest year that it has ever experienced. That said, the IATA figures did not take into account the Air Bagan Fokker 100 jet crash that occurred on December 25 in Myanmar. This accident killed one person on board and destroyed an aircraft that was no longer in production. According to the Ascend head of safety, Paul Hayes, "Airline fatal accident rates have been steadily improving and, on average, operations are now twice as safe as they were 15 years ago." He also added that "With such a benign insurance claims year and increasing capacity in the market, we believe that premium income will continue to fall in 2013." This has kept both travel insurance claims for incidents of that nature, and those for the coverage for the airline, to a striking low this year. http://www.liveinsurancenews.com/travel-insurance-claims-for-airplane-crashes- decrease/8518262/ Back to Top New airline operating licences in Saudi may take 3-6 months JEDDAH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Foreign airlines may need about three to six months to obtain operating licences letting them enter Saudi Arabia's domestic aviation market, a spokesman for the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Saturday. GACA announced on Friday that Qatar Airways and Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air had become the first foreign airlines to obtain carrier licences under which they would be able to run local and international flights in the kingdom. Fourteen foreign and local companies had applied for the licences, which mark a major reform of the aviation market in Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy and by far the largest country in the Gulf geographically. Currently, only national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines and budget airline National Air Services serve a domestic market of about 27 million people. Foreign carriers can only fly in and out of Saudi Arabia, not within the country. Over 54 million passengers passed through Saudi Arabia's 27 airports last year, up 13.6 percent from 2010, according to GACA data. But the kingdom has one of the smallest airline networks in the region relative to its size, and passengers have complained about the limited range of flights as well as the quality of service. In a statement to Reuters on Saturday, the GACA spokesman said Qatar Airways and Gulf Air were working on final procedures for their operating licences. He did not comment on whether other firms among the 14 that applied for carrier licences might eventually be successful. The 14 included firms fully owned by Saudis, Gulf-Arab firms, and consortiums of Saudi-Gulf and Saudi-Chinese companies. OPPORTUNITY Over the past year, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to liberalise its economy in several areas in an effort to create jobs and diversify away from heavy dependence on oil. For example, it is trying to develop a home mortgage industry. Earlier this month the information minister said GACA would be allowed to grant permission for airlines to raise their fares under certain circumstances, and that fuel prices at Saudi airports would be reviewed to ensure fairer competition. Abdulwahab Abu Dahesh, a Saudi financial analyst, said he believed the government would also remove subsidies now provided to existing Saudi airlines. "This has to happen in 2013 because there will be no competition unless that problem is solved," he said. "This needs to be resolved before these firms start operations." Qatar Airways could be a strong competitor in Saudi Arabia. It is growing rapidly, and in October became the first major Gulf airline to announce plans to join the oneworld alliance, a global group of carriers which cooperate in areas such as route networks, frequent flyer schemes and procurement. Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways, has said he is interested in the possibility of launching an airline in Saudi Arabia. By contrast, Gulf Air has been struggling; last month it cut an order for Boeing (BA.N) planes and revised a deal with Airbus (EAD.PA) as it restructured its fleet to reduce pressure on its finances. Nevertheless, Riyadh has been supporting Manama politically and economically during the social unrest that has plagued Bahrain since last year. A Saudi operating licence could help Gulf Air by letting it diversify beyond its weak home market. Officials for Qatar Airways and Gulf Air declined to comment on the airlines' plans when contacted by Reuters on Saturday. Back to Top How Dana flight data recorder was lost to fire, by AIB (Nigeria) MORE facts have emerged from the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) revealing that the post accident fire, which lasted for about 20 hours, consumed the digital component of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of the crashed Dana plane. Also, the AIB will soon launch its $5.5 million FDR laboratory system in Abuja. The laboratory once launched will enable the bureau to download both flight recorders promptly during accident investigation. Meanwhile, stakeholders in the aviation sector have faulted the National Assembly's recent report, which carpeted the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and its leadership. The AIB Commissioner, Mukhtar Usman told reporters in Lagos at the weekend that while the solid component of the FDR was recovered, the digital part of the device was lost to the post crash fire. "It's like cooking an egg. The shell is intact but the egg inside is destroyed," Usman said. The Dana incident is similar to that of Bellview crash in Lisa, Ogun State where cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the FDR were not recovered; a situation that has delayed the release of Bellview accident report. A FDR is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters. Another kind of flight recorder is the CVR, which records conversation in the cockpit, radio communications between the cockpit crew and others (including conversation with air traffic control personnel), as well as ambient sounds. Usman stated that the United States' National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent American government agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation, where the Dana FDR was taken, could not retrieve anything from the device. For the other component, the CVR, he hinted that only few minutes' conversation was retrieved from the CVR. Usman disclosed that the engine of the crashed plane had also been taken to the Washington- based organisation for further investigations. Since the June 3, 2012, Dana plane crash several panels have been set up in Lagos where the accident occurred and in Abuja. The reasons were to investigate the direct and remote causes of the crash, but Usman said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, recognised only AIB and no other body in such an issue. Usman was evasive on why pass accident reports were yet to be made public, explaining that his agency was not meant to apportion blames but to find the causes of an accident and make recommendations to relevant agencies. Usman said that his agency made 32 safety recommendations to the Federal Government with 20 of them accepted while 12 were yet to be attended to. Stakeholders in aviation sector faulted the report which called for the sack and prosecution of the NCAA's Director General, Dr. Harold Demuren for alleged negligence in the June 3, 2012 Dana Air crash. The stakeholders said that the report was not only laughable but also embarrassing to the country. Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Hope Uzodimma had informed the lawmakers that MD 83 aircraft belonging to Dana Air had been phased out all over the world and wondered why the regulatory body certified the ill-fated aircraft in the fleet of the airline. But an aircraft frame engineer who worked with Boeing Aircraft Company based in Seattle, Washington, Dr. Kolawole Adegbola told The Guardian that the legislators might be getting their facts mixed up. Adegbola, currently a consultant, structural stress analyst with GKN Aerospace (Nashville, United States, faulted the lawmakers' claim that the production of MD-80 Family/Series (this includes MD-80/81/82/83...88) had been phased out, noting that the operation of the aircraft was "alive and well". http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=109137:how- dana-flight-data-recorder-was-lost-to-fire-by-aib-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559 Curt Lewis