Flight Safety Information January 22, 2013 - No. 018 In This Issue Dreamliner battery charger eyed in jet probe Southwest Airlines jetliner blows 3 tires during emergency landing London helicopter crash pilot diverted because of bad weather Sao Paulo Helicopter Crash Kills 1, Injures 3 Vancouver Transit Police leave bomb on passenger jet, lose it Govt Tightens Rules on Use of Foreign Pilots by Indonesian Airlines PROS IOSA Audit Experts Etihad Airways finalizing buy out of India's Jet Airways A Farewell to 'Nudity' at Airport Checkpoints Miliatry Aviation Safety Workshop (MASW) - Call for Presentations No More "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" International Accident Investigation Forum...Singapore, 23 - 25 April 2013 Dreamliner battery charger eyed in jet probe WASHINGTON - Federal investigators plan to test the battery charger and other electronics from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner on Tuesday in an effort to track down what went wrong with the batteries in the grounded aircraft. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) plan the tests at the Tucson headquarters of the charger's manufacturer, Securaplane Technologies. Investigators also have wire bundles and battery-management circuit boards to test from a plane that caught fire Jan. 7 in Boston. "They need to make sure they account for all of these unforeseen things that can happen," says Prashant Kumta, a battery expert and engineering professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Oliver McGee, an aerospace engineer who is a former deputy assistant secretary of Transportation, says technology in the plane includes millions of miles of wires and millions of lines of computer code, and involves numerous contractors. "You have to put the puzzle back together again," says McGee, who urges patience on the investigation. The testing comes nearly a week after regulators grounded 50 Dreamliners worldwide Jan. 16. The groundings followed the Boston fire aboard a Japanese Airlines plane and an emergency landing Jan. 16 in Japan of an All Nippon Airways flight because of a smoldering battery. In another vein, investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and from Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau visited the battery manufacturer, GS Yuasa in Japan, on Monday. Tatsuyuki Shimazu, the chief air worthiness engineer at the Japanese bureau's Aviation Safety Department, says they are collecting information about how the batteries are made, so "whether there is a problem or not has not yet been determined." Boeing, which has nearly 850 Dreamliners on order and is cooperating with the investigation, has halted deliveries until the electrical problems are resolved. Airlines have already canceled hundreds of flights through Jan. 29, suggesting they expect the problem to take at least that long to fix. Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at the Teal Group, a consultant for commercial and military aircraft companies, says if the problem lasts more than a couple of weeks, it will create questions about how airlines can serve their routes. But he says Boeing is doing what it can to find and fix the problem. "It's a big concern," Aboulafia says. "You don't want your new flagship aircraft taken offline." Lithium-ion batteries are popular because they are smaller and charge faster than other batteries. But Kumta, the battery expert, says the concern is that the batteries, which are filled with a flammable liquid called an electrolyte, can explode or cause a fire when overheated or ruptured. The Boston battery could have had charging problems even though NTSB found that it never received more than the 32 volts it was designed for, Kumta says. That's because the charger is supposed to let the battery run down before recharging, just like a cellphone or laptop is supposed to run down before plugging it back in. If the charger didn't match the battery's needs precisely, Kumta says, it could cause problems. In addition, battery experts have questioned whether enough testing was done on batteries to mimic the temperature and pressure of flight. The battery would essentially seek to burst open in flight if not pressurized or built for different pressure at altitude, according to battery experts. "With all of these, there might be a slight miscalculation or misjudgment," Kumta says. He is confident, however, that any problem with the battery could be fixed. "You learn from experience," Kumta says. "It's a new application, and people have to learn from it." http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2013/01/21/dreamliner-tests/1852489/ Back to Top Southwest Airlines jetliner blows 3 tires during emergency landing at Denver International Airport Pilot returns to DIA because of warning light This Southwest Airlines plane blew three tires while making an emergency landing at Denver International Airport. Dec. 21, 2013. DENVER - A Southwest Airlines jetliner blew three tires while making an emergency land at Denver International Airport on Monday afternoon. Southwest flight 513 was taking off from DIA for Las Vegas when the pilot spotted a warning light indicator, said airport spokeswoman Cynthia Karvaski. The pilot returned the plane to land at DIA, but the jetliner's landing-gear brakes had reached such hot temperatures it caused three tires to blow, closing Runway 25, Karvaski said. The passengers were bused to the terminal and later boarded another plane for Las Vegas. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/front-range/denver/southwest-airlines-jetliner- blows-3-tires-during-emergency-landing-at-denver-international-airport Back to Top London helicopter crash pilot diverted because of bad weather Pete Barnes was flying from Redhill to Elstree but was diverted to Battersea heliport when aircraft clipped crane and crashed Pete Barnes died after his helicopter hit a high-rise crane on The Tower at St George Wharf, Vauxhall, and crashed into Wandsworth Road. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA The pilot who died in a helicopter crash in central London had been diverted because of bad weather before his aircraft clipped a crane and then plunged to the ground, an inquest has been told. Pete Barnes, 50, died from multiple injuries after the helicopter he was flying hit a high- rise crane on The Tower at St George Wharf, Vauxhall, and crashed into Wandsworth Road. Barnes, a father of two, had been flying from Redhill aerodrome in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire but was diverted to Battersea heliport due to the bad weather, Southwark coroner's court heard. He was flying a twin-engine AgustaWestland 109 helicopter. Police, the fire brigade and the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) air ambulance attended the scene and Barnes was pronounced dead by the HEMS doctor, London inner south coroner Andrew Harris heard. Harris said he would review the case in three months' time and did not set a date for a future hearing. The veteran pilot, who had 25 years' experience, had flown as an air ambulance pilot and in several films during his career including Oscar-winning Saving Private Ryan and Tomb Raider II. Barnes, from Berkshire, has been described as "a good guy" who was "full of life and great fun". He was born in Nottingham and was single, the inquest heard. Pedestrian Matthew Wood, 39, from Sutton, Surrey, was also killed in the accident as he walked to work. He died from severe burns and a leg injury, a postmortem examination revealed last week. Neighbour Yvonne Humphries said he was a "lovely, cuddly teddy bear", and his sister, Amanda Wood, said he was a "big guy with a big heart" who doted on his godson, his brother Darren's child. The coroner did not set a date for the opening of the inquest into Wood's death. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/22/london-helicopter-crash-pilot-diverted Back to Top Sao Paulo Helicopter Crash Kills 1, Injures 3 SAO PAULO (AP) - Brazilian authorities say a helicopter (Bell 206) has crashed into a house in Sao Paulo, killing the pilot and injuring the three passengers, but not hurting anyone on the ground. It's not clear what caused the Monday crash. A light rain was falling over most of Sao Paulo during the crash, but there were no reports of heavy downpours typical during the South American summer. A spokesman for Brazil's air force says the aircraft that crashed was a Bell 206 helicopter that can carry up to seven passengers and a pilot. It was being operated by as an air taxi. Sao Paulo has one of the world's largest private fleets of helicopters, used as a means of bypassing extremely congested roads. ************** Date: 21-JAN-2013 Time: 13:50 LT Type: Bell 206B JetRanger III Operator: Helimarte Registration: PR-JBN C/n / msn: 4661 Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil - Brazil Phase: En route Nature: Passenger Departure airport: Campo de Marte Airport Destination airport: West Zone of São Paulo Narrative: A Bell 206B JetRanger III helicopter crashed into an industrial complex. The pilot was fatally injured and four people were injured (1 crewmember, 2 passengers and 1 on the ground). Back to Top Vancouver Transit Police leave bomb on passenger jet, lose it Newly released documents show that following a training exercise two years ago, the Vancouver Transit Police left a bomb on board an in-service passenger jet. The jet flew to Toronto before the mistake was realized and the bomb was never recovered. It happened after a dog bomb-sniffing exercise in January of 2011 and came to light now because the Canadian Taxpayers Federation was monitoring spending by the city transit police and heard about it; they requested documents pursuant to the incident through the country's freedom of information act. Bomb left on Air Canada jet The lost explosives were housed in a small package and would have required a blasting cap to be ignited. The officer in charge of the package did not realize that he had left it on the Air Canada jet until some 48 hours after the exercise was completed. By then the plane, with passengers, had flown to Toronto on a regularly scheduled flight. The Boeing 767 was located and checked several times in an effort to find the bomb. A member of the cleaning staff recalled such a package but, not knowing what it was, had simply left it on a seat to be removed by cleaners responsible for taking garbage from the plane. None of those cleaners, however, recalled having done so and the bomb was never found. Vancouver Transit Police: "human error" Transit police were unable to explain why the incident did not come to light at the time. They said the dog-handling officer responsible resigned shortly after it occurred. "This was human error. It shouldn't have happened," transit police spokeswoman Anne Drennan told media in Vancouver. "We no longer use in-service aircraft (for training). We now train our dogs on retired aircraft," The B.C. director of the taxpayer's federation, Jordan Bateman, said the affair raises questions about the transit police and how the incident was handled. "They spent lots of time investigating this," Bateman said. "The transit police ended up babysitting waste bins, they interviewed two dozen potential witnesses and they had the plane searched numerous times. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/341839#ixzz2Ii2Boa44 Back to Top Airplane passengers still try to get knives, guns and other weapons on board daily 18 guns were found on passengers at PBIA in 2012 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - They haven't been allowed on planes for years, but every day passengers at Palm Beach International Airport try getting weapons through security checkpoints. "What surprises me frequently is the size of the knife a passenger brings, some of them bring machetes, that's not something you can forget was in your bag," says Sari Koshertz, spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration. Brass knuckles, mace, guns were all uncovered at PBIA by TSA agents in the last 15 days. It's enough to make Francis Gill uneasy. "It's frightening to hear what they've confiscated. I certainly wouldn't want to be on a plane when something got through," says Gill. "There are real guns made as tiny as these replica guns, we caught one recently in Miami," says Koshertz. "Our officers have been trained to look for threats inside every day items and this is in fact a stun gun." 13 guns were taken away at PBIA last year, along with 1500 pounds of other weapons, tools and even Christmas gifts. Sets of silverware and decorations with more than three ounces of liquid were found. Koshetz says if it can't go on the plane - check it. "A lot of passengers aren't paying attention to what's on the list and they're still bringing this plethora of prohibited items to our checkpoints," says Koshertz. "Does it make longer lines? Yes, I heard someone say 'travel isn't easy any more', but that's not the point, the point is to keep everyone safe," says Gill. Hazardous items taken from passengers are disposed of. If an item can be sold online, the profits are given to charity. http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/ Back to Top Back to Top Etihad Airways finalizing buy out of India's Jet Airways Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways will finalise a deal to buy a stake in India's Jet Airways. Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways will finalise a deal to buy a stake in India's Jet Airways, the first such investment by a foreign carrier in an Indian airline since rules were relaxed last year, CNBC TV18 reported. A deal may be announced as early as Friday or by the first week of February, the TV channel said. The Gulf carrier could pay up to $330 million for a 24 percent stake in Jet, India's second-biggest carrier, a senior government source said earlier this month. Etihad and Jet did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Indian government allowed foreign carriers to buy stakes of up to 49 percent in local carriers in September 2012, a move seen as a boon for India's debt-laden airlines. Jet has previously said it was in talks with Etihad, but the terms of the deal were not finalized. Etihad and Jet have a code-sharing agreement, and a tie-up could make Jet a more formidable competitor to state-owned Air India, while strengthening Etihad's position against Dubai-based Emirates Airline, which carries a big chunk of the traffic between India and the Middle East. Jet shares, which have gained 180 percent over the past year on hopes of a potential fund raising, were up 2 percent at 617.25 rupees on the National Stock Exchange. http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/22/261859.html Back to Top A Farewell to 'Nudity' at Airport Checkpoints TRULY bad ideas never die, in my opinion. So I wasn't surprised to hear that, while the Transportation Security Administration says it is removing those much-reviled backscatter body-imaging scanners from airport checkpoints, the machines will be stored "until they can be redeployed to other mission priorities." I say, goodbye and good riddance to the scanners, which critics have called virtual strip- search machines. The T.S.A. wasn't being specific about where the machines might be reused, but the federal government oversees transportation security in a variety of places, including train stations. For years, critics have insisted that the images displayed by the backscatter machines (so named because of the way their X-ray waves are reflected off a body) are unacceptably detailed and graphic. But the T.S.A. has said it was working on privacy protections for those images. Now, under pressure from Congress, the T.S.A. says that all 174 of the machines in use at airport security checkpoints will be removed by June 1. And the reason is that the manufacturer, Rapiscan Systems, a division of OSI Systems Inc., would fail to meet a Congressional deadline of June 1 requiring that all airport body-imaging machines be fitted with software that "produces a generic image of the individual being screened." The T.S.A. sounded pretty blunt in pointing a finger at the manufacturer. "Rapiscan was unable to fulfill their end of the contract" and develop the required privacy software, the agency said. In a statement, Deepak Chopra, the chief executive of OSI Systems, noted the company's longstanding "close relationship with the security agency," and added, "We look forward to continuing to provide leading-edge technologies and services to the T.S.A." Of course, removing all Rapiscan machines (the T.S.A. had already taken 76 out of service last year) does not mean the end of the airport body-imaging machines. Nor does it mean the end of the widely disliked checkpoint drill of divesting yourself of all possessions, even handkerchiefs, and standing at attention, arms raised like an arrested bandit, while an electronic scanner buzzes over your body and a screener surveys the image. Including the soon-to-be-gone Rapiscan machines, there are 843 body-scanners now in use at checkpoints in about 200 airports in the United States. But the majority of those machines, made by a unit of L-3 Communications Inc., employ millimeter-wave technology, which uses radio frequency waves to inspect a body. The Rapiscan machines use low-intensity X-ray beams. In 2010, the Electronic Privacy Information Center sued the T.S.A.'s overseer, the Department of Homeland Security, calling for suspension of the use of body scanners that create "a physically invasive strip-search." Meanwhile, criticism in Congress continued to mount. L-3 had adopted software for its millimeter-wave machines that addressed the naked body image concerns. Rather than displaying the image of an individual's naked body, the L-3 machines depict any foreign object on a person and display only a generic body outline, similar to the police chalk outline of a body at a homicide scene. The imminent end of the Rapiscan backscatter machines - which cost about $180,000 each - would also seem to resolve the issue of safe levels of radiation doses that some critics raised about the technology. The T.S.A. repeated Monday that safety studies have shown those radiation concerns to be unwarranted. The T.S.A. also stressed that the Rapiscan machines are being removed only because of the Congressional deadline on the image software and not for any safety reasons. "All equipment met its security mission," David Castelveter, an agency spokesman, said on Monday. The agency said that most of the backscatter units will be replaced with millimeter-wave units. The agency has about 60 millimeter-wave machines on order, which are about the same price as the Rapiscan machines, and is expected to buy more. Under the agreement, Rapiscan will bear the expense of removing its backscatter units from checkpoints and storing them until they can put to use elsewhere. OSI said last week that it has not sold any Rapiscan machines to the T.S.A. in the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years and that it has about $5 million in orders that will now be "debooked." But taxpayers have spent over $45 million on the Rapiscan machines now in the T.S.A.'s hands. As to the future of those machines, Representative Bennie G. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who is ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement, "I want to make clear that if these machines cannot be altered to prevent the photographing of nude images, the American public must be assured that these machines will not be used in any other public federal facility." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/business/a-farewell-to-nudity-at-airport- checkpoints.html?_r=0 Back to Top Back to Top No More "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" Has this ever happen to you? - You hear of an aircraft accident with fatalities and say "how tragic". Later you learn more about the flight and the circumstances surrounding the accident and think to yourself "Wow, what were they thinking, they should never have taken off"! Being the Monday morning quarterback is easy; the real trick is knowing when to stay on the ground if the conditions make flight too risky. That's why we implemented the "Moral Courage Safety Award" (MCSA). We want to recognize those who chose not to risk the takeoff in bad conditions, and we believe it takes morale courage to stay on the ground. Please help by nominating someone you know for this award. Nomination is easy, simply email d.smith@dot.gov with your name and contact information; we'll contact you and take your nomination. Additional information about the Moral Courage Safety Award is listed below: Do you believe certain circumstances justify staying on the ground? We do, in fact we believe it's absolutely better than accepting unjustified risk and chance loosing big. Who is eligible for the award? 1 - Any helicopter pilot or crewmember, helicopter mechanic, support personnel, or manager who modifies a mission because the risk is too great. 2 - Any organization who's senior management demonstrates support for employees who modify the mission because the risk is too great. When and where will the award be presented? A representative of the Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) will present the award at the annual HAI Heli- Expo. We will notify awardees of the exact time and date. NOTE- You must not be present to be awarded the MCSA. We will mail it to you and your organization if you cannot attend the Heli-Expo. By The Way - It does not require a monumental act to be eligible for the award. If you or someone you know has ever said "I'm not going" because the risk is too high, you are eligible! Help us recognize those who had the moral courage to stand for what's right. Back to Top International Accident Investigation Forum Singapore, 23 - 25 April 2013 The Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore (AAIB) will be hosting the Second International Accident Investigation (IAI) Forum at the Singapore Aviation Academy on 23 - 25 April 2013. It is AAIB's honour that the IAI Forum 2013 is strongly supported by: - International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), - Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), - European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), and - International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI), The IAI Forum 2013 aims to bring together the world's top government investigation officials and experts to discuss issues relating to the organisation, infrastructure and management of accident investigation. It is open to investigation officials responsible for discharging their country's obligation under Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, regulatory officials and aviation safety professionals from the private sector. The IAI Forum 2013 will also serve as a platform for ICAO to inform, explain to and discuss with the safety investigation community regarding the developments and issues being pursued by ICAO. The Inaugural IAI Forum was held on 21 - 23 April 2010 was attended by 149 government investigation officials and aviation safety professionals from 29 countries. Ms Nancy Graham, Director of ICAO Air Navigation Bureau, and Capt. Kevin L. Hiatt, President and CEO of the FSF, have very kindly consented to attend the Second IAI Forum to each deliver a keynote speech. Registration for the IAI Forum 2013 is now opened via this website (http://www.amiando.com/IAIForum2013.html). Participants are encouraged to register before 15 March 2013. The Second IAI Forum will cover the following topics: - Developments in Accident Investigation * New ICAO Annex 19 on Safety Management and consequential amendments to other Annexes, in particular to Annex 13 * ICAO USOAP; Corrective Action Plan and the challenges in meeting them * Upgrading of ICAO Circular 285 on Guidance on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and Their Families to Document 9973 and its impact to accident investigation agencies - Updates from AIG Communities * Conclusions of the AIG Roundtable held in Singapore on 16 - 17 October 2012 and chaired by Mr Marcus Costa, Chief of the ICAO Accident Investigation Section - Protection of Safety Information * Outcome of the ICAO Safety Information Protection Task Force - Management & operational challenges/lessons learnt from recent accidents - Investigators' training and maintaining competency in a safe aviation climate - Litigation and Criminalisation relating to Accident Investigation Administration - The IAI Forum will be held at the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA). Free Wifi is available at SAA. - There is no registration fee for the IAI Forum. Participants will need to bear their own travelling, visa application (if applicable) and accommodation costs. Please register for the IAI Forum 2013 by 15 Mar 2013. - You may refer to the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's website to check if the travelling documents you and your delegates are holding require you to apply entry visa and application instructions. - Lunch and tea breaks will be provided each day. Hotel Accommodation - Participants may wish to consider staying at the Changi Village Hotel or Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel which are providing special rates to SAA. Please download and fill in the appropriate (Changi Village Hotel/Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel) reservation form from the IAI Forum Registration website and email/fax directly to the respective hotel. * Changi Village Hotel is the nearest hotel from the IAI Forum venue, at about 8 minutes' walk from the SAA. Hotel rates include scheduled airport transfer, breakfast and internet access. * Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel is located about 18 km away. The hotel offers a shuttle service to bring their guests to and from SAA. The shuttle service departs the hotel at 7.30 am, and picks up their guest at about 5 pm. Hotel rates include scheduled airport transfer, shuttle service to and from SAA, breakfast and internet access. For assistance in registration and more information on the IAI Forum 2013, please contact Mr Steven Teo (Email: steven_teo@mot.gov.sg or Fax: +65- 6-542-2394). Curt Lewis