Flight Safety Information February 14, 2013 - No. 035 In This Issue Ukraine: conflicting reports for cause of crash Pilot killed in crash near Winters American Airlines and US Airways agree to merge, create world's biggest airline Optimizing Aircraft maintenance PROS IOSA Audit Experts Lathrop airplane maker receives small business award New medal for drone pilots outranks Bronze Star Airport Suites Offer Travelers A Place To Nap On The Fly 2013 ESASI Seminar in Madrid, April 18 & 19, 2013 Ukraine: conflicting reports for cause of crash Witnesses and officials are giving conflicting information on what caused a plane to crash land in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The Soviet-designed AN-24 passenger plane carrying soccer fans headed for a match against a German team crash-landed during a scheduled landing at Donetsk airport Wednesday evening. It hit the ground between two landing strips, broke into two parts and caught fire. Of the 52 people on board, five were killed and nine were injured. The head of the Southern Airlines, which operated the flight, told a local TV channel he believed the pilot of the plane should not have landed due to heavy fog. But one survivor reported engine failure, while a student pilot said one of the engines caught fire after hitting the ground. http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/14/3233920/ukraine-conflicting-reports-for.html Back to Top Pilot killed in crash near Winters The pilot of an experimental airplane was killed Wednesday when the wing broke off his single-engine aircraft just south of Winters, sending him spiraling to the ground, officials said. The crash occurred around 4:15 p.m. as the plane slammed into a steep bank bordering the east side of Interstate 505 about 150 yards north of Wolfskill Road. The pilot -- who officials are not identifying pending family notification -- died at the scene, said California Highway Patrol public information officer Chris Parker. He was the plane's only occupant. Witnesses standing at the edge of an orchard near the crash site recalled watching the plane fall from the sky. "I heard the engine making a weird sound and I looked up and saw the plane spiraling down from the sky," said Winters resident Gorden Kemp, who was out walking his dog when the crash occurred. "I didn't hear it hit," Kemp said, explaining that he watched as pieces of the aircraft fell from the sky before he lost sight of the plane, which was registered to Sharman Enterprises Inc., based at Vacaville's Nut Tree Airport. According to the FAA's N-Number registry, the 1959 Avions Fairey Tipsy Nipper T-66 was an experimental fixed-wing aircraft. The sight of small planes flying over the area isn't unusual, Kemp said, observing that a number of aerobatic pilots practice maneuvers in the area ranging from barrel rolls to stalling and restarting their engines. "That's what I thought he was doing,"Kemp said. "You don't expect to see something like that near your house," he added. "I didn't know where he landed until I saw the cop cars on the highway." Firefighters, CHP officers and members of the Solano County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene, where they cordoned off the area around the wreckage of the aircraft. Officers measured, marked and photographed the crash scene until FAA and National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) investigators can arrive, Parker said. The plane's wing was discovered in the median of the freeway about half a mile north of where the plane came to rest, Parker said. Early reports indicate the pilot flew south over Winters and was en route to Nut Tree Airport when the crash occurred, Parker said. The airport does not require pilots to file a flight plan ahead of time, Parker said, so it was unknown where the victim was flying from. Pilots who knew the longtime aviator recalled him as a good friend who had been flying most of his life, and said they were sick at the thought of such a tragedy befalling the veteran pilot. According to Ian Gregor, public affairs manager for the FAA Pacific Region, the crash took place under "unknown circumstances." While details remain scarce, Gregor said the NTSB will be taking the lead in the investigation and noted investigators generally post a basic preliminary report on the agency's website, www.ntsb.gov, within a week or two of an accident. The investigation, however, typically takes months to determine a probable cause for accidents, he said. As darkness began to fall, CHP officers were posted at the scene to provide security until investigators could arrive this morning, Parker said. http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_22588047/pilot-killed-crash-near-winters Back to Top American Airlines and US Airways agree to merge, create world's biggest airline American Airlines and US Airways say they have agreed to merge in an $11 billion deal to create the world's biggest airline. The combined carrier will be called American Airlines but run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker. The boards of the two airlines unanimously approved the deal late Wednesday, and the companies announced the agreement Thursday. The merger would reduce the number of major U.S. airlines to four: the new American, United, Delta and Southwest. The deal is a coup for smaller US Airways Group Inc., which pushed for a merger almost as soon as American parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2011. While Parker runs the company, AMR CEO Tom Horton will serve as chairman until its first shareholder meeting, likely in mid-2014. AMR interests including creditors will own 72 percent of the new company and US Airways shareholders 28 percent. The companies said merging would create savings of more than $1 billion a year. The merger will be part of AMR's plan for exiting bankruptcy protection. The airlines said they expect $1 billion in combined savings. The companies had negotiated since August, when creditors pushed AMR to conduct merger talks so they could decide which earned them a better return: a merger or an independent American. The deal would need approval by AMR's bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators, who have permitted three other big airline mergers to go ahead since 2008. The rapid consolidation has allowed the surviving airlines to offer bigger route networks that appeal to high-paying business travelers. And it has allowed them to limit the supply of seats, which helps prop up fares and airline profits. The new American would have more than 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights and about 95,000 employees, not counting regional affiliates. It will be slightly bigger than United Airlines by passenger traffic, not counting regional affiliate airlines. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/14/american-airlines-and-us-airways-reportedly- agree-to-merge-create-world-biggest/ Back to Top Optimizing Aircraft maintenance On 13 February 1955, a Sabena Douglas DC-6 plane crashed while on an approach to Rome, Italy. All 29 passengers and crew aboard were killed. These incidents always attract global horror. What happened? Unfortunately human error remains the largest contributor to aircraft accidents. The second element, however, is maintenance error. Almost 12% of all reported aircraft accidents are due to a maintenance error. These errors impose a significant financial burden on airlines, as they are also a major cause of flight delays and cancellations. Regardless of the class or type of aircraft, surveys consistently indicate that maintenance costs can range from between 10 and 45 percent of total yearly operating expenses. Computer engineer Susana Ferreiro, together with Dr. Basilio Sierra-Araujo (Head of the Department of Robotics and Autonomous Systems of the Computing Faculty in Donostia- San Sebastian), has produced a thesis entitled 'Contributions towards the diagnosis and prognosis of industrial problems by means of Supervised Classification Techniques'. The aim of her research has been to apply artificial intelligence techniques, data mining and machine learning to problems linked to the aeronautics industry and in particular the issue of maintenance. "These are algorithms and classifying models that extract information from large volumes of data and infer knowledge on the basis of these data," explains Ferreiro. The study looked into three specific aspects of aeronautics where maintenance is a major issue. The first issue is the degradation of aircraft brakes, the second is the appearance of burrs created during the drilling process in the manufacture of components while the third is the basicity number (BN) of oil on the basis of spectroscopic data. The BN of oil is used to estimate what condition it is in, and if it needs to be replaced. In terms of aircraft brake wear, the study looked into how to cut the costs of aircraft line maintenance - in other words, maintenance carried out after landing between one flight and the next take off - by deferring it to a more convenient time and place. The study also sought to reduce waiting times between flights to ensure punctuality by eliminating delays caused by corrective maintenance. "A series of components of the aircraft are usually checked between one flight and the next. Sometimes an unanticipated problem arises, so the aim is to have an estimate of the wear of certain components to anticipate all the resources that are going to be necessary," says Ferreiro. "The aim is also to optimise airline routes because sometimes there is an interest in having the maintenance done in a specific country, and what is needed for this is the forward planning of the state of the aircraft." This line of research was also carried out under a European project called TATEM. Drilling burrs occur during the manufacturing process. When the components are manufactured, a check needs to be done to make sure that the burr - the notch that has come away during the drilling - does not exceed 127 microns, as specified by the aeronautics industry. "We have developed a process using the internal signals of the machine which detects in real time when the limit has been exceeded," explains Ferreiro. Normally, after drilling, a process is always applied to eliminate the remaining burr, but thanks to this research, the process would be applied only when the limit is exceeded. This part of the research was started in another EU project called ARKUNE. Oil lubricating properties can deplete over time, which in turn can affect various elements in an airplane. The study looked into prediction of the basicity number (BN) of the oil on the basis of spectroscopic data. "The basicity number (BN) is used to estimate what state it is in i.e. whether it is satisfactory, or whether it needs to be monitored because it has started to degrade, or whether it needs to be replaced," says the author. The aim of the study was to establish a model for detecting the extent of oil degradation without having to run a laboratory test, which can be a very expensive task. The idea developed in this thesis is to replace this method of analysis by near infrared FTIR spectrometry. With this method, "it is possible to develop a sensor and incorporate it into the machine and in what is being monitored without having to run a lab test," explained Ferreiro. The results of the study should help cut maintenance costs and improve airline safety in the long run, making tragic accidents like the Rome crash in February 1955 increasingly a thing of the past. http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=35515 Back to Top Back to Top Lathrop airplane maker receives small business award LATHROP, Mo. - An international aircraft manufacturer calls Lathrop its home - and the company doesn't need a hangar. A basement will suffice. The outfit was recently recognized as one of the state's top small businesses. They don't build 747s. They're into smaller aircraft. Gerry Hinshaw loves getting things off the ground. His expensive toys start underground. Hinshaw's cellar is home to Giant Model Products, which, according to the owner, is one of the world's leading distributors of remote- controlled model airplanes. Gerry is a former auto transport driver, who, after being injured on the job, turned a plane-making hobby into a cyber-storefront that does business around the globe via the internet. GMP has flying objects in the air in as many as six different countries. "A lot of people have contacted me through the internet," Hinshaw said. "They've read the stories. They've seen the products and reviews on our products, which have been fantastic." Hinshaw says his planes are more durable than those from his competitors. The average airplane costs $300-500. Some of the larger birds even come with turbine jet engines, and a price tag of up to $20,000. Hinshaw's business has taken off so well that he was recently recognized by the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Center, which celebrates achievement in business management and job creation. "They tell me they've never had anyone as enthused as I am with the knowledge that I have ever come forward to anything like this," Hinshaw said. Only 22 small businesses received the award. Gerry's family loves being able to do worldwide business without having to leave Lathrop. "I think it's pretty amazing to be the son of a guy who's known throughout the world for selling airplanes," Caleb Hinshaw said. "Being in a small town like this and having such a big name out there, it really matters." "It's a 24-7 job," Hinshaw beamed. "I don't mind it. I love to work." Gerry Hinshaw says he will soon go to work as an online professor. His knowledge of aircraft building attracted the interests of the Universities of Arizona and Wisconsin, both of which will use his expertise in the coming year. http://fox4kc.com/2013/02/13/lathrop-airplane-maker-receives-small-business-award/ Back to Top New medal for drone pilots outranks Bronze Star The Pentagon is creating a new high-level military medal that will recognize drone pilots and, in a controversial twist, giving it added clout by placing it above some traditional combat valor medals in the military's "order of precedence." The Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyber war experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations but who are not physically in theater and facing the physical risks that warfare historically entails. The new medal will rank just below the Distinguished Flying Cross. It will have precedence over -- and be worn on the uniform above -- the Bronze Star with Valor device, a medal awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat. The new medal is a brass pendant, nearly 2-inches tall, with a laurel wreath that circles a globe. An eagle is in the center. The ribbon has blue, red and white stripes. "This award recognizes the reality of the kind of technological warfare we are engaged in the 21st century," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. The new medal will be awarded for specific acts, such as the successful targeting of a particular individual at a critical time. "Our military reserves its highest decorations obviously for those who display gallantry and valor in actions when their lives are on the line, and we will continue to do so," Panetta said. "But we should also have the ability to honor the extraordinary actions that make a true difference in combat operations," Panetta said. "The contribution they make does contribute to the success of combat operations, particularly when they remove the enemy from the field of battle, even if those actions are physically removed from the fight." The service secretaries will make the final determination for awarding the Distinguished Warfare Medal. The order of precedence came as a surprise to Doug Sterner, a military medals expert and the curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor, the largest database of military medal recipients. "It's got me puzzled," Sterner said Wednesday. "I understand the need to recognize the guys at the console who are doing some pretty important things. But to see it ranking above the Bronze Star (with) V?" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/13/new-medal-for-drone- pilots/1917735/ Back to Top Airport Suites Offer Travelers A Place To Nap On The Fly When there's a big snowstorm or a plane has mechanical problems, airports often turn into uncomfortable holding pens, with people scrunched in chairs, lying on floors, filling up restaurants and otherwise trying to find something to do. That's actually good news for one company. Minute Suites is building tiny airport retreats across the country. The suites are already operating in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Next up are Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. This idea - creating a respite for trapped travelers who don't want to leave the airport and repeat the hassle of going back through security again - actually began overseas. Some of those companies even include showers in their suites. Minute Suites co-founder Daniel Solomon says that may come later, but what most people want is a nap on the daybeds. The suites are staffed by college students studying hospitality. Travelers using the rooms can snooze, work on their laptops or watch a movie. Of course, not everyone thinks a tiny private room at the airport is where he'd like to spend his time. The setup is too claustrophobic, says traveler Bernie Kampf. "At least from what I've seen, it's like having an MRI done," he says. "It's like a tube." It costs about $30 for the first hour of use, then a traveler is billed in 15-minute increments. An overnight stay is $120. Paying by the hour raised the eyebrows of some Chicago aldermen, who had to approve the Minute Suites deal. Think "afternoon delight," or a "no-tell motel." But Chicago officials say only ticketed passengers can get to the rooms and there's plenty of security, too. Minute Suites is likely to encounter plenty of demand in Chicago. Travel and Leisure magazine, using data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, ranked O'Hare International the No. 6 most delayed U.S. airport in 2012. Dallas-Fort Worth and Philadelphia International weighed in at Nos. 10 and 13, respectively. http://www.npr.org/2013/02/13/171914955/airport-suites-offer-travelers-a-place-to- nap-on-the-fly Curt Lewis