Flight Safety Information April 8, 2013 - No. 072 In This Issue Fatal Plane Crash In Route To Manhattan Pilot killed in Saturday plane crash in McCone County BIG BEAR LAKE: 2 injured in mountain plane crash Investigation begins into plane crash Private jet carrying BJP leaders Rajnath, Sushma, Jaitley makes emergency landing Student pilot makes emergency landing on beach Landing gear fails at Castle Airport, but no one in plane hurt PROS IOSA Audit Experts Airport Baggage Handler Accused of Stealing $84,000 Worth of Belongings Airplane Passenger Complaints Up 20%, Survey Finds Fatal Plane Crash In Route To Manhattan At least one person has died after a small airplane crashed into a house in Collinsville that neighbors say was vacant. The Federal Aviation Administration says in a statement that there was at least one death in the Sunday evening crash. Collinsville Police Chief Jimmie Richey told the Tulsa World that more than one person was killed, but didn't release a specific number. The FAA is investigating the crash along with the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA says the single-engine aircraft departed Tulsa around 5:50 p.m. Sunday en route to Manhattan, Kan. The plane crashed inside the city limits of Collinsville, about 30 minutes northeast of Tulsa. NEWS 9, a television station in Oklahoma City, has stated that flight information for a similar plane was last registered to Ronald L. Marshall in Nebraska,left from the Tulsa International Airport at 5:47 p.m. and was supposed to land in Manhattan, Kan., just after 7 p.m. The Tulsa World reports that the plane crashed into a house neighbors say was vacant and caused a small fire. http://www.wibw.com/home/localnews/headlines/Plane-Crashes-Into-House- 201870051.html Back to Top Pilot killed in Saturday plane crash in McCone County The pilot of a small plane was killed when the aircraft crashed Saturday in the northern part of McCone County on private land. In a Sunday news release, the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office confirmed the death of Darin Ray Brown, 38. It said Brown did not survive the crash of his Cessna 182. Officials said Saturday that Brown departed Brown Farms from a rural airstrip near Wolf Point at 10:30 a.m. and was last heard from between 10:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. when he talked to his wife while flying over Wolf Point. Brown was expected to arrive at his destination at a farm near Acton in Yellowstone County at about 1:30 p.m., officials said. He was reported missing at 2:45 p.m. Brown's flight plan indicated that he intended to fly toward Circle, then west to Coakley Road near Acton, 15 miles northwest of Billings. The McCone County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the crash but did not provide more details of the crash on Sunday morning. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, registration is pending for the fixed wing, single-engine Cessna at an address in Acton. The plane's owner is not listed due to the pending registration. McCone County Sheriff Davis Harris and sheriff's deputies, the Redwater Valley Ambulance Service and the McCone County Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene of the crash. http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/pilot-killed-in- saturday-plane-crash-in-mccone-county/article_3df96413-fe0a-523b-9290- 5e3f1a104abe.html Back to Top BIG BEAR LAKE: 2 injured in mountain plane crash Two people were injured Saturday morning, April 6, when an airplane crashed in shallow water on the south shoreline of Big Bear Lake. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies described the crash as "more of a hard landing." The injuries were minor. The airplane, a Beech A36 Bonanza, lost engine power and ditched in shallow water at 10:41 a.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer. Three people were aboard, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, although Kenitzer said there may have been as many as four. The aircraft had substantial damage. Details about the aircraft involved in the crash were not available, but specifications found on the Internet indicate it is normally a six-seat, single- engine aircraft. No information was available on where the plane took off from or where it was headed. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, Kenitzer said in an email, noting that it could take months before a preliminary report is prepared. http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county- headlines-index/20130406-big-bear-lake-2-injured-in-mountain-plane-crash.ece Back to Top Investigation begins into plane crash The investigation into why a light plane crashed into the ocean killing 2degrees chief executive Eric Hertz and his wife Kathy is getting under way. The twin-engine Beechcraft Baron belonging to the Hertz's ditched in the sea off the Waikato coast on March 30, after reporting engine failure. Navy divers recovered the one body on Saturday, and the second body and a significant part of the wreckage yesterday, from the sea floor about 55m below the surface. The wreckage is being shipped to Auckland accompanied by a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) safety investigator. It will be inspected at Devonport Navy base for "signs of non-impact mechanical failure or other damage", CAA spokesman Mike Richards says. After three days it will be transported to CAA's workshop in Lower Hutt for more detailed examination looking for malfunctions or parts failure, he says. The engine will be stripped back and some parts may need to be examined by technical experts, which can involve components being sent overseas for checking, Mr Richards says. "Essentially there are three components to the investigation: The man, the machine and the environment." Investigating these includes looking at the outcome of the coroner's report into the pilot's physiological state, the weather on the day and condition of the plane. The work requires a painstaking level of detail and it could be some time before the CAA has anything to report, Mr Richards says. The families of Mr and Mrs Hertz said in a statement they were relieved the bodies and wreckage had been recovered and they looked forward to understanding what happened. "By safely recovering the aircraft ... the rescue authorities have made a huge contribution to us and the wider aviation community." Both bodies will undergo a post-mortem examination in Auckland. Mr and Mrs Hertz, who were American citizens with New Zealand residency, had been travelling from Auckland to Timaru to visit their daughter. http://www.3news.co.nz/Investigation-begins-into-plane- crash/tabid/423/articleID/293363/Default.aspx Back to Top Private jet carrying BJP leaders Rajnath, Sushma, Jaitley makes emergency landing New Delhi: A private jet to Karnataka carrying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley made an emergency landing at New Delhi airport nine minutes after taking off on Monday morning. The leaders were on their way to campaign for the May 5 Assembly elections in the state. Pilot of the aircraft informed Air traffic control (ATC) of technical issue and returned back to the airport. The turbine powered Challenger jet is owned by a Mumbai-based company called Eon Aviation. Aviation aircraft like this one are like chartered planes that can be hired for private travel; they are not commercial aircraft. BJP general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan and Joint General Secretary (Organisation) V Satish were also on-board the aircraft when the incident took place. ATC sources said the pilot took the correct action of landing the aircraft after the problem was detected. Rajnath, Swaraj and Jaitley were supposed to address a party rally in the state. It is unlikely the top BJP leaders will fly back to Bangalore now and they may just address the rally via video conference. Karnataka will go to polls on May 5 to elect its 224-member Assembly. Counting of votes will be held on May 8. While 36 constituencies are reserved for SCs, 15 are reserved for STs in the state. There are a total of 4.18 crore voters in Karnataka. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/private-jet-carrying-rajnath-sushma-jaitley-makes- emergency-landing/383878-3-244.html Back to Top Student pilot makes emergency landing on beach A student pilot was lucky to walk away from an emergency landing on an East Cape beach. The pilot's plane flipped over after touching down on soft sand as the drama unfolded alongside the East Cape Road on Saturday. The 22-year-old from the flying academy run by Canterbury Aero Club was on a flight from Taupo to Napier when he struck bad weather. Police said the pilot decided to fly around the weather along the Bay of Plenty coast and around East Cape. "When he got to the Cape at 3.15pm, he encountered another weather front. As he was flying east of Te Araroa, he struck a severe down-draught and lost control of the Piper Tomahawk aircraft," police said. He decided to put the plane down on a beach about 15 kilometres east of Te Araroa. "But shortly after he landed, the aircraft's wheels hit soft sand and it flipped, ending upside down," police said. The pilot got out of the plane and walked a kilometre along the beach to a small motor camp on the East Cape Road, to get help. Farmer Len Walker, who also runs the camp, said one of his campers reported hearing a noise and a little later the pilot turned up. "He was shaken but not injured in the crash," Mr Walker said. The pilot was checked over by a Te Araroa doctor as a precaution. "The plane had crashed near the tide line, so another man and I used our vehicles to tow it up above the high tide mark," Mr Walker said. "It was not too badly damaged in the crash. The pilot had to break one of the windows to get out," he said. "He got the plane down OK but then it hit some soft sand, came to a sudden stop and the tail went over the top." Chief flying instructor from Canterbury Aero Club Jay Peters confirmed this morning the aircraft was one of theirs. "He's a good pilot, with over 100 hours of flying time, and it was a good decision to land when he did," Mr Peters said. "He showed good airmanship. It was just unlucky he struck the soft sand." Mr Peters said an aircraft engineer from Gisborne was heading to the accident scene today to assess the recovery of the plane. It remains upside down on the beach. The proprietor of Hicks Bay Motel and Lodge, John Campbell, was one of those to visit the accident scene on Sunday. "He was so lucky to walk away from it." Mr Campbell is a helicopter pilot and regularly flies in the area. "That piece of coastline is renowned for its sudden down-draughts, even in good weather. "It's an area I tend to avoid when flying, for that reason. "I saw that weather front come through and the flying conditions would have been very tough indeed," Mr Campbell said. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876196 Back to Top Landing gear fails at Castle Airport, but no one in plane hurt ATWATER -- No one was hurt Sunday afternoon when the front landing gear of a plane collapsed after setting down at Castle Airport. The incident was reported shortly after 3 p.m. after the small twin-engine aircraft landed at Castle, according to Gabriel Santos, spokesman for Merced County Fire Department/Cal Fire. After landing, the landing gear collapsed and the plane traveled for about 100 yards before coming to a stop. The plane came to a rest with its nose pointing downward, Santos said. Firefighters and emergency personnel responded to the scene, but the two instructors traveling in the plane weren't hurt, and no fire was reported. Santos said the incident is an example of why the airport control tower is necessary. Tower personnel were able to communicate with two planes in the air, Santos said, to notify them about the situation on the ground. Tower personnel were also able to quickly notify firefighters and emergency personnel. "Thankfully the tower was staffed and available to assist with reporting the incident," Santos said. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Traffic Safety Board were both notified about the incident, Santos said. Castle's control tower is on a list of 149 at small airports nationwide that are slated to be closed because of federal government-wide spending cuts. The FAA on Friday announced it was putting off the closure until mid-June. FAA officials said they need more time to deal with legal challenges to the closures. http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/04/08/2929557/landing-gear-fails-at-castle- airport.html Back to Top Back to Top Airport Baggage Handler Accused of Stealing $84,000 Worth of Belongings A Minneapolis-St. Paul airport baggage handler was busted this week after prosecutors say he was caught on tape stealing valuables from the bags of passengers. David Vang, 23, allegedly walked away with $84,000 worth of passengers' belongings over an eight month period. Guns, jewelry and watches were among the items prosecutors say he stuffed into his backpack. Vang faces 11 felony counts of theft. Brad Garrett, a former FBI special agent and ABC News analyst, said it would be difficult to stop something like this from happening again. "You basically can't secure bags because of the sheer volume and the movement of the bags and the handlers ability to have the bags where no one's watching him at any given time," he said. A second airport horror story was also exposed this week when a Delta Airlines employee allegedly breached security at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Marcelino Aponte, 31, was turned away by TSA officials because he did not have a boarding pass for his flight to Orlando. Authorities say Aponte then used his airport security badge to get through locked areas and board his flight- completely bypassing any metal detectors. TSA told ABC News they responded within nine minutes, however Aponte's flight landed in Orlando before he was detained. "The reality is if you work at an airline and you're moving around through the airport from non secure to secure areas, you in effect do not have to go through TSA clearances each time you go in and out of a secure area," Garrett said. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/minneapolis-airport-baggage- handler-accused-of-stealing-84000-worth-of-belongings-from-passengers/ Back to Top Airplane Passenger Complaints Up 20%, Survey Finds Airline passenger complaints to the Department of Transportation were up by 20 percent, or one-fifth last year, according to an annual air quality survey. With fewer mishandled bags and more on-time arrivals, the 20 percent rise in complaints by passengers might sound surprising. But Charlie Leocha of the Consumer Travel Alliance says the Internet is making it easier for passengers to air their frustrations. "Because of the ability for people to complain, because of the Internet, because of the new online complaint systems which send your complaints directly to DOT, consumers now have a way to complain more easily," he says. "All of a sudden some of the problems which in the past were sort of swept under the rug, so to speak, are now all of a sudden being discovered," he adds. Overbooked flights and small seats aboard many airplanes are a growing cause of complaints. http://www.kmbz.com/Airplane-Passenger-Complaints-Up-20-Survey- Finds/15989440 Curt Lewis