Flight Safety Information August 16, 2013 - No. 169 In This Issue Flight recorders retrieved from UPS cargo jet in Alabama Dreamliner Fire Spurs Canada Order to Check Jet Beacons Ryanair Fires Pilot Who Questioned Airline's Safety on TV Zest Air suspended due to safety breaches (Philippines) Think ARGUS PROS Flight recorders retrieved from UPS cargo jet in Alabama Investigators sift through wreckage of UPS cargo jet in Alabama BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - An initial investigation into the wreckage of the UPS cargo jet that crashed on approach to Birmingham, Alabama's airport has found no evidence of pre-impact fire or engine failure, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. The downed plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders were also retrieved. The so-called black boxes will be sent to the NTSB headquarters in Washington for evaluation of possible clues about the cause of the fiery crash of the United Parcel Service Inc aircraft in which two pilots were killed, Robert Sumwalt, a senior NTSB official, told a press conference in Birmingham. Sumwalt said the flight data and cockpit voice recorders were covered in debris and plastic that melted in the fire and then hardened onto them. It took three hours to dig them out. Investigators hoped to get them opened later Thursday and should know by Friday whether the data is still good. "They weren't made to be opened. They'll have to saw into them," Sumwalt said. "We are optimistic we will be able to obtain good data from those recorders." He said there was debris in the engine that was apparently sucked in when the plane clipped the trees. It was "indicative of an engine coming through trees and striking dirt," Sumwalt said. Sumwalt said they also would be looking at lighting and navigational issues that might be involved with the runway. The cargo plane, an Airbus A300, clipped trees and nearly hit a house before plowing across about 200 yards of empty field well short of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, the NTSB has said. The pilots of UPS flight 1354 issued no emergency or distress calls before the plane crashed and burst into flames. UPS identified the two crew members as 58-year-old Carea Beal Jr., a resident of Matthews, North Carolina, and Shanda Fanning, 37, of Lynchburg, Tennessee. Kevin Hiatt, president and chief executive officer of the Flight Safety Foundation, an Alexandria, Virginia-based international watchdog group, said Birmingham-Shuttlesworth can be tricky to land at because it is nestled into surrounding hills. That is especially true of Runway 18, which the UPS jet was approaching when it crashed into a tall hill at the north end of the airport, said Hiatt. A veteran former Delta Airlines pilot, Hiatt said he had touched down on the runway many times himself. "It is not a full instrument landing. You have to visually fly into that runway. Sometimes it takes nuance to land there. You have to realize that hill is there or you could come in too low," Hiatt told Reuters. The crash occurred shortly before dawn in rainy conditions as low-lying clouds hung over Birmingham. "They were slanted south, coming in at a straight approach," Hiatt said of the ill-fated UPS pilots. "Since there was no distress call, everything seemed to be progressing normally," he said. "They must have gotten blindsided by something that happened, perhaps with the engines." Back to Top Dreamliner Fire Spurs Canada Order to Check Jet Beacons Canada's transportation regulator ordered emergency-beacon inspections on most Boeing Co. (BA) and Airbus SAS (EAD) jets after a Honeywell International Inc. (HON) device made in the country was linked to a 787 Dreamliner fire. Airlines must complete the checks within 150 days of the airworthiness directive taking effect Aug. 26, Transport Canada said yesterday. Other nations typically follow such mandates and European and Japanese regulators today adopted the guidance. (Bloomberg) -- Transport Canada's order focuses on the possibility that a wiring fault on an emergency locator transmitter sparked a July 12 fire on a parked Boeing 787 in London. U.K. officials linked the unit to the blaze, and investigators are trying to learn whether two smashed-together wires may have caused a short circuit, a person familiar with the probe said last month. The order is a prudent step to ensure safety while the investigation continues into the cause of the July fire, said Thomas Anthony, director of the University of Southern California's Aviation Safety and Security Program. "If there's a question as to whether or not a hazard exists then they generally will act in favor of a greater degree of safety." 3,000 Aircraft The Canadian directive covers 11 Boeing-made models including the 787, 777 and 737 and seven from Airbus such as the A320, A330 and A380. The checks also were mandated for Dassault Aviation SA (AM)'s Falcon 7X business jet and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)'s L-382, a civilian model of the Hercules transport. The order applies worldwide, said Kelly James, a spokeswoman for Transport Canada. More than 3,000 aircraft are affected by the directive, said Philip Tang, the agency's acting chief for continuing airworthiness. Other countries grounded the 787 in January after the Federal Aviation Administration halted flights on the planes in the U.S. following two incidents in which lithium-ion batteries overheated on the aircraft. The FAA didn't respond immediately to an e-mailed request for comment. Airlines that have already done the beacon inspections don't have to do them again. Boeing had recommended the checks last month. Japan, Easa Follow ANA Holdings Inc. and United Airlines (UAL) found damaged wires in beacons on some Dreamliners after checks last month following Boeing's recommendation. Boeing supports making the inspections mandatory, Doug Alder, a spokesman for the Chicago- based company, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Japan's transport ministry also issued directives to the country's airlines to inspect Honeywell beacons, according to a statement posted on the ministry's Website. Japan's directive covers 82 Boeing and Airbus planes, including 787s operated by Japan Air and ANA, according to the statement. The European Aviation Safety Agency today likewise adopted Transport Canada's order, extending the inspection mandate to all European carriers. Honeywell supports the Canadian order and continues to cooperate with the agencies investigating the July 12 fire on an Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise plane, said Steve Brecken, a spokesman for the Morris Township, New Jersey-based company. Lithium Batteries The 787 fire linked to the emergency beacons, which are powered by lithium batteries, renewed safety concerns regarding the Dreamliner's electrical system. The plane was grounded for three months after the two January incidents with lithium-ion batteries. Boeing devised a fix that included more insulation around power cells and a metal enclosure. As part of the investigation of the emergency transmitter, Canadian regulators inspected a Honeywell facility at Mississauga, Ontario, and an Instrumar Ltd. plant in St. John's, Newfoundland. Instrumar is a subcontractor that manufactures the emergency locator transmitter from Honeywell's design. In the order, regulators told aircraft operators not to follow Honeywell's original maintenance instructions on the beacons before revisions were made to the manual. The order didn't explain what was wrong with those instructions. On Aug. 14, Tokyo-based ANA Holdings discovered wiring defects in the fire-suppression system on three Dreamliners. The fault, which would have triggered the wrong extinguisher in case of a fire on one of the engines, was fixed by replacing parts on two 787s, with the third to be repaired by the end of the day, the airline said. Back to Top Ryanair Fires Pilot Who Questioned Airline's Safety on TV PARIS - Ryanair, the Dublin-based budget airline, confirmed Thursday that it had fired one of its most senior pilots and was pursuing legal action against him after the pilot raised safety questions about the airline's fuel policy in a British television interview. The move was the latest response by Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passengers, to recent accusations from some of its pilots that the airline occasionally skirts certain European safety regulations and discourages employees from reporting their concerns. Ryanair said in a statement that it had fired John Goss, 59, "as a result of his defamatory contributions" to a documentary broadcast this week on Britain's Channel 4 that focused on the airline's safety culture. The airline plans to pursue legal action against Mr. Goss, a 26-year Ryanair employee who was scheduled to retire in October, as well as the television channel. The Channel 4 program featured a number of Ryanair pilots, speaking anonymously, raising concerns about the airline's fuel policies. And Mr. Goss was featured on camera saying that the airline's management put pressure on pilots to limit the amount of reserve fuel they carried on board in order to reduce operating costs. While European regulations leave decisions about emergency fuel to the discretion of pilots, Mr. Goss told the program he had received a letter from Ryanair management criticizing him for regularly carrying too much fuel. The European Aviation Safety Agency, based in Cologne, Germany, requires that aircraft carry at least sufficient fuel to reach their destination, plus additional adequate reserves to account for contingencies like weather delays, congestion or an unexpected deviation to an alternate airport. At a minimum, planes should have reserves equal to 5 percent of the total fuel required to reach the scheduled destination as well as enough for an additional 30 minutes of unplanned flying time. In a statement this week, the Irish Aviation Authority lamented what it called a "misguided attack" on Ryanair. The regulator said Ryanair "fully complies with all European and international regulations in all areas of its operations," adding that it had "no concerns currently" about the airline's fuel policy, which it said it reviewed regularly. While Ryanair, which carries nearly 80 million travelers a year, has never been involved in a serious accident in its 29 years of operation, its pilots have periodically raised concerns through European media - often anonymously, for fear of losing their jobs - about working conditions as well as the airline's fuel and other operating policies that could affect flight safety. Neither Mr. Goss nor his lawyers could be reached on Thursday for comment about his dismissal. Evert van Zwol, chairman of the Ryanair Pilot Group, an association pressing for official union representation of flight crews and which is advising Mr. Goss, issued a statement condemning Ryanair's reaction. "It is simply extraordinary that the immediate reaction of Ryanair to safety issues brought to their attention is to deny the existence of any problems and to effectively shoot the messenger," Mr. van Zwol said. A survey published this week by the pilots' group showed that more than two-thirds of respondents, all of them Ryanair pilots, were concerned about the airline's safety culture and supported an inquiry by Irish regulators. The group said 1,000 captains and first officers - roughly one-third of Ryanair's pilots - participated in the survey, which was conducted in June. Ryanair has consistently dismissed questions about its safety record and asserted that it had well-established internal procedures for reporting incidents and safety concerns. In a statement, Robin Kiely, a Ryanair spokesman, accused Channel 4 and the pilots group of using "false anonymous hearsay claims" to "denigrate or smear Ryanair's outstanding 29-year safety record in an attempt to promote their 20-year failed campaign to obtain union recognition in Ryanair." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/business/global/ryanair-fires-pilot-who- questioned-airlines-safety-on-tv.html?_r=0 Back to Top Zest Air suspended due to safety breaches (Philippines) MANILA, Philippines-The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has grounded budget carrier Zest Air due to a series of safety breaches, including refueling with passengers onboard. "In the course of monitoring, this agency is alarmed of Zest Air's series of serious deviations and infractions of the rules and standards prescribed under the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations," the suspension order issued by Captain John Andrews, CAAP deputy director general, read. In the order addressed to Alfredo M. Yao, chairman of Zest Airways, Inc., Andrews said the decision to suspend the airline's operations was based on the monitoring and surveillance conducted by a team of airworthiness inspectors formed by CAAP on July 31. He said the report submitted by the inspectors showed continuing violations of Zest Air on air safety standards. Among the violations found by CAAP were: ?No qualified Accountable Manager since July 19, 2013 ?Failure to check aircraft logs, flight manifest, weather, etc. ?Failure to present to the CAAP the airman license (Aircraft Mechanic License) during ramp inspection ?Series of occurrences that affected several flight operations ?Refueling with passenger on board involving RP-C8989 on August 14, 2013 ?Excessive flight duty time case under the enforcement and legal service Andrews underscored the need for an accountable manager, who he said has "corporate authority for ensuring that all flight operations and maintenance activities can be financed and carried out to the highest degree of safety standards required by the authority." Zest Air's certificate to operate will remain suspended until the necessary corrective actions and compliance with aviation safety standards have been undertaken, he said. http://business.inquirer.net/138721/zest-air-suspended-due-to-safety-issues Curt Lewis