Flight Safety Information September 4, 2013 - No. 183 In This Issue MU-2 Pilots Celebrate 50-year Milestone During Round-the-world Journey Smoke alarm: After SpiceJet, Jet Airways flight makes emergency landing Overfilled jet tank leads to fuel spill at Daytona Beach International Airport India's Aviation Authority to Permit Pilots to Nap in the Cockpit Disputed Info Allowed in 2009 Airliner Crash Suits Redesign for Sudden Autopilot Disconnection Needed, Say Flight Safety Experts FAA lets OSHA standards board the plane Embry-Riddle to Host Workshop on Aviation Safety Management Systems Think ARGUS PROS MU-2 Pilots Celebrate 50-year Milestone During Round-the-world Journey Fifty years ago on Sept. 14, 1963, a pair of test pilots for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries pushed the power levers forward and a uniquely designed twin-engine turboprop raced down the runway and lifted into the sky. Powered by two Turbomeca Astazou turboshafts, the XMU-2, as the prototype was designated, spawned the production version, the Garrett TPE331-powered MU-2, of which about 290 are still flying worldwide. One of those airplanes is the personal steed of MU-2 expert Mike Laver, founder and owner of Air 1st Aviation, which specializes in MU-2 sales and operations. Air 1st also includes Carolina Turbine Support, an authorized MU-2 service center, and the Aiken Aviation Enterprises FBO. By the time this issue is published, Laver should be halfway around the world on his way to Japan, where he plans to land in Nagoya a day ahead of festivities marking the first flight of the XMU-2 half a century ago. The round-the-world trip, Laver said, "is a personal desire." After delivering MU-2s all over the world during the past 27 years, he had never done a circumnavigation. "It's something I've wanted to do for several years in the MU-2. The timing came because of the 50th anniversary of the first flight." Latest Tech for Circumnavigation Flight Laver planned to take off in his 1973 MU-2K (N50ET) from his company's headquarters in Aiken, S.C., on August 25, accompanied by AOPA Pilot magazine writer Mike Collins, who is reporting on the trip. Laver is blogging about the trip and readers can track his progress on a Mapshare page (see the blog for the password) that shows updates from his DeLorme inReach satellite communicator and tracking device. The airplane will not be carrying any additional fuel beyond its standard capacity. It has been modified over the years and is now powered by Honeywell TPE331-10 engines. The cockpit is equipped with Garmin G600 displays and GTN touchscreen navigators, XM weather/radio and an HF radio. World Fuel Services and its BaseOps flight planning and handling provider will help Laver during the journey. The route takes Laver and Collins from South Carolina to Goose Bay in Canada, where they will cross the ocean to Narsarsuaq on the southern tip of Greenland then to Reykjavik, Iceland. Laver and Collins will then travel to Salzburg, Austria, to visit the famed Red Bull Hangar-7 museum, then through Turkey and over Iraq into Kuwait. Other stops include Oman, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia before the MU-2 lands in Laver's homeland of Australia, where he began flying about 30 years ago. The trip continues back to Indonesia then the Philippines, where the duo will wait for the right weather window to arrive in Nagoya on September 13. After the first-flight anniversary celebrations, it's on to Russia and Alaska then across Canada back to the continental U.S. and home. When interviewed in mid-August Laver said he was excited about his impending departure. "It's a huge adventure," he said. "You don't know what's going to unfold in front of you. These trips go well if they're well planned, if you've covered all your bases and are prepared." "This is a tremendous undertaking for Mike and a well recognized undertaking in the MU-2 community," said long-time MU-2 pilot Pat Cannon, president of MU-2 support provider Turbine Aircraft Services. "The significance is the fiftieth anniversary of this airframe, an aircraft that hasn't been manufactured since early 1985 when the last one rolled off the assembly line. And these doggone things are still flying, and not just flying but doing very well." While Cannon doesn't expect to see many Mitsubishi workers who built MU-2s celebrating at the anniversary, the young leaders and engineers who are building Mitsubishi's newest airplane, the MRJ regional airliner, should appreciate this slice of the company's long aerospace history. "They're happy that Mike is coming," he said. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2013-09-03/mu-2-pilots-celebrate-50- year-milestone-during-round-world-journey Back to Top Smoke alarm: After SpiceJet, Jet Airways flight makes emergency landing New Delhi - A Jet Airways plane from Amritsar with 19 passengers on board had to make a priority landing under emergency conditions at the IGI airport here after a smoke alarm went off in the cockpit. Smoke emanates from SpiceJet flight with about 70 passengers on board The flight (9W-2642), operating with ATR 72 aircraft, took off from Amritsar as per schedule and was to land at Delhi airport at 6.25 A.M. "But as it was approaching Delhi, pilots detected a smoke alarm light blinking in the cockpit and sought permission from air traffic control for emergency landing," airport sources said. The plane was cleared for landing, with full emergency preparation, and it touched down at 6 am, they said. Confirming the incident, a Jet spokesperson said, "The flight made a priority landing as a smoke alarm light went on in the cockpit. "It was an uneventful landing and all passengers are safe. Safety is given top priority at Jet Airways," the spokesperson said. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/smoke-alarm-after-spicejet-jet-airways-flight-makes-emergency- landing/1164518/ Back to Top Overfilled jet tank leads to fuel spill at Daytona Beach International Airport A DeLand-based corporate jet on its way to Brazil made a fuel stop at the Daytona Beach International Airport Tuesday and a crew overfilled the tank, causing a spill on a taxiway, officials said. "It was a Westwind twin engine jet that lost between 10 and 15 gallons of fuel," said Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron. "It was on its way to Brazil from Texas and had stopped in Daytona for fuel. It was fuel stop." Callers to a Sheriff's Office dispatch said that fuel was seen leaking from the wing and belly of the aircraft, a call log shows. The spill prompted a HAZMAT team from Volusia County Fire Services and a fire engine from the Daytona Beach Fire Department to be called to the airport to quickly clean the taxiway and inspect it for damages, Byron said. There was no disruption in air traffic at the airport, Byron said. "It was classified as a minor incident," Byron said. The twin engine aircraft is owned by Southwest AeroSpace of DeLand. An online search shows the company is based at 1400 Flightline Boulevard near the DeLand Municipal Airport. The registered agent for the for-profit corporation, listed as Loriel Noto, could not be immediately reached. http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130903/NEWS/130909858/1040?Title=Overfilled-jet-tank- leads-to-fuel-spill-at-Daytona-Beach-International-Airport Back to Top India's Aviation Authority to Permit Pilots to Nap in the Cockpit Pilots for several airlines in Europe and Asia are permitted to take short naps in the cockpit, as long as another pilot is awake, of course. No such leeway in the U.S., although pilots have been given longer mandatory rest times between flights in the wake of the Colgan Air accident of 2009. Pilots in India can now take a nap while operating a flight provided the forty winks are no longer than 40 minutes on a flight of duration of three hours or more. On longer flights, the flight crew may take more than one rest period, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said. The aviation regulator said it had been observed that short sleep periods of only 25 minutes can help improve performance. http://skift.com/2013/09/03/pilot-naps-in-cockpit-now-permitted-in-india/ Back to Top Disputed Info Allowed in 2009 Airliner Crash Suits (AP) - Lawyers for families suing over the deadly 2009 crash of a plane into a house near Buffalo have won access to an internal safety report that the flight's operators had fought to keep private. They can also interview a retired Federal Aviation Administration inspector who, before the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407, was critical of Colgan Air Inc., the now-defunct regional carrier that operated the Newark, N.J.-to-Buffalo flight for Continental Airlines. A federal judge issued the decisions last week in advance of a March 2014 trial in the case of wrongful death claims filed by passengers' families against Continental, Colgan, its parent, Pinnacle Airlines Corp. and the plane's maker, Bombardier Inc. Colgan and Pinnacle had argued against both disclosures. "The significance, I don't think can be overstated," Hugh Russ III, a lawyer representing several families, said Tuesday. The commuter flight stalled and crashed into a house on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Feb. 12, 2009, in an accident investigators blamed on pilot error. All 49 people on board and a man in the house died. Less than a month after the crash, Colgan Air commissioned the firm of Nick Sabatini & Associates for an internal safety review during which Sabatini interviewed mechanics, pilots and other employees and observed training classes and flights. Colgan executives said the findings were privileged and intended for internal use only - and withheld them from the National Transportation Safety Board during its investigation of the crash. Lawyers also argued the report was irrelevant to the lawsuits because Sabatini's firm wasn't hired to investigate the crash, only to examine Colgan's post-crash operations. In ruling for disclosure, U.S. District Judge William Skretny said the report was potentially relevant because it was unlikely that the culture at Colgan had significantly changed in the weeks after the crash. The deposition of FAA inspector and former pilot Christopher Monteleon similarly is expected to shed light on the safety culture at Colgan. Monteleon, who was assigned to the carrier, said he reported problems with Colgan's flight testing program for its Bombardier Dash 8-Q400s, the type of plane involved in the crash, in January 2008, a year before the fatal accident. "Christopher Monteleon was a whistleblower ... who after the crash came out and said, 'I warned you something like this would happen,'" Russ said. "So we wanted to take his testimony to see what he knew and what he warned about." Attorneys for Colgan and Pinnacle had sought a protective order to prevent the testimony, arguing it was unnecessary because the plaintiffs' lawyers already have spoken with more than two dozen Colgan and Pinnacle representatives and received more than 410,000 pages of documents. Skretny, however, agreed with attorneys for the passengers' families, who said Monteleon may have information that is either new or fills gaps in other witnesses' testimony. An attorney for the airlines was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. More than 40 lawsuits were filed in federal court following the crash. All but eight have been settled through mediation. Unresolved cases are scheduled for trial beginning March 4. An additional six cases are pending in state court. The cases were largely stalled for 13 months by a bankruptcy filing by Pinnacle, which emerged from Chapter 11 on May 1 as a unit of Delta Air Lines. Colgan Air stopped flying in 2012. Back to Top Redesign for Sudden Autopilot Disconnection Needed, Say Flight Safety Experts Flight safety experts studying recent high-profile plane crashes found sudden autopilot disconnection to be a design flaw that creates unnecessary emergencies by surprising pilots during critical, high-workload episodes. "The sudden disengagement of autopilot is analogous to a pilot suddenly throwing up his or her hands and blurting to the copilot, 'Your Plane!'" says Eric E. Geiselman, lead author of a recently published two-article Ergonomics in Design series, "Flight Deck Automation: Invaluable Collaborator or Insidious Enabler" (July issue) and "A Call for Context-Aware Logic to Improve Safety" (October issue). Eric E. Geiselman, along with coauthors Christopher M. Johnson, David R. Buck, and Timothy Patrick, have combined expertise as pilots, crew resource management instructors, and human factors researchers. They studied the 2009 Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, New York, and the 2009 Air France crash off the coast of Brazil with a focus on how humans and machines can best communicate on the flight deck. The authors recommend that autopilot systems transfer controls following the same protocols crew members use -- with acknowledgment by the receiving pilot that he or she has assumed control. FAA regulations require a visual and auditory warning to occur following autopilot shutoff, but Geiselman et al. emphasize that such warning should occur before -- not after -- autopilot is disengaged. Geiselman et al. report on many other design-level safety issues in these articles and offer prototypes featuring solutions that can be affordably implemented with available technology. They believe better design of automation technology on planes can prevent future accidents and that more pilot training shouldn't be the only solution pursued by the industry. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130820161257.htm Back to Top FAA lets OSHA standards board the plane Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a final policy allowing the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enforce certain of its safety standards for aircraft cabin crewmembers during aircraft operation. The policy ends the FAA's nearly 40-year assertion of sole jurisdiction over in-flight working conditions for flight attendants. In 1975, the FAA first claimed exclusive responsibility for all aspects of the aircraft work environment, but 25 years later, in 2000, the FAA and OSHA began the process of determining whether OSHA should have a role in regulating the aircraft work environment. The agencies never took any formal action on the subject, and eventually Congress intervened by passing the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which, among other things, instructed the FAA to develop an official policy about OSHA's involvement in the aircraft cabin. In its new policy, the FAA continues to assert its authority over working conditions on aircraft in operation generally, but allows OSHA to enforce certain standards where working conditions have not been addressed by FAA regulations. As an initial application of its policy, the FAA identifies three specific standards that OSHA can enforce in the aircraft cabin: hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, and hearing conservation. The FAA also made clear that OSHA regulations regarding recordkeeping and access to employee medical and exposure records have always applied to flight attendants. For now, OSHA's enforcement reach into cabin working conditions is limited to the three specific standards identified above, although the policy states that the two agencies will establish procedures to identify any additional working conditions that should be addressed in the future. OSHA's new authority does not apply to flight deck crewmembers (pilots) and only applies to aircraft "in operation" (defined as from the time the first crewmember boards the aircraft until the time the last crew member deplanes). Additionally, the FAA policy makes clear that OSHA will not be able to apply any requirements that could negatively impact aviation safety, and that the FAA may preempt OSHA's authority on a standard previously approved if the FAA later determines that the standard could interfere with safety. The policy will take effect on September 23, 2013, but OSHA will not begin its enforcement until six months later, so that it can engage in outreach and compliance-assistance activities. Once enforcement begins, OSHA does not anticipate needing to inspect aircraft while in operation to carry out its duties. In fact, all three standards identified require employers to develop and implement their own programs, and the FAA stated in its Federal Register notice that OSHA can examine the programs and verify compliance without being onboard aircraft at all. In our experience, airlines are no strangers to OSHA enforcement. Over the years, OSHA has conducted inspections and issued citations to airlines with respect to ground support operations, including baggage handling, the operation of tugs, and conditions in buildings. But with OSHA entering a new sphere of airline operations, it will pay dividends for airlines to be proactive in ensuring compliance with the three identified OSHA standards with respect to their flight attendants before the effective date of OSHA's expanded enforcement role. Airlines will also want to keep their ears to the ground for hints of whether the FAA might grant OSHA the authority to enforce additional standards in the future. Hopefully, the airline industry will have opportunities flying forward to help shape OSHA's enforcement policies, as the horizon for OSHA's entry into the world of aircraft cabin working conditions comes into view. http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b6f2d7ad-2c2c-4f47-ae48-a5536a5c36b7 Back to Top Embry-Riddle to Host Workshop on Aviation Safety Management Systems Aug. 30, 2013 - Embry-Riddle's Professional Programs Office will offer a workshop on the Principles of Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) Nov. 19-21, 2013, at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus. Taught by Embry-Riddle faculty, the course is tailored for aviation safety practitioners responsible for the formation, implementation or expansion of an SMS within their organizations. The workshop provides a solid foundation in basic SMS concepts while also covering safety risk management (hazards, risks and controls); human factors; reactive, proactive and predictive safety management tools and methods; positive safety culture; and SMS implementation overview. Those who complete the course will understand the theory, principles and application of an SMS as well as ICAO requirements for implementation and FAA guidance for operators and organizations. All participants will receive a signed copy of Safety Management Systems in Aviation, co-authored by Dr. Alan Stolzer, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in Embry-Riddle's College of Aviation. The course is $1,400 per person, or $1,300 for those who register before Sept. 30, 2013. For more information and to register, visit www.daytonabeach.erau.edu/sms , write to case@erau.edu or contact Sarah Ochs, Director of Professional Programs, at (386) 226-6928. Back to Top Back to Top JetBlue scores FAA approval for Fly-Fi, may launch satellite WiFi next month Airbus 320 Aircraft Now Certified For LiveTV's Superfast Wi-Fi -- JetBlue to be the first airline customer for game-changing inflight connectivity -- MELBOURNE, Fla., Sept. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- LiveTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), has received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for Airbus 320 aircraft from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the first-of-its-kind Ka-band system, a satellite-based inflight connectivity and streaming entertainment solution, paving the road for next generation commercial inflight broadband. LiveTV provides system design, certification, installation and turnkey support services including line maintenance to airline customers and expects to roll out this product on three additional aircraft types by the end of the year. "This is a major milestone for LiveTV," said Glenn Latta, president of LiveTV. "Thirteen years ago we revolutionized the inflight entertainment experience with the launch of live television, which is now seen on more than 80,000 LiveTV-powered screens throughout the world. Now, with our inflight connectivity at speeds you expect on the ground, the onboard experience in North America and Europe takes another major leap forward. I would like to thank our partners ViaSat, General Dynamics, and Sapient for working with us to make At Home in the Air(TM) connectivity a reality." "This is game-changing technology, and JetBlue is honored to be the first airline to offer this great new service to our customers," said Robin Hayes, chief commercial officer for JetBlue. "We expect to have a number of JetBlue aircraft installed with Wi-Fi by the end of this year, and will aggressively roll it out across our Airbus fleet over the next 18 months, followed by our Embraer fleet. We believe this product will redefine customer expectations with the fastest in-flight Wi-Fi in the industry. This is especially important to our customers on coast-to-coast flights, where time spent in the air can now be as productive as on the ground." The satellite-based Wi-Fi system has completed testing on the initial Airbus A320 aircraft for JetBlue and is currently being certified for United Airlines' Boeing 737-900 aircraft. And, LiveTV has initiated European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for the Ka-band system for the Aer Lingus Airbus A320 fleet. In addition to superfast Wi-Fi, LiveTV offers its airline customers a customizable portal and an on-board streaming content server as part of the system. About LiveTV LiveTV is the world's leading provider of live in-flight entertainment and connectivity systems for commercial airlines. Founded in 1998 in Melbourne, Florida, LiveTV has installation and maintenance locations around the world to support the more than 600 commercial aircraft equipped with its products. Current customers include JetBlue, United Airlines, Frontier, Alitalia, Virgin Australia, WestJet and Azul. For a full listing of products and partners, or for more information, please visit www.livetv.net. LiveTV is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JetBlue Airways. http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/03/jetblue-fly-fi-approved/ Back to Top Curt Lewis