Flight Safety Information October 31, 2013 - No. 225 In This Issue NTSB looks at 7-hour window in Nashville plane crash probe Delta jet makes emergency landing at remote Alaska airport after warning light flashes Whaam! F-35 Jet Smashes Tank With Guided Bomb Off-duty Delta Airlines pilot accused of fondling girl during flight More needed to improve air safety: CAA Bombardier profit dips as aircraft deliveries, orders fall Seattle left off first list of design centers for new Boeing aircraft Lawmakers question FAA airplane inspections US companies eager to invest in India's aviation sector Think ARGUS PROS Area 51 hosted tests for 'secretly acquired' Soviet fighter jets NTSB looks at 7-hour window in Nashville plane crash probe (CNN) -- The crash of a small plane in Nashville appears to be a familiar story: A pilot not authorized to fly in foul weather meanders into a foggy soup and tries to land. Things go wrong. The plane crashes. The pilot is killed. But in other respects, Tuesday's crash is anything but ordinary. The doomed Canadian pilot flies to a major airport apparently without radioing controllers. And when the plane crashes just off a main runway, erupting in fire, the crash goes undetected. By anyone. Likely for hours. On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board painted some broad outlines to an accident picture that is begging for specific details. NTSB investigator Jay Neylon said the NTSB is focusing on a seven-hour window in which the Cessna 172R crashed along runway 2C at Nashville International Airport. The crash, he said, occurred sometime between 2 a.m. -- when an airport worker conducted a routine runway check -- and 8:45 a.m. -- when a taxiing aircraft reported seeing "debris on the runway." Rescue workers were dispatched and found the plane's sole occupant dead amid the fire-scarred wreckage. "At this point we have no idea the exact time (of the crash)," Neylon said. Neylon said the safety board had not yet determined whether the pilot attempted to contact air traffic controllers. "We will look at everything in the investigation, and that does include air traffic control," he said. The pilot has been positively identified, but the Davidson County Medical Examiner's Office would not release the name Wednesday night, pending notification of next of kin. But the Ontario-based flying club which owns the plane identified him as a club member who rented the plane and planned to return it the next day. The accident is "certainly a little unusual, to say the least," said Bruce Landsberg, president of the AOPA Foundation and Air Safety Institute. "To have an airplane, even a small airplane, crash at a major airport and go unnoticed for quite a while does seem unusual," said Tom Haueter, former director of the NTSB's Office of Accident Investigation. Both men say the dense fog, which may have contributed to the crash, likely prevented controllers from seeing the incident. The control tower is roughly one mile from the end of Runway 2C, the crash site. But they said the crash raises intriguing questions about the actions of the pilot and controllers. "My biggest question is Why? Why was the pilot there? Why wasn't he talking to anybody?" said Landsberg. Aircraft are required to communicate with controllers when entering controlled airspace. Haueter echoed that thought. "Whether it's day or night, when you're approaching an airport of this size and density, you have to start contacting controllers well in advance, usually from about 25 miles out... to let them know you're arriving," Haueter said. If the pilot was unfamiliar with Nashville airport's frequencies, he could have used a universal frequency to contact controllers, Landsberg said. Both men speculated that the pilot could have strayed into foul weather and been too preoccupied with flying the plane to contact the tower. The Federal Aviation Administration said the tower had normal staffing early Tuesday, but it declined to specify the number of controllers on duty. Landsberg and Haueter said the accident also raises questions about the air traffic controllers. "How did the airplane get to the airport without the controller saying, 'Hey what is this guy doing out there?'" Landsberg said. Said Haueter: "Certainly this is an airport that has very good facilities. It has radar; it has lots of capabilities and how an aircraft could approach, possibly circle, we're hearing, then crash short of the runway, unnoticed for so long, does raise some questions." David Gillies, president of Windsor Flying Club which owns the Cessna, said the pilot, who was unaccompanied, rented the club plane for an overnight trip. "It is not usual for this individual to rent an airplane overnight," he said. The pilot was certified to fly under "visual flight rules," allowing him to fly in fair weather, and was qualified to fly at night. But the pilot did not have an instrument rating allowing him to fly into weather systems, Gillies said. Gillies said Nashville airport officials told him the pilot "circled" over the airport "for some time" and that the plane crashed while trying to land about 2:30 a.m. "They've indicated to us that they have tapes of him circling and that the time of his demise was about 2:30," he said. Airport officials have declined to discuss the accident in detail, citing the NTSB investigation. The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, in a statement, said "the time of the crash has not been determined and reports to the contrary are not factual. These facts will be determined as part of the NTSB investigation." On Wednesday, the NTSB surveyed the crash site, investigator Neylon said. He plans to examine air traffic control tapes and radar soon. And the NTSB will examine the pilot's flight records and interview his instructors. The investigation, Neylon said, is in the early stages, and it may take a year before the board determines a probable cause. Asked whether this wreck was anomalous, Neylon said, "Every accident's unusual." http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/us/nashville-plane-crash-mystery/ Back to Top Delta jet makes emergency landing at remote Alaska airport after warning light flashes A San Francisco-bound Delta Airlines flight has made an emergency landing in a remote Alaska community near the Aleutian Islands after a warning message flashed on an engine control panel. A Delta spokesman says Flight 208 landed safely at Cold Bay at 6 a.m. Wednesday with 167 passengers and 11 crew members on board. Spokesman Michael Thomas says the plane was diverted as a precaution after an engine warning message flashed. No injuries were reported aboard the plane that had departed from Tokyo. Thomas says Delta is sending another aircraft to pick up the passengers. Cold Bay was built up as a World War II staging area. The state maintains the 10,000- foot runway at the site 625 miles southwest of Anchorage. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/30/delta-jet-makes-emergency-landing-at-remote- alaska-airport-after-warning-light/ Back to Top Whaam! F-35 Jet Smashes Tank With Guided Bomb An F-35 B-model fighter jet dropped a laser-guided bomb over an air force base in California this week, successfully destroying a tank parked on the ground. The plane released the 500-pound weapon while flying at about 25,000 feet, according to Reuters. It's the first time the jet "truly became a weapon system," said the pilot who flew the aircraft, Marine Corps Major Richard Rusnok. Different F-35 models have test-fired missiles in the air and over water. But Tuesday marked the first occasion the aircraft fired a laser-guided weapon at a ground target. The F-35's ability to release a 1000-pound guided bomb will be tested next month. http://nation.time.com/2013/10/31/whaam-f-35-jet-smashes-tank-with-guided-bomb/ Back to Top Off-duty Delta Airlines pilot accused of fondling girl during flight An off-duty Delta Airlines pilot has been charged with fondling a 14-year-old girl seated next to him on a flight, but he contends he was sleeping at the time, authorities said on Wednesday. Michael Pascal, 45, was returning to his home in Utah on Saturday after piloting an early- morning flight from Salt Lake City to Detroit when the alleged incident occurred. Pascal plans to plead not guilty to a federal charge of abusive sexual contact with a minor, his lawyer Rhome Zabriskie said. The pilot's initial court appearance is scheduled for Thursday in federal court in Salt Lake City. If convicted, Pascal faces a maximum of two years in federal prison, said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City-based U.S. Attorney's Office. The girl was flying as an unaccompanied minor when she was seated in a window seat next to Pascal, who had a middle seat, according to the criminal complaint against the pilot. The girl had crutches due to a foot injury, the documents said. Pascal helped the girl get a blanket and asked about her injured foot, the complaint said. She lowered the armrest between them, spread the blanket over her lap, pulled her legs toward her chest and went to sleep, according to the document. When she awoke, according to the complaint, the armrest had been raised and the palm of Pascal's hand was touching her inner thigh and gripping her buttock. He was leaning against her and "clearly awake" with his eyes open, the girl told authorities. The complaint stated the girl elbowed the pilot and pointedly asked him what he was doing. Pascal apologized, said he had been asleep and hurried for the bathroom, the documents said. The girl notified a flight attendant and switched seats with another passenger at the rear of the airplane. Pascal was detained at the Salt Lake City airport and questioned by the FBI. Pascal said he raised the armrest between himself and the girl because he was crowded by the man in the aisle seat, according to the complaint. He said that he fell asleep with his hands in his lap, awoke to the girl jabbing him and did not know where his right hand was when he was awakened, according to the complaint. Pascal, a resident of Park City, Utah, and the divorced father of a teenage girl, was "blindsided" by his arrest, attorney Zabriskie said. "It's his practice to take a nap on these return flights," he added. "Everything was going normally until he felt an elbow jabbing him and he woke up and that's when his horror began." http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/31/21259472-off-duty-delta-airlines-pilot- accused-of-fondling-girl-during-flight?lite Back to Top More needed to improve air safety: CAA The aviation industry's regulator says rules granting it more oversight of commercial adventure operators have improved safety since the Carterton balloon tragedy last year, but more can still be done. Eleven people died in January last year when their balloon crashed in Carterton after hitting power lines and catching fire - the second-worst such disaster worldwide at the time. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission on Thursday said the crash was caused by errors of judgment by pilot Lance Hopping, who was found to have cannabis in his system. It called for new legislation or rules requiring operators to introduce drug testing and deterrence regimes, preventing people operating craft while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and setting maximum alcohol limits. The Civil Aviation Authority says the industry introduced a rule putting extra requirements on operators prior to the report being released on Thursday. But its director, Graeme Harris, says that "while the CAA now places far greater scrutiny on the adventure and tourism aviation industry, there is a need for further drug and alcohol testing in the sector". He said CAA's overriding goal "is to keep aviation in New Zealand as safe as possible". The TAIC report says it was highly likely Mr Hopping smoked cannabis on the morning of the flight before making deadly errors of judgment while flying. "Although it cannot be concluded definitely that the cause of the accident was the pilot smoking cannabis, the possibility that it did contribute to the accident could not be excluded," the report says. Chief commissioner John Marshall QC told media it was "totally unacceptable" for someone in such a role to be working while impaired, whether the substance was legal or not. He said it was disappointing the Ministry of Transport said it has commissioned research on drug testing before moving to change the rules. "I would observe that alcohol and drug-testing - including random testing - is accepted practice in road transport, and in other modes in other jurisdictions." The incident was among six in the past 10 years, involving 34 deaths, where people operating or performing functions essential to safety on aircraft, vessels or trains have tested positive for performance-impairing substances. http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8747806/drug-tests-urged-after-fatal-balloon-crash Back to Top Bombardier profit dips as aircraft deliveries, orders fall Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc reported a 15 percent fall in net profit, and said both aircraft orders and deliveries fell in the third quarter. Aerospace revenue fell 13 percent to $2 billion. Bombardier, the world's fourth largest planemaker, delivered 45 aircraft during the quarter, down from 57 a year earlier. Net orders fell to 26 aircraft, from 83. The backlog in the aerospace division was $32.9 billion as of Sept. 30, unchanged from Dec. 31. "In aerospace, results were in line with our guidance, but the low order intake and overall market conditions were a disappointment," Chief Executive Pierre Beaudoin said on Thursday. Bombardier, the world's largest trainmaker, said revenue in that division rose nearly 11 percent to $2.1 billion. The order backlog in the transportation unit was $32.6 billion as of Sept. 30, up marginally from Dec. 31. The company also said that Google Inc Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette would join the board. Much attention has been focused this year on Bombardier's new CSeries plane, which was unveiled in March and took flight for the first time last month after months of delays. The company is hoping the aircraft family can catapult it into the low end of a market now dominated by Boeing Co and Airbus. But firm orders for the CSeries are moderate so far at 177, as potential buyers wait for flight test results to validate the company's claims about the new jetliner's fuel efficiency and cost savings potential. Bombardier's net profit fell to $147 million, or 8 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from $172 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue dipped marginally to $4.1 billion. Brazil's Embraer SA, the world's third-largest commercial planemaker and Bombardier's closest rival, reported a 10 percent fall in quarterly profit on Thursday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/bombardier-results- idUSL3N0IL4F320131031 Back to Top Seattle left off first list of design centers for new Boeing aircraft Boeing said Wednesday it would design its new 777X aircraft at five US sites and in Moscow but had made no decision about using its key Washington state facilities. Boeing Commercial Airplanes recently established multiple engineering design centers as part of a long-term strategic vision, Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said in an email to AFP. "BCA will utilize these engineering design centers, as well as engineers from non-BCA sites, to design the 777X," he said. "At this time, no decisions have been made about 777X design or build in Puget Sound," the spokesman said, referring to the Seattle area, where Boeing has a large engineering presence. The 777 is built at its factory in Everett, Washington. "Much of the detailed design" will be carried out by Boeing engineering teams in Charleston, South Carolina; Huntsville, Alabama; Long Beach, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and St. Louis, Missouri, the company told employees in an internal memo seen by AFP. Boeing's design center in Moscow, Russia, will contribute to the design, it said. "Our goal is to leverage skills from across the Boeing enterprise. A program of this size requires that we bring together all of the talent that Boeing has to offer," said the memo, signed by Michael Delaney, vice president of engineering, and Scott Fancher, vice president of airplane development. The executives said that Boeing was "leveraging lessons learned" on the 787 and 747-8 programs to ensure continuity across the 777X program. "The announced structure will allow for an efficient use of resources and enable Boeing to resolve design issues effectively the first time." Birtel, Boeing's spokesman, said the spread-out strategy was key to meeting robust demand for commercial aircraft, the biggest portion of the aerospace and defense giant's business. "This is the right step to take to add Boeing capability and capacity in engineering as the company scales up to meet unprecedented demand for commercial airplanes and services during the next 20 years," he said. Boeing estimates demand for 35,280 new airplanes, valued at $4.8 trillion, through 2032. The 777X is Boeing's working name for its planned newest member of the 777 family. Lufthansa is the launch customer for the new airplane, Boeing announced on September 19, welcoming the German airline's selection of the 777-9X for its future long-haul fleet. Boeing plans to launch the 777X family later this year, with entry into service expected around the end of the decade. The twin-engine aircraft's advanced technology will include new composite wings and new engines, and consume 20 percent less fuel than today's 777, according to the Chicago-based company. This week Emirates Airlines said it was in talks with Boeing for a large order for the new airplane, according to a Financial Times report Monday. "We are in a relatively advanced stage of commercial negotiations... I think whatever happens there will be a substantive order for the new 777," Tim Clark, Emirates chief executive, told the FT. The British newspaper estimated that the fast-growing airline needed between 100-175 aircraft of the 777X which would represent an order exceeding $30 billion. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/30/seattle-left-off-first-list-of-design-centers-for- new-boeing-aircraft/ Back to Top Lawmakers question FAA airplane inspections Lawmakers sparred Wednesday over the Federal Aviation Administration's delegation of airplane safety inspections to aircraft manufacturers after questions were raised earlier this year about its certification of the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner." The FAA came under fire its certification of the Boeing 787 after the plane was grounded in the beginning of the year following a series of battery failures. The agency was criticized for allowing Boeing to conduct parts of the inspections themselves, in a process known as self-certification. Democrats on the House Aviation subcommittee argued Wednesday that delegating certification tests was the only way the agency could keep up with the high volume of airplanes that have to be inspected. "The FAA's delegation authority is nothing new - it has been a key component for decades," Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) said. "Because FAA simply does not have the personnel to oversee every aspect of aviation certification, the law allows FAA to delegate certain functions to qualified individuals and companies." Larsen added that the FAA would not have to delegate some much of its airplane inspection process if Congress provided more funding for the agency "To ensure that aviation manufacturing continues to play such a critical role in the nation's economy, Congress must provide adequate resources for FAA certification services," Larsen said. "Additionally, Congress should encourage FAA to improve the streamlining process, while maintaining the highest level of safety." Under the self-certification process, airplane safety tests are supposed to be conducted to meet standards that are set by the FAA. The results are then supposed to be double- checked by the FAA before an airplane is ruled to be safe to fly. However, airplane safety advocates called to testify Wednesday questioned where the FAA was spreading itself too thin with the self-certification tests, however. "How much oversight can we have for the designees if we don't have enough inspectors?" said Professional Aviation Safety Specialists President Mike Perrone. FAA officials testified that delegating inspections like it did during the initial "Dreamliner" certification process allowed the agency to tap other companies areas of expertise as it grapples with new technology. "No entity is going to have the expertise in every single piece of technology, and industry is continually pushing the boundaries," FAA Aircraft Certification Service Director Dorenda Baker said. House aviation panel chairman Rep. Frank LoBiondo said Wednesday he was going to take a wait-and-see approach to measure the impact of changes to the FAA's airplane certification process that were made in the 2012 funding they passed for the agency. "It is the shared goal of everyone in this room to find the right balance between maintaining the highest level of aviation safety while achieving greater efficiencies in FAA's certification processes," the panel's chairman, Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), said. "As the aviation industry develops new products and other innovations, the FAA must likewise evolve." LoBiondo countered Larsen that Congress did exactly that in the funding bill that was approved for the FAA in 2012. "The aviation subcommittee often hears concerns from companies, operators and other certificate holders related to the FAA's certification processes," LoBiondo said. "In particular, long wait times, inconsistent regulatory interpretations, and redundant or outdated processes have all been brought to the Subcommittee's attention," LoBiondo continued. "In response, Congress included two important provisions in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to improve the FAA's certification processes. These provisions require the agency to develop plans to streamline their certification processes, and address regional regulatory inconsistencies - all while maintaining the highest level of safety." General Aviation Manufacturers Association President Pete Bunce sided with Rep. Larsen's argument that the self-certification were not a problem. "Designees are nothing new since the FAA was created in [1958]," Bunce said. "Every pilot out there used a designee to get their license." Bunce said it was more important that the FAA get its certifications right, no matter who was conducting the initial tests. "If something has the FAA stamp of approval, we don't want any other country to have to come over and inspect [the airplanes] again," he said. "We want them to accept the FAA gold standard." http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/aviation/188681-lawmakers-question-faa- airplane-inspections Back to Top US companies eager to invest in India's aviation sector Top US companies are eager to invest in India's booming aviation sector's various fields, from security to building new airports, with recent changes in regulatory environment "encouraging" them, American officials have said. Though top Obama Administration officials urged the Indian Government to address its concerns with regard to some of the key policy issues, it also praised the recent measures taken by Delhi. "Indian aviation is experiencing dramatic growth across the board, from the emergence of new carriers to a growing middle class ready to take travel by air. Recent changes to regulatory environment are another encouraging sign," US Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox said at the India-US Aviation Summit here yesterday. "Those changes send a signal to private industry that the Indian government increasingly recognises the needs and interests of business," Fox said. Director of US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Leocadia I Zak said the US-India Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP) is well-positioned to foster growth in the aviation market and to facilitate the changes needed to support that growth. "The Government of India recognises that growth in the aviation sector means broader growth across the economy, and has already taken steps to enable investment and revise regulations. Last year, the Government approved higher levels of foreign investment in Indian airlines," she said. "As a result, new investments have recently been announced in both existing and new carriers. The Indian Government has also declared its intent to change its international flight regulations to allow more Indian carriers to enter international service," Zak said. "USTDA and the ACP have also sought to increase technical capacity through training and the sharing of best practises. One of the ACP's first activities was an innovative training program that focused on improving high-density air traffic management operations at several Indian airports," Zak said. USTDA has also worked with its ACP members to assist India in implementing several innovative technologies, she added. "In fact, before the ACP was formally established, USTDA responded to some of our key US and Indian partners, who had identified a need for improved navigation. The Agency employed a variety of our program tools to assist India in implementing one of the world's most advanced satellite air navigation systems, known as GAGAN," she said. "As a result, India awarded a major contract to a US-led consortium that is helping to implement GAGAN. When the system becomes operational next year, India will be the fourth region in the world to transition to this cutting-edge technology," Zak said. Deputy Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service (US and FCS) Judy Rising Reinke said that during the past 10 years, US aerospace exports to India have more than doubled reaching more than USD 1.5 billion in 2012. "But trade goes both ways, and it's important to note our relationship has led to Indian successes as well. Indian aerospace exports to the United States are almost 22 times what they were a decade ago," she said. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/- aviation/us-companies-eager-to-invest-in-countrys-aviation- sector/articleshow/24972746.cms Back to Top Back to Top Area 51 hosted tests for 'secretly acquired' Soviet fighter jets The US government "secretly acquired" Soviet aircraft during the Cold War and tested them at Area 51, according to documents released Tuesday that shed light on the once- classified and long speculated base deep in the Nevada desert. The CIA in August confirmed the existence of Area 51 when it released declassified documents through a Freedom of Information Act request by George Washington University's National Security Archive. The initial documents show that Area 51 was used to test the US government's aerial programs. One of those programs was the government's investigation of the multiple Soviet MiG fighter planes it "secretly acquired" during the Cold War. The first documented acquisition was the MiG-21, originally obtained by Israel in August 1966. From January 1968 to April 1968, Israel loaned the plane to the US air force, which referred to the aircraft as the YF- 110. The air force examined the plane's technical characteristics and evaluated its performance to see how the US government's weapons and aircraft compared tactically under the Have Doughnut program (pdf). Similar evaluations were conducted in 1969 with the MiG-17 under the not-as-delightfully-named Have Drill and Have Ferry campaigns (pdf). Other MiG examinations took place later, but details of those programs have not been declassified. As part of the air force's evaluation of Soviet air scheme, the military group would simulate a Soviet-style air defense complex made out of systems with names including Mary, Susan and Kathy. According to the documents (pdf), officials were concerned about maintaining secrecy of the space early on and it was nearly uncovered by American astronauts taking routine overhead imagery. These images set off an internal discussion about how to prevent exposure of the site. Robert Singel, National Reconnaissance Office deputy director, said in a 1974 letter (pdf) that releasing the photos to the public "would almost certainly provide strong stimulus for media questioning and the potential near-term revelation of the missions of the installation." The site was eventually transferred from the CIA to the air force in the late-1970s and became widely known in the mid-1990s. Area 51 was discovered by government staffers and Lockheed Martin employees who thought it would be a good place to test aircraft while flying over Nevada, according to the first batch of documents. Archive senior fellow Jeffrey T Richelson was able to review the documents in 2002, but mentions of Area 51 were redacted at the time. He submitted a request for the CIA's history again in 2005 to continue his research on aerial surveillance programs. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/29/declassified-area-51-soviet-aircraft- cold-war Curt Lewis