Flight Safety Information January 20, 2014 - No. 016 In This Issue Four die in Indonesia air crash Wrong-Airport Southwest Pilot Hadn't Flown to Branson Ethiopia Passes FAA's Safety Audit Airlines flout fog-safety norms (India) FAA Proposes $150,000 Civil Penalty Against Talon Air, Inc Passengers of an Asiana Airlines jet sue Boeing for a crash that killed 3 and injured 200 Think ARGUS PROS Announcing...The Annual "Moral Courage Safety Awards" NTSB Chairman - Deborah Hersman Awarded Honorary Doctorate From Delft University of Technology Clydes Hong Kong partner made global head of aviation finance Four die in Indonesia air crash Four people have been killed after a light aircraft crashed in bad weather in eastern Indonesia. The Piper PA-34 Seneca, owned by PT Intan Angkasa Air Service, crashed into a paddy field and burst into flames near a housing complex in Tual on the Molucca Islands after taking off from Sentani town in Papua province. Indonesia's transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said a pilot, a technician and two ground staffers of the company were on their way to Surabaya city on the country's main island of Java for a routine inspection of the US-made twin engine plane. All four died. He said the pilot made a contact with the control tower minutes before the crash, but did not indicate any problems despite heavy downpours. The bodies of the four men were recovered from the charred wreckage and investigations into the crash are ongoing. Indonesia, a nation of 240 million, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years. Overcrowding, ageing infrastructure and poor safety standards are often blamed. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/four-die-in-indonesia-air-crash-29929943.html **************** Date: 19-JAN-2014 Time: 10:00 p.m. Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain Owner/operator: PT. Intan Angkasa Registration: PK-IWT C/n / msn: 31-7752090 Fatalities: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Tual, South East Maluku - Indonesia Phase: En route Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Sentani Destination airport: Surabaya Narrative: The plane crashed after it was hit by lightning and burst into flames, resulting in four casualties. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Wrong-Airport Southwest Pilot Hadn't Flown to Branson By Alan Levin The captain of a Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) plane that landed at the wrong Branson, Missouri, airport Jan. 12 had never flown there, and the pilots didn't realize their error until they were on the ground, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said. While the pilots programmed Branson Airport into their flight management computers, they saw a beacon at M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport and headed for it, the investigative agency said in an e-mailed statement today. "They confirmed that they utilized heavy braking to bring the aircraft to a stop and then advised the Branson Airport tower that they had landed at the wrong airport," the NTSB said in its first update following the incident. Southwest Flight 4013, from Chicago's Midway Airport, landed about 6 p.m. local time with 124 passengers and a crew of five. The co-pilot had landed at Branson once, and that was in daylight, according to the NTSB. The landing strip at the municipal airport is 3,738 feet long, compared with 7,140 feet at Branson Airport, according to aviation website AirNav.com. The airports are 7 miles (11 kilometers) apart and their runways point in a similar direction. The Southwest landing echoed an errant nighttime landing Nov. 20 in Wichita, Kansas, when an Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. (AAWW) jumbo-jet freighter used a municipal airport instead of McConnell Air Force Base. Pilots Suspended Southwest declined to comment on the NTSB update, Brandy King, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "We continue to work closely with the authorities and once we receive the final NTSB report, we will conduct a thorough review," King said. A controller in the Branson Airport tower radioed the pilots to tell them they were about 15 miles from their intended destination, according to the NTSB. The crew replied that they had the airport in sight. The controller then cleared them to land using visual rules. While navigation equipment would have shown the pilots the correct location of the airport, crews often fly the final few miles to a runway manually. The pilots told investigators they didn't suspect anything was wrong because of the brightness of Downtown Airport's runway lights and its landing strip has a similar orientation to Branson's. The pilots were suspended with pay pending the outcome of investigations by U.S. agencies and the carrier. The captain, who joined Southwest in 1999, has about 16,000 flight hours, according to the NTSB. The co- pilot began work at Southwest in 2001 and has flown 25,000 hours. The safety board didn't provide information on the role of a Southwest dispatcher who was sitting in a third seat in the rear of the cockpit. Dispatchers work with pilots on flight plans, weather and fuel, and are permitted to ride in the cockpit. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-17/wrong-airport-southwest-pilot-hadn-t-flown-to-branson.html Back to Top Ethiopia Passes FAA's Safety Audit Officials of FAA last week informed ECAA that Ethiopia meets the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) international flight safety standards. The drector general of ECAA, Wossenyeleh Hugegnaw (Col.), who traveled to the US was informed that Ethiopia retained its Category 1 status. "We have been informed that we qualified as Category 1. There are some works that we have to do with experts of FAA. Then we will receive an official notification letter from FAA," Wossenyeleh told The Reporter. ECAA will hold a press conference announcing the result of the audit and the significance of qualifying for Category 1 list. FAA grants permits to airlines of a country to fly to the US if the regulatory body of that country qualifies the FAA audits. Ethiopian Airlines started flying to the US in 1998 after ECAA was certified by the FAA as Category 1. FAA conducted the international flight safety audit on ECAA last August. FAA team of experts lead by John Barbagallo, chief inspector, came to Addis Ababa on August 23 to audit the ECAA. The experts spent five days assessing the authority working procedures and the qualifications of experts of the authority. Five FAA inspectors evaluated all the working procedures of the ECAA and the qualifications of the professionals working in the authority. FAA's checklist comprises thousands of items but the most critical ones are: the existence of legislation, organizational structure, regulation, skilled man power, operation manuals, operators certification, surveillance (followups), and enforcement. After the experts conducted the assessment they identified 36 findings. Most of the problems are related to the availability of certified personnel. They gave ECAA two months to rectify the deficiencies. "It was a thorough investigation," Wossenyeleh said. According to Wossenyeleh, with the support of the Ethiopian government the authority worked hard to fill the gaps. "The government provided us with all the support we required. Our government showed that it is really committed to the development of aviation in this country," Wossenyeleh said. According to him, the authority rectified most of the findings. For countries which fail to meet the flight safety audit, their carriers will be banned from flying to the US. Ethiopian Airlines flies to Washington DC and it plans to add two more destinations in the US. http://allafrica.com/stories/201401200572.html Back to Top Airlines flout fog-safety norms (India) NEW DELHI: Despite DGCA asking airlines to deploy aircrafts and cabin crew capable of flying in CAT-III B conditions, some airlines continue to flout norms, thereby causing delays and multiple cancellations. The oversight was discovered by a panel set up by Prabhat Kumar, director general of civil aviation, to make Delhi a zero-diversion airport by next winter. Headed by joint DG, Lalit Gupta, the panel found that airlines such as SpiceJet and Alliance Air ( a subsidy of Air India) are not CAT III-B compliant, which allows planes to land even when visibility is as low as 75m. "The panel will make CAT III-B mandatory for airlines to get slots during fog. Airlines can either comply or lose passengers to airlines better equipped to fly during fog," said a senior official. The panel came to this conclusion after examining this month's diversion data. The dreadfully foggy night of January 5-6 saw a record 52 diversions. Following this, DGCA asked airlines to fly to Delhi after keeping the weather in mind to avoid being diverted. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Airlines-flout-fog-safety-norms/articleshow/29078924.cms Back to Top FAA Proposes $150,000 Civil Penalty Against Talon Air, Inc The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $150,000 civil penalty against Talon Air, Inc., of Farmingdale, New York, for allegedly violating Federal Aviation Regulations by allowing four pilots to fly without proper training or examinations. The FAA alleges three of the pilots did not undergo recurrent training or receive competency flight checks within the required periods of time. The agency alleges the fourth pilot's initial training was conducted by an unqualified person. As a result, none of the pilots were qualified to fly the charter carrier's Hawker 4000 aircraft. The FAA alleges that collectively, the pilots flew at least 64 times between October 23, 2011 and July 9, 2012 while they were unqualified to serve as on-demand flight crew members. Talon Air has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's enforcement letter to respond to the agency. http://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/faa-proposes-150000-civil-penalty-talon-air- inc/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+travelandtourworld- travelandtourismnews+%28Travel+And+Tour+World%29 Back to Top Passengers of an Asiana Airlines jet sue Boeing for a crash that killed 3 and injured 200 (CNN) - Some of the passengers who were onboard an Asiana Airlines jet that crashed in San Francisco last year are now suing Boeing. A Chicago-based law firm filed suit against the jet maker. An attorney with the firm says her clients are asking for damages and that Boeing be held "partially liable" for the crash. The lawsuit alleges that some equipment on the Boeing 777 plane was improperly installed or defective, resulting in inadequate warnings for the pilots about low airspeed. The incident left three people dead and nearly 200 injured. CNN reached out to Boeing but a spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit. http://www.kctv5.com/story/24488720/passengers-of-an-asiana-airlines-jet-sue-boeing-for-a-crash-that- killed-3-and-injured-200 Back to Top Back to Top Announcing The Annual "Moral Courage Safety Awards" Presented at Heli-Expo 2014 Presented by the US DOT - Transportation Safety Institute Call For Nominations The purpose of the award is to promote and foster positive safety culture in the rotorcraft industry by recognizing those individuals and organizations that make sometimes difficult operational decisions based on continued safe operations. Example of a deserving individual and organization - I learned of a HEMS pilot who aborted a critical neonatal transport because of unforecast bad weather. It was a tough call and one that haunted him, but he knew it was the right decision to ensure a safe outcome. His organization supported the decision and went so far as to recognize him for making the tough call. In this case both the individual and the organization should be recognized. Let's face it; it's always easy after the accident to second guess the decisions that put a crew in trouble. What our industry needs is to reward those who make the tough decisions that keep them out of trouble. That's walking the talk of positive safety culture! Sometimes choosing the safest course of action can be difficult, especially if it means modifying the mission. Bottom line, it takes moral courage to do the right thing. You can help - nominate someone today! Who is eligible? Any Crew, Crew Member, Maintainer, Supervisor, Manager, employee and or their organization who demonstrates commitment to a positive safety culture. Email Mr. D Smith for a nomination form. D.smith@dot.gov Or call (US) 405.694.1644 Back to Top NTSB Chairman - Deborah Hersman Awarded Honorary Doctorate From Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) awarded Deborah Hersman (NTSB Chairman) an Honorary Doctorate for her accomplishments in aviation safety last 10 Jan. The photo shows her with two veterans of safety of transportation efforts in the Netherlands; Henk Pongers, former secretary of the Dutch Safety Board and Dr. John Stoop, Professor at Lund University, Sweden. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman is recognized as one of the nation's most visionary and passionate safety leaders who advocates for safety across all modes of transportation. Among her many initiatives, Chairman Hersman has focused attention and actions on distracted driving, child passenger safety, and helping accident victims and their families. She emphasizes the NTSB's role as "the conscience and the compass of the transportation industry." Hersman has been the Board Member on-scene for more than 20 major transportation accidents, chaired scores of NTSB hearings, forums and events, and regularly testifies before Congress. Her leadership has created a more transparent and accountable organization by significantly increasing the quantity and quality of NTSB information available on the agency's website, holding more public meetings to highlight safety issues, and embracing social media to communicate with stakeholders and citizens. Hersman has overseen the timely completion of several high-profile accident investigations during her tenure as Chair, including: * Crash of a Colgan Air commuter airplane near Buffalo, NY in 2009 * Collision of two Metro trains in Washington, DC in 2009 * Crash at the Reno Air Race in 2011 * Pipeline rupture in San Bruno, CA in 2010 * Crash of a chartered airplane carrying Senator Ted Stevens in Aleknagik, AK in 2010 Back to Top ILFC takeover could trigger more aircraft leasing M&A - exec Jan 20 (Reuters) - The $5 billion purchasae of leasing giant ILFC by AerCap could trigger more tie-ups in the aircraft leasing industry, a rival U.S. lessor said on Monday. The deal "has shown that investors are ready to value leasing companies like other companies, based on earnings... rather than (aircraft) appraisers' valuations," said Ron Wainshal, Chief Executive of Connecticut- based Aircastle. "This is a big catalyst and could open the door for more M&A activity," he told a conference in Dublin hosted by Airline Economics. AerCap announced plans last month to buy International Lease Finance Corp from insurer AIG, cementing the combined portfolio's position as the industry's number two by fleet size behind General Electric's aircraft financing arm GECAS AerCap Chief Executive Aengus Kelly said he expected the transaction to close in April or May. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/20/aviation-finance-mergers-idUSL5N0KU1N820140120 Back to Top CebuPac to take delivery of 8 Airbus aircraft this year Cebu Pacific Airbus A330 MANILA, Philippines - Budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) expects the delivery of eight Airbus aircraft this year as part of a $4 billion refleeting program to beef up its existing fleet of 48 aircraft. Jorenz Taņada, vice president for corporate affairs of Cebu Pacific, said the low cost carrier is taking the delivery of five Airbus A320 as well as three A330 this year. "For 2014, we look forward to taking delivery of 8 additional Airbus aircraft - five Airbus A320 and three Airbus A330," Taņada said. As part of the ongoing refleeting program, Cebu Pacific is scheduled to take delivery of 14 more brand-new A320, 30 A321neo, and four A330 between 2014 and 2021. "The A330s will be utilized to expand our long haul operations. We will continue to bring the benefits of low- cost travel to even more travelers," Taņada said. Last Dec. 22, Cebu Pacific took the delivery of a brand new A320 equipped with Sharklets bringing its current fleet to 48. It now operates a fleet of 48 aircraft comprised of 10 Airbus A319, 28 Airbus A320, two Airbus A330 and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. In all, the airline took the delivery of seven aircraft consisting of five A320 equipped with Sharklets and two A330 aircraft. He pointed out that the milestones achieved by the airline last include the launch of its first long-haul flight to Dubai using the A330 last November, the delivery of Sharklets equipped A320, and servicing its 80th million passenger. "The introduction of our first wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft - which enables us to bring our trademark low fares to farther destinations; the delivery of our Sharklet-equipped A320, making Cebu Pacific the first Philippine carrier to fly with these aerodynamic wingtip devices that generate fuel savings; and the launch of our first long-haul flight to Dubai," he said. Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei said during the announcement of the $15 million deal to acquire 100 percent of Tiger Airways Philippines that the airline expects the delivery of three A330 for its long-haul operations this year. With the acquisition of Tigerair Philippines, the airline plans to shift some of its aircraft to Tigerair Philippines that is expected to return the lease of three A319 to its parent firm in Singapore. http://www.philstar.com/business/2014/01/20/1280701/cebupac-take-delivery-8-airbus-aircraft-year Back to Top Clydes Hong Kong partner made global head of aviation finance Clyde & Co has promoted Hong Kong partner Paul Jebely to head the global aviation finance practice, taking over from London-based partner Philip Perrotta. Jebely, who joined Clydes as counsel in 2011 from Ashurst in Hong Kong, was previously head of aviation finance for Asia and Africa, having taken an active role in developing the regional practice, which now consists of one partner, four associates and one paralegal. Predecessor Perrotta, who remains a senior partner in the aviation group in London, previously took the leadership role in 2011 from Gavin Hill, who left the firm for Vedder Price. He joined the firm's aviation finance group in 2006 as a partner from Stephenson Harwood. Globally, the aviation finance team has six partners working across London, Dubai and Hong Kong. Key clients including Investec, Credit Suisse, GE Capital, ILFC, Minsheng, Air France and Aeroflot, whilst in the past three months the group has advised on more than $10bn worth of separate new aircraft orders. Jebely's appointment comes as increasingly more UK and global law firms are relocating senior partners and practice group heads to the Asia-Pacific region, or promoting partners already based on the ground to global roles. A survey of 30 UK and US law firms by Legal Week last March found that 57% of those firms had at least one global practice head, department co-chair or deputy chair based in Asia, with the majority of these appointed since the start of 2010. Examples last year include Ropes & Gray, who moved its co-head of global M&A James Lidbury to Hong Kong in November a bid to meet increasing demand from its private equity clients in Asia, and Clifford Chance, which relocated its global head of restructuring and insolvency Mark Hyde to Hong Kong in March to head the Asia group. Among the UK firms with one or more global practice heads based in Asia currently include Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Norton Rose, Olswang, SJ Berwin, Stephenson Harwood, Berwin Leighton Paisner and RPC. http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2323779/clydes-hong-kong-partner-made-global-head-of- aviation-finance Curt Lewis