Flight Safety Information January 28, 2014 - No. 020 In This Issue 3 dead after helicopter crash in rural western Colorado One dead in Wonderboom plane crash Engine failure blamed for crash of homemade plane near Perth high school Save the Date: 6th Annual Aviation Human Factors and SMS Seminar - Dallas, TX Pilot, dad walk 15 miles for help after AZ plane crash Plane Crash Near Sint Maarten Think ARGUS PROS Carbon fibre planes: Lighter and stronger by design Guns, swords, grenades: what Americans try to take on planes Who's Paying For Your Free Airport Wi-Fi? Lion Air May Convert 787 Orders, Call Bids for Planes Record count of private planes touching down for Super Bowl 3 dead after helicopter crash in rural western Colorado A veteran Colorado pilot known for helping the local sheriff's department with helicopter rescues was killed Monday after his chopper tangled in power lines and crashed near rural Silt. Doug Sheffer, owner of DBS Helicopters based in nearby Rifle, was among three people killed around 11:18 a.m. during a survey of power lines for a local energy company, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. The other two dead have yet to be publicly identified after the crash, which killed everyone aboard some 180 miles west of Denver. "He was certainly a top-notch pilot and good friend, and was instrumental in a lot of search and rescue efforts," Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario told the newspaper. "Because of Doug we were able to rescue many people that we might not otherwise have been able to." The helicopter was registered to DBS Helicopters in Rifle, about eight miles west of Silt. Monday was the first day the company was to take representatives from Holy Cross Energy to survey 250 miles of power lines this week, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. The poles are reportedly 50 feet tall, the newspaper reported, and the helicopter was expected to fly 30 feet above the lines anywhere up to 40 miles per hour. The survey, beginning in DeBeque, was expected to go through Wednesday. The company declined to comment Monday afternoon. According to his online profile, Sheffer had 22 years experience and 8,000 hours logged flying in mountains above 8,000 feet. The company owns and operates only one helicopter, a Bell 206B-3 JetRanger that was outfitted with a camera and other after-market upgrades. This summer, Sheffer, 63, was the subject of a long profile piece written by Vertical magazine. The author described the company as "the go-to operator for utility companies, movie productions, constructions projects and backcountry adventuring throughout much of Colorado's Western Slope." "We are really committed to making people's experiences working with helicopters beyond positive," Sheffer told the magainze. "We try to do jobs faster and more efficient[ly], and come in under budget. That has [sort of] been the hallmark of this company. I want a customer to walk away saying, 'Wow, that blew me away.' " The crash happened near Dry Hallow Road, just south of Interstate 70, the major east-west highway through the state. Temperatures in the town were in the 30s Monday. It's unclear if weather played a role in the crash. Gary C. Robb, a leading helicopter crash attorney based in Kansas City, Mo., told the Daily News such crashes are caused by a malfunction, pilot error or weather conditions. "Man, machine and environment, which encompasses all of those things," Robb said Monday. "The true tragedy, no matter how you look at it, is that three people who were alive this morning are now deceased. It's not just that metal went down, it's a human tragedy. What caused it to crash is all well and good, but it's not going to bring these people back." http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/3-dead-helicopter-crash-rural-western-colorado-article- 1.1592977 Back to Top One dead in Wonderboom plane crash One person died in a light aircraft crash at Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria on Tuesday morning, Sinoville police said. "At around 7.35am, the plane was in a lift-off when it crashed in the airport grounds," said police spokeswoman Mirna von Benecke. "Only one person was on the plane." No one was on the ground at the time, and no other injuries were reported, she said. The person was identified but the family had not yet been informed. Von Benecke said she was unable to provide further details on the matter. Civil Aviation Authority spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu referred queries to the department of transport. The department's deputy director general for aviation, Zakele Thwala, was not immediately available to comment. Management at the airport confirmed that an incident had taken place, but could not provide details about it. http://citizen.co.za/117861/one-dead-wonderboom-plane-crash/ Back to Top Engine failure blamed for crash of homemade plane near Perth high school AIR crash investigators have revealed the pilot of a homemade plane reported engine failure before flying under power lines and crashing in a fireball on an oval just metres from a Perth high school. Aviation enthusiasts Tony White and Ralph Lerch had just taken off from Jandakot airport on December 9 when the air traffic control tower was told of the trouble. Moments later, after flying low over houses in South Lake, the plane flew beneath a set of power transmission lines before clipping trees that bordered the sports field, and then striking a metal goalpost. Witnesses heard and saw a fireball near the Lakeland Senior High School, and the burning aircraft tumbling along the ground on the sports field before coming to rest. The two men were hurled free of the wreckage - and both suffered serious burns - but survived. The amateur-built Glasair III aircraft was destroyed by the impact and what the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) described as "an intense post-impact fuel-fed fire". In an initial summary of their investigation, an examination of the wreckage found the aircraft's left wing was sheared off by the collision with the goalpost, which allowed fuel to pour from the ruptured wing fuel tank. A nearby CCTV camera also captured the latter part of the impact sequence, showing the fuel ignited almost immediately after the wing collided with the goalpost. "The aircraft structure, which is constructed primarily of fibreglass/resin and carbon fibre, was almost completely burnt," the ATSB said. The fully bent-back propeller blades and propeller strike marks on the ground were consistent with a windmilling propeller - which meant it was being driven by the airflow rather than by engine power. A final ATSB report is expected in May. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/engine-failure-blamed-for-crash-of-homemade-plane- near-perth-high-school/story-fnhocxo3-1226812344698 Back to Top Back to Top Pilot, dad walk 15 miles for help after AZ plane crash WILLCOX, AZ (CBS5) - A pilot and his father walked 15 miles for help after their landing gear, propeller and wing were damaged during a landing in a remote area in southeast Arizona Sunday. A rancher feeding his cattle notified authorities after seeing a plane with significant damage in one of his pastures near Wells and Ashcreek roads, 30 miles northwest of Willcox. Fourteen sheriff's volunteers from Cochise and Graham counties located the crash site. A short time later, A search and rescue coordinator with Graham County found the pilot walking down a road. The 39-year-old pilot had left his 77-year-old dad at a house and was walking to another home to call for help. The pair told investigators they tried to land in the remote area to camp and go deer hunting but the landing gear struck a rock hidden in the tall grass, damaging parts of the aircraft. They walked a few miles then set up camp for the night. At daylight Monday, they continued out of the mountains. Neither the pilot nor his father was injured. They are both from Tucson. http://www.kctv5.com/story/24559345/pilot-dad-walk-15-miles-for-help-after-az-plane-crash Back to Top Plane Crash Near Sint Maarten PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten - A Piper Aztec twin engine aircraft crashed on Monday afternoon two and a half miles out of Guana Bay. At approximately five (5pm) we got news that the aircraft with three American Nationals on board had gone down. The aircraft which originated from St. Barths had just departed Grand Case and was en route to St. Barths when it crashed for unknown reasons. Apparently both engines of the aircraft died on the pilot before he ditched. This is usually a sign of fuel contamination, however the cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The three passengers on board of the aircraft are alive and were rescued and brought to shore in St. Maarten. The passengers were initially rescued by the Voyager vessel and brought to shore by the St. Maarten Sea Rescue and was rushed to the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) where they were treated for minor injuries.. The plane crashed in the corridor between St. Martin and St. Barths. http://www.curacaochronicle.com/aviation/plane-crash-near-sint-maarten/ Back to Top Back to Top Carbon fibre planes: Lighter and stronger by design When it comes to airliners, weight is money. The heavier a plane is, the more fuel it takes to drive it through the air. The more fuel it takes, the more it costs. The drive to increase fuel efficiency and improve the aerodynamic performance of new aircraft is leading designers to move away from using aluminium in airframes. Instead today's latest planes like Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and Airbus's A350 rely on lightweight carbon fibre composites - woven mats of carbon which are embedded in plastic. The key to a composite material like carbon fibre is that it is incredibly strong for its weight. "You have carbon fibres mixed into a matrix," says Manchester University lecturer Aravind Vijayaraghavan. "Normally the matrix is a type of plastic, which is not very strong, but if you mix in carbon fibre then it takes on the strength of carbon fibre and becomes strong." In the UK, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has been working with Britain's National Composite Centre into research and modelling of new industrial designs and materials. 'Mould all the parts together' One development of this research has been the trailing edges of the wing of Airbus's latest plane, the A350. This is the part that extends back and down from the wing as a plane comes into land. "This is a component that takes the full load of those forces as you're travelling through the air at about 250mph - and you can lift it yourself," says Colin Sirett, head of research for Airbus in the UK. "We could get a sledgehammer and take it to this panel and the sledgehammer would actually bounce off," he told BBC World Service's Business Daily programme. Composites mean that manufacturers can get a good surface finish on components to optimise their aerodynamic performance. Using these kinds of materials is also opening up other potential savings. An A380 super-jumbo, for instance, has about six million parts - but in future this could be cut considerably. "We will mould all the parts together at the same time, so our perception of what a single part is will change," says Mr Sirett. With fewer components, manufacturing time also will shorten, saving money. Crucially for aircraft manufacturers, carbon fibre components are lighter than similar parts made of aluminium. "If we can take a kilogram of weight out, that's got a huge saving over the life of an aircraft," says Mr Sirett. Each kilogram saving in weight can save roughly $1m (£603,000) in costs over the lifetime of an aircraft, and the use of such composites can reduce the weight of an aircraft by up to 20%. Growing use of composites Of course, since the mid-1970s civil airliners have had some carbon fibre in their airframes. Currently, Boeing's latest plane, the 787 Dreamliner uses composites for half of its airframe including the fuselage and wing, while Airbus's A350 XWB has both its fuselage and wings made of carbon fibre. While the use of carbon fibre has allowed the creation of sweeping wing tips, which can cut fuel consumption by up to 5%, both aircraft are still fairly conventionally shaped. Yet, the great advantage of using carbon fibre as opposed to traditional metal is that it gives designers much more freedom when trying to juggle the conflicting demands of aerodynamic efficiency, fuel savings and reducing engine noise. So, the airliners of the future are likely to be radically different. Such shapes could include blended wing designs, where the fuselage and wings merge into each other - like some military aircraft today. Future designs Such a design could significantly improve a plane's lift-to-drag ratio - making it much more aerodynamically efficient, and also reduce its overall weight. Airbus recently unveiled its own proposals for an airliner of the future - and it too moves away from the traditional narrow tube-like fuselage. Instead, its 2050 concept plane has a fatter fuselage, which is curved and shaped to improve airflow and to provide more internal space. Its wings are longer and slimmer to reduce drag and save on fuel. The tail section is U-shaped, which acts as a shield, cutting down on engine noise. The engines themselves will have become more reliable, so ground crew will need to access them less frequently for maintenance. This means they can be partially embedded in the airframe to improve fuel consumption. Futuristic concepts like this may never quite get off the drawing board, but elements of it are certain to be incorporated in all future aircraft designs, in large part due to the materials revolution which is rapidly changing all aspects of manufacturing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25833264 Back to Top Guns, swords, grenades: what Americans try to take on planes It's a given that bringing a loaded firearm onto a US plane is illegal. But that did not stop 1,477 people from trying to do just that last year, officials said Friday. Passengers also sought to sneak grenades, inert explosives, tear gas, cane-swords and even a medieval mace onto flights, all part of the varied weaponry detected at airport checkpoints by the Transportation Security Administration in 2013. TSA said agents seized 1813 guns, 1477 of them loaded, from checkpoints at 205 airports last year, thanks to the use of metal detectors and advanced imaging technology. That marks a 16.5-per cent increase in firearm seizures from 2012. Nearly 639 million passengers were screened in 2013, about 1.1 million more than the previous year. Atlanta, the world's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, led the way with 111 weapons intercepted in 2013. TSA revealed the data in a blog post, with images of various weaponry and non-functioning explosives such as an inert Claymore mine or gag gifts resembling live grenades or improvised explosive devices, that passengers sought to bring aboard commercial flights. "The problem with these types of items is that we don't know if they are real, toys or replicas until we call out the explosive experts," TSA said on its blog. The list of intercepted items is long: a fake suicide vest used by an explosives instructor as a training aid; a live blasting cap and fuse lighter; a shotgun discovered in a checked golf bag; an inert Bazooka round; and a stun gun designed to look like lipstick. One passenger who opted out of standard screening at the Pittsburgh airport, but underwent a security pat- down, was found to have a loaded .45-caliber pistol strapped to his ankle. TSA also published a mosaic of photographs showing the grenades seized from passengers -- 136 in total. Several passengers showed ingenuity in their efforts to conceal daggers, swords, machetes, pocket knives, throwing stars and other blades. Officials discovered several sabers concealed inside canes, a comb-knife, a non-metallic dagger hidden under a passenger's shirt, and a so-called credit-card knife. Less dangerous but equally intriguing: Agents discovered large fragments of a human skull in checked bag in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/guns-swords-grenades-what-americans-try-to-take-on-planes- 20140127-31ijj.html Back to Top Who's Paying For Your Free Airport Wi-Fi? With banks of blinking slot machines situated just past the security check, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas will never be a "normal" airport. But the tourism and convention money that comes from serving as the gateway to the Strip means that McCarran can also afford to be an early adopter of traveler-friendly technology. Ten years ago McCarran was one of the first big U.S. airports to give away Wi-Fi. Today the airport is in the process of deploying one of the first systems to beam Wi-Fi outside the terminal to fliers stuck on board arriving and departing aircraft. "The experience where a customer feels forced to pay at a location is not a happy experience," says Samuel Ingalls, McCarran's longtime IT chief. "I can't overstate what kind of positive reaction we've gotten over the years." The rest of the country is finally catching up, with more than 90% of the biggest 150 U.S. airports offering a free or "freemium" Internet connection last year, according to research by wireless software company Devicescape. Last year three of the biggest holdouts-the New York-area airports John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark-offered free Wi-Fi almost half of the time. Airports aren't offering Wi-Fi because it's suddenly cheap-it's expensive and often a headache to deploy. "We've got almost 3 million square feet to cover. It's not like running to Best Buy BBY -1.68%," says Scott Wintner of Detroit Metro Airport. But customers want free Wi-Fi, and at some point in the last year or so the failure to offer a free, consistent connection has become a competitive disadvantage. The number of major hubs that charge for Wi-Fi is now ten. The nation's busiest airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, is the one most often singled out. It lowered its fees to $4.95 in 2012 and delayed a planned switch to free in the fall. Minneapolis-St. Paul International shifted to freemium, charging only for intensive use such as video streaming or connections that last for more than 45 minutes. The shift to free has led to changes in who pays for airport Wi-Fi. Four years ago Google GOOG -2.01% popularized the concept of underwriting an entire airport's Wi-Fi during a holiday promotion. Startups such as JiWire and Cloud Nine Media began offering ad deals directly to airports to defray some costs with 30-second video spots, rich media and banner ads. As ad-supported Wi-Fi has taken off, the biggest partner to airports has remained Boingo Wireless WIFI - 0.79%, which has traditionally paid for the equipment and installation and split its monthly and daily access fee revenue with the airports in multiyear contracts. Buying up its rivals, Boingo at the time of its 2011 IPO claimed to reach 42% of all North American passengers in 271 airports (plus contracts in restaurants, malls and hotels). The emerging appetite for free Wi-Fi has forced Boingo to look for more varied revenue sources. It bought into the ad-supported trend by acquiring Cloud Nine in August 2012 and a fast-growing competitor, Advanced Wireless Group, which had contracts with LAX and Miami, in October. That brought back airports such as Minneapolis-St. Paul, which AWG snatched from Boingo in an ad-supported deal that made the airport twice as much money ($400,000 last year). Even with the acquisitions Boingo's revenue grew just 3% last year, and its shares are off 50% from their highs in 2012. Analysts are more bullish about its move into military bases through its February 2013 acquisition of a firm called Endeka. "There is always competition to keep us on our feet," says Boingo President Nick Hulse. "I think we are caught up to this new market trend." As long as advertisers are footing the bill, airports no longer care which infrastructure vendor gets the deal. Throwing open a contract to new players brings the extra benefit of higher-speed networking gear. By switching to AT&T, Dallas/Fort Worth is getting one of the best high-speed free Wi-Fi systems in the U.S. (see table, p. 46) . Houston's two airports will forgo the $300,000 they make per year in a 35% revenue share with Boingo and choose a new ad partner to help cover the cost of new gear. "It's unlikely we will continue with Boingo," says chief commercial officer Ian Wadsworth. Boingo still has tricks up its sleeve. At Chicago's bustling O'Hare International Boingo is testing a new Hotspot 2.0 that lets authenticated smartphone users hop onto Wi-Fi securely at no cost. Who would likely foot the bill? AT&T and Verizon. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2014/01/22/airport-wifi-free/ Back to Top Lion Air May Convert 787 Orders, Call Bids for Planes PT Lion Mentari Airlines, Indonesia's biggest carrier, may convert an order for five Boeing Co. (BA) Dreamliners and then call new bids to buy planes with more than 250 seats amid a boom in domestic traffic. The carrier wants to deploy wide-body aircraft on domestic routes amid difficulty in getting airport slots on sectors such as from capital Jakarta to Medan, Chief Executive Officer Rusdi Kirana said today. Lion Air will also consider an initial public offering within the next two years, Kirana said in Batam, Indonesia. From Singapore to Vietnam, carriers in Southeast Asia are buying new aircraft as about 600 million people -- or the combined population of the U.S., Germany and Brazil -- fly more. Boeing and Airbus Group NV, the world's two biggest planemakers, both count on Asian airlines to buy more aircraft in the next two decades as economic growth in the region enables more people to take flights. The carrier will convert its order for five Boeing 787s to smaller, single-aisle aircraft, Kirana said, declining to elaborate on new orders. Lion Air already has 700 planes on order and expects to have ordered 1,000 aircraft within two to three years, Kirana said in March. The Jakarta-based carrier agreed to buy 230 Boeing 737 planes in 2012 and ordered 234 planes from Airbus in March. The Indonesian carrier has relied on self-funding and bank loans to fund aircraft purchase in the past, Kirana said today. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-27/lion-air-may-convert-787-orders-call-new-bids-for-larger- planes.html Back to Top Record count of private planes touching down for Super Bowl The Seahawks and Broncos may still be a few days from combat, but already Super Bowl XLVIII has crowned a clear winner: the Tri-State Area's private aviation arena. Over this coming week, some 1,200 extra planes are expected to land in the region's private airports and terminals. Arriving from across the nation - with flights particularly boosted from Seattle and Denver - the numbers are up to 10 times the usual traffic at the private airports closest to MetLife Stadium: Teterboro, Morristown and Newark's six-week-old private aviation terminal. "We are fully expecting the largest gathering of private jets ever in North America," says Jeff Trance, senior vice president of Air Partner, North America, a leading global aviation provider. The private aviation onslaught reflects the importance of the Super Bowl for America's deepest-pocketed flyers and their increasing disdain for commercial carriers. For the regional airports, this has meant prepping for Sunday's big event with almost military-like execution. Airport landing and take-off slots have been precisely allotted, arrival and departure times exactly calibrated and flying clearances secured for days in advance. Teterboro - the closest airport to the stadium - will actually be a "no-fly zone" for the 10 hours surrounding the game for security reasons. Accordingly, the airport has taken the unprecedented step of requiring take-off and landing reservations for an entire week surrounding the Super Bowl. At Newark, meanwhile, Signature Flight Support, which operates the new private terminal, expects 10 times the usual traffic for the coming days. Clearly, the pressure to arrive via private jet is tight, but Trance says landing slots can still be secured. His only caveat: "Book now!" http://nypost.com/2014/01/27/record-count-of-private-planes-touching-down-for-super-bowl/ Curt Lewis