Flight Safety Information February 20, 2014 - No. 037 In This Issue Investigators eye pilot fatigue as possible factor in predawn crash of UPS cargo jet SeaPort fires pilots after faulty landing in Salina Pilot killed in fiery plane crash near Pearland airport (Texas) Air hostess falls from aircraft hit by catering truck Airlines warned to beware of possible shoe bombs PRISM SMS IJAAA - International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace Supersonic Jet Ditches Windows for Massive Live-Streaming Screens China's C919 large airplane schedule to take first flight in 2015 Investigators eye pilot fatigue as possible factor in predawn crash of UPS cargo jet By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal investigators are looking at pilot fatigue, among other issues, as a possible factor in the fatal pre-dawn crash of a UPS cargo jet in Alabama last August. The National Transportation Safety Board scheduled a hearing for Thursday on the accident, which killed both pilots. The pilots' work shift had begun at about 9 p.m. the previous day in Rockford, Ill., and took them to Peoria and then to Lexington, Ky. They were finishing their last scheduled leg when the plane slammed into a hillside just before 5 a.m. while attempting to land in Birmingham. Two years ago, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules aimed at ensuring airline pilots have sufficient rest. But the agency exempted cargo pilots from the rules, citing cost. http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2014/02/20/investigators-eye-pilot- fatigue-in-ups-jet-crash Back to Top SeaPort fires pilots after faulty landing in Salina SALINA, Kan. - The pilot and co-pilot of a SeaPort Airlines plane that landed Friday at Salina Regional Airport without the landing gear being deployed have been fired, the Salina Journal is reporting. It was determined that the incident was due to pilot error, said Rob McKinney, president and CEO of the airline. The pilots' names were not released. The Portland, Ore., airline, a federally subsidized commercial air carrier serving Salina, announced the firings Wednesday. Only the pilot and co-pilot were on board when the nine-seat Pilatus PC-12 landed on its belly. "We concluded that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the aircraft, and it was pilot error," McKinney told the Journal. "There were multiple procedures that weren't followed that resulted in the plane landing gear-up." SeaPort has yet to learn the results of a Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the belly landing, McKinney said. http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/seaport-fires-pilots-after-faulty-landing-in- salina/24565274 Back to Top Pilot killed in fiery plane crash near Pearland airport (Texas) PEARLAND, Texas-Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a small multi- engine airplane to slam into the ground and burst into flames in Brazoria County. The Beechcraft King Air B100 was destroyed on impact, which was so intense, the plane's fuselage was buried four feet into the ground. The resulting fire burned for more than two hours. It took several more hours to find the pilot's remains buried deep in the crater. Investigators believe he was the only one on board the plane. Witnesses said the plane went down along Hasting Field Road just west of Pearland Regional Airport around 9 a.m. Wednesday. The plane was en route from Austin to Galveston when the pilot diverted to Pearland because of heavy fog, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Witnesses said the pilot tried to land but overshot the runway. He circled again before they lost sight of the plane in the fog. They heard the engine rev, then the crash. "The plane just fell right in front of us," said Raul Solis who works near the crash site. Solis and other workers were moving a chemical tank when the crash happened. They barely escaped injury. "I heard debris falling on the cab and on the truck," Solis said. "You can see there's debris and mud on the hood and stuff." The plane went down near two homes, but no one on the ground was hurt. "I heard a loud roaring sound like somebody was racing a car or something," said nearby resident Loretta Aguirre. "All the sudden I heard a loud boom, and the windows in my house shook. I came outside and saw a big ball of fire and a bunch of smoke, and I ran back inside." Aguirre just moved into the house Tuesday. She thought it was an explosion in the oil field until she saw a news alert from KHOU.com. "It really touches close to home cause I work for an airline and it's really scary that I find out it was a plane. it gives me chills," Aguirre said. The pilot was scheduled to pick up two passengers in Galveston. When those passengers got word the plane was diverted, they drove to Pearland. They were at the airport waiting for the plane when it crashed. The pilot reportedly worked for the Dixie Company. His boss arrived at the scene but was too upset to speak with the media. The pilot's identity has not been released. http://www.khou.com/news/local/Aircraft-crash-reported-in-Pearland-246161731.html ************** Date: 19-FEB-2014 Time: 08:35 a.m. Type: Silhouette image of generic BE10 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different Beechcraft B100 King Air Owner/operator: TDC Aviation LLC Registration: N811BL C/n / msn: BE-15 Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Near Pearland Regional Airport (KLVJ), Pearland, Texas - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Unknown Departure airport: Austin, TX Destination airport: Galveston-Sholes Int'l (KGLS) Narrative: A light plane crashed near Pearland Regional Airport in an oilfield as the pilot attempted to land, on Wednesday morning 19 February 2014. There was a subsequent fire that destroyed the plane. The pilot sadly died in the crash. The aircraft, a Beechcraft B100 King Air, was executing a missed approach at Pearland following an apparent diversion there due to weather below minimums at Galveston- Sholes. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Air hostess falls from aircraft hit by catering truck 37-year-old stewardess rushed to hospital for treatment A 37-year-old stewardess of a Ural Airlines was taken to a hospital in Dubai for treatment Dubai: A flight attendant on a Russian aircraft preparing to depart from Dubai International Airport fell off and was injured after the plane was hit by a catering truck on February 17. Sergey Antonov, Head PR, Ural Airlines, told XPRESS the incident occurred in the early hours when the flight was preparing to leave for Perm in Russia. Flight attendant Marina Zhelyamova, 37, is being treated at a Dubai hospital. "Her condition is moderate, but stable," said Antonov. A spokesperson for Emirates Flight Catering said: "At 0455 hours February 17, an Emirates Flight Catering hi-loader made impact with the Ural Airlines aircraft operating as flight 6806 at Dubai International Airport." She said: "Our vehicle was starting the positioning process to service the rear galley when the incident occurred. Unfortunately one of the airline's flight attendants was hurt during the incident and received medical attention. A company representative visited her in hospital and provided support to ensure she was well cared for. We cannot comment further at this stage as the matter is currently under investigation with the authorities." Antonov said Zhelyamova was standing in the galley near the open exit door at the nose of the aircraft when the catering truck hit it. "The strike was so strong that the aircraft turned by three metres. There was a gap between the aircraft and the teletrap and unfortunately our girl fell through it," he said. He said the aircraft was damaged, causing a 12-hour delay for the flight. http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/air-hostess-falls-from-aircraft-hit-by- catering-truck-1.1293391 Back to Top Airlines warned to beware of possible shoe bombs STORY HIGHLIGHTS A law enforcement official says passengers may notice additional searches Intelligence indicates groups have been working on new bomb designs, sources say They stress there is no specific threat or known plot A separate source underscores the warning is issued out of heightened caution (CNN) -- The U.S. government has warned airlines to pay particular attention to the possibility of terrorists attempting to hide explosives in shoes, a result of new intelligence, according to two people familiar with the situation. The officials stressed there is no specific threat or known plot. Intelligence collected by the United States and other countries has indicated terror groups have been working on new shoe-bomb designs, the sources said Wednesday. That knowledge prompted the Department of Homeland Security to warn airlines to be on the lookout for explosives hidden in shoes on flights from overseas to the United States, they said. A separate intelligence official underscored the warning was issued out of a sense of heightened caution. "This threat is not specific or credible enough to require a specific response. DHS often issues these alerts out of an abundance of caution, but this does not necessarily rise to the level of facilitating a response," the intelligence official said. A fourth official similarly stressed there is no specific threat and said there is already some puzzlement about why DHS issued the warning. Yet another intelligence source said the warning went beyond a concern about explosives in shoes to include cosmetics and liquids. The official added that the threat is unrelated to recent warnings about toothpaste and cosmetic tubes potentially being used to hide explosives on flights to Russia. Terrorism experts say airlines continue to be a target of terrorists wishing to make a spectacular impact with an attack. The focus on security since 2001 has shifted from hijackings to bombs, especially those that might be hidden in luggage. In December 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, passengers aboard an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami thwarted another passenger's attempt to detonate explosives hidden in his sneakers. Richard Reid, a British citizen, pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. A failed attempt to blow up an overseas flight heading to Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 involved a bomb concealed in a passenger's underwear. Current Transportation Security Administration policy requires passengers going through security checkpoints to take off their shoes to be X-rayed. DHS is not making any changes to passenger requirements, though travelers may notice additional searches, including swabs to detect explosives, according to a law enforcement official. The official added that there are "seen and unseen" measures TSA can take for security and additional scrutiny. The warning outlined 25 to 30 cities overseas, all of which have nonstop flights to the United States, an airline industry source said. Johannesburg, Paris, London and Cairo, as well as some cities in the Middle East, were on the list. For carriers flying on those routes, the alert warned there would be increased scrutiny of people who appear on the TSA's "selectee list," which includes people deemed suspicious who could warrant additional screening, as well as randomly picked people. The warning was meant to give a heads up to airlines about delays, not asking airlines to do anything specific, the industry source said. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/19/us/airline-security-threats/ Back to Top Back to Top IJAAA - International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace College of Aeronautics The IJAAA is the peer-reviewed journal of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide College of Aeronautics. With one of the most recognized names in aviation education across the globe and almost 90 years of excellence, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University provides a premier publication outlet for scholars, industry stakeholders, and government entities. The Journal editorial staff work very hard to make your publication experience as easy and seamless as possible. Gone are the days of waiting months for decisions on your hard work. Currently, our average publication decision is made within 10 days. Link: http://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/ Back to Top Supersonic Jet Ditches Windows for Massive Live-Streaming Screens Spike Aerospace is in the midst of building the first supersonic private jet. And when the $80 million S-512 takes off in December 2018, it won't have something you'd find on every other passenger aircraft: windows. The Boston-based aerospace firm is taking advantage of recent advances in video recording, live-streaming, and display technology with an interior that replaces the windows with massive, high-def screens. The S-512's exterior will be lined with tiny cameras sending footage to thin, curved displays lining the interior walls of the fuselage. The result will be an unbroken panoramic view of the outside world. And if passengers want to sleep or distract themselves from ominous rainclouds, they can darken the screen or choose from an assortment of ambient images. But this isn't just a wiz-bang feature for an eight-figure aircraft. While windows are essential for keeping claustrophobia in check, they require engineering workarounds that compromise a fuselage's simple structure. And that goes two-fold for a supersonic aircraft. An airplane is stronger sans windows, which is one of the reasons why planes carrying military personnel or packages fly without them. Putting passenger windows on an airplane requires meticulous construction - the ovular shape, small aperture, and double-pane construction are all there to maintain cabin pressure and resist cracking while flying 500 mph at 35,000 feet. It would be much simpler and safer to have a smooth-skinned, window-less fuselage, but frequent fliers have become accustomed to a calming view of the clouds and tiny cities during takeoff and landing. Spike says that in order to hit their performance goals, they've planned to go windowless since the beginning. "A few advisers and friends are concerned that there are no windows," Spike founder Vik Kachoria told WIRED. "But I think that if you give them the screens and give them the visibility, you might be able to get away from that." This structural workaround relieves Spike's craft of the drag and weight issues presented by adding windows, which will, Spike projects, allow the plane to hit a top speed of 1,370 mph (Mach 1.8) while carrying up to 18 passengers. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/02/supersonic-jet-video-windows/ Back to Top China's C919 large airplane schedule to take first flight in 2015 The first test-flight C919 plane will enter the final assembly phase in 2014, and is expected to make its maiden flight in 2015, said Tian Min, chief accountant of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China undertaking the development of Chinese large passenger aircrafts, at the Singapore Airplane Exhibition on Sep. 12. Tian Min said that the Final Assembly Manufacture Center of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China is building a base specializing in the final assembly of C919 airplanes. After its completion, the base will reach an annual capacity of 150 C919 large passenger airplanes and 50 ARJ21 new regional aircrafts. The C919 is the first 150-seat large passenger aircraft with Chinese independent intellectual property rights. It has been designed and developed in strict accordance with international standards. It can meet airlines' operating demands for different routes. So far, orders of C919 airplanes have been obtained from 16 Chinese and overseas customers. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/98649/8539562.html Curt Lewis