Flight Safety Information March 20, 2014 - No. 059 In This Issue Fiery plane crash in Douglas County kills pilot Two Dead In plane Crash Plane Debris Would Be Modest Clue Two Weeks After a Crash, Experts Say Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: FBI analyzing deleted data from pilot's home flight simulator Philippines to upgrade 12 airports to boost tourism Beijing airport goes into lockdown after passenger 'in a hurry' says he has a bomb in his butt PRISM SMS Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar, 21-22 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand ERAU Research Survey Upcoming Events Fiery plane crash in Douglas County kills pilot DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. - A small airplane crashed and burst into flames near some homes in extreme northern Douglas County late Wednesday afternoon. The pilot died in the crash according to a South Metro Fire Rescue spokesperson. Video from SkyFOX showed debris on fire in a field. The Aurora Police Department responded and said none of the homes were threatened by the flames. Firefighters contained the small fire quickly. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office says it appeared to be a twin engine plane. The pilot was the only person on board. The location was put south of County Line Road and east of N. Piney Lake Road in unincorporated Douglas County. It's south of the Blackstone Country Club, not too far from E. Powhaton Road and E. Smoky Hill Rd. Federal investigators had already arrived on the scene Wednesday evening, and planned to work at the site into the night. Robb Halley, a witness, told FOX31 Denver the plane appeared to be flying low to the ground, possibly performing stunts. Halley says he started shooting video of the plane. Shortly after he turned the camera off, he says he heard two loud booms as the plane crashed. Halley's video appears below. The twin engine airplane flipped upside down before falling out of the sky. "When I saw this I knew this was going to end bad." Halley said. "He was playing with danger. Right at that time I heard one small boom and then a large boom almost like a concussion wave." From overhead the footprint of the impact shows only the charred remainder of the plane. The impact narrowly missing the Douglas county neighborhood. Witnesses describe the explosion as massive. "I found out it was one single pilot and my heart just drops," said Rachel Lynch. "From where it went down I thought it was a house." (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top Two Dead In plane Crash Two people died Wednesday evening when the plane they were in crashed on a golf course in Voorst in Gelderland. Police say the dead have not yet been identified. The single engine aircraft had taken off from the Teuge airport. After it crashed on the golf course of the Bussloo Park, bystanders and emergency personnel gave the passengers first aid, but it was too late. They died on the spot. (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top Plane Debris Would Be Modest Clue Two Weeks After a Crash, Experts Say WASHINGTON - Even if searchers are fortunate enough to spot floating debris in the ocean west of Australia from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, it would be only a modest step in locating the rest of the Boeing 777, according to oceanographers and recovery experts. And only then could they dig into the question of why it crashed. Almost two weeks after a crash, there is certain to be less of the debris on the surface, and what remains is more dispersed and farther from the clues that investigators really want, in the wreckage that has sunk beneath the waves, experts say. The delay in finding any wreckage on the surface will "create a cone of uncertainty, which is going to be bigger with time," said Luca Centurioni, a researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego and the director of the Global Drifter Program there. "The more time goes by, the more difficult it will be to try to go back to the point of impact with the ocean." The amount of debris and degree of dispersion would depend in part on the circumstances of a crash. "A gentle landing on a smooth sea with mild currents keeps the debris field more intact," David G. Gallo, director of special projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said in an email. "A high-velocity impact or midair breakup on a stormy sea will scatter objects much more." In the case of Air France Flight 447 - which came down in the equatorial Atlantic in June 2009 while traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris - searchers found debris after five days, and experts estimated that the impact site was 15 miles away. It turned out to be 30 miles away, and in a different direction, said Michael J. Purcell, the principal engineer at Woods Hole, who spent months on that search. If the Air France case is any guide, Malaysia Airlines debris could have drifted hundreds of miles. Median ocean current speed is about a foot per second, said Mr. Centurioni, which comes to about 16 miles a day. The tropics are a bit slower; the Air France wreckage was moving at about 10 miles per day, Mr. Purcell said. Average speed at the site of any Malaysia Airlines crash would depend on where that airliner went down.. Some debris would be pushed more by wind than current, and the wind could be moving in the same direction as the current, or against it. Some parts of airplanes, like seat back cushions, are designed to float. Aluminum parts with air trapped inside will tend to sink in rough seas. Planes like the Boeing 777, the type in the Malaysia flight, or the Airbus A330, in the case of the Air France crash, make major use of composite materials, and some of those are in the form of a honeycomb using light materials with air trapped inside. Those parts will float for some time, as the tail of Air France Flight 447 did, and the tail of the American Airlines A300 jet that crashed shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport in November 2001. The searchers, flying in various aircraft but notably in airplanes designed to hunt enemy submarines, are using infrared scanners, which detect minute temperature differences between the water and debris, as well as radar. They make low passes at hundreds of miles per hour. If the airplane searches locate floating debris, and oceanographers calculate where it originated, the next step would be to use robot submarines to scrutinize the ocean floor. Mr. Purcell said the Woods Hole drone submarines, like the Remus 6000, travel about four miles per hour, covering a little less than a mile in width if the sea floor is smooth. They were not built with this purpose in mind. (In fact, this week the Remus 6000 was gathering clam larvae, Mr. Purcell said.) In search work, the submarines follow a pattern like a lawn mower, laboriously tracing back and forth. The search area is now over two million square nautical miles, but would have to be narrowed to about 5,000 square miles before it would be sensible to use the submarines, he said. The cockpit voice recorder, important in any investigation and crucial when a hijacking or other crime is suspected, would probably not be useful, one investigator said, because it is a two-hour loop, and the plane flew for hours after leaving its planned route. The boxes originally captured 30 minutes, on a loop of audiotape, but in 1999 the Federal Aviation Administration endorsed the idea of going to two hours. The recording is now on microchips. (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: FBI analyzing deleted data from pilot's home flight simulator KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysian investigators - with the help of the FBI - are trying to restore files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of the pilot aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines plane to see if they shed any light on the disappearance, officials said Wednesday. Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing, and that members of his family are cooperating in the investigation. Files containing records of simulations carried out on the program were deleted Feb. 3, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said. CBS News has confirmed the FBI has been provided electronic data to analyze from the flight simulator. It is expected the hard drive will be brought to an FBI lab in the United States. This FBI is lending technical expertise, not taking over the investigation. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said U.S. investigators are prepared to help any way they can. It was not immediately clear whether investigators thought that deleting the files was unusual. They will want to check those files for any signs of unusual flight paths that could help explain where the missing plane went. "That's tantalizing information because authorities are looking for any piece of data, any shard or thread or lead, to give them a sense as to whether there was any intent, premeditation, or plot to try to divert the plane for any part purpose," said CBS News national security analyst Juan Zarate. Zarate also addressed a Malaysian newspaper report that the captain selected five runways on the simulator to practice. "It's not unusual that he would be practicing on different kinds of runways," Zarate said. "That said, authorities are going to have to look at that to see what those runways looks like, if they match with runways in the region and perhaps some smaller runways in the Indian Ocean that could give them some clues as to where to look." Sources told CBS News that there's evidence Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 turned off its route when someone typed a course change into the cockpit navigation computer, which would require training in the Boeing 777 systems. But sources say checks of the pilots' email and computers turned up nothing to suggest a plot. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard disappeared March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanations, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened next and why. Investigators have identified two giant arcs of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane about 7 1/2 hours after takeoff, based on its last faint signal to a satellite - an hourly "handshake" signal that continues even when communications are switched off. The arcs stretch up as far as Kazakhstan in central Asia and down deep into the southern Indian Ocean. Police are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board, and have asked for background checks from abroad on all foreign passengers. Hishammuddin said such checks have been received for all the foreigners except those from Ukraine and Russia - which account for three passengers. "So far, no information of significance on any passengers has been found," Hishammuddin said. The 53-year-old pilot joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and had more than 18,000 hours of flight experience. People who knew Zaharie from his involvement in opposition political circles in Malaysia and other areas of his life have described him as sociable, humble, caring and dedicated to his job. The crisis has exposed the lack of a failsafe way of tracking modern passenger planes on which data transmission systems and transponders - which make them visible to civilian radar - have been severed. At enormous cost, 26 countries are helping Malaysia look for the plane. Relatives of passengers on the missing airliner - two thirds of them from China - have grown increasingly frustrated over the lack of progress in the search. Planes sweeping across vast expanses of the Indian Ocean and satellites peering on Central Asia have turned up no new clues. "It's really too much. I don't know why it is taking so long for so many people to find the plane. It's 12 days," Subaramaniam Gurusamy, 60, said in an interview from his home on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.. His 34-year-old son, Pushpanathan Subramaniam, was on the flight heading to Beijing for a work trip. "He's the one son I have," Subaramaniam said. CBS News' Seth Doane reports anger boiled over Wednesday morning as the Malaysian authorities prepared for their briefing. Two Chinese relatives of passengers held up a banner saying "Truth" in Chinese and started shouting before security personnel escorted them out. "I want you to help me to find my son!" one of the two women said. Hishamuddin announced that a delegation of Malaysian government officials, diplomats, air force and civil aviation officials will head to Beijing - where many of the passengers' relatives are gathered - to give briefings to the next of kin on the status of the search. A source with knowledge of the investigation tells CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues that there is a small group of American investigators painstakingly working to refine the data gathered from the Malaysians. The NTSB has a small team of three in Kuala Lumpur while the FAA has two investigators there coordinating with the Malaysian investigators. Aircraft from Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand on Wednesday scoured a search area stretching across 117,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean, about 1,600 miles southwest of Perth, on Australia's west coast.. Merchant ships were also asked to look for any trace of the plane. CBS News national correspondent David Martin reports that a U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft continues to search in the Bay of Bengal. The P-8 Poseidon has been assigned a search sector 1,500 nautical miles west of Perth. That means about half of each mission will be consumed just getting there and back. The NTSB has been instrumental in helping the Australians in the South Indian Sea, Pegues reports. Working with data, they are reviewing possible flight paths along the original south arc of the search corridor. Now investigators are looking at other ways to narrow down a possible flight path. Nothing has been found, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. China has said it was reviewing radar data and deployed 21 satellites to search the northern corridor, although it is considered less likely that the plane could have taken that route without being detected by military radar systems of the countries in that region. Those searches so far have turned up no trace of the plane, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Indonesia military radar didn't pick up any signs of Flight 370 on the day the plane went missing. He said Malaysia had asked Indonesia to intensify the search in its assigned zone in the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra, but said his air force was strained in the task. "We will do our utmost. We will do our best. But you do have to understand our limitations," Purnomo said. Hishammuddin said both the southern and the northern sections of the search area were important, but that "some priority was being given to that (southern) area." He didn't elaborate. Malaysian investigators say the plane departed 12:41 a.m. on March 8 and headed northeast toward Beijing over the Gulf of Thailand, but that it turned back after the final words were heard from the cockpit. Malaysian military radar data places the plane west of Malaysia in the Strait of Malacca at 2:14 a.m. Thailand divulged new radar data Tuesday that appeared to corroborate Malaysian data showing the plane crossing back across Peninsular Malaysia. The military in the Maldives, a remote Indian Ocean island nation, confirmed to Malaysia that reports of a sighting of the plane by villagers there were "not true," the Malaysian defense minister said. German insurance company Allianz said Wednesday that it has made initial payments in connection with the missing plane. Spokesman Hugo Kidston declined to say how much had been paid, but said it was in line with contractual obligations when an aircraft is reported as missing. (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top Philippines to upgrade 12 airports to boost tourism (Reuters) - The Philippine government plans to upgrade 12 airports, including Manila's dilapidated main international airport, as it seeks to attract 10 million foreign tourists by 2016 and help fuel one of Asia's fastest growing economies. Three of the projects have a combined cost of up to 54.6 billion pesos ($1.22 billion), while costs for others are still being finalised. Half of the planned projects will be done through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, Cosette Canilao, executive director at the agency overseeing the programme, told reporters on the sidelines of an investors' forum in Manila. Canilao also said operations and maintenance of these airports could be "bundled" into one tender, which will be offered to investors later this year. Transportation Undersecretary Rene Limcaoco said the government was looking at building a new terminal for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, the Philippines' main gateway, which is also undergoing repair. The Puerto Princesa Airport on Palawan island, southwest of Manila, and Clark International Airport in Pampanga, north of the capital, are included in the list of gateways which the government wants to modernise and upgrade. The planned upgrades will "ease our logistic costs, alleviate our traffic congestion and support the target of the department of tourism to achieve its 10 million tourists for 2016," Limcaoco said at the forum. The Philippines attracted 4.7 million foreign tourists last year, 300,000 short of its goal, state data showed. President Benigno Aquino wants to make the tourism sector one of the key drivers of the economy. The economy grew 7.2 percent in 2013, the second fastest in Asia after China. Rehabilitation of NAIA Terminal 1 will be completed by early 2015 at the latest, while the airport's Terminal 3 will be fully-operational in July this year, said Limcaoco. He also said the transportation department is sticking with its end-March target to award the 17.52 billion- peso ($391 million) PPP contract for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Terminal. ($1 = 44.8450 Philippine pesos) (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top Beijing airport goes into lockdown after passenger 'in a hurry' says he has a bomb in his butt One of China's busiest airports was put in lockdown after a passenger "in a hurry" joked that he had a bomb stuffed inside his butt. Witnesses said the man was moaning about slow security checks at Beijing International Airport on Monday when he made the flippant comment. Worried he would miss his flight, he reportedly asked officers at Terminal 3: "Do I need to drop my pants as well? I have a bomb in my ass." Shocked agents asked him to repeat the question. When he did, he was arrested. The South China Morning Post reports that the incident led to the terminal being shut down, with passengers moved to other areas of the airport for safety. A search found no threat and the high alert was scaled down hours later. The man, who has not been named, was also searched. Cops failed to find a bomb, so he was taken to a police station - and is now spending the next five days behind bars, reports Shanghaiist. He reportedly told cops he was angry about the checks and "did not anticipate the consequences" of his comment. (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top Back to Top Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar, 21-22 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) is holding the next Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar (APASS) on 21-22 May 2014 in Bangkok. The seminar, hosted by THAI Airways International, is organised by the AAPA Flight Operations & Safety Working Group. This seminar is designed to create a common meeting place for all airlines from the Asia Pacific region, airports, aircraft manufacturers, regulators, insurers, ground handlers, MROs, service providers and suppliers to discuss and to be updated on the latest developments in aviation safety. Why attend? * Excellent networking opportunities for all safety stakeholders to exchange ideas on the important fundamentals and applications of aviation safety best practices, in-service experience and lessons-learned with like-minded aviation safety experts. * Topic-specific workshops in Cabin Safety, Flight Operations Safety and Safety Performance Indicators will enable participants to exchange views and debate on the practical approaches in managing some of the leading safety issues facing the region. Click here to find out more >> (le lien a été supprimé !) Back to Top ERAU Research Survey Researchers with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide are requesting that Aircraft Maintenance Technicians and Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics participate in their research study titled "Prevention of Back Injuries in Technicians and Mechanics". The purpose of the study is to identify protective factors and risk factors associated with back pain and back injury. The ultimate goal is to identify factors that are protective so that they can be implemented within organizations to curtail back pain and back injuries and to identify factors that can be improved to enhance safety for aircraft maintenance technicians and airframe and powerplant mechanics. Participation in the study is strictly voluntary. You will briefly answer questions about your work activities, perceptions of your workplace and your health. This questionnaire takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous as no personally identifiable information is collected. To participate in this important study please access the following link: (le lien a été supprimé !) Thank you, Todd.. D. Smith, PhD, CSP, ARM Principal Researcher Program Chair - Master of Science in Occupational Safety Management Program todd.smith2@erau.edu Back to Top Upcoming Events: WATS 2014 April 1-3, 2014 Orlando, FL (le lien a été supprimé !) North Texas Business Aviation Safety Show-Down is set for April 3rd (le lien a été supprimé !) Middle East Air Cargo and Logistics Exhibition & Conference 2014 April 9-10, 2014 Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) (le lien a été supprimé !) Airport Show Dubai May 11-13, 2014 Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) (le lien a été supprimé !) National Safety Council Aviation Safety Committee Annual Conference Savanah, GA - May 14-15, 2014 Contact: tammy.washington@nsc.org (le lien a été supprimé !) Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar 21-22 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand (le lien a été supprimé !) Curt Lewis