Flight Safety Information April 3, 2014 - No. 069 In This Issue IATA releases 2013 aviation safety data With Plane Still Missing, Legal Moves for Payouts Start Delta Jet Makes Emergency Landing at JFK Airport FAA kicks off general aviation safety project PRISM SMS Graduate Research Survey International Humanitarian Aviation Summmit Upcoming Events IATA releases 2013 aviation safety data IATA's Tony Tyler MONTREAL, Canada - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released 2013 commercial aviation safety performance. There were 210 fatalities from commercial aviation accidents in 2013, reduced from 414 in 2012 (1) . The 2013 global Western-built jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jets) was 0.41, the equivalent of one accident for every 2.4 million flights. This was a step back from 2012 when the global Western-built jet accident rate stood at 0.21 (2) --the lowest in aviation history. Looked at over the five-year period (2009-2013), 2013 shows a 14.6% improvement on the five-year average of 0.48. The 2013 Western-built jet hull loss rate for members of IATA was 0.30, which outperformed the global average by 26.8% and which showed an improvement over the five-year average of 0.32. "Safety is our highest priority. The aviation industry is united in its commitment to ensure continuous safety improvement. Importantly, that commitment has made flying ever safer. Accidents, however rare, do happen. We release this data as the world continues to focus on the search effort for MH370. The airline industry, its stakeholders and regulators are in the beginning of the journey to unravel this mystery, understand the cause and find ways to ensure that it never happens again," said Tony Tyler, IATA Director General and CEO. IATA will release its 50th annual Safety Report on 3 April including complete data and analysis of the 2013 safety performance. Over the five years 2009-2013, the industry has shown improvement in both accident rates and fatalities, although year-to-year comparisons may fluctuate. 2013 Safety by the numbers: More than 3 billion people flew safely on 36.4 million flights (29.5 million by jet, 6.9 million by turboprop) 81 accidents (all aircraft types, Eastern and Western built), up from 75 in 2012, but below the five-year average of 86 per year 16 fatal accidents (all aircraft types) versus 15 in 2012 and the five-year average of 19 20% of all accidents were fatal, unchanged from 2012 and below the five-year average of 22% 12 hull loss accidents involving Western-built jets compared to six in 2012 and the five-year average of 13 Six fatal hull loss accidents involving Western-built jets, raised from three in 2012, unchanged from the five-year average 210 fatalities compared to 414 in 2012 and the five-year average of 517 IOSA Airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit Registry (IOSA) experienced six Western-built jet hull loss accidents. The total accident rate (all aircraft types) for IOSA-registered carriers was more than two times better than the rate for non-IOSA carriers (1.46 vs. 3.60). Today, 391 (3) airlines are on the IOSA registry (www.iata.org/registry). For IATA's 240 airlines, IOSA is a requirement for membership in the association. That some 151 non-member airlines are also on the registry is a clear indication that IOSA is the global benchmark for airline operational safety management. "The overall performance of IOSA airlines shows that the audits are among the factors having a positive impact on safety. To increase the effectiveness of the IOSA process, we are upgrading to Enhanced IOSA which incorporates systems to monitor compliance across the two-year audit cycle. This is moving IOSA from a once-every-two-year snapshot to a continuous management process," said Tyler. Regional performance-Western-built jet hull loss rates The following regions outperformed the global Western-built jet hull loss rate of 0.41: Europe (0.15), North America (0.32), and North Asia (0.00). The following regions saw their safety performance improve in 2013 compared to 2012: Africa (from 4.55 to 2.03); Latin America and the Caribbean (from 0.45 to 0.44). North Asia (0.00) and Europe (0.15) were unchanged. The following regions saw safety performance decline in 2013 compared to 2012: Asia- Pacific (from 0.50 to 0.70), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (from 0.00 to 2.09); Middle East-North Africa (from 0.00 to 0.68); North America (from 0.00 to 0.32). The following regions saw safety performance improve in 2013 relative to the region's five- year average: Africa (2.03 versus 6.44); Europe (0.15 versus 0.25); Latin America and the Caribbean (0.44 versus 0.86); Middle East-North Africa (0.68 versus 1.51) and North Asia (0.00 versus 0.07). Latin America and the Caribbean posted a third consecutive year of improvement but the region's rate was slightly higher than the world average. CIS had the worst performance (2.09) after having had no Western-built jet hull losses in 2012. Safety in Sub-Saharan Africa Africa has seen significant progress in safety. African airlines experienced only one Western- built jet hull loss last year. The Western-built jet hull loss rate improved 55.4% between 2013 and 2012, while the region's accident rate for all aircraft types improved nearly 50% (7.45 accidents per million flights from 14.80 in 2012). "We are seeing progress in Africa. Airlines on the IOSA registry are performing almost seven times better than non-IOSA operators in the region. But we must remember two things. First, Africa's overall rate is still many times worse than global levels, so there is plenty of work to do. Second, we cannot take the recent improvement trend for granted. To make these gains a sustainable foundation on which to achieve world-class safety levels is going to require the continued determination and commitment of all stakeholders, including governments," said Tyler. Aviation stakeholders, including IATA, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and others have united behind the Africa Strategic Improvement Action Plan aimed at achieving world-class safety levels by 2015 by addressing safety deficiencies and strengthening regulatory oversight capabilities. A key focus for governments in the effort to achieve more effective safety oversight will be the implementation of ICAO's safety-related standards and recommended practices (SARPS), according to the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP). As of the end of 2013, only 11 African states had achieved 60% implementation of the SARPS. Meeting the Abuja Declaration's 2015 commitment will require a major acceleration in the pace of implementation. Safety in the CIS IATA member airlines in the CIS experienced zero accidents in 2013, outpacing all regions. However, the region as a whole experienced a significant deterioration compared to 2012. The proposed safety enhancement strategy in CIS is based on boosting individual states' oversight capabilities and ensuring compliance with ICAO standards and recommended practices; introduction of Safety Management Systems; launch of the IATA Training and Quality Initiative (ITQI)-based model; and infrastructure development including assistance in the implementation of Performance-based Navigation (PBN). IATA encourages regulators in individual states to benefit from existing internationally-recognized audit programs, like IOSA, by utilizing them to enhance safety oversight systems already in place. Accident analysis Runway Safety Runway excursions, in which an aircraft departs a runway during landing or takeoff, are the most common type of accident, accounting for 23% of all accidents over the past five years (2009-2013). Survivability of such accidents is high, representing less than 8% of fatalities over the previous five years. Improving runway safety is a key focus of the industry's strategy to reduce operational risk. Information sharing, risk analysis, training and analysis of the taxonomy of runway safety are all part of the industry's comprehensive approach to improvement in this area. The second edition of the Runway Excursion Risk Reduction Toolkit (produced in 2011 with ICAO) and ICAO's new Runway Safety Implementation Kit (iKit), developed in collaboration with IATA and several other aviation organizations are examples of how industry stakeholders are aligning resources to drive improvements in this area. Loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) While few in number, LOC-I accidents almost always are catastrophic; 95% of the LOC-I accidents over the past five years involved fatalities to passengers or crew. There were eight LOC-I accidents in 2013, all of which involved fatalities, and over the period from 2009 through 2013, 10% of all accidents were categorized as LOC-I. These resulted in 1,546 of the 2,585 fatalities over this period. IATA is working to compile LOC-I prevention training materials in a single online resource, with an accompanying LOC-I prevention toolkit. Controlled-flight-into-terrain (CFIT) accidents are also a concern. There were six in 2013. Most CFIT accidents occur in the approach and landing phase of flight and are often associated with non-precision approaches. From 2009 through 2013, 52% of CFIT accidents were known to involve the lack of a precision approach. There is a very strong correlation between the lack of Instrument Landing Systems or state-of-the-art approach procedures, such as performance base navigation (PBN) and CFIT accidents. IATA has embarked on a strategy to reduce CFIT accidents by establishing a campaign for states to expedite the implementation of PBN approach procedures for runways lacking precision approaches. Using Data Analysis to Drive Improvements The introduction of a data-driven approach is essential for all aviation safety initiatives, since it enables structured safety management based on real world facts. IATA has created the Global Aviation Data Management (GADM) program as a comprehensive safety data warehouse. The GADM includes analysis reports covering accidents, incidents, ground damage, maintenance and audits, plus data from more than 1.8 million flights in the last 15 months. Up to 390 airlines are contributing to at least one GADM database. Analysis of this information will be used to identify industry safety issues and to drive and prioritize initiatives and actions to solve the identified issues. "Safety is a team effort in which IATA, ICAO and other stakeholders are fully aligned. Using data will help us identify potential areas of concern, long before they rise to the level of a threat to safety," said Tyler. http://www.eturbonews.com/44254/iata-releases-2013-aviation-safety-data Back to Top With Plane Still Missing, Legal Moves for Payouts Start BEIJING - For 10 days, Monica R. Kelly and her American law firm's aviation lawyers have stalked the dim hallways of the Lido Hotel here to make their pitches to relatives of passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. They tell the families that a court in the United States could potentially award millions of dollars per passenger in a lawsuit against the Boeing Company, which built the missing jet, a Boeing 777-200. In a hotel suite, Ms. Kelly uses a model of a Boeing 777 to show families how the plane might have malfunctioned. "It's not an issue of whether families will be compensated," Ms. Kelly said recently while munching on French fries with her 12-year-old son at a restaurant across the street from the Lido. "It's a question of how much and when." But Ms. Kelly admitted that Flight 370 was a uniquely difficult case. "We've done more than 43 plane crashes," she said, "and there's never been a situation like this one, ever." An Australian Air Force member during a search for the missing airline over the Indian Ocean.Transcript From Lost Jet Is Released By MalaysiaAPRIL 1, 2014 Complicating the prospects for a legal case against Malaysia Airlines, Boeing or other parties is the mystery surrounding the plane's disappearance after it left Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, en route to Beijing on March 8. No one can say with certainty that the plane has crashed, even though the Malaysian government has said satellite data shows that the flight "ended" in the southern Indian Ocean. International search efforts have yielded no debris. Still, the rush is on to secure compensation for families of the flight's 227 passengers, about two-thirds of whom are Chinese. Insurance companies here have already made payments to some relatives. On top of that, the families can expect to receive compensation from Malaysia Airlines because of guarantees in an international treaty. They can also opt to sue the airline for more damages, or sue Boeing or a component manufacturer. Any lawsuit could take years to conclude. Ms. Kelly's firm, Ribbeck Law, made two filings in a court in Chicago, where it is based, to try to force Boeing to divulge more information, but both were dismissed. The judge threatened to impose sanctions against the firm for making inappropriate filings. Ribbeck Law has sent six employees to Beijing and six to Kuala Lumpur, where families of passengers have gathered in hotels. Rival firms have also been contacting families. "The next step is getting insurance payments, not lawsuits," said James Healy-Pratt, a partner and head of the aviation department at Stewarts Law, based in London. Some Chinese families are reluctant to immediately pursue lawsuits or take the payment that airlines generally award in the event of a plane crash, as mandated by international law in the Montreal Convention. Many refuse to accept the fact that the passengers are dead and insist that the Malaysian government is orchestrating an elaborate cover-up. Wang Le, whose mother was on Flight 370, said that he was starting to cope with her death, but that "it's not the time for compensation yet." "Talking about lawsuits or whatever - we still don't know where the plane is," he said. Some of the Flight 370 families are accepting insurance payments as a first step. The China Life Insurance Company, the biggest such company in China, said on its website that it had 32 clients on the flight and that it had paid out $670,400 to cover seven of them as of March 25. It said the total payment for all the clients would be nearly $1.5 million. At least five other Chinese insurance companies have also made payments. Since Malaysia is bound by the Montreal Convention, the families are also entitled to a minimum compensation from Malaysia Airlines, up to $174,000 per passenger. The airline or its insurer might try to persuade a family to agree not to sue in exchange for a payment. But lawyers discourage families from signing such waivers. (Crew members are usually not covered by the treaty, but their families can get workers' compensation and file lawsuits.) The payouts are made by a consortium of companies that are known as reinsurers. In this case, the lead company is Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, part of Allianz of Germany. The company said it and other reinsurers had already begun making claims payments. A Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines leaves Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 227 passengers, of which two-thirds are Chinese, and a Malaysian crew of 12. Two years after another aviation mystery, the crash of an Air France Airbus in the Atlantic in 2009, a French judge determined that the airline's mandatory payout under the Montreal Convention would be 126,000 euros per passenger, about $180,000. Air France says it has since reached confidential settlements with most of the families of passengers aboard that flight. Families agreeing to the settlements cannot seek any further compensation, even if the continuing French criminal investigation leads to a trial and damages are awarded by a judge. Airbus has not made any payouts and would face such damages only if it is found liable in a trial. The amounts awarded in lawsuits related to Flight 370 could vary by the jurisdiction of filing. American courts offer plaintiffs a better chance of winning multimillion-dollar settlements, several aviation lawyers said. Those courts assign greater economic value to individual lives than do courts in other countries, and they regularly impose punitive damages on companies. Jurisdictions for lawsuits are dictated by the Montreal Convention. The most a Chinese court has awarded plaintiffs in a fatal plane crash case is about $140,000 per passenger, for an accident involving Henan Airlines in 2010. Zhang Qihuan, a lawyer who has been talking to relatives of those on Flight 370, said a court probably would not award more than that in any accident, to avoid setting a precedent. But he said families could settle for a much higher amount out of court if they agreed to keep quiet. Some lawyers say it is too early to begin discussing lawsuits because there is insufficient evidence to establish why the plane disappeared. Forensic analysis of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder - the black boxes - or debris from the plane might help sustain a case. Malaysian officials have not accused anyone of wrongdoing. Robert A. Clifford, an aviation accident lawyer based in Chicago, said he had been contacted by a lawyer in Texas claiming to speak for a Flight 370 family. But he emphasized that no one should rush into litigation. "You don't have to knee-jerk it, go out, file something," he said. "This is a process, not an event, and this race is not always won by the swift." Malaysian officials and Malaysia Airlines are girding themselves for legal and financial fallout from the plane's disappearance. Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's defense minister and acting transportation minister, said last week that the government had asked the country's attorney general to begin assessing the legal implications of the loss of the plane. The chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, told reporters last week that the company had already begun discussing compensation with the family members and with "various legal parties." Malaysia Airlines has already offered $5,000 to each family to help deal with immediate financial strains, including travel costs. The airline said on Monday that it had adequate insurance coverage to meet "all the reasonable costs" that might arise from the plane's loss. Ms. Kelly, the lawyer, said families never believe that money can make up for their loss. But in one of her cases, she said, the husband died while flying with a mistress, and "the wife was happy to receive the money." http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370- compensation.html?_r=0 Back to Top Delta Jet Makes Emergency Landing at JFK Airport A Delta jet from Atlanta bound for New York's LaGuardia Airport was diverted to John F. Kennedy Airport because of a problem with its hydraulic system. The plane went off the runway and into a grassy area after making the emergency landing around 9 p.m. Wednesday. Airline spokeswoman Leslie Scott says Delta Flight 886 was carrying 118 passengers. No one was injured. Scott says the plane was diverted to JFK because it has longer runways. She says the McDonald Douglas MD88 was taxiing to the terminal when it rolled onto a grassy area. Passengers were taken to Terminal 2, where buses to LaGuardia were provided. The FAA is investigating. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/delta-jet-makes-emergency-landing-jfk-23170951 Back to Top FAA kicks off general aviation safety project The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced the start of a one- year project to demonstrate the capabilities of the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) programme for the general aviation (GA) community. Voluntary data will be collected from GA pilots within 40 nautical miles of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The FAA and industry are working together through the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) to use data to identify risk, pinpoint trends through root cause analysis, and develop safety strategies. The demonstration project is the next step towards expanding ASIAS, already successfully used in commercial aviation, to the GA community to help identify safety risks and emerging threats. The project will collect public sector and proprietary data which will be protected. The data will not be accessed or used for FAA enforcement. The project will also explore potential new voluntary information sources such as digital flight data, pilot safety reports, manufacturer reports, and information voluntary provided from personal electronic devices. Currently, ASIAS has access to 185 commercial aviation data sources including voluntary provided safety data. ASIAS partners with the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) to monitor known risk, evaluate the effectiveness of deployed mitigations, and detect emerging hazards. ASIAS has matured to the point that the FAA and industry can now leverage voluntarily provided safety data representing 96 per cent of US air carrier commercial operations. http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2014/04/faa-kicks-off-ga-safety-project/ Back to Top Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Hello, Our names are Lauren Sperlak, Lukas Rudari, Gilbert Jones, and Robert Geske. We are graduate students at Purdue University currently conducting research on Title 14 C.F.R. Part 117 which addresses fatigue risk for Title 14 C.F.R. Part 121 pilots. The new regulation recognizes fatigue related risks to safety, such as changes to natural circadian rhythm and "jetlag." We are seeking your assistance in completing an anonymous online survey. Your responses are greatly appreciated by the researchers, and the feedback provided by your survey responses will provide valuable information that will be used to help process the findings of this study. In order to complete the survey, you must be at least 18 years of age, and you may not complete the survey more than once. It is anticipated that the survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. The survey link can be accessed via: https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0TUBgrhMpM1vO8B We thank you in advance for your participation. Sincerely, Lauren, Lukas, Gilbert, and Rob Back to Top Back to Top Upcoming Events: North Texas Business Aviation Safety Show-Down is set for April 3rd http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/11327425/north-texas-business-aviation- safety-show-down-is-set-for-april-3rd Middle East Air Cargo and Logistics Exhibition & Conference 2014 April 9-10, 2014 Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) http://cargomiddleeast.com Flight Safety Foundation Business Aviation Safety Summit 2014 April 16-17, 2014 San Diego, CA http://flightsafety.org/files/doc/2014FSF_Prospectus.pdf Airport Show Dubai May 11-13, 2014 Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) www.theairportshow.com/portal/home.aspx International Humanitarian Aviation Summit 12-14MAY Toledo, Spain wfp.org National Safety Council Aviation Safety Committee Annual Conference Savanah, GA - May 14-15, 2014 Contact: tammy.washington@nsc.org http://cwp.marriott.com/savdt/artexmeeting/ Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar 21-22 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand http://bit.ly/APASS2014 Curt Lewis