Flight Safety Information February 3, 2015 - No. 023 In This Issue Searchers Find More Bodies From Crashed AirAsia Jet AirAsia Captain Left Seat Before Jet Lost Control: Sources Singapore Airlines exploring better systems to track aircraft round the clock UPS jet makes early morning emergency landing in Little Rock NTSB: Selfies caused fatal Colo. plane crash PROS 2015 TRAINING Research Survey Request Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship Upcoming Events Searchers Find More Bodies From Crashed AirAsia Jet Officials Have Recovered 90 of the 162 People Aboard Jet that Crashed in Late December Members of an Indonesian rescue team carry a coffin with the remains of a victim of the AirAsia Flight 8501 accident, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Jan. 30. JAKARTA, Indonesia--Indonesia searchers found six more bodies from AirAsia Flight 8501 Tuesday after resuming operations over the weekend, bringing the total number of recovered bodies to 90 of the 162 people aboard the jet that crashed late December. Divers found six bodies at the crash site in the Java Sea, according to the search-and-rescue agency's Twitter account Tuesday. They found six others a day earlier, including four inside the fuselage of the plane, which is in about 100 feet of water off the coast of Borneo, the agency said on its website. The search agency halted operations last week to refuel and change crews, and started up again at the weekend. On Sunday, it found one body along the coast of western Sulawesi, nearly 1,000 kilometers from the crash site, and, for the first time, a body in the fuselage of the plane. Since AirAsia Indonesia Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people aboard, divers from Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency have faced rough seas and strong currents in their search for bodies and debris. Photo: Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency The Indonesian Navy had tried to lift the fuselage, where searchers believed many of the flight's victims would be found after photos showed it to be relatively intact, but withdrew from the recovery operation last week after several failed attempts. It said it had detected no indication that victims remained inside the main body of the Airbus A320. Bambang Soeslistyo, head of the search agency, told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday that search efforts are ongoing both at the crash site and off the coast of Sulawesi. Searchers have recovered the flight's black boxes, which are undergoing analysis by air-crash investigators in Jakarta. Mr. Soelistyo declined to say how long the search would continue, but said the discovery of more bodies in recent days could justify an extension of the current search efforts. Previously he said large-scale efforts would last for this week before the agency decides whether to reduce operations. At least 60 divers from the search agency, Indonesia's upstream oil and gas regulator and a district of southern Borneo are taking place in the effort, the agency said. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that Jakarta-based PT Asuransi Sinar Mas, one of the main underwriters for the AirAsia jet's hull and passenger legal liabilities, wouldn't be excessively strained by the insured losses, citing coinsurers' liability, an affordable capped exposure, and agreements with international reinsurers. Fitch estimated total claims for passenger legal liabilities to be at least $15.9 million. http://www.wsj.com/articles/searchers-find-more-bodies-from-crashed-airasia-jet-1422940745 Back to Top AirAsia Captain Left Seat Before Jet Lost Control: Sources The captain of the AirAsia jet that crashed into the sea in December was out of his seat conducting an unusual procedure when his co-pilot apparently lost control, and by the time he returned it was too late to save the plane, two people familiar with the investigation said. Details emerging of the final moments of Flight QZ8501 are likely to focus attention partly on maintenance, procedures and training, though Indonesian officials have not ruled out any cause and stress it is too early to draw firm conclusions. The Airbus A320 jet plunged into the Java Sea while en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board. People familiar with the matter said earlier this week that investigators were examining maintenance records of one of the automated systems, the flight augmentation computer (FAC), and the way the pilots reacted to any outage. One person familiar with the matter said the captain had flown on the same plane with the intermittently faulty device days earlier. There was no independent confirmation of this. After trying to reset this device, pilots pulled a circuit-breaker to cut its power, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. People familiar with the matter said it was the Indonesian captain Iriyanto who took this step, rather than his less experienced French co-pilot Remy Plesel, who was flying the plane. AirAsia said it would not comment while the matter was under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia. The NTSC has said it is too early to say what role either human factors or equipment may have played in the crash, which is still being investigated. Experts say the loss of the FAC would not directly alter the trajectory of the aircraft but would remove flight envelope protection, which prevents a pilot from taking a plane beyond its safety limits, and require the crew to fly it manually. The decision to cut off the FAC has surprised people following the investigation because the usual procedure for resetting it is to press a button on the overhead panel. "You can reset the FAC, but to cut all power to it is very unusual," said one A320 pilot, who declined to be identified. "You don't pull the circuit breaker unless it was an absolute emergency. I don't know if there was one in this case, but it is very unusual." It is also significant because to pull the circuit breaker the captain had to rise from his seat. Steep Climb The circuit breakers are on a wall panel immediately behind the co-pilot and hard or impossible to reach from the seated position on the left side, where the captain sits, according to two experienced pilots and published diagrams of the cockpit. Shortly afterwards the plane went into a sharp climb from which investigators have said it stalled or lost lift. "It appears he (the co-pilot) was surprised or startled by this," said a person familiar with the investigation, referring to the decision to cut power to the affected computer. The captain eventually resumed the controls, but a person familiar with the matter said he was not in a position to intervene immediately to recover the aircraft from its upset. "The co-pilot pulled the plane up, and by the time the captain regained the controls it was too late," one of the people familiar with the investigation said. Tatang Kurniadi, chief of Indonesia's NTSC, told Reuters there had been no delay in the captain resuming the controls but declined further comment. The head of the investigation, Mardjono Siswosuwarno, told reporters this week it was too early to say whether the accident involved pilot error or a mechanical fault. Indonesia has issued some of the factual circumstances, but not released its preliminary accident report. The NTSC said on Thursday the jet was in sound condition and all crew members were properly certified. Airbus declined to comment. Lawyers for the family of the French co-pilot say they have filed a lawsuit against AirAsia in Paris for "endangering the lives of others" by flying the route without official authorisation on that day. Investigators have said the accident was not related to the permit issue. AirAsia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. Air accidents typically give rise to conflicting liability claims, and the 2009 crash of an Air France jet is still working its way through the French judicial system. Although more is becoming known about the chain of events, people familiar with the investigation warned against making assumptions on the accident's cause, which needed more analysis. Safety experts say air crashes are most often caused by a chain of events, each of which is necessary but not sufficient to explain the underlying causes of the accident. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2015/02/02/356036.htm Back to Top Singapore Airlines exploring better systems to track aircraft round the clock Singapore Airlines (SIA) is looking to enhance its aircraft tracking capabilities following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 last year and a push by the United Nations' civil aviation arm for the industry to address current gaps. -- PHOTO: SIA Singapore Airlines (SIA) is looking to enhance its aircraft tracking capabilities following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 last year and a push by the United Nations' civil aviation arm for the industry to address current gaps. The Singapore carrier is among a handful of carriers working with a global air transport communications firm, Sita, to develop new systems to not only keep a round- the-clock eye on planes but also alert airlines when there is a problem, for example if an aircraft goes off its planned course. The spokesman for the Singapore carrier, Mr Nicholas Ionides, confirmed the airline's participation in "trials related to aircraft tracking", but did not provide further details. He told The Straits Times that SIA currently has flight tracking capabilities through systems such as Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars). This uses radio or satellite signals to send data that monitor, among other things, engines and other equipment on the plane. No other details are available on SIA's current system and how it compares to Sita's new system. Industry experts said that while advancements in technology and satellite capabilities make it possible for airlines to track flights even over vast oceans, the reality is that not all carriers have the systems and processes in place to do this. There are no global standards either, for example, on how often planes should be tracked. Sita's director for aircraft services, Ms Katrina Korzenowski, said: "You can have all the technology on board the aircraft but without the capabilities on the ground to capture the information and data, it's of little use." These are serious gaps that the disappearance of Flight MH370 on March 8 exposed, and since then the global aviation industry has worked overtime to propose solutions. Almost 11 months after the Boeing 777 aircraft flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing, it has yet to be found. The plane, which was carrying 239 passengers and crew, is believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean. Following discussions with industry players, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) - a United Nations arm that oversees the global commercial aviation industry - has proposed that airlines be able to track planes every 15 minutes. This is among several issues to be discussed by more than 700 participants attending ICAO's four-day high-level safety conference in Montreal, Canada, which opens today. The big question is whether there will be a push for the 15-minute proposal to be introduced as a standard, instead of a recommendation, which means countries will have to comply. Mr Michael Daniel, a retired United States Federal Aviation Administration official, said cost will be an issue. "There is considerable flak from the industry about costs. My own guess is that there is a higher chance it will move as a recommendation instead of a standard that all airlines must meet, but we will have to keep an eye on what Iata (International Air Transport Association) recommends." In the end, any solution proposed must be "low-cost" to be effective, said Ms Korzenowski, though she did not say how much it would cost airlines to adopt Sita's system. "The idea is to leverage on existing technology and capabilities, to use all parts of the communications systems that already exist to give airlines the best possible view of the location and health of their flights," she said. It will be easier for some airlines than others though, she acknowledged. "The challenge and cost will come for carriers that operate aircraft that need to be retrofitted to install the necessary hardware. This can be a time-consuming and expensive affair." http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/singapore-airlines-exploring-better-systems- track-aircraft-round-the-#sthash.XY4IlXxy.dpuf Back to Top UPS jet makes early morning emergency landing in Little Rock NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A UPS jet had to make an emergency landing at the airport early Tuesday morning. According to Shane Carter with the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, a UPS MD80 cargo plane had to make an emergency landing around 4:40 Tuesday. He said the pilot alerted that there were strong fumes in the cockpit; the plane was able to land safely with no incident or injury. Carter was not able to share the plane's destination or say what caused the fumes. Now that the plane has landed, the airport will have no further part in investigating the emergency landing. All investigations have been handed over to UPS. http://www.thv11.com/story/news/local/2015/02/03/ups-jet-makes-early-morning-emergency-landing-in- little-rock/22788527/ Back to Top NTSB: Selfies caused fatal Colo. plane crash DENVER - Investigators with the National Transportation and Safety Board said selfies likely contributed to a plane crash that killed two eight months ago. The pilot, 29-year-old Amritpal Singh, and his passenger were killed near the Front Range Airport near Watkins on May 31. The Cessna 150 took off at around 12:30 a.m and was reported missing at 3:45 a.m. by family members. It was discovered around 7 a.m. that morning. According to an NTSB report, recordings from a GoPro camera recovered from the crash scene revealed that Singh and his passenger were taking selfies with their cellphones during the flight. The flash from the phones disoriented Singh, causing him to lose control of the airplane, the report said. The NTSB said the 29-year-old pilot did not meet the requirements for night flights with passengers. Singh was listed as the owner of the plane. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/03/ntsb-selfies-disoriented-pilot-causing- crash/22785475/ Back to Top Back to Top Research Survey Request CASR's Limited Job Task Analysis Validation Survey Extended to February 28, 2015 Limited Job Task Analysis Validation Survey The Center for Aviation Safety Research at Saint Louis University (USA) invites active and recently retired pilots, check airmen and instructors to validate a Limited Job Task Analysis for professional pilots. This task analysis focuses on a select set of phases of flight and seeks your opinion regarding the criticality of the underpinning knowledge requirements. This task analysis was developed with the help of an international panel of subject matter experts and practicing professional pilots. We are requesting you to kindly take this 45-minute online survey (https://slu.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0GuI969wyJB4snP ) to validate our draft of the task analysis. Please note that we need to have all survey responses by February 28, 2015. And, if you have friends who are qualified to support this research, we respectfully ask that you forward this invitation to them, as well. If you have any trouble accessing the survey, please feel free to contact Dr. Manoj Patankar, Executive Director of the Center for Aviation Safety, at patankar@slu.edu or 314-977-8725. Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Hello, My name is Samuel Lien and I am a Masters of Applied Science student working under the supervisions of Dr. Jonathan Histon in the Human in Complex Systems (HCOM) Lab of the Human Factor Research Group in the System Designs Department at the University of Waterloo. The reason we are contacting you is that we are conducting a study that looks at the effect of information asynchrony on pilot-ATC communication. We are currently seeking subject-matter experts including active or retired professional pilots (commercial or higher rating) and air traffic controllers (terminal / enroute) as our participants to the study. Participation in this study involves going to our online experiment website from your computer as the experiment will be conducted online. In appreciation of the time you have given to this study, you can enter your name into a draw for 1 of 10 prizes. The prizes include $100 amazon.com gift card. Your odds of winning one of the prizes is approximately 1 in 4. I would like to assure you that the study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee. However, the final decision about participation is yours. To be clear, this experiment is not an official Nav Canada / FAA / NASA funded/sponsored/endorsed research activity but is a student research project. If you are interested in finding out more, please visit the website link here at: http://rbhagat.uwaterloo.ca/IDEA/ Or, please contact me or Dr. Jonathan Histon at the contact information below. Sincerely, Samuel Lien, Dr. Jonathan Histon Humans in Complex Systems Lab Systems Design Engineering University of Waterloo slien@uwaterloo.ca, jhiston@uwaterloo.ca 519-888-4567 x32529 Back to Top Upcoming Events: Fundamentals of IS-BAO February 3, 2015 Atlanta, GA USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1628307 IS-BAO Auditing February 4, 2015 Atlanta, GA USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1628308 Fundamentals of IS-BAO February 10, 2015 Long Beach, CA USA https://www.regonline.com/eventInfo.asp?eventID=1651572 Fundamentals of IS-BAH February 10, 2015 Long Beach, CA USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1651575 IS-BAH Auditing February 11, 2015 Long Beach, CA USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1651581 Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA March 10-11, 2015 www.acsf.aero/symposium ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar April 21-22, 2015. Washington D.C. http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101-seminar/index.html FAA Helicopter Safety Effort three-day safety forum April 21-23, 2015 Hurst, Texas eugene.trainor@faa.gov www.faahelisafety.org ERAU OSHA & Aviation Ground Safety Seminar Daytona Beach, FL Apr.13-17, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas ERAU Aviation Safety Program Management Seminar Daytona Beach, FL Apr.20-24, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas ERAU Aircraft Accident Investigation Seminar Daytona Beach, FL Apr. 27-May 1, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas ERAU Advanced Aircraft Accident Investigation Seminar Prescott Campus, AZ May 4-8, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas ERAU Aviation SMS Seminar Daytona Beach, FL May 12-14, 2015 www.erau.edu/sms Curt Lewis