AIR SAFETY WEEK :: FEBRUARY 16, 2009

Brazil Crash Claims 24 Lives
A fully-loaded Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante (PT-SEA) chartered from Manaus Aerotaxis went down with reported engine trouble Feb. 7, crashing into the River Manacapuru in the Brazilian Amazon basin. There were only four survivors of the water ditching, but both pilots were killed. The plane had departed Coari Airport...

Disorientation led to Aeroflot-Nord 737-500 Crash
Russian investigators have concluded that spatial disorientation of an Aeroflot-Nord crew led to the fatal crash of their Boeing 737-500 last year. Flight SU821, which departed Moscow for Perm on Sept. 14, 2008, crashed during preparations for landing. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) says the...

Runway Near Miss Scare in India
A New Delhi-bound Air India Airbus 321 with 170 passengers and 10 crewmembers on board narrowly escaped colliding with a helicopter that was part of Indian President Pratibha Patil's fleet. The Feb. 9 near miss occurred as Flight 866 was about to take off from Mumbai's airport. Patil was inside one of the three...

FAA Shuts Down AAR Landing Gear Works
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently issued an "Emergency Order of Suspension" that shut down operations at AAR's landing gear maintenance operation in Miami. AAR provides a host of aircraft-maintenance services for commercial airlines and other aviation-sector customers. The company...

NTSB Urges Closer Monitoring of Gulf Chopper Commo
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommends that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) more closely monitor the communication contingency plans of all Gulf of Mexico operators following natural disasters. The advisory was prompted by the crash of a Houston Helicopters (HHI) Sikorsky S-76A...

USAF Supports Nigerian Air Safety
Statistically, traveling by air is often cited at the safest way to travel. While taking to the sky has some inherent risk, advances in technology, coupled with stringent maintenance requirements and rigorous training procedures for aircrews have contributed to a safe aerial environment in most parts of the...

Hybrid Foams And Lightweight Constructions
A special process will make it possible to improve the mechanical, thermal and acoustic properties of foams in the future. This will be of particular benefit to lightweight construction. Mother nature is a smart builder. The cell structure of bones and honeycombs, for example, is particularly resilient and...

Equipment Failure Causes Predator UAV Loss
An ignition module failure caused the crash of an MQ-1B Predator east of Ali Base, Iraq, May 2, according to an Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board report released Feb. 3. The $3.8...

Safety & Technology Trends
American Air Urges Pilots to Restart ASAP American Airlines is urging its pilots' union to restart the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) that expired last October when the carrier and union couldn't agree on changes. However, an Allied Pilots Association spokesman said the union won't go back to the old...

Security Shortlines
GAO: TSA's Study of Private-Sector Airport Screening Flawed A recently-released Government Accountability Office (GAO )report reviewed the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Screening Partnership Program (SPP). TSA created the SPP to allow commercial airports an opportunity to apply to TSA to use...

Safety Rules & Regs
Federal AviationAdministration Advisory CircularApproval Guidance for RNP Operations and Barometric Vertical Navigation in the U.S. National Airspace System. This advisory circular (AC) provides system and operational approval guidance for operators to conduct Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14...

Accidents & Incidents
Date Aircraft Type Narrative Death/Injury Remarks Jan 1, 2009 Joliet, IL LANCAIR 360 N3603R A/c impacted terrain following loss of control while taking off from Runway 12 (2,937 feet by 100 feet, dry asphalt) at Joliet Regional Airport (JOT). Two fatalities Pilot told several people that landed with four...