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Monday, November 19, 2007

Safety News in Brief

Date	Incident
14 Nov	Air BP, a leading aviation fuel supplier, has launched a Misfuelling Prevention Campaign to coincide with the Dubai Air Show. Putting AVTUR into an aircraft needing AVGAS can be lethal to the engine and the situation is being complicated by the increasing number and types of smaller aircraft using alternate diesel engines (which do require AVTUR - but need AVGAS if the model is recip powered). The gas right campaign is supported by a number of eye-catching posters designed to bring home the campaign message as well as a specially created Misfuelling Prevention brochure.
13 Nov	A near collision above Fort Wayne Indiana Tuesday night was caused by a fatigued air traffic controller who directed an eastbound Midwest Airlines plane to descend into the path of a westbound United Express jet, according to a preliminary investigation by the FAA. The incident occurred "on the tail end of a rush" amid a shift change at the Chicago Center radar facility in Aurora. Tragedy was averted when a collision-avoidance alert sounded in the cockpit of the Midwest plane, carrying 21 passengers, two pilots and a flight attendant from Milwaukee to Dayton, Ohio. The pilots executed an emergency climb to avoid the other plane. It was the latest in a series of serious errors since Oct. 1 at the FAA center, where tensions are high between the controllers union and management over adequate staffing levels.
12 Nov	Experts from the European Union have suggested that Indonesian airlines boost supervision on security standards, and asked regulators to raise the capability and quantity of their staffs, director of the Air Transport Ministry Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno said in Jakarta Wednesday. A group of EU inspectors visited Indonesia from Nov. 5 to 9 and checked the safety standard of the country's airlines ahead of a review of the blanket EU ban on Indonesia's carriers. The European Union has prepared a report on Indonesian air safety that will be delivered to the European Commission and used as a basis for deciding whether to lift the ban on Indonesian airlines imposed in June after a string of air disasters this year. Indonesia would have an opportunity to present its measures to improve aviation safety to the European Commission, which will review the ban at its next meeting. The EU has banned 51 Indonesian airlines, including national airline Garuda. Dozens of Indonesian airlines have signed an agreement with the government to bring aviation safety in line with international standards, ahead of a review of a European Union ban on the country's carriers. The agreement was signed by 45 commercial and charter operators and cargo companies, and will be delivered to the European Commission as part of Indonesia's case to review the EU's ban.
12 Nov	Antonovs are having a bad year. Known hull losses to date being: 09-JAN-2007 Antonov 26 ER-26068 Aeriantur-M Airlines 24-FEB-2007 Antonov 12 ST- AQE United Arabian Airlines, opf. AZZA Transport 25-JUN-2007 Antonov 24 XU-U4A PMT Air 18-JUL-2007 Antonov 24 ? Malift Air 23-JUL-2007 Antonov 26 ? Djibouti Airlines 29-JUL- 2007 Antonov 12 RA-93912 ATRAN 22-AUG-2007 Antonov 26 HK-4389 SELVA Colombia 26-AUG-2007 Antonov 32 9Q-CAC GLBC 27-AUG-2007 Antonov 32 HK-4117 SELVA Colombia 07-SEP-2007 Antonov 12 4L-SAS Transaviaservice, opf. Galaxy Incorporation 04-OCT-2007 Antonov 26 9Q-COS El Sam Airlift, opf. Malift Air 17-OCT-2007 Antonov 12 XU-365 Imtrec Aviation 08- NOV-2007 Antonov 12 Juba Air Cargo *and add about another six of the smaller AN2 Colts (largest single-engine biplane ever produced)
12 Nov	A spokeswoman for the Johannesburg-based Civil Aviation Authority said Boeing 737-200 planes at Nationwide Airlines have been grounded and those belonging to other carriers will be grounded in two days. There are about 31 such aircraft operating in South Africa. On 07 Nov a JT8D engine fell off a jet belonging to Nationwide Airlines after it had ingested an object. The aviation directive also affects DC9 planes, the aviation authority said. The engines were described as Pratt & Whitney JT8D series. The incident engine had been fitted in March 2005 and had since flown 3,806 hrs of a planned 10,000hrs before refurbishment. To accommodate rare cases of catastrophic failure, the engine-to-wing supporting structure is designed to release the engine when extreme forces are applied to prevent any structural damage. [ see RSA AD No 07-002: tinyurl.com/2ntmnm and tinyurl.com/3xo9ot]
11 Nov	Dutch company GTM Advanced Structures, Alcoa Aluminum, and Delft University of Technology of Netherlands have joined forces to develop an aluminum fiber material known as CentrAl. CentrAl is an abbreviation for central reinforced aluminum, a product reported to be at least 20% lighter than carbon reinforced plastic materials currently being used in the production of the Boeing 787. Researchers claim the advantages of the new material are reduced fuel usage, increased safety and reduced maintenance as the material will virtually eliminate the potential for metal fatigue. Overall, researchers estimate potential savings to the aircraft industry of nearly $100 billion. The broad concept was first presented in September during the Conference on Damage Tolerance of Aircraft Structures in Delft.
10 Nov	Lawmakers have chided NASA for not spending enough to detect "Near-Earth Objects" (NEOs), i.e. potential Planet-Killer meteors. NASA only tracks NEOs larger than one kilometer in diameter. Congress wants the agency to fund a search for smaller NEOs. The head of program analysis and evaluation at NASA testified before a congressional hearing that the risk of a NEO hitting the Earth is too small to divert the space agency's limited resources, now being spent primarily to complete the International Space Station and develop the Constellation manned space program. The threatened 2011 closure of the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico is serving as a stimulus for congressmen. They attacked NASA for not answering its 2005 mandate to expand the search for smaller NEOs, down to 140 meters in diameter, saying the agency's annual allocated NEO budget of $4.1 million was not enough to sustain a credible search. NASA says there are about 20,000 smaller objects that could potentially strike Earth. Arguably, it's the ultimate air safety/defense concern. The US DoD remains aloof from the argument.
09 Nov	The NTSB and the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) are agreed that near misses on the ground at overcrowded airports are becoming one of the most serious safety concerns in civil aviation. IFALPA's view is that the danger peaks when airports try to alleviate bottlenecks by adding runways. That leads to more taxiways intersecting the runways, raising the risk of pilot confusion and accidental/inadvertent incursions. According to ATC authority Eurocontrol, an average of two incursions take place each day at Europe's 600 civil airports. In the US, where reporting standards are different, 182 incidents have been recorded thus far in 2007, compared to 158 last year. An FAA study found that the well-designed Washington Dulles airport had only four incursions during the period from 1997 to 2000, compared to Los Angeles Airport with its complex layout of multiple intersecting runways and taxiways -- it had 29 incursions. IFALPA blames poorly designed airports as the primary cause of incursions but say that high traffic density, complicated operational procedures, nonstandard markings, and poor comprehension of English among cockpit crew add to the risks. Although their low proficiency in English can play a major role, foreign pilots also complain that air traffic controllers in the US contribute to the problem by using confusing abbreviations or long-winded and complex instructions. As a result, the FAA now requires U.S. controllers to provide clear and explicit taxiing instructions to pilots, including the exact route to their designated runway and not just which runway to use.
09 Nov	NASA engineers are trying to track down a smoky odor in a spacesuit worn during a test on the ground Friday. The suit is of a type designed to be used in future missions. Early examinations haven't turned up any evidence of electrical malfunction or burning in the suit. Spacewalks are off the agenda until engineers pinpoint the source of the smell. That could mean a delay for crew members at the International Space Station. They're scheduled to have two important spacewalks next week, on Nov. 20 and 24, and three more during a shuttle mission to the space lab in December.
08 Nov	Pursuant to the NTSB's expressed concerns about pilot fatigue in its "most wanted" review, ALPA released a statement in support: "Last month, ALPA created a Fatigue Blue Ribbon Panel to review the latest science surrounding pilot fatigue, look into the current domestic, international, and cargo operations, and compare the U.S. and Canadian regulations to those in Europe and Asia. The Panel will report its findings in mid-2008. Until then, ALPA will continue to help develop training programs that will increase pilots' awareness of the warning signs of fatigue. We will also urge the FAA to pursue realistic, science-based flight- and duty-time limits that make certain that airline pilots in both passenger and cargo operations are rested and ready to perform their jobs."
08 Nov	A mishandled propeller overspeed in an SAS Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 on approach almost led to loss of control, says a recent report by the Swedish accident investigation board. It occurred on 6 April 2006 during an ILS approach to Runway 16 at Kalmar, near Sweden's south-east coast. Before departing Stockholm's Arlanda airport, the crew checked the Q400's technical log but the captain did not notice there were three previous reports of starboard propeller system problems, including overspeeding. The Board was critical of the crew, their training, SAS's maintenance, and the emergency checklist and operations manual for the type. The emergency checklist says the faulty propeller should be feathered and the engine shut down to reduce the drag of the propeller. The captain eventually had to demand more than 125% torque from the left engine to control the high rate of descent caused by the drag from the windmilling RH propeller. Due to the massive directional asymmetry, the ILS approach was dangerously unstable. The crew had not practised dealing with such faults during approach and landing, and considered that the emergency checklist was unclear. The Board found that in none of the three logged cases had the crew properly observed the instructions in the non-normal checklist and that neither had the technical fault been subsequently located and rectified.
08 Nov	The Office of Inspector General began looking into the saga of NASA's National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service (NAOMS) a week after NASA Chairman Michael Griffin said the data from the survey would be released publicly. Griffin was in the hot seat after The Associated Press ran a story in which a NASA official said it withheld results of the survey, which polled 29,000 pilots on their experiences in the air, "because it didn't want to alarm the public or affect airline revenues". The OIG will look at the efficiency and taxpayer value of the survey, something which Griffin also called into question during the hearings.
08 Nov	The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the number of serious incidents of aircraft getting too close in the air rose sharply last month, exceeding the Federal Aviation Administration's goal for the month by 36 percent... despite the FAA's claims of a reduction in such incidents. NATCA says there were 38 serious incidents -- classified as Category "A" and "B" operational errors by the FAA -- in October, easily surpassing the FAA's "performance limit" of 28. An operational error is defined as a violation of separation standards that define minimum safe distances between aircraft. However October 2007 was also the first month in which the FAA implemented a new system of reclassifying ATC errors in an attempt to try and re-baseline and lower the number of Category "A" and "B" errors it counts simply by moving numbers around that define the scope of a serious breach of separation standards. NATCA says it's no surprise that errors are up... since there are 1,200 fewer veteran controllers working right now than a year ago. New hires and trainees now comprise one-quarter of the workforce, an unmanageably high level not seen since after the 1981 PATCO strike.
08 Nov	The UK government is conducting a strategic review of the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Led by Sir Joseph Pilling, the report will cover the structure, scope and organization of the authority i.e., looking at how it can perform most effectively in future." Regulation and law making are under scrutiny, attempting to define best practice in corporate governance and the regulatory framework which now exists in the EU with the conflicting creation of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Single European Sky ATC framework. The reviewers will be seeking the views of the aviation industry and other stakeholders. The review is expected to conclude in 2008.
08 Nov	Aviation expert Linden Birns has analyzed the South African aircraft accident statistics of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the period 1996 to 2006....and found some interesting data. The number of accidents involving aircraft and air deaths in South Africa has dropped in the past 10 years, while the number of aircraft has nearly tripled in that time. There were 145 flying accidents last year, when there were more than 50 000 flights. "The average number of crashes in the past 10 years is about 150 a year." What was more worrying was that 107 of the 145 accidents last year could be attributed to human error on the part of flight crews. There were also 23 cases of mechanical or engine problems, 11 were caused by weather conditions, 10 were maintenance-related and six were crashes. The conclusion is that the attributions to human error (pilot/engineer) are on a sharp uptick. The challenge is to identify whether inexperience, lack of currency or other factors (eg fatigue or deficient support services) are in play or predominant.
08 Nov	Fatigued air-traffic controllers were added Thursday to the National Transportation Safety Board's list of the nation's most pressing transportation safety problems. The NTSB, which investigates accidents and makes recommendations, has long advocated stricter rules regarding fatigue among pilots and flight mechanics. Better regulations for preventing exhaustion among air controllers are among the latest proposals to be included on the agency's newly released list of "most wanted" improvements. "Our aviation system requires that everyone be vigilant, that everyone be alert," board member Deborah Hersman said. "With respect to controllers, we know that fatigue is the enemy of good judgment, and what we need most from our controllers is good judgment. We need them to be well rested." The NTSB probe of a Lexington Kentucky crash found that a Comair jet took off from the wrong runway, and that the air-traffic controller on duty at the time was working with only two hours of sleep.
08 Nov	Initial accident investigation findings suggest the final Bombardier DHC-8 Q400 accident of Oct 27 may have been caused as a result of investigative and preventive maintenance carried out by engineers on the landing gear as a result of the earlier accidents. The Q400 came under fire from Scandinavian authorities following three nearly-identical right main landing gear failures involving SAS Q400s in less than two months, resulting in emergency landings. Separate investigations by the Danish government determined the first two incidents-- in Aalborg, Denmark on September 9, followed by another failure in Vilnius, Lithuania three days later -- were caused by a corroded bolt in each plane's landing gear assembly. The failure in the third incident on Oct 27 was caused by a loose rubber O-ring. It jammed and kept the gear leg from extending. Wednesday's meeting also that the two earlier incidents are confirmed as being not related to the later Oct 27 incident.
07 Nov	FAA inspectors will visit Bulgaria in December to assess whether airline and airport standards can justify upgrade to category one - the minimum required for US approval of direct air services to the USA. It's Bulgaria's first year as a member of the European Union and the government is expecting good news on airline restrictions being lifted on the EU front as well.

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