31 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *FAA cites "layers of safety" in Southern California controller error *Southwest Sees Benefits of RNP, Retrofits Older Aircraft *Airplane slides off runway *Singapore Air Cargo Pilots Offered Unpaid Leave on Demand Slump *FAA: Hawaii travelers responsible for high amount of fireworks seizures *NBAA Counters NTSB Icing Alert *Maine man charged with assaulting flight attendant *Toronto-bound jet diverted by agitated passenger *Investigators postpone initial report on Perpignan A320 crash *Ice led Air France Fokker 100 to crash after take-off at Pau *United expedited engine repairs after Chicago smoke incident *FAA disputes claims of understaffing in California ATC facilities **************************************** FAA cites "layers of safety" in Southern California controller error While FAA admits to a controller error in November recently highlighted by California Senator Diane Feinstein the agency also believes safety redundancies in the US aviation system helped to resolve the situation. Feinstein in a 29 December letter to DOT Secretary Nominee Ray LaHood explained the controller mistake "put a Southwest Airlines jet and an Alaska Airlines jet on a collision course while both planes were manoeuvring to land in San Diego". She used the incident to illustrate her concerns over controller staffing at the Los Angeles tower and the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon). FAA has now supplied more details about the incident and explicitly states the controller working the two aircraft was fully certified and not a trainee. Feinstein in her letter to LaHood highlighted a high level of trainees at the Tracon facility. The agency does not discount the controller error and admits it was a serious incident. Yet FAA also states the weather at the time was bad, and the agency was in the process of changing the traffic flow in and out of San Diego. "The controller made a mistake that put two aircraft head to head at about the same altitude," FAA explains. "The aircraft did have TCAS [traffic collision avoidance system] alerts, which directed the pilots of each aircraft to fly on courses away from the other plane." FAA says the aircraft should have been no more than 3 miles apart, but they were within roughly 2.2 miles of one another. The agency believes it "is important to note that our safety system consists of a series of safety layers". In this case, FAA explains the controller realized the mistake, but it was too late to prevent the aircraft from coming close together. "At the same time, another layer of safety came into play - the TCAS, which alerts pilots that they're on a potential collision course with another aircraft," the agency reasons. FAA also explains that there was a spike in controller errors at the Southern California Tracon in early 2008, but "management took a number of steps to address the issue, resulting in only a handful of errors in the second half of the year". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Southwest Sees Benefits of RNP, Retrofits Older Aircraft Southwest has long been a fan of the old round dial cockpits where big fancy screens were always things of the future. It looks like they’ve finally found a reason to upgrade their older aircraft to the 21st century . . . Required Navigation Performance (RNP). Most of the 737-300 fleet will be upgraded beginning in 2011 with twin large screens that will allow for the use of RNP. The 737-700 fleet is already RNP-capable. But what’s so great about RNP? RNP allows for more precise navigation, thereby allowing aircraft to have less separation in the air without compromising safety. This precision opens the door for more direct routings and the associated cost savings that come with it. Southwest is apparently sold on RNP to the point that retrofitting the older aircraft will be worth the $40 million cost. As Southwest struggles to improve its results, this should help. Unfortunately for the airline, it will be a couple more years before they start seeing any results. http://industry.bnet.com/travel/1000458/southwest-sees-benefits-of-rnp-retro fits-older-aircraft/ ************** Airplane slides off runway ROCK SPRINGS (WY) -- Gusty winds apparently caused a Federal Express delivery airplane to slide off the runway at the Rock Springs/Sweetwater County Airport Saturday afternoon, according to airport officials. The single-engine plane sustained substantial damage, but there were no injuries, according to airport public information officer Paula Wonnacott. She said the pilot, however, was transported to the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County as a precautionary measure. Airport Manager Gary Valentine said the plane -- which belongs to FedEx, but was operated by Corporate Air -- was preparing to depart from the airport when the incident occurred. Valentine said the plane went off the runway while attempting to take off and eventually came to rest "precariously" at the end of the runway. Airport personnel responded to the scene, along with county and city emergency workers. A local truck service was called in and moved the plane. Valentine said the airport remained open and fully operational during the incident. He said Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the incident. http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/12/29/news/breaking/doc49590981bf9d9103463 602.txt ************ Singapore Air Cargo Pilots Offered Unpaid Leave on Demand Slump Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world’s biggest airline by market value, said its cargo unit is offering pilots as much as 30 months’ unpaid leave because of slumping air-freight demand. The cargo unit is also planning to park some aircraft over the next few months, airline spokesman Stephen Forshaw said in an e-mail today. The airline’s passenger unit isn’t planning any similar steps at present, he added. Singapore Airlines joins Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. in offering employees unpaid leave, as airlines battle to cut costs amid slowing demand. Global freight traffic fell 13.5 percent last month from a year earlier, the sixth straight decline, while passenger traffic dropped for the third month in a row, the International Air Transport Association said yesterday. “SIA Cargo needs to do all it can to contain costs,” Forshaw said. The freight unit has about 300 pilots, while Singapore Airlines employs about 2,000 pilots, the Business Times said today, when reporting the plans. The cargo unit posted an operating loss of S$76 million ($53 million) in the six months ended September, compared with a S$19 million profit a year earlier, the airline said in November. Singapore Airlines started the cargo division in 1992. The unit operates 14 Boeing Co. 747-400F freighters as well as using capacity on Singapore Airlines’ passenger aircraft, according to the company’s Web Site. ************* FAA: Hawaii travelers responsible for high amount of fireworks seizures (Honolulu) The Federal Aviation Administration is reminding Hawaii air travelers not to pack fireworks in their luggage. Passengers leaving airports in Hawaii are responsible for a disproportionally high percentage of fireworks that are found illegally stowed in checked and carry-on baggage in the Western-Pacific Region, the FAA said. Hawaii accounted for 17 of the 48 fireworks cases in the Western-Pacific region in 2008, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told PBN. The Western-Pacific includes Hawaii, California, Nevada, Arizona and the Pacific Islands. All fireworks, including even small sparklers, are banned from carry-on and checked bags because of the fire risk they pose to aircraft in the air and on the ground, as friction can cause the items to ignite during flight, the FAA said. Hawaii’s passengers accounted for more than one-third of the fireworks seizures at the region’s airports in 2008. Violations can result in civil penalties up to $50,000 per violation with a minimum fine of $250. Criminal convictions can result in prison sentences of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. Fireworks are legally sold in Hawaii and are used widely twice a year, on New Year’s and July 4. http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/12/29/daily8.html ************** NBAA Counters NTSB Icing Alert The NTSB recently issued a Safety Alert advising pilots that the procedures they have been taught regarding the use of de-icing boots may not be safe, but the National Business Aviation Association said this week that operators "should continue to base their decisions about de-icing on their experience and judgment." The NTSB alert said that pilots shouldn't wait "for a prescribed accumulation of leading-edge ice before activating the de-ice boots because of the believed threat of ice bridging." Ice bridging has never been implicated as the cause of an accident, and is extremely rare, and may not exist at all, the NTSB said, and delaying the use of the boots has been noted in "numerous incidents and accidents." NBAA said it believes "proving the existence of ice bridging after an accident is difficult, and many documented cases resulted in successful outcomes due to the skill and professionalism of the flight crew." Misuse of the de-icing boots was cited as a factor in the NTSB report on the crash of a Cessna Citation 560 in Pueblo, Colo., in February 2005, in which all eight people on board were killed. At that time, the NTSB asked the FAA to require all manufacturers and operators of airplanes equipped with pneumatic leading-edge de-ice boots to revise their manuals and training programs to emphasize that the boots should be activated as soon as the airplane enters icing conditions. The safety board also asked the FAA to require that all pneumatic de-ice boot-equipped airplanes certified to fly in known icing conditions should have a mode that would automatically continue to cycle the boots once the system has been activated. http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/NBAACountersNTSBIcingAlert_199480-1.htm l?CMP=OTC-RSS ************* Maine man charged with assaulting flight attendant PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A 57-year-old Portland man charged with interfering with a flight crew after being asked to sit down on a flight from Newark, N.J., to Portland has waived his right to a probable cause hearing. According to an FBI affidavit, Jeffrey Skeggs was charged Dec. 4 after a flight attendant said he struck her when she asked him to return to his seat as the flight approached Portland. Skeggs said he simply waved his hand at the attendant while waiting in line for the bathroom and returned to his seat without incident. Skeggs' attorney said Tuesday's probable cause hearing was canceled to give both sides a chance to review the case. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-12-30-maine-attendant-assault_N. htm ************** Toronto-bound jet diverted by agitated passenger SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A passenger jet bound for Toronto made an unscheduled landing in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday after an agitated passenger tried to tamper with an emergency door, an airline official said. The Boeing B757 landed safely and nobody was hurt, said Sabah Mirza, spokeswoman for Canadian carrier Skyservice. She said flight crew and passengers restrained the man until the plane landed at the Punta Cana international airport in the late afternoon. "At no time was the safety of the aircraft in jeopardy," Mirza said. "While the door was never at risk of opening in flight, the flight crew reacted quickly and appropriately." The man, whose name and nationality were not immediately available, was detained by Dominican authorities for questioning. Mirza said the other 201 passengers were being put up in hotels overnight and would travel to Toronto on Wednesday. The flight originated in Grenada and stopped in Barbados before making the unscheduled landing. Investigators were inspecting the plane at Punta Cana, Dominican civil aviation spokesman Pedro Jimenez said. Kathleen Bergen, a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, said the plane's pilot told traffic controllers on the U.S. island of Puerto Rico that an indicator light warned of "a problem with a door," and the flight was diverted as a precautionary measure. The incident caused alarm in Grenada after a man told reporters there that a relative on the flight phoned him to say it was apparently being hijacked. Skyservice operates in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6uBIHTrpYf7OuTCWyZ1ltuhoa LAD95DEURG0 ************** Investigators postpone initial report on Perpignan A320 crash French investigators are delaying until early next year the issuing of preliminary findings into the Airbus A320 accident near Perpignan last month. The aircraft had been approaching Perpignan on 27 November, ahead of an off-lease delivery flight to Air New Zealand, when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses states that the investigation at sea has "not been completed" and adds that there is still an "absence to date" of data from the A320's flight recorders. BEA has opted to postpone releasing a first report on the accident until a few weeks into 2009. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Ice led Air France Fokker 100 to crash after take-off at Pau French investigators have concluded that icing on the wings of an Air France Regional Fokker 100 contributed to a fatal departure accident at Pau nearly two years ago. Although the jet rotated quickly, after the co-pilot warned of birds during the take-off roll, the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses (BEA) states that ice contamination led to the jet's subsequent aerodynamic behaviour. As it lifted off for Paris the aircraft oscillated violently, rolling 35° left, then 67° right, and 59° left again. It reached a height of 107ft before descending and touching down to the right of runway 13 at 160kt, just 14s after becoming airborne. The Fokker travelled hundreds of metres along the ground - crossing a road, where it hit a truck and killed the driver - before coming to rest. There were no fatalities among the jet's 54 passengers and crew. Meteorological conditions at Pau, where the humidity was high and the air temperature was 0°C, presented a risk of ice contamination. In the hour prior to the Fokker's departure four aircraft - an Airbus A320, A319, Embraer ERJ-135 and a Casa CN-235 military transport - all took off, but only the A320 requested de-icing. The Fokker crew similarly did not ask for the jet to be de-iced. In its final report into the 25 January 2007 accident, the BEA points out that, without the aid of a stepladder or similar means, the crew could not detect whether there was ice on the wings during pre-flight checks. During the take-off roll, the sudden sighting of birds prompted a reflex decision by the pilot to apply a higher-than-normal rotation rate of 6.1° per second. No birds struck the airframe or engines. But the BEA says that the rapid rotation partly contributed to the loss of control during take-off. It cites previous icing accidents Fokker jets, including a take-off crash involving a Palair Macedonian Fokker 100 at Skopje in March 1993. The inquiry into that accident recommended de-icing the type in freezing conditions, regardless of observations from pre-flight checks. BEA says the Pau inquiry discovered "insufficient awareness" among the French aerospace community regarding icing and its effects on aircraft performance. "Risks associated with this phenomenon, particularly when the weather is not exceptional, are not well-known," states the BEA. Investigators have put forward seven recommendations, five of which focus on implementing better training and procedures for dealing with on-ground icing. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** United expedited engine repairs after Chicago smoke incident United Air Lines accelerated a program to replace defective bearings on its Pratt & Whitney PW-4090-powered Boeing 777s following a 14 December 2007 incident in which the cabin of a 777-200 filled with smoke on a flight inbound to Chicago from Shanghai. That information was part of a recently-released final report on the incident by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Cabin crew of Flight 836 had alerted pilots that the cabin was filling with smoke when the mid-afternoon flight was 13 miles from the Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Pilots declared an emergency and then landed at O'Hare, turning off the runway at a high-speed taxiway and initiating an emergency evacuation of the 264 passengers and crew onboard. One passenger fractured a vertebra during the evacuation, according to the report. A detailed teardown of the right engine revealed that its number two bearing had failed, causing the oil smoke to enter the cabin through the bleed air system for pressurization. NTSB notes that Pratt & Whitney had "released an improved bearing design prior to the accident". United at the time had decided to replace the bearings "on an attrition basis when the original bearings were no longer serviceable," according to the report. "However, [United] has revised that policy and is proactively replacing the original bearings, regardless of the condition, with improved bearings," the NSTB says. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* FAA disputes claims of understaffing in California ATC facilities Arguments by California Senator Diane Feinstein that a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers exist in Southern California are being countered by FAA as the agency contends those facilities are staffed within authorized ranges. Feinstein sent a letter to DOT Secretary Nominee Ray LaHood on 29 December stating her specific concern regarding staffing levels at Los Angeles International Airport and the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon). The Senator tells LaHood the number of fully certified controllers at the Tracon facility fell from 236 in 2004 to 162 in October, prompting Feinstein to request an investigation by the DOT inspector general. Outlining additional concerns Feinstein tells LaHood: "Furthermore, although experts believe that FAA's apprentice-based training system breaks down when more than 20 percent of controllers are still in training, 29 percent of the Southern California Tracon workforce is currently in training. In 2009, the facility is projected to be training nearly 100 trainees." FAA counters that all of Southern California's air traffic control facilities, including the two highlighted by Feinstein "are staffed within their authorized ranges. At the same time, we are working hard to bring new controllers aboard at both facilities to replace those who will be retiring in the coming years". Feinsten further explains to LaHood that while FAA continues to profess the system is safe, "all parties acknowledge that massive staff turnover is straining the air traffic control system in Southern California". Providing anecdotal evidence to her concerns Feinstein highlights a controller mistake to LaHood that occurred in November that "put a Southwest Airlines jet and an Alaska Airlines jet on a collision course while both planes were manoeuvring to land in San Diego". Calling for a "new approach" in Southern California, Feinstein recommends that FAA immediately consider offering incentives to retain certified controllers and attract new staff, and alter its training scheme so that efficient training of "the massive influx" of new controllers is completed as quickly as possible. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************