Flight Safety Information March 11, 2010 - No. 053 In This Issue Drunk cabin crew prevented from taking off Cessna 421B Accident (Honduras)... JetBlue continues studying winglets Pilots rescued after plane crashes off SC coast Airbus: United Signs Firm Order For 25 A350 XWB aircraft Passenger removed from flight at Miami airport FAA mandates Airbus collision avoidance modification ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Drunk cabin crew prevented from taking off The Ukrainian authorities have prevented a plane from taking off with a drunken crew. The pilots and stewardesses on the Ukrainian airline Donbassaero were at least ten times over the legal limit. The inland flight was due to carry 86 passengers from Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula to Kiev. One of the passengers was the Ukrainian deputy Attorney General Tatiana Kornikova. She has launched an investigation into air safety in Ukraine. http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/drunk-cabin-crew-prevented-taking Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cessna 421B Accident (Honduras) Date: 10-MAR-2010 Time: Type: Cessna 421B Golden Eagle Operator: Copreca S.A. Registration: TG-JYM C/n / msn: 421B-0403 Fatalities: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Tegusigalpa - Honduras Phase: Initial climb Nature: Executive Departure airport: Tegusigalpa Destination airport: San Pedro Sula Narrative: Crashed and burned 3 minutes after take-off. Apparently engine fire/failure. (aviation-safety.net) Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ JetBlue continues studying winglets JetBlue Airways is still evaluating the possibility of installing winglets on its Airbus A320 fleet after the carrier completed a test with Aviation Partners (API) on a single aircraft last month. The aircraft, N556JB, completed testing in February off the coast of southern California. During a 9 March presentation at the JP Morgan Aviation, Transportation and Defense conference JetBlue CEO Dave Barger said the carrier is "pleased with what the team is coming across with", in terms of data from the tests. JetBlue is "still working on structural studies", says Barger. "We'll know more later this year." The carrier has a fleet of 110 Airbus A320s. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pilots rescued after plane crashes off SC coast ST. HELENA SOUND -- Two Marine Corps pilots were rescued just after 6:00 p.m. Wednesday off the coast of South Carolina. Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort notified the Coast Guard that two pilots aboard a Marine FA-18 Hornet went down off the coast of St. Helena Sound after their engine stopped working. The Marine Corps said that two parachutes were seen indicating that the pilots had ejected. About an hour later, the Coast Guard rescue crew from Charleston located the missing pilots and safely rescued them. http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=428116 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103175182629&s=6053&e=001bKgV4AaQ4_jIdRqUJyzXy3NYT4pvMQmtUzv4Yh6oaSPUb3luTpFVQrVdig9Sv6PqEtXDfDdmNCUpVQHanWiQb0RhJXaY8pHSMWPrNVyyFAbi-hHsupPHi5k_OJQS1kVWuoEYrqkME7SvbtoSMm9fz-hqbJwPIgW5psrxxelAHRI=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airbus: United Signs Firm Order For 25 A350 XWB aircraft PARIS (Dow Jones)--Aircraft maker Airbus, part of European Aeronautic Defence And Space Co. NV (EAD.FR), Wednesday said UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) United Airlines has placed a firm order for 25 A350-900 XWB aircraft, its newest twin-engine widebody. The U.S.-based airline is the 33rd customer for this model, Airbus said. Deliveries of the aircraft to United Airlines are expected to begin in 2016 and run through 2019. Airbus couldn't be immediately reached for a comment about the value of the deal. The order book for this aircraft type now stands at 530, with the final assembly of the first aircraft expected in 2011 and the first delivery scheduled for 2013, Airbus said in a statement. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100310-710327.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103175182629&s=6053&e=001bKgV4AaQ4_gqxDgT_Id8CpQftO3uOz4vR3j8KMq_BkqGA0kRgKrujlX35OvuYLsIJPIMKZOTooFO9sbMXVthIUVfn-nJlTlm] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103175182629&s=6053&e=001bKgV4AaQ4_gqxDgT_Id8CpQftO3uOz4vR3j8KMq_BkqGA0kRgKrujlX35OvuYLsIJPIMKZOTooFO9sbMXVthIUVfn-nJlTlm] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Passenger removed from flight at Miami airport MIAMI (AP) - Authorities say a flight from Miami to the Dominican Republic had to return to an airport gate because of an unruly passenger. Miami International Airport spokesman Greg Chin says American Airlines flight 683, bound for Santiago, made its way to the runway Wednesday. But shortly after leaving the gates, the pilot turned the plane around. American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Pantin said the passenger had refused to follow crew member instructions and was taken off the plane. It was allowed to continue to its destination. In an e-mail, Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said the passenger won't face criminal charges. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA mandates Airbus collision avoidance modification The US FAA has finalised an airworthiness directive (AD) that will require operators of more than 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft to update critical avionics software related to the aircraft's traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS). The estimated costs of the upgrade, which takes four hours to complete, is roughly $15,000 per aircraft. FAA's decision to adopt the new rule is the result of two near mid-air collisions that occurred between A320 family aircraft, incidents that prompted the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to issue an airworthiness directive on the TCAS alerting function in November 2008. Investigators concluded that human factors issues related to the incidents, which involved resolution advisories issued by TCAS, included a lack of visibility of "relevant information" on the primary flight display regarding the flight control inputs necessary to avoid a collision. "This condition, if not corrected, could result in erroneous interpretation of TCAS resolution advisories, leading to an increased risk of mid-air collision," says the FAA. The FAA rule is identical to the original directive issued by EASA. FAA first proposed to mandate the software upgrade in July 2009, calling for changing out the Airbus electronic instrument system software with a new version that "consists of a change in the needle colour and thickness and an increase in the width of the TCAS green band". The rule requires operators to change out the software, per a January 2008 Airbus mandatory service bulletin, within five years. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC