Flight Safety Information August 17, 2010 - No. 166 In This Issue Jet Crash on Colombian Island Kills NTSB To Hold Code-Sharing Symposium HAI Welcomes New Director Of Safety Stan Rose FAA OKs classes for Boeing 787 pilot training Article Headline ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jet Crash on Colombian Island Kills 1 Richard Garcia/Associated Press A Boeing 737 from Bogota crashed on landing and broke into three pieces on a Colombian island in the Caribbean on Monday. CARACAS, Venezuela - A downpour was drenching the island of San Andrés, an idyllic speck of Colombian territory in the Caribbean. The Boeing 737-700, operated by the Colombian airline Aires, had taken off from Bogotá shortly after midnight, and it was 1:49 a.m. on Monday when passengers stirred awake as the jetliner prepared to land. "Everything was going fine," said Heriberto Rúa, who was on the plane with his wife and five daughters. "Then I felt the blow." Chaos ensued. Some witnesses said they heard the bellow of thunder just before the plane crashed upon landing on the tarmac in San Andrés. The force of the crash was so powerful that the Boeing broke apart into three pieces, its fuselage fractured. Somehow the pilot, Capt. Wilson Gutiérrez, kept the wreckage he was guiding from crashing into the airport, the authorities said. One of the plane's wings caught fire, but rescue workers doused that threat. Remarkably, only one person died among the 131 on the plane, a 73-year-old woman identified as Amar Fernández de Barreto. The apparent cause of her death: a heart attack suffered shortly after the crash. "This is a true miracle, to report just one victim," said Pedro Gallardo Forbes, the governor of San Andrés, a normally tranquil English-speaking island that has been the subject of a long-simmering territorial dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua. "We have almighty God to thank for this outcome." Survivors described an outcome that was still horrific as it unfolded. "There was fire, suitcases everywhere, cables sticking out, everyone screaming, despair throughout," said Sebastián Vélez, 25, a cellphone salesman from Medellín who was traveling to San Andrés on his honeymoon with his wife, Lorena Rodríguez, 21. More than 90 people, including Captain Gutiérrez, were taken to Amor de Patria Hospital in San Andrés. Only five had major injuries, said Gen. Orlando Páez of Colombia's National Police. http://www.nytimes.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103619360006&s=6053&e=001Itzre216vMj4FHYhsB0WPDsh994c6J8YqutJq7wHCjQ52sOLo8lWbW3U_8v0furQQCgV4tddCwEoBZHlO4EZBCCyTGmaGugb_S7TO9JXqN6eHkm6xMBZLQ==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB To Hold Code-Sharing Symposium Will Discuss Role Such Arrangements Play In Airline Safety The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day symposium on the role that airline code-sharing arrangements play in aviation safety. The event, chaired by NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman, will be held on October 26-27 in Washington, DC. Code-sharing is a marketing arrangement in which one airline places its designator code on a flight operated by another airline, then sells and issues tickets for that flight. Recent NTSB investigations of accident flights operated under code-sharing arrangements include the February 2009 accident near Buffalo, New York, in which a Colgan Air flight was operated as Continental Connection; a 2007 accident in Traverse City, Michigan, in which a Pinnacle Airlines flight was operated as Northwest Airlink; a 2007 accident in Cleveland, Ohio, in which a Shuttle America flight was operated as Delta Connection; and a 2006 accident in Lexington, Kentucky, in which a Comair flight was operated as Delta Connection. Most airlines participate in some type of code-sharing arrangement, either with domestic or international partners. More than half of passenger enplanements in the U.S. this year are on regional airlines, almost all of which are involved in code-sharing arrangements. "In the past twenty years, code-sharing arrangements have so proliferated within commercial aviation that today the vast majority of airlines are involved in what are often complex business and operational arrangements." said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman (pictured). "We have investigated many accidents in which passengers bought tickets on a major carrier and flew all or part of their trip on a different carrier - one that may have been operating to different safety standards than the carrier that issued the ticket. While all carriers are required to meet minimum standards, a clearer picture and deeper understanding of the best safety practices for code-sharing arrangements are the goals of this symposium." The symposium will be organized to elicit information on the following three issue areas: Structures, practices, and oversight of domestic and international code-sharing arrangements. Best practices regarding the sharing of safety information between airlines and their code-sharing partners. The role that a major airline would have in the family disaster assistance response for an accident involving a code-sharing partner. These areas will be explored through presentations from major and regional airlines, industry organizations, and representatives of the traveling public. The symposium, "Airline Code-Sharing Arrangements and Their Role in Aviation Safety" will be held at the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, DC. A detailed agenda will be released closer to the date of the event. FMI: www.ntsb.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HAI Welcomes New Director Of Safety Stan Rose Former Army Pilot Brings 40 Years Of Helicopter Experience To The Post HAI announced Friday that Stan Rose (pictured) has been tapped as the organization's Director of Safety. Having been involved in the helicopter industry for more than 40 years, Rose brings a wealth of experience to the role. Rose began his career as a U.S. Army pilot in Vietnam, and later attended the Maintenance Officer/Test Pilot Course with the U.S. Army Reserves. Since that time he has served in numerous and varied positions including as line pilot in the Gulf of Mexico, lead pilot and program director for air medical operations, Chief Pilot of a law enforcement helicopter support unit, and as a business planning and acquisitions consultant. Most recently he served as Senior Director of Business Development for CJ Systems Aviation Group, now Air Methods; and just prior to joining HAI he was the C.O.O. and V. P. of Business Development for Thai Aerodynamics Company, Ltd, based in Bangkok. Rose has been active in diverse industry activities including positions as Chairman of the Bradford Susquehanna Regional EMS Council, the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) Board of Directors, Idaho State Bioterrorism Preparedness Committee, and the FAA Part 135 Rule Making Committee. Rose replaces former HAI Director of Safety, Jay Heffernan, who has assumed new duties and responsibilities as V.P. of Safety for Sikorsky Helicopter in Stratford, Connecticut. HAI President Matt Zuccaro noted, "The experience that Rose has accumulated in safety, maintenance, operations, management, and business development will be put to good use in his new role as the Director of Safety for HAI. We welcome Stan to the HAI team." FMI: www.rotor.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA OKs classes for Boeing 787 pilot training Boeing has been given provisional approval by the FAA for its 787 pilot training courses. Pilots who take the courses devised by Boeing can qualify to fly the 787 in five to 20 days. Pilots already certified on Boeing's 777 can qualify to fly the 787 in as few as five days given the similarities between the two planes. "Gaining FAA approval for our courses is a significant milestone as we ramp up to the start of flight training," said Boeing's Mark Albert. The Dreamliner is more than two years behind schedule. Boeing is hoping to deliver its first 787 by year's end. Recently, Boeing officials have indicated the 787 delivery date could slide into early 2011. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100817/BIZ/708179965/1005 Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . FAA: Ore. company flew recklessly, improperly maintained helicopters Hillsboro Aviation Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter. (Hillsboro Aviation) UPDATE: Hillsboro response added. Hillsboro Aviation, of Hillsboro, Ore., should pay a $580,000 fine for performing improper repairs, deliberately falsifying maintenance records and operating a helicopter in a reckless manner, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday. According to the FAA, Hillsboro: Flew a Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter with passengers under the Interstate 5 and 205 highway bridges over the Columbia River in Portland, Ore., on July 8, 2008, endangering lives and property because the aircraft was within 500 feet of a structure and at a low altitude where a safe emergency landing might not have been possible; Used incorrect parts and had an unqualified individual repair another Jet Ranger helicopter; Made no record in the aircraft maintenance logs of work performed; Deliberately falsified maintenance documents claiming an airworthiness directive had been completed when the work had not been done; Operated the helicopter on at least 103 flights, including at least four revenue flights, between June 29 and Sept. 9, 2008, when it was not in compliance with federal regulations; Failed to do required inspections on another Jet Ranger helicopter after it returned to service following maintenance; Operated that aircraft on at least 430 flights, including at least 349 revenue flights, between Jan. 13 and Sept. 7, 2008, when it did not have the required inspections. Hillsboro Aviation has 30 days to respond to the proposed fine. Responding to the FAA's news release Monday, Hillsboro said: "We acknowledge that there were some isolated events which occurred in 2008 as the FAA alleges. What the FAA press release did not mention was that once the president and owner of Hillsboro Aviation became aware of these events, he immediately called the FAA to notify them of the situation." The company said it voluntarily suspended flight operations until it reviewed the records of all 78 of its aircraft; fired the employees responsible for the events; added regulatory and compliance policies and procedures, with company-wide retraining; and implemented a new state-of-the-art Safety Management System. "As a company that has been operating for over 30 years and approaching 900,000 total flight hours, we take safety and regulatory compliance matters seriously. This is why I made the proactive decision to voluntarily suspend all flight operations in September 2008, even though Hillsboro Aviation was not asked or pressured to do so by the FAA," President and Owner Max Lyons said in the statement. "The FAA told us the actions we took to address these events went above and beyond its expectations." http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/218246.asp [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103619360006&s=6053&e=001Itzre216vMhVMT4X7dj4bHA1xSfrdUirChlVicYHDleHLogfP1o-SaAJFahLzTweFTWJOKTYouKsv3r3lAzj_NYi8hHJEgW3sGZJJmf5J4wlDiw1Xb47flVr-awDD0BwmyKKOfLi4QZxQKaQ15IOxLWYWualsZ_9] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103619360006&s=6053&e=001Itzre216vMggyTZujEkM7AW8Tgu0qkP2rhNpPlycxN7khQKBkOzXA81cyzOCc-XigOJTDFn7XEUMazpsKQz3wOkiOnIZGT20] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC