Flight Safety Information September 1, 2010 - No. 179 In This Issue Engine glitch blasts hole in Australia-bound Qantas jet Black box found at Nepal plane crash site FAA Adopts New Runway Terminology For Pilots Passaredo ERJ suffers mishap while landing NTSB Holds Press Conference on Crash JAL to retire 103 aircraft, cut 16,000 jobs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Engine glitch blasts hole in Australia-bound Qantas jet SYDNEY, Wednesday 1 September 2010 (AFP) - Engine failure which blasted a hole in a Sydney-bound Qantas jet carrying 212 people forced it to return to San Francisco, the Australian airline said Wednesday. Passengers told Australian media that the plane shook and flames were seen coming out of the affected engine early into the Boeing 747-400's flight from San Francisco late on Monday. "It wasn't turbulence, it seems that there was some pretty serious damage," one passenger told Channel Nine. "I could see the flames and all these sparks coming off it and also felt the eruption when it exploded," another said. Qantas said investigations were underway into the incident, which it said occurred about 15 minutes into the flight when the crew detected "excessive vibration" in one of the plane's four Rolls Royce engines. Staff shut down the engine and sought priority clearance to return to San Francisco, spokesman Simon Rushton said. The flight, which was also carrying 18 crew, dumped fuel before landing without incident, he added. "Initial engineering checks on the ground confirmed that the engine had failed," Rushton said. "We are still in the early stages of investigations in terms of ascertaining what caused the failure. "There are a couple of what you might describe colloquially as holes in the engine. That's part of the indication that the engine had failed," he added. Qantas said no-one was injured in the incident, adding that safety was the airline's number one priority. "The fact is, very occasionally engines do fail on aircraft and in fact it's a testament to the skill of our engineers and our flight crew that they would bring this aircraft home quite safely," spokesman David Epstein told ABC. But the association for aircraft maintenance engineers said it was fortunate nobody was injured by debris flying from the engine. "It could have gone into the other engine or through the fuselage and then to one of the passengers," Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Stephen Purvinas told ABC radio. Qantas has sent a replacement engine and a team of engineers to the United States to repair the plane. "Investigations will continue into the cause," Rushton said, adding that the National Transport Safety Bureau in the United States and its Australian equivalent were probing the matter. Rushton said no engine of this type had ever failed before on a Qantas plane. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black box found at Nepal plane crash site KATHMANDU (AFP)- Investigators searching the site of a plane crash near Nepal's capital Kathmandu in which 14 people died have found the plane's black box data recorder, a civil aviation official said Wednesday. The small Agni Air plane crashed in heavy rain last week on its way back to Kathmandu airport after poor visibility prevented it from landing in Lukla, a tiny high-altitude airstrip used as a gateway to the Everest region. Six tourists -- four Americans, a Japanese and a British citizen -- were among those who died when the plane smashed into a valley south of Kathmandu, killing everyone on board. "I can confirm that the flight data recorder of the crashed aircraft was found on Tuesday," the head of the civil aviation authority Ram Prasad Neupane told AFP. "Police are still searching for the cockpit voice recorder and the government investigation team has started its work." Reports said the black box was found buried around 25 metres (80 feet) under a crater formed when the plane crashed into a field last Tuesday and smashed into small pieces. Thousands of travellers fly into Lukla, 140 kilometres (90 miles) northeast of Kathmandu, every year to access the stunning Himalayan range that forms Nepal's northern border with Chinese-controlled Tibet. A five-member commission formed by the government to investigate the cause of last week's crash has been given two months to prepare its findings. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Adopts New Runway Terminology For Pilots FAA said Tuesday that pilots authorized by air traffic controllers to taxi onto runways and await takeoff clearance will be instructed to "line up and wait" rather than "position and hold," effective Sept. 30. The new terminology, which was recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, conforms to terminology used internationally under International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines. A safety analysis conducted by FAA's Air Traffic Organization Terminal Services determined that adopting the phrase "line up and wait" will eliminate confusion, particularly among pilots who also fly overseas, and further reduce the risk of runway incursions. FAA said it will continue to emphasize that pilots are not permitted to cross any runway encountered while taxiing without explicit instructions from controllers. http://www.aviationnews.net/?do=headline&news_ID=182993 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103650677319&s=6053&e=001QfJWUL3pDSDSHrAGlT-TTRy3LFOedP6hbMbxkuXe3m4u1lN15t5wzyoqBklT6peLsQSXzG7JRi7P5eceE0iqKfgFlTRWqLtlPh4zZUfsRV0uJhbP02_djrZWAoUogsllfPPbULe-1capTR6ao3o691uMY6sDChDqYn0coMPoQC4=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Passaredo ERJ suffers mishap while landing An Embraer ERJ-145 operated by Brazilian regional carrier Passaredo between São Paulo`s Guarulhos International airport and Vitória da Conquista (Bahia), experienced extensive damage while landing at its destination on 25 August. Carrying 24 passengers and three crewmembers, the aircraft arrived at Vitória da Conquista at 14:50 local time and, according to eye-witnesses, performed a shallow approach to the 914-meter (3,000ft) Runway 15/33 Reportedly the aircraft's main landing gear struck a low wall some dozens of meters before the threshold, losing both main landing gear units. The aircraft then slid down most of the runway before it swerved left and off the runway with its right engine on fire. The flames were quickly extinguished by the airport's fire brigade, with only two passengers suffering minor injuries. Preliminary reports indicate that the aircraft might be a write-off due to extensive damage to wings and fuselage. Two days earlier, a Passaredo Embraer EMB-120 operating between Presidente Prudente and São Paulo's Congonhas airport, experienced an in-flight engine problem, leading it to an emergency landing at Bauru airport. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB Holds Press Conference on Crash Van Buren County - A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board says a medical evacuation helicopter that crashed near Scotland killing three crew members was flying in "fairly good weather conditions". Jennifer Rodi of the NTSB says it was still dark at the time of the crash. The Air Evac helicopter, dispatched out of Vilonia, crashed just before 4 a.m. near Highway 95. The crew was flying to Crabtree to pick up a patient for transport. Air Evac spokeswoman Julie Heavrin says pilot Kenneth Robertson, flight nurse Kenneth Meyer, Jr., and flight paramedic Gayla Gregory were killed in the crash. According to Rodi, the NTSB is assembling its investigation crew. The damaged aircraft will be transported to an undisclosed location in Clinton where it will be examined. Rodi says a complete report on the crash won't be ready for 8 to 10 months, but that a preliminary report is usually issued within 5 days. Rodi says in the meantime, the NTSB will not speculate on a cause of the crash. http://www.katv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13076865 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103650677319&s=6053&e=001QfJWUL3pDSBkt00W0QgER79DZ4IC-Fn9sPRTuSkctzBP7rSl1g45W9XJFodd8uQz9A1G1TErRZeqQH9QLabD_iaOb7NOOtJ-mEIk4CcNHTe1jON5jd-PCMY66_0VyNUTjgjLdqRYhlt2uvIijtn2bA==] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103650677319&s=6053&e=001QfJWUL3pDSCqCvhkrdk4Qg6lKl2DFaO-tXTfr6d5sZUVscLKGi6IpQDB0pli4vDrnUd5xg17Iadd1lJGnTUqCIYOGfEaxv_J] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ JAL to retire 103 aircraft, cut 16,000 jobs in financial turnaround Japan Airlines (JAL) will retire more than 100 aircraft, cut 16,000 jobs and streamline its operations as part of a rehabilitation plan to return to profit. The Oneworld carrier, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January after running up severe losses, submitted its financial reorganisation plan to the Tokyo District Court today. Under the plan, JAL's creditors will forgive ¥521.5 billion ($6.2 billion) of the airline's debt. Japan's Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation (ETIC), which was tasked to turn JAL around, will give the airline a pay-in of ¥350 billion in December. JAL will in turn issue the ETIC with 175 million new shares. JAL expects to implement its new business plan in December, after it receives the court's approval in end-November. The carrier says it will retire 103 aircraft as it seeks to reduce the number of aircraft models in its fleet and use smaller, more efficient aircraft. It will phase out all Boeing 747-400s, Airbus A300-600s, MD81s and MD90s from its fleet by end-March 2011. Instead, it will deploy small and medium-sized aircraft such as the 737-800, Embraer 170 and the 787, which will be "key to [its] future international route strategy". JAL expects its first 787 to arrive in March 2011, says a JAL spokeswoman. The carrier has 35 firm orders and 20 options for the new aircraft. The airline has not received any notification from Boeing about a change to the delivery date, following Boeing's announcement last week that the first delivery to launch customer All Nippon Airways would be delayed until the mid-first quarter of 2011. On its route network, JAL will focus on operating more frequent services on domestic routes using smaller aircraft. It will concentrate its international route planning around major US and European cities as well as high-growth Asian routes, says the carrier. It announced in April that it would suspend operations on 45 routes. In addition, JAL will cut 16,114 jobs by end-March 2011, resulting in a total workforce of 32,600. The airline will carry out the job cuts through early retirement and the sale of subsidiaries, it adds. On top of this, the airline will review wage systems and downsize airport facilities among other measures to cut costs further, says JAL. The carrier will also consolidate its group operations by the end of its current fiscal year, ending 31 March 2011. Its core business Japan Airlines International (JALI) will merge with holding company Japan Airlines Corporation and three other subsidiaries to form a single entity. On 1 April 2011, JALI will change its name to Japan Airlines Co. A JAL spokeswoman says the airline aims to achieve ¥24.8 billion in net worth by end-March 2011. Following the pay-in from the ETIC and the issue of shares, JAL will have capital of ¥175 billion and capital reserves of ¥175 billion, says the airline. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC