Flight Safety Information September 3, 2010 - No. 181 In This Issue NTSB Says Air Evac Helicopter May Have Broken Up In Flight Miami airport reopens after scare Plane returns to O'Hare safely after lightning strike Two Ghana Cargo Carriers Added to EU List of Unsafe Airlines Bag of snakes bursts at airport...( EMS air safety eyed after Arkansas accident ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB Says Air Evac Helicopter May Have Broken Up In Flight Investigators Find A Trail Of Debris Nearly A Mile Long NTSB investigators say the Air Evac Bell 206 helicopter which went down early Tuesday morning may have broken up in flight. The three-person crew of the aircraft was fatally injured in the accident. NTSB investigator Jennifer Rodi said the main rotor was found north of the main wreckage, and the tail section was found to the southwest. The Associated Press reports that residents near the accident scene heard something that sounded like an explosion, then an engine revving and "metal crunching" when the helicopter impacted the ground. The helicopter was manufacture in 1978, according to FAA records. Air Evac CEO Seth Myers said it was fully equipped with night vision equipment, and that the company's flight crews perform a risk assessment prior to every flight. Rudi said the investigative team had not reported details of their findings in the field. The AP indicated it is the fourth fatal accident involving a medical helicopter or other aircraft this summer. So far in 2010, 21 people have been fatally injured in accidents involving medical aircraft. FMI: www.ntsb.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Miami airport reopens after scare Authorities say a passenger is in law enforcement custody All concourses at the airport are closed except for Concourse J A bomb squad is investigating Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Miami International Airport reopened early Friday morning after a passenger was detained and a suspicious item was spotted, airport officials said. Most of the airport was closed for hours as a bomb squad team dealt with the suspicious item, which inspectors found when screening a checked bag. A passenger was in law enforcement custody, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement early Friday morning. Authorities did not provide details about whether the passenger had been charged or what investigators found. All concourses of the airport except for Concourse J had been closed before the situation was resolved, police said. Concourses E and F were evacuated at 9:30 p.m. Thursday after the item was found, said Greg Chin, a Miami-Dade Aviation Department spokesman. Authorities rerouted arriving flights to other parts of the airport. Investigators from Miami-Dade Police, the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security responded to the incident, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement. Airport roads were also closed "to ensure public safety," the statement said. The incident brought the usually bustling Miami airport to a halt for hours. Debbie Casanova was one of the many people caught in the traffic jam outside airport terminals during the incident. Casanova said she waited for her husband to come out of the airport for more than an hour and the wait continued even after she picked up her husband. "We have been siting here for two hours," said Casanova, as she sat in her car with her husband Roberto. "It is frustrating, but it is better to know everybody is safe." Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plane returns to O'Hare safely after lightning strike Passengers aboard an American Airlines jet bound for Reno had a short but eventful flight after lightning struck their 737 Thursday morning. The plane left O'Hare International Airport at 10:16 a.m. carrying 160 passengers and five crew members, American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said. After lightning hit the front windshield area, the pilots declared an emergency and the plane returned to O'Hare without incident. American Flight 1487 ran into lightning 50 miles west of the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Passengers were transferred to another plane, which arrived at Reno-Tahoe International Airport at 3 p.m. The incident involving the Boeing 737-800 is under investigation by the FAA. The jet was taken out of service and mechanics are looking at the air-conditioning system for damage. Veteran commercial pilot Dennis Tajer of Arlington Heights said lightning strikes are fairly uncommon but they do occur and airplanes are designed and tested for that eventuality. "From the engineering side right on through to the pilots handling the effects of a lightning strike, you could see all of that came together and the plane safely landed," said Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. Some years ago when he was a pilot with the U.S. Air Force, Tajer experienced a lightning strike while flying in Europe. "I don't recall seeing any flash but I definitely heard the sound - it was quite a loud event," he said. "It gets your attention." http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=405360 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103656706639&s=6053&e=001uzY-Ly4ax215Ft2mTEWt7Wmhh68lVq2Qeqxy9Py8F9kZ6gFCo-R4q28dBKrIUOLsC5AULPU5eUU1sci6wxJ1CqvcjdEQa330oEGgT7Ck4KJNlTwyneEDUTtOTjgnxY2yqhXUoR8bUfbQO2OhkUf-8A==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two Ghana Cargo Carriers Added to EU List of Unsafe Airlines The European Union added two cargo carriers from Ghana to Europe's list of unsafe airlines, prohibiting Meridian Airways from flying in the bloc and restricting operations by Airlift International. The ban on Meridian Airways is justified by "a series of very poor results" in inspections of the company's aircraft, said the European Commission, the 27-nation EU's regulatory arm. Airlift International is barred from using all except one of its planes in the EU after a check revealed a safety level "well below that required by international standards," the commission said. "We cannot afford any compromise in air safety," European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said in a statement released today in Brussels. The EU-wide action follows British and Belgian bans on Meridian Airways and U.K. concerns about Airlift International, according to the commission. This is the 15th update of a blacklist first drawn up by the commission in March 2006 with more than 90 airlines mainly from Africa. The ban already covers passenger and cargo carriers from nations including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Liberia, Sudan and the Philippines. Airline crashes in 2004 and 2005 that killed hundreds of European travelers prompted EU governments to seek a uniform approach to airline safety through a common blacklist. The list, updated at least four times a year, is based on deficiencies found during checks at European airports, the use of antiquated aircraft by companies and shortcomings by non-EU airline regulators. In addition to imposing an operational ban in Europe, the blacklist can act as a guide for travelers worldwide and influence safety policies in non-EU countries. Nations that are home to carriers with poor safety records can ground them to avoid being put on the EU list, while countries keen to keep out unsafe foreign airlines can use the European list as a guide for their own bans. http://www.bloomberg.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103656706639&s=6053&e=001uzY-Ly4ax22LbLtC8i683ztfZ0dvSNCc2bo_wY9EIcBzh7KJPasDtjKsJdrC2ic8M06FvPqs0XpnKowgSJ7vrXfjpVEPmqEPR_-3EpYZaL2AZgnSlWezpA==] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103656706639&s=6053&e=001uzY-Ly4ax20rTzmBv7uBmL0YtW52WGfhLkEA2M2uRgiSzkp9YxU1arzWAAKc0aj-aTV6rwUXVw7tri8HIdPWMxUORMIjpmz0] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bag of snakes bursts at airport (UKPA) - 3 hours ago An air passenger whose bag of 95 boa constrictor snakes burst open on a luggage conveyor belt at an airport in Malaysia has admitted wildlife smuggling. Keng Wong, 52, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on August 26 and was charged on Wednesday with exporting the endangered snakes without a permit. The offence has a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a fine. Airport officials said they also found some other types of snake and a turtle in the man's luggage. Wong was attempting to fly to Indonesia's capital Jakarta. The criminal charges involve the boas only because the other animals are not listed as endangered. All of the animals are alive and are being cared for by wildlife officials. A decade ago Wong was imprisoned for almost six years in the US for running an animal-smuggling ring. Prosecutors said he had imported and sold at least 300 protected reptiles native to Asia and Africa from 1996 until he was arrested in Mexico in 1998. It is unclear whether Wong served the full term. The illegal wildlife trade once flourished in Malaysia however the national parliament passed a law in July to punish poachers and smugglers more severely, although the act has yet to take effect. Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103656706639&s=6053&e=001uzY-Ly4ax20rTzmBv7uBmL0YtW52WGfhLkEA2M2uRgiSzkp9YxU1arzWAAKc0aj-aTV6rwUXVw7tri8HIdPWMxUORMIjpmz0] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EMS air safety eyed after Arkansas accident WASHINGTON (AP)- An accident this week in Arkansas has boosted to 21 the number of people that have been killed so far this year in medical helicopter and plane crashes, renewing concerns about the safety of such operations. An Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter crashed Tuesday near Scotland, Ark., killing the pilot, a nurse and a paramedic. It was the fourth fatal accident this summer: A medical helicopter crash in Tucson, Ariz., killed three people on July 28; a crash near Kingfisher, Okla., on July 22 killed two people and seriously injured a third, and an air ambulance plane crashed July 4 in Alpine, Texas, killing five. "This is very alarming," National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said in an interview. "The safety board continues to be very concerned about the safety of this industry." The number of deaths represents a sharp spike from last year, when only six people were killed in one plane and nine helicopter accidents. There were 28 people killed in 2008 in EMS helicopter crashes - the most medical helicopter fatalities in any year, according to NTSB records dating back to 2000. There were 31 people killed in 2004 in a combination of medical helicopter and plane accidents, the most deaths in a year in the air medical industry in the last decade, NTSB records show. The increase in accidents and fatalities reflects, in part, the growth in the emergency medical transport industry, which took off in the early 1980s. Today, there are about 800 helicopters and about 150 planes, according to an industry trade organization. Sumwalt said he is concerned that the Federal Aviation Administration hasn't implemented numerous NTSB recommendations aimed at increasing the safety of the air medical industry. The board made a series of recommendations to the FAA in 2006, and then moved the recommendations to their "most wanted list" of safety improvements in 2008. Last year, Sumwalt chaired a three-day public hearing on the issue. That resulted in about 30 more recommendations. FAA officials told Congress in April 2009 that the agency would propose new regulations addressing the safety issues by early this year. "We have worked very hard to make sure the proposed rule responds to all the issues important to air ambulance safety, and we expect to publish the rule very soon," FAA spokesman Les Dorr said. The board wants the FAA to require EMS helicopter operators to install Terrain Awareness Warning Systems (TAWS) on helicopters. The system warns pilots when helicopters are in danger of crashing into the ground, mountains or tall buildings. The board has pointed to several crashes that happened at night or in poor visibility that might have been prevented if the helicopters had had the warning systems. Another recommendation is that EMS flights that carry only medical personnel, like the one in Arkansas, to follow the more stringent safety rules that apply to flights carrying patients and organs for donation. An NTSB study of 55 emergency medical helicopter or plane crashes between January 2002 and January 2005 found that 10 crashes involving the transport of medical personnel only could have been prevented if the more stringent rules had been followed. NTSB also wants a formal evaluation be conducted before an EMS flight to determine if the flight is too risky. Fifteen of the 55 crashes could have been prevented if such an evaluation had been made before takeoff, the board said. The causes of the most recent accidents haven't yet been determined "so it would be premature to say these accidents would have been prevented by the NTSB recommendations," said Dawn Mancuso, executive director of the Association of Air Medical Services, which represents more than 80 percent of the industry. The industry has "come a long way" in the year and a half since the NTSB hearing, Mancuso said. About 40 percent of EMS helicopters are now equipped with the terrain warning systems, with most of the equipment installed during that time, she said. But the fact that 60 percent of EMS helicopters don't yet have the warning systems shows the industry can't be counted on to voluntarily implement safety recommendations, Sumwalt said. The proposal the FAA is working on will include requirements for the terrain warning systems and flight risk evaluation programs, Dorr said. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC