Flight Safety Information September 14, 2010 - No. 192 In This Issue 15 Dead in Venezuela Plane Crash; 36 Others Survive AIG leads coverage for crashed Venezuelan jet Recorders in UPS Dubai plane crash sent to US Boeing commences three-year 787 fatigue trial... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 15 Dead in Venezuela Plane Crash; 36 Others Survive Fifteen people have been killed in the crash of an airplane belonging to Venezuela's state-run airline, Conviasa. Thirty-six others on board survived the accident in a steel mill yard in Bolivar state. Steel mill workers helped pull the survivors from the smoking wreckage. It is not clear what caused the crash, but officials say the pilot had radioed traffic controllers that something was wrong before the plane went down on the property of the state-run Sidor steel mill. The aircraft, a twin-engine turboprop, was carrying 47 passengers and a crew of four. It was flying from the Caribbean resort island of Margarita to the industrial city of Puerto Ordaz. Bolivar's state governor described the large number of survivors as "a miracle." And he called the steel mill workers "heroes" for assisting the survivors. http://www.voanews.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103686131564&s=6053&e=001p0wJie_1q5spzaiGGubQduLjQXVvkNsb3Z7BPMW14QK6I9_BAhqpWniNqd3LoLH7J7YudC8eUdv9JiLgZETZTE6mxibOQPuSo7FsctCM43NYdlUbynGbxA==] ********* Status: Preliminary Date: 13 SEP 2010 Type: ATR-42-320 Operator: Conviasa Registration: YV1010 C/n / msn: 371 First flight: 1994-02-07 (16 years 7 months) Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 4 Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 43 Total: Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 47 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 8 km (5 mls) SE of Puerto Ordaz Airport (PZO) (Venezuela) Phase: Unknown (UNK) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Porlamar-del Caribe Santiago Mariņo International Airport (PMV/SVMG), Venezuela Destination airport: Puerto Ordaz Airport (PZO/SVPR), Venezuela Flightnumber: 2350 Narrative: An ATR-42-320 passenger plane, registered YV1010, was destroyed in an accident at Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. Forty-seven people were on board. Fourteen are confirmed dead and 33 occupants have survived the accident. Flight Conviasa 2350 had departed Porlamar-del Caribe Santiago Mariņo International Airport (PMV) on a domestic service to Puerto Ordaz Airport (PZO). It came down in an industrial area about 8 km from runway 07. Conficting news reports indicate that the airplane also have been on a flight from Puerto Ordaz to Porlamar. Yet the flight number mentioned by several other news sources is a flight from PMV to PZO. www.aviation-safety.net [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103686131564&s=6053&e=001p0wJie_1q5u2A4OOnuK3WCpxbFUAcQvXgwrfbcPRBVjXgLcnPxmMd-kFpy_a7EFVaXCG76kQhAyyrAjRm5zof_TZwDzq_Q0FYzBavWieDBGLLWSGfCp3J8Yb9kvn-FkX] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AIG leads coverage for crashed Venezuelan jet GUAYANA, Venezuela-American International Group Inc. leads the coverage for an airliner that crashed in southeastern Venezuela Monday, according to an aviation market source. The government-owned Conviasa flight crashed Monday morning 12 minutes after takeoff near the town of Guayana. The plane was carrying at least 47 passengers and crew, and conflicting media reports said that three to 14 of those had died, with 21 to 33 additional people hospitalized. A market source said that AIG led the coverage for the ATR42 twin-turboprop, while Lockton Cos. L.L.C. brokered the coverage. The source said the hull was likely valued at about $9 million http://www.businessinsurance.com/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recorders in UPS Dubai plane crash sent to US DUBAI, United Arab Emirates(AP) - Emirati investigators leading the probe into the deadly crash of a UPS plane in Dubai have sent the Boeing 747's flight data recorders to the U.S. as they try to determine what brought the three-year-old jet down. Pilots onboard United Parcel Service Flight 6 reported smoke in the cockpit about 20 minutes after taking off from Dubai. They tried to return to the Gulf city-state but were unable to land on their first attempt and crashed into a military base shortly afterward. Both crew members were killed. The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority is leading the investigation with help from investigators at U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. GCAA Director-General Saif al-Suwaidi told The Associated Press on Tuesday that both of the plane's flight recorders, known as "black boxes," were sent to a laboratory in the U.S. late last week for further analysis "under the custody of GCAA staff." Investigators said they found the plane's cockpit voice recorder about six hours after the crash. The other black box - the digital flight data recorder - was recovered in "reasonable" condition days later. Information on the devices could provide clues into what caused smoke to fill the cockpit shortly after the plane departed Sept. 3 on a flight to a UPS Inc. hub in Cologne, Germany. For reasons still unclear, the crew was unable to switch their radio frequency back to the Dubai channel and could not communicate directly with air traffic controllers there as they attempted to land. They instead had to relay information through air traffic controllers in the nearby Gulf nation of Bahrain. Data on the recorders will likely be compared with information already received from a sophisticated data transmission system installed on the plane. The system, known as an airplane health management system, is able to transmit performance information rapidly via satellite to UPS's airline operations headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. Accident investigators have told the AP that a fire appears to have begun in a cargo compartment just forward of the starboard wing. One theory being considered is that the plane may have been carrying lithium-ion batteries in the cargo hold. If a battery short-circuits, it can catch fire and ignite others. Shortly after the crash, Al-Suwaidi said it appeared the plane was mainly carrying electronic goods, including toys and computer accessories. The manifest stated the 747-400 was carrying general cargo, he said. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boeing commences three-year 787 fatigue trial Boeing has commenced a three year process of establishing the fatigue life of its primary composite structured 787, nearly three years after the test airframe began final assembly. ZY998, which began assembly in November 2007 as the company's third 787 airframe, was moved from the assembly line in April 2008 to other areas around the company's Everett, Washington facility for continuing preparations and structural rework and reinforcement ahead of the gruelling set of 165,000 cycles for fatigue testing, well beyond the 88,000 required for certification. Boeing moved the airframe from its temporary position in the factory to the outdoor test rig at the north end of the Everett campus in February. Upon its move to the test rig, following years of delays, Boeing had planned to begin its fatigue trials mid-year, but that target slipped to September without explanation. The airframer has claimed the 787 will have 30% lower maintenance costs than comparable airframes, in large part due to the 50% composite material used in the aircraft's structure. Additionally, the widespread use of titanium, accounting for roughly 14% of the airframe material, withstands metallic corrosion better than aluminium over the aircraft's design life. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC