Flight Safety Information October 22, 2010 - No. 216 In This Issue Boeing Considers Raising 737 Production to 40 a Month Runaway Crocodile Blamed for Plane Crash Copter company settles lawsuit with crash survivor and victim's relatives Boeing Considers Raising 737 Production to 40 a Month Boeing Co. is considering increasing production of its 737 single-aisle jet to 40 a month from 31.5 now, said Laura Peterson, vice president for state and local government relations in the Northwest region. That builds on the Chicago-based company's plan to raise the rate to 38 by 2013, Peterson said today at the Governor's Aerospace Summit in Lynnwood, Washington. Boeing kept production of the 737, the world's most widely flown plane, steady through the recession and plans to increase it by more than 20 percent over the span of a year starting in 2012. Airlines are recovering from the recession and ordering new, more fuel-efficient jets to save money on oil and expand. http://www.bloomberg.com/ Back to Top Runaway Crocodile Blamed for Plane Crash An escaped crocodile may have caused a plane crash which killed a British man and 19 other people, according to the sole survivor. The reptile apparently freed itself from a bag, sparking a stampede of panicking passengers on the flight over the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the time the presumed cause of the crash was a "lack of fuel" -- but it has now emerged the rush of people could have tipped the small Let-410 plane off balance and caused it to plummet to the ground on August 25. The new details have been revealed by African magazine Jeune Afrique, which reported evidence given by the sole survivor, whose identity is unknown. The British pilot, First Officer Chris Wilson, from Shurdington in Gloucestershire, was among the 20 killed as the plane smashed into a house close to its destination airport in Bandundu city. Generally viewed as being in a chronic state of disrepair, Wilson had apparently expressed concern about the Czech-built Let-410 before the crash. "He told me they are blacklisted by the licensing authority," his friend Roger Bailey told The Sun. Tim Atkinson, of the Air Accidents Investigations branch of the Department for Transport, who is dealing with the accident from the U.K., has said although the crocodile being the cause is unlikely, he "wouldn't rule it out completely". He added: "If this were the cause it is truly extraordinary." http://www.foxnews.com/ Back to Top Copter company settles lawsuit with crash survivor and victim's relatives PHI Inc., an international helicopter company based in Lafayette, has settled a lawsuit with the lone survivor and relatives of some of the victims of a crash that occurred last year near Morgan City. Plaintiffs's attorneys and a lawyer for PHI said Thursday that confidential terms of the settlements will be filed under seal. Richard Rovinelli, the company's chief administrative officer in Lafayette, declined to comment. The attorneys said that PHI's agreements are with Steve Yelton, who survived the Jan. 4, 2009 crash, and with relatives of four of the passengers who died. The agreements do not resolve any claims against the helicopter's manufacturer, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. or Aeronautical Accessories Inc., which made the helicopter's plexiglass windshield. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but it is suspected that a bird struck the chopper. In February 2009, it was reported that investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Department of Agriculture found small parts of feathers under a right side windshield seal and in the folds of the right side engine inlet filter. At the time, the NTSB was examining portions of the windshield and the windshield's non-metal center post at its lab in Washington, D.C. Rovinelli said that PHI has about 100 bases of operation nationwide. Its choppers serve the medical field and the oil and gas industry. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. http://www.theadvertiser.com/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC