Flight Safety Information August 26, 2011 No. 177 In This Issue China probes Qatar Airways' landing in Shanghai United Airlines Invests in 11,000 iPads More Laser Pointers Blinding Pilots At Newark AI crew could sue airline over safety violations (India) Pentagon: Aircraft flew at 20 times the speed of sound [Video] Airlines shed BAe 146 fleets ANA to receive first 787 on 26 September NTSB investigates repeat RJ near-miss at O'Hare China probes Qatar Airways' landing in Shanghai SHANGHAI - China's Civil Aviation Administration says it is investigating a report that a local airline balked at yielding to a Qatar Airways jet requesting to land because it was short of fuel. The administration said Thursday that the jet from Doha was circling over Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Aug. 13 due to bad weather when it radioed it was short of fuel and asked to land instead at Shanghai's other main airport, Hongqiao International. It said a Juneyao Airlines jet allegedly refused to make way, saying it too was short of fuel. Both jets landed without mishap. The aviation authority said any violation of regulations would be severely punished. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PAT0NO0.htm Back to Top United Airlines Invests in 11,000 iPads All United and Continental pilots will be armed with iPads before the year is out. Apple just this year replaced all of the paper signage across its Apple Stores with iPads and now it seems another major company has decided to take a portion of its business the paperless route. United Airlines this week announced that it will adopt a paperless flight deck and distribute 11,000 iPads to United and Continental pilots as part of a new electronic flight bag scheme. United said in a statement that the electronic flight bags (EFB) will replace paper flight manuals, and, a first for major network carriers, provide pilots with paperless aeronautical navigational charts through a special iPad app, Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck. "The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying," said Captain Fred Abbott, United's senior vice president of flight operations. "The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight." A conventional flight bag full of paper materials contains an average of 12,000 sheets of paper per pilot. United says that each 1.5 iPad will replace 38 pounds of paper operating manuals, navigation charts, reference handbooks, flight checklists, logbooks and weather information in a pilot's flight bag. "The green benefits of moving to EFBs are two-fold-it significantly reduces paper use and printing, and, in turn, reduces fuel consumption," United said in a statement. "The airline projects EFBs will save nearly 16 million sheets of paper a year which is equivalent to more than 1,900 trees not cut down. Saving 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 3,208 metric tons." Distribution of the iPads began earlier this month, with all pilots expected to have them by the end of 2011. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/United-Airlines-ipad-flight-bag-maps,news-12273.html Back to Top More Laser Pointers Blinding Pilots At Newark Apparently laser pointers never, ever, get old! The fun-time favorite of legions of 12- year-olds are once again being used to blind pilots at local airports. The latest incidents involved two planes on their way to Newark Liberty Airport, and the authorities are on it. The first plane, a United Airlines flight, reported seeing a laser pointed at them 15 miles southwest of the airport on Tuesday night. An hour later, a Cessna corporate jet reported illumination from a green laser two and half miles from Somerset Airport, which about 30 miles west of Newark. Both planes landed safely at Newark Liberty, but to review, lasers are capable of lighting up the entire cockpit of a plane from miles away, blinding and disorienting pilots. The FAA is reviewing the cases and enlisting the help of the Port Authority, state police and the FBI to track down the mystery pointers. In 2006, a Brooklyn teenager was arrested after shining a laser at an NYPD helicopter, so bear that in mind next time you're fiddling around with the seemingly harmless doo-dad near the airport. http://gothamist.com/2011/08/25/more_laser_pointers_blinding_pilots.php Back to Top AI crew could sue airline over safety violations (India) Angry with the Air India (AI) management for ignoring safety warnings issued by the aviation regulator, a section of AI crew has decided to move the court. Crew members are in the process of filing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the arrest of two top management officials for consistently violating safety procedures and endangering passengers' lives. On August 17, the crew wrote a letter the airline's new chairman and managing director, Rohit Nandan, seeking permission to file the petition. "Our lawyers have advised us to wait for 15 days for his [Nandan's] response before moving court," said an AI crew member, requesting anonymity. The crew has alleged 62 safety violations by captain AS Soman, the executive director (operations), and captain RS Pal, consultant (flight scheduling). The alleged safety violations comprise flight operations without enough crew, assigning excess flight duty and denying on board rest to the crew. The petition relies on provisions of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. "A person found guilty of a safety violation can be imprisoned for up to six months and fined up to Rs2 lakh for each violation under the schedule IV of the Aircraft Rules, 1937," said a senior official with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). On March 18, AK Sharan, joint director, DGCA, had warned the AI management against the safety violations. The letter, a copy of which is with HT, had warned Soman that the regulator might take action against him as per the Aircraft Rules for putting passengers' lives in danger. Despite such warnings, the airline allegedly continued to violate safety rules. The crew is also demanding cancellations of flying licences of the two senior pilots. The spokesperson for Air India did not respond to phone calls or a query sent to the company via email. http://www.hindustantimes.com/AI-crew-could-sue-airline-over-safety- violations/Article1-737799.aspx Back to Top Pentagon: Aircraft flew at 20 times the speed of sound [Video] The Pentagon released video of a test flight of an unmanned experimental aircraft as it sped through air at 13,000 mph this month above the Pacific Ocean. The video was "captured from a hand-held camera operated by a crew member aboard the Pacific Tracker - the first sea-borne telemetry collection asset able to visually monitor" the aircraft in its test flight. In the test flight, the aircraft, known as the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, was launched Aug. 11 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket, made by Orbital Sciences Corp. After reaching an undisclosed suborbital altitude, the aircraft jettisoned from its protective cover atop the rocket, then nose-dived back toward Earth, leveled out and was supposed to glide above the Pacific at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20. The plan was for the Falcon to speed westward for 30 minutes before plunging into the ocean near Kwajalein Atoll, about 4,000 miles from Vandenberg. But the Pentagon's research arm, known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which was responsible for the test, lost its data connection with the arrowhead-shaped plane. Subsequently, the Falcon failed three minutes into the flight and splashed down in the Pacific. But on Thursday, DARPA issued a release saying that the flight wasn't a complete failure, and that more than 20 air, land, sea and space data collection systems were operational. "Scientists believe that very high-quality data collected from the combined test range assets will aid our further understanding of this unique flight environment," DARPA said. "The footage released today shows how rapidly a vehicle can travel from horizon to horizon at Mach 20." It was the second and last scheduled flight for the Falcon program, which began in 2003 and cost taxpayers about $320 million. Both flights failed to go the distance. HTV-2 Test Footage http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/hypersonic-test-vehicle- darpa.html Back to Top Airlines shed BAe 146 fleets Increasing numbers of BAe 146 and Avro RJ regional aircraft are becoming available for VIP or specialist conversion. German company Cordner Aviation, set up by former Avro Business Jet executive Stewart Cordner in February this year, has 16 aircraft pledged to it. A number of these are due to be defleeted by companies in the Balkan Aviation Group later this year and into early 2012, said Cordner. According to Flightglobal's ACAS database, Bulgaria Air operates a total of four BAe 146s, and sister company Hemus Air a further two of the aircraft. Another two are from an unnamed European airline, Cordner added. A "significant number" are also available from Falko, the former BAE Systems leasing unit, he said. "It's very much a sales market on the 146," he said. "It's not worth the risk leasing them." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ANA to receive first 787 on 26 September Boeing will deliver the first 787 to launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) on 26 September. The aircraft will take off from Boeing facilities in Everett on 27 September, and arrive in Tokyo on 28 September, said the Star Alliance member in a statement. "As launch customer, we are delighted to be taking delivery of our first 787 Dreamliner. This aircraft will enable us to offer new standards of service and comfort to our passengers and will play an important role in our international expansion strategy as we seek to become Asia's number one airline," said Shinichiro Ito, president and CEO of ANA. "The airplane is ready. ANA is ready. And, Boeing is ready," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "This airplane begins a new chapter in aviation history." The first passenger flight of the new aircraft will be a special charter flight between Tokyo's Narita airport and Hong Kong on 26 and 27 October. ANA said earlier this week that it would begin regular flights with its Boeing 787 on 1 November, with daily services between Tokyo's Haneda airport and the cities of Okayama and Hiroshima. International operations will begin in December with a once-weekly Haneda-Beijing service. In January 2012, the 787 will be used on a three-times-weekly Haneda- Frankfurt service. More domestic services will be added by the end of the fiscal year. The airline has ordered 55 787s, and it hopes to receive 11 by the end of this fiscal year and another 10 by the end of the next fiscal year. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top NTSB investigates repeat RJ near-miss at O'Hare Two Embraer regional jets under air traffic control guidance came close to colliding at the Chicago O'Hare international airport on 8 August in clear weather, an incident that appears very similar to a near-collision in the same location on 16 May. According to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary report issued on 25 August, Chautauqua airlines Flight 5021, an Embraer ERJ-135 with 36 passengers and 3 crew, passed within 38m (125ft) vertically and 106m laterally of Trans States airlines Flight 3367, an ERJ-145 with 42 passengers and three crew, above runway 32L at 1100 local time that day. "The Chautauqua ERJ-135 was on final approach to land on runway 9R when the Trans States ERJ-145 was cleared for takeoff from runway 32L," the NTSB said, adding that the flight paths for the two runways intersect over runway 32L. Investigators say the local controller working the Trans States flight detected the conflict when the Chautauqua aircraft was approximately 1mi from the threshold of runway 9R. He instructed the local controller handling the Chautauqua arrival to "discontinue the landing and go around" and radioed the departing Trans States aircraft, which had just lifted off, "traffic alert, left to right, stay as low as you can," according to the report. There were no injuries to the passengers or crew on either aircraft, and the Trans States flight continued on to its destination of Moline, Illinois. The incident bears a striking resemblance to a near-miss in clear weather between a SkyWest CRJ200 and an ExpressJet ERJ-145 over runway 32R at O'Hare on the morning of 16 May. In that incident, the NTSB says SkyWest flight 6958 was landing on runway 9R as ExpressJet flight 6075 was departing runway 32L. "The aircraft came within approximately 480ft [146m] laterally and 275ft [84m] vertically of each other while over runway 32L," says the NTSB. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC