Flight Safety Information October 28, 2011 - No. 222 In This Issue Plane crash near Vancouver airport injures 11 Fighting Pilot Fatigue on Military Charter Flights Magician sues airline for banning dove from flight Nigeria: FG Committed to Standard Air Safety - Minister Helicopter maker settles lawsuits filed by families over 2009 crash in La. that killed 8 FAA safety inspector admits taking 'tips' from pilots Plane crash near Vancouver airport injures 11 9 passengers and at least 2 people on the ground hurt All nine people aboard a small plane heading to the British Columbia Interior were sent to hospital Thursday after it slammed onto a city street just outside Vancouver's International Airport. Richmond RCMP reported late Thursday that the two crewmembers on the flight were in "very critical condition." 'Everything's good,' pilot said Excerpts of radio communication between air traffic control and a pilot of Flight 204: 4:08 p.m. PT: Traffic controllers tell pilot of Flight 204 he's, "No. 1 for Runway 26," and ask to confirm if he "doesn't need equipment or help" on the runway. Pilot calmly responds, "Negative, everything's good here at the moment." 4:09 p.m.: Air traffic control clears pilot to land on Runway 26. Pilot calmly acknowledges with, "Cleared to land, 204." 4:11 p.m.: A loud burst of static is heard on the recording. 4:11 p.m.: Controller declares an aircraft has "pulled short" and "the runway is closed for the time being." 4:12 p.m.: Other aircraft are advised to "hold your position, we have an emergency." Seven passengers and two other people who were travelling in a car hit by the plane were reported in serious condition. Alyssa Polinsky, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health, said a pedestrian was also sent to hospital after being struck by a flying object. The person's condition was unknown. "We have everything from burns to fractures and back injuries," Polinsky said late Thursday in an interview, adding she had no information on any of the victims' identities. "We aren't expecting anyone else coming in." The plane burst into flames shortly after it crashed while attempting to return to the airport. It landed near a street just outside its fences, snarling traffic at the peak of the city's afternoon rush. Officials for the airport said the plane, a Beechcraft King Air 100, is operated by Northern Thunderbird Air, based in Prince George, B.C. Witnesses rushed to help The aircraft slammed onto the road and slid into the car before stopping, witness Steven Baran told CBC News. Baran, who works for the post office at the airport, said no one in the car appeared to be hurt and his first instinct was to help the plane passengers. He said he and other witnesses "made a beeline for the plane." "The rear door was ajar and one of the fellows pulled it down," said Baran. "One after another, we just pulled passengers out real quick." The flight took off at about 3:40 p.m. PT from Vancouver designated as Flight 204 and headed east on a 270-kilometre flight to Kelowna, B.C. An investigator takes a photograph of the wreckage of a passenger plane that crashed on a road while on approach to Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Thursday October 27, 2011. Darryl Dyck/CP The plane turned around when the crew got the "indication of a problem" about 15 minutes after takeoff, said Bill Yearwood with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The aircraft did not make it back to the airport, crashing on Russ Baker Way in Richmond, about 900 metres short of the runway. An audio recording of the conversation between a pilot aboard the ill-fated flight and air traffic controllers, obtained by CBC News, shows the pilot declared an emergency on turning back to Vancouver, but was confident he could reach the airfield. The air traffic controller asks the pilot to confirm whether he "doesn't need equipment or help" on the runway. The pilot calmly responds, "Negative, everything's good here at the moment." Visibility was good with clear skies at the time of the crash, CBC meteorologist Claire Martin said. All bridges leading to the airport were closed to allow swift access for emergency vehicles. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/27/bc-richmond-plane- crash.html Back to Top Fighting Pilot Fatigue on Military Charter Flights Civilian pilots who transport troops put in long hours on little sleep The December 1985 crash of a jet in Newfoundland killed 256 By Alan Levin Captain Craig Gatch's marathon flight schedule, which took him through 36 time zones in 11 days, finally caught up with him as he touched down in Baltimore on May 6, 2009. He was piloting 168 U.S. soldiers home from Iraq when his World Airways Boeing DC-10 bounced off the runway, then slammed down again, damaging the jet beyond repair, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. One person was severely injured. Gatch told investigators he hadn't slept well in four days while flying more than halfway around the world-fatigue that contributed to the accident, the safety board ruled. Not enough military planes and pilots to transport U.S. troops means that 87 percent of personnel flown around the globe are carried by civilian charter airlines, a $4.5 billion-a- year business critical to the nation's war efforts. The pilots who fly for World and other smaller military-charter companies work under U.S. rules that permit extended hours with less time between flights than commercial airlines or the military's own guidelines allow. This puts the pilots and the troops at risk, says Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va. "Our soldiers may be expected to be heroes on the battlefield," Voss says, "but we shouldn't be relying on heroism flying them back home again." For years, pilot unions and safety advocates have sought to reform what they call outdated work rules, particularly for charter airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a proposed rule that would reduce the number of hours pilots can fly and increase the amount of rest they get between long trips, an idea opposed by the National Air Carrier Assn., a trade group representing the charter airlines. NACA says doing so would cost its 13 member companies $3.7 billion over 10 years and require them to hire 42 percent more pilots. Military charter flights are safe, says the group's president, A. Oakley Brooks. "It's a non-problem looking for a solution." World Airways declined to discuss its schedules or the 2009 accident. Fatigue is one of the most-cited factors in crashes. Three of the five formal aviation- accident reports the NTSB has issued this year concluded that tired pilots were partly to blame. In addition to the World accident two years ago, at least three other U.S. military-charter crashes have been linked to fatigue, including the December 1985 crash of an Arrow Air jet in Gander, Nfld., that killed all 256 people aboard. The NTSB also blamed fatigue in part for a 1993 crash in Kansas City, Mo., that killed three crew members, and a 1995 crash in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Under the proposed new rule, workdays for crews without backup pilots or access to onboard rest facilities shouldn't exceed 13 hours, vs. today's 16-hour limit. The workday would be cut back to as little as nine hours if a pilot flies at night or makes multiple landings and takeoffs. That kind of rest might have helped Gatch to stay sharp. On May 3, 2009, after flying from the U.S. to Hong Kong and then to the Philippines, he began a four-day swing across three continents, a period during which he became ill and had limited opportunities for rest, according to NTSB records. The Administration hasn't said when it will release the new rule or what precisely it will say. Airline trade groups and unions continue to lobby for changes to the FAA proposal. Voss believes the Pentagon, too, should step up and side with the pilots, who will soon be flying thousands of troops home from Iraq. "The military is totally complicit in this," Voss says. "They knowingly contract for these flights that they could not legally fly themselves." The bottom line: Pilot fatigue, linked to four accidents on chartered flights carrying troops, is one of the most cited reasons for mishaps. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/fighting-pilot-fatigue-on-military-charter- flights-10272011.html Back to Top Magician sues airline for banning dove from flight HASTINGS, Minn. -- A magician from Minnesota is suing AirTran Airways after the airline wouldn't let him bring his show dove on a flight. Bernard Poston of Apple Valley says he had to leave Magic the dove behind with an airport employee in Las Vegas last month after he wasn't allowed to board a flight home with the bird tucked in his pocket. AirTran, based in Orlando, Fla., says the bird must be in a carrier and placed under a passenger seat in order to be transported. Airline spokeswoman Brandy King tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press ( http://bit.ly/w4Lbuc) that having a loose pet on a flight is not an option, especially a bird. Poston is seeking more than $50,000 in damages in his Dakota County District Court lawsuit. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/28/2476459/magician-sues-airline- for-banning.html#ixzz1c5ufj1Fv Back to Top Nigeria: FG Committed to Standard Air Safety - Minister The Federal Government is willing to commit any reasonable amount towards providing world-standard air safety in and around Nigeria, Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze has said. The minister said while commissioning Doppler weather installation at the National Weather Forecasting and climate research center at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The equipment is the first in Nigeria and one of the very few in Africa. She said the impact is immense as it is going to impact on agriculture, travellers and the general public. She said in the aviation sector, safety is not a subject to compromise with hence the resolve of the present administration to give it priority. "We must protect our passengers and the priority for us is that all sectors that have anything to do with weather gets the necessary attention. The radar will be used towards ensuring that in addition to providing adequate weather information to flights within and around Nigeria, it will also be used in boasting agricultural production." Speaking at the occasion, Director-General of Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Dr. Anthony Onuforom said the Doppler weather radar is a high-tech, state of the art equipment designed to provide meteorological products for the aviation, real time early warning system for agriculture, public weather services, food forecasting, dust storms and other applications. http://allafrica.com/stories/201110280514.html Back to Top Helicopter maker settles lawsuits filed by families over 2009 crash in La. that killed 8 NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The manufacturer of a helicopter that crashed in 2009 in Louisiana, killing eight people, has agreed to settlements with families of several crash victims who sued the company. Plaintiffs' attorneys say Stratford, Conn.-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. reached agreements this week with relatives of at least five victims who died and with the crash's lone survivor. Paul Sterbcow, a lawyer for crash survivor Steven Yelton, said financial terms are confidential. A federal trial in New Orleans was scheduled to start Nov. 7 for relatives' claims against Sikorsky, but Sterbcow said the trial won't be necessary if the company settles with remaining plaintiffs. Other relatives' claims against Sikorsky are pending in Alabama and Texas. Investigators concluded a bird struck the helicopter before it crashed near Morgan City in January 2009. Back to Top FAA safety inspector admits taking 'tips' from pilots CAMDEN - A federal aviation safety inspector from Pemberton Township admitted Thursday that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in illegal "tips" from pilots he took out on unauthorized flights, passing them on their pilot testing and certifications. Harrington Bishop, 63, of Red Feather Trail, pleaded guilty in federal court to an information charging him with one count of receiving illegal gratuities by a public official, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. Bishop faces up to two years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000 when U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler sentences him Feb. 2. Bishop, a safety inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration, generally accepted $300 tips when he would take pilots out on "flight checks" at the Cave Flight School at the Flying W Airport in Medford, authorities said. He worked for the FAA assigned to the Teterboro Flight Standards District Office in Saddle Brook, Bergen County, from May 2004 to February 2011. Bishop admitted that, during that time, he spent hundreds of weekends, holidays and other days of approved leave taking pilots out on flight checks at Flying W. The tests, none of which were authorized by the Teterboro office or the FAA, ranged from private pilot tests to airline transport pilot certificate tests, authorities said. Bishop said in court that the hundreds of tests over the seven-year period nearly always resulted in the pilots passing. Even though the FAA did not authorize the flights, the pilots became officially licensed, certified or otherwise approved by the FAA as a result of Bishop's official acts. In exchange for the hundreds of check flights, Bishop collected the $300 tips, fully aware that he was not allowed to accept payment from pilots or anyone else in exchange for the performance of his official duties, authorities said. Over time, he collected tens of thousands of dollars, federal officials said. They did not immediately release an exact amount. The bribery charge carries a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss caused by the offense. Fishman credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General for the investigation leading to the guilty plea. http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/faa-safety- inspector-admits-taking-tips-from-pilots/article_67397d6c-93f9-5420-a675- 63a9660e9587.html Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC