Flight Safety Information January 30, 2012 - No. 020 In This Issue Passenger jet lands safely in Boise after engine fails Pilot warns against copycat weather balloon experiments as they 'could bring down an airplane' Small plane makes emergency landing at Dothan airport (Alabama) Delta flight from Vegas skids off runway at Metro; all 160 on board OK ICAO Unit Receives ISO Certification ISASI 2012 43rd Annual Seminar...Call for Papers PRISM Certification Consultants Air Tanzania's plans for self maintenance raises serious safety concerns Guilty plea in Utah airplane knife smuggling case Qantas aircraft to undergo inspections to find source of mystery odour Honda to shake up market with 1st business jet next year Thousands stranded as airline shuts down without warning East African aviation safety agency in the red over poor funding system Passenger jet lands safely in Boise after engine fails BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Boise Airport officials say an American Airlines passenger jet traveling from Chicago to Seattle carrying 141 passengers and crew landed in Boise on Saturday after the pilot reported an engine failure. A Boise Airport spokeswoman tells KTVB-TV that the MD-80 landed safely at the Idaho airport. Officials say passengers are being rebooked on other airlines to get them to Seattle. Officials say American Airlines is sending a crew to fix the aircraft in Boise. Back to Top Pilot warns against copycat weather balloon experiments as they 'could bring down an airplane' Canadian teenagers sent Lego man 80,000 feet up in the air Aviation experts have warned space enthusiasts not to send helium weather balloons up into the sky - as one could be enough to bring down a plane. Last week two Canadian teenagers Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad sent a Lego man into space using a home-stitched parachute and spare parts found on Craigslist. The 17-year-olds, from Toronto, made headlines after the two-inch astronaut clutching a Canadian flag attached to a helium weather balloon went 80,000 feet into the air - three times the height of a commercial jet's cruising altitude. Mathew Ho, left, and Asad Muhammad, right, with their Lego-manned flight capsule that they launched into space An airline pilot has said that any copycats who try out the experiment could put lives at risk. Captain Barry Wiszniowski, from the Air Canada Pilots Association's safety division, told the Toronto Star: 'A pilot might not have enough reaction time if such a balloon popped up unexpectedly. 'With the speed of a plane, the impact could be similar to a bird strike and could cause damage, especially if something was sucked into an engine.' The two teenagers managed to capture the entire 97-minute journey which began on a football pitch using four cameras set to take photos every 20 seconds, reports the Toronto Star. Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, attached the two-inch astronaut clutching a Canadian flag to a helium weather balloon, which they sent 80,000 feet into the air They were left with astonishing footage from an estimated 24 kilometres above sea level which showed the toy floating above the curvature of our planet before beginning a 32 minute descent back to earth. Having attached a GPS receiver to the styrofoam box carrying the cameras and Lego man, the teens were able to recover their Lego man which Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093511/Pilot-warns-copycat- weather-balloon-experiments-bring-airplane.html#ixzz1ktJDQm4J Back to Top Small plane makes emergency landing at Dothan airport (Alabama) An aircraft with three people on board makes an emergency landing at the Dothan Regional Airport on Friday morning due to a faulty landing gear on the nose of the plane. No one was injured in the incident. An aircraft with three people on board makes an emergency landing at the Dothan Regional Airport on Friday morning due to a faulty landing gear on the nose of the plane. No one was injured in the incident. A training flight nearly went wrong in Dothan on Friday morning. A FlightSafety plane, known as a Beechcraft Baron, made a safe landing at 11 a.m. after overcoming an equipment failure. According to Jennifer Doherty, marketing director for the Dothan-Houston County Airport Authority, a pilot instructor and two students were unharmed during the landing. Around 9:30 a.m., the instructor informed Dothan Regional Airport personnel that the craft's nose-gear landing equipment wouldn't deploy. "It was a standard training flight," Doherty said. "(The pilot) made several attempts to get the nose gear down, and it wasn't deploying. He circled for 30 to 45 minutes just to burn off fuel and make the aircraft lighter for a safer landing. After a couple of attempts, he was on our longest runway and had a safe landing." Doherty said the Dothan Police Department, Dothan Fire Department and Fort Rucker Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic team responded to the event and were in position in case of an emergency. "You don't often have the opportunity to get all your safety people in position, but it looks like a textbook landing," Doherty said. "Everything worked out, and we all went home happy." FlightSafety is an aviation training company, and Doherty said the company often performs standard training flights for various military organizations. http://www2.dothaneagle.com/news/2012/jan/27/small-plane-makes-emergency- landing-dothan-airport-ar-3126978/ Back to Top Delta flight from Vegas skids off runway at Metro; all 160 on board OK A Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas with 160 passengers aboard landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday afternoon and skidded off the end of the runway as it began taxiing toward the passenger terminal, according to an airline official. Kristin Baur, a Delta spokeswoman, said the nose wheel of Flight 753, a commercial jet, apparently skidded off the edge of the runway, leaving the pavement about 4:30 p.m. No injuries were reported. Shuttle buses were dispatched to the scene to remove passengers from the aircraft, but Baur said officials opted to have the plane towed to the terminal instead, so passengers could remain aboard. Baur said it was unclear why the airplane left the runway. She said there was no apparent damage to the airplane. Airport spokesman Scott Wintner said Sunday night that he did not have details of why the plane skidded off the pavement. http://www.freep.com/article/20120130/NEWS05/201300430/Delta-flight-from-Vegas- skids-off-runway-at-Metro-all-160-on-board- OK?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs Back to Top ICAO Unit Receives ISO Certification MANILA, Philippines - The Continuous Monitoring and Oversight (CMO) Section of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been recertified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard for quality management systems. It is the first section within ICAO, and one of the very few within the United Nations, to receive such compliance. The CMO Section of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau manages the overall development, implementation and quality of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP) and its transition to the Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA). "Since the beginning of the audit program, the ICAO Council expressed the need for a mechanism that would 'audit the auditors'. Recertification to the ISO 9001 standard provides ongoing confidence and assurance for the Council and States regarding the quality, transparency and consistency of the USOAP", said Roberto Kobeh González, president of the ICAO Council. The recertification audit was conducted by National Quality Assurance (NQA), an independent, non-governmental certification body. The CMO certification scope covers the collection, processing and sharing of safety oversight information, the conduct of continuous monitoring activities and the provision of safety oversight training and seminars for the enhancement of global aviation safety. "CMO has been certified to ISO 9001 since 2002. This is a sign of our determination to maintain and improve the quality and effectiveness of the USOAP and to further improve the level of aviation safety worldwide." "A certified quality management system ensures that the needs and expectations of stakeholders are met, that we are proactive in identifying best practices, that processes are closely monitored and that activities are performed and managed in a more structured way", said Raymond Benjamin, Secretary General of ICAO. Launched in 1999, the USOAP promotes global aviation safety through regular auditing of safety oversight systems of ICAO Member States, assessment of their safety oversight capability and their level of implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices. (EHL) http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/349761/icao-unit-receives-iso-certification Back to Top ISASI 2012 43rd Annual Seminar Evolution of Aviation Safety-From Reactive to Predictive Call for Papers International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) August 27 - 30, 2012 Baltimore, Maryland ISASI, the world's premier organization for professional aircraft accident investigators and analysts, with individual and corporate members in 60 countries, has scheduled its 43rd Annual Seminar in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, from Monday, August 27, 2012 through Thursday, August 30, 2102. Papers are invited which would benefit an international audience and which address the theme of the seminar: Evolution of Aviation Safety- From Reactive to Predictive Papers are invited which would benefit an international audience and which address the theme of the seminar: "Reactive to Predictive." Topics may address the historical evolution from reactive to predictive, the interaction between accident or incident investigation and accident prevention or analysis, analytical processes that identify, monitor or assess emerging risks, the practical application of those processes to minimize the risk of accidents, or other topics related to investigative or analytical methods, issues, or past findings. Topics may address any segment of the air carrier industry or general aviation. An expression of interest in delivering a paper should be sent by e-mail no later than February 10, 2012 to isasi.baltimorepaper@yahoo.com. Please include a working title for your paper, plus your name, affiliation, and position. Abstracts must be submitted by e-mail by March 9, 2012 to be considered by the Selection Committee. The Committee will invite final papers and presentations from selected abstracts. Please limit abstracts to a maximum of 300 words. Only e-mail submissions will be considered. If your proposal is selected for presentation, you will be advised by e-mail no later than April 5, 2012. Final papers must be submitted by July 6, 2012. www.isasi.org Back to Top Back to Top Air Tanzania's plans for self maintenance raises serious safety concerns An announcement earlier in the week by financially-crippled Air Tanzania that they were intending to maintain their presently single aircraft, a Bombardier Q300, at their home base in Dar es Salaam, has raised immediate concerns over compliance with Airworthiness Directives. "The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority has to grant a license to anyone wanting to maintain aircraft as an MRO - a maintenance and repair organization. There are globally very stringent requirements in place, and TCAA must comply with ICAO regulations or risk sanctions. No airline company can just wake up one day and say we have to save money here and there, and, therefore, we now do our own maintenance. It requires qualified personnel approved and licensed to work on that particular aircraft type, the right tools, all the required manuals and files from manufacturers. "All I am saying is that this is not an easy process, and even Precision Air still sends their planes for big maintenance works to other facilities, which are better equipped. Cost cutting as a reason for shifting repairs in-house is the wrong reason to say, saying we buy spares now and fix them ourselves, well, opens the door to so many questions. Just recall that Air Tanzania lost their AOC over allegation of variances in record keeping, so make up your own mind where this is leading to," said a regular aviation source in Dar es Salaam when discussing the matter yesterday. It could not be ascertained what, if any, maintenance license TCAA may have granted Air Tanzania and to what level of repairs and maintenance such a license would extend, though there is speculation that if any it may only cover "line maintenance" including work scopes up to "A-checks" but not heavy maintenance or more complex work, which would require technicians, tools, and facilities the airline has clearly not been able to invest in due to lack of funds overall. Travelers will be wary of reading such stories considering the thankfully non-fatal accident Air Tanzania had in Mwanza with their last remaining B737-200 aircraft some time ago. http://www.eturbonews.com/27638/air-tanzania-s-plans-self-maintenance-raises- serious-safety-conc Back to Top Guilty plea in Utah airplane knife smuggling case SALT LAKE CITY (AP)- A Utah man accused of smuggling a knife onto an airplane and threatening to kill police pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in federal court Thursday. David Alan Anderson entered a guilty plea to a single count of possessing a dangerous weapon in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court. Prosecutors dropped two other felony charges in exchange for the plea. The 60-year-old faces a maximum prison term of 10 years at sentencing April 9. Anderson was arrested Sept. 18 after being removed from a Las Vegas-bound Delta Airlines flight in Salt Lake City. Authorities said he threatened to kill his seatmate in a dispute over a shared armrest. Police later found Anderson had a knife in a carry-on bag and was arrested. "I'm going to kill you in front of your children," Anderson told a police officer during an interrogation, authorities said in court papers. Defense attorney Steven Killpack later told a judge that Anderson was a distinguished retired Salt Lake City attorney who was not taking his medications for anxiety and a biploar disorder. A judge initially held Anderson in jail, but released him late October on the condition that Anderson undergoes mental health treatment prior to a federal trial. On Thursday, Killpack said the plea agreement is an excellent resolution to Anderson's case. Anderson mistakenly left a folding knife inside a briefcase and never intended to take it onto the plane, Killpack said. A security officer monitoring an X-ray machine when Anderson came through with the knife did not see the weapon. That person was sent for further training, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lorie Dankers has said. Back to Top Qantas aircraft to undergo inspections to find source of mystery odour A QANTAS aircraft that made an emergency landing in Mount Isa last night will undergo further inspections in Brisbane today as engineers try to find the source of a mystery smell. More than 160 people were on board the Boeing 767 which was delayed by about an hour after diverting to Mt Isa on the way from Darwin to Brisbane. With no stairs available at the airport to remove passengers from the plane, a cherry picker was used to carry travellers to the tarmac about 10.30pm (AEST) last night. The aircraft resumed its journey at 11.15pm and underwent inspections in Brisbane until 3am today, a Qantas spokeswoman said. "They haven't located anything noteworthy but we're going to continue with inspections today,'' she said. "There were no fumes, just an odour detected by the cabin crew in the forward area of the cabin." No one was hurt during the incident. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/news/qantas-aircraft-which-made-emergency- landing-in-mount-isa-to-undergo-further-inspections-in-brisbane-to-find-source-of- mystery-odour/story-fn32891l-1226257316176 Back to Top Honda to shake up market with 1st business jet next year TOKYO: Honda Motor Co expects to grab at least a quarter of the world market for small business jets soon after delivering its first aircraft next year, achieving the company's long-standing goal of taking to the skies, an executive said. Honda, Japan's No.3 car maker and the world's biggest manufacturer of motorcycles and engines, is in the final stages of getting its $4.5 million HondaJet certified. It aims to ramp up the pace of production to 80 a year in the first half of 2013. Honda received more than 100 orders for the seven-seater jet in three days when it began taking orders in 2006, promising a quieter engine, 20 percent better fuel economy over competing models and operational costs of two-thirds or less. It has not disclosed an updated number of orders, but Michimasa Fujino, a Honda executive and CEO of its North Carolina-based subsidiary, Honda Aircraft Company, said it held a backlog of about three years from orders taken through its nine dealerships in North America and Europe. "I'm very optimistic about our prospects," Fujino, who initiated Honda's foray into aviation research in 1986, told a small group of reporters at the automaker's Tokyo headquarters on Monday. "We're doing with HondaJet what the Civic did to American cars from the 1960s. Our competitors are still producing with technology from the 1990s," he said, referring to Textron Inc's Cessna and Brazil's Embraer SA, which now dominate the 200-a-year small business jet market. The Civic, known for its reliability, durability and mileage, has consistently been among the United States' best-selling cars since its launch in 1973, forcing industry giants such as General Motors Co to follow suit with cars to meet the country's tighter emissions regulations. Honda's ambition of making jets traces back to its iconic founder, Soichiro Honda. The HondaJet will make Honda the only car maker in the world to build its own aircraft. Its engine is made by a joint venture between Honda and General Electric Co. Honda Aircraft is aiming to turn a profit by 2018, Fujino said. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/honda-to-shake-up- market-with-1st-business-jet-next-year/articleshow/11685556.cms Back to Top Thousands stranded as airline shuts down without warning Spain's government has launched legal action against the now-defunct airline Spanair for allegedly violating the country's aviation regulations by suddenly ceasing operations. An estimated 22,000 passengers who had booked seats on more than 220 cancelled flights have been left looking for alternative arrangements and instructions on how to seek reimbursements. Spanair, owned by a consortium based in the northeastern region of Catalonia, shut down its operations late Friday because of a lack of funding. The legal proceedings begun by Spain's government could lead to Spanair being fined 9 million euros ($A11.14 million) for two "serious infringements" of aviation security legislation, Development Minister Ana Pastor said. The alleged infractions related to obligations linked to continued service and passenger protection. Chairman Ferran Soriano said the airline had failed to attract inward investment and consequently the regional government of northeastern Catalonia took the decision to stop providing funds. Spanair, whose hub was Barcelona airport, employed around 2,000 people and used the services of about 1,200 ground staff. Spanair's financial woes were exacerbated by a 2008 crash that killed 154 people. Eighteen people survived what was Spain's worst aviation disaster in 25 years. The airline, which also ran a commuter service between Madrid and Barcelona, was in trouble financially before Spanair Flight JK5022 - an MD-82 jet - crashed on takeoff on August 20, 2008 as it tried to leave Madrid bound for the Canary Islands. In 2010 Spanair, which was Spain's No. 4 airline, reported an operating loss of 115 million euros and had survived thanks to finance provided by the Catalan government and some private investors. The Catalan government cited the "current economic climate" and "European legislation concerning competition" as the major factors influencing its decision. In Brussels, the European Low Fares Airline Association said those of its members flying overlapping routes with Spanair would offer specially discounted fares to enable stranded passengers to return home. Offers are subject to seat availability, said the organisation of budget airlines - which includes Ryanair and EasyJet. The association's secretary-general, John Hanlon, said in a statement the aim was to assist Spanair passengers who were experiencing difficulties with travel plans. National carrier Iberia Spanish Airlines SA said it had also offered to help. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/thousands-stranded-as-airline- shuts-down-without-warning-20120130-1qooi.html#ixzz1ktRpb6px Back to Top East African aviation safety agency in the red over poor funding system Entebbe. The East Africa civil aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency, CASSOA, is striving to replace its troubled equal contribution funding mechanism with a new 'equitable' one based on aviation activities in each member state. In mid-December last year, the agency's top management held stakeholders' sensitization meetings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on the new proposed funding mechanism to persuade the two leading aviation powers which are opposed to the change- Kenya and Tanzania-to soften their stance and embrace the new mechanism. CASSOA executive director Mr Mtesigwa Maugo told The Citizen on Sunday recently that since its introduction, the system that requires each member state to make equal contribution to support the agency's activities has been a bone of contention with countries with a less vibrant aviation industry like Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi lamenting, calling for a fairer mechanism. On the other hand, the big two Kenya and Tanzania have been reluctant to welcome the new system which comes with a proposed price tag of $0.70 per each embarking passenger. If approved, the pay as you earn mechanism will obviously see the two pay more. Kenya leads by far in aviation vibrancy in East Africa followed by Tanzania, then Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. CASSOA which was established by the East African Community summit of heads of state in June 2007, has taken sides for a reason. Mr Maugo said the former system has proved impractical and has dwarfed the implementation of the planned activities due to dwindling contributions from members, hence a need for a new system. He said in the 2010/2011 financial year for example, the budget required each partner state, through its respective Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to contribute about $570,000 but the agency was only able to get contributions of $1,100,000 (each civil aviation authority contributing $220,000) and $100,000 which was from the amount mobilised by the EAC Secretariat from the donor community - Partnership Fund. "Effort to get the deficit to be funded including by the partner states through the EAC Secretariat budget was unsuccessful," he said. Again, in this 2011/2012 financial year, he said the agency could only raise $1,250,000 contributed by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda CAAs each at $270,000 while Rwanda and Burundi CAAs each contributed $220,000. The total budget for the year stands at $3,640,285. Mr Maugo said the funding deficit has had an impact in the effective implementation of the agency's strategic plan, affecting mainly the development of the capacity of the agency in implementing the planned activities. "In order to implement the planned activities in the first and second year, the agency was required to recruit 14 technical personnel out of which four in the first year and 10 in the second year. But due to the deficit in funding, it was only able to recruit one technical personnel - manager airworthiness- in the first year and the board having considered the financial capacity reduced the number in the second year to five," he recounted. He added that lack of technical personnel affects the agency's ability to carry out some of the planned activities effectively and efficiently; particularly the ability to mount technical missions to partner states to determine their level of implementation and assist in oversight activities as per its mandate. Also the capability to develop and formulate harmonised technical regulations and standardised technical guidance material are affected, according to him. The CEO said the decision to contribute at different rates was reached by the CASSOA board and subsequently endorsed by the council after noting the requirement for increased funding requirement while also knowing the inability for the two CAA of Rwanda and Burundi to raise their contribution due to the low aviation activities in their states. "The agency was forced to revise and rationalise its budget to $1,933,089 funded from the above CAAs contributions, funds mobilised by the EAC secretariat about $294,000 and from the agency reserve," he said. He said the board of CASSOA having considered several options in sustainably funding CASSOA, agreed to recommend the funding mechanism which is within the provisions of CASSOA Protocol which is also a mechanism currently used as a source of funds in the partner states for funding the aviation activities in the civil aviation administrations. This paper's investigations established that sceptics argue that charging $0.70 to embarking passengers will make the region an expensive destination compared to major competitors in tourism arrivals. Mr Maugo was quick to allay the fears. "The argument is incorrect since in those competitor states, the same funding mechanism at higher rates has been established to fund their civil aviation authorities and in some cases it includes fuel surcharge which has more impact on ticket costs than the $0.70 for an embarking passenger; when giving such argument, one needs also to evaluate the impact of not establishing an effective and sustainable safety oversight system to conducting business in the aviation industry." Mr Maugo also hinted that the consequences have gone further than hampering the agencies' activities as far as scaring away scarce qualified aviation safety and security personnel in the East African region. He said despite the fact that all East Africa CAAs are autonomous and self accounting, they are still subject to public services in terms of recruitment and pay structure to their staff, noting that the other challenge is that all the CAAs in their structure do include both regulatory functions and service provision. He quoted the ICAO standards which requires that the remunerations of technical personnel carrying out oversight activities be comparable to the personnel they oversee in the industry. "This is for obvious reasons, to ensure they are not compromised but also that the CAA can attract and retain the most qualified personnel; none of the CAA is able to sustain payment of their technical staff comparable to similar personnel they oversight in the industry," he said and added: "This is one of the challenges and probably the main; which has resulted in our CAAs losing staff to the industry and also outside their respective countries. The agency is conducting a consultancy to determine and develop regional strategies in attracting and retaining technical personnel in the oversight functions." The agency's first CEO warns of the worst aviation safety scenarios the in the East African region if the current system is to be maintained. His thrust is that there is a very big challenge in the consistent implementation of international standards and consistent regulatory oversight within the partner atates because of inadequate resources, both technical and financial. He said the regional organisation approach was therefore expected to resolve this challenge by shared resources, but also provide the economy of scales in oversight functions which can only be achieved by establishing a sustainable funding mechanism capable of providing the required financial resources to support the attraction and retention of technical staff as well support the implementation of oversight activities. " It is understood that initially the cost of establishment of the system will be higher but in the long run this cost will go down to benefit the aviation industry in general. If the current practice of equal contribution is maintained, then it is obvious as indicated above some of the CAA, if not all, will not be able to contribute the increased budget requirement of the Agency; the little contributions provided by the partner states through their respective CAAs will not be enough to carry out the mandate of the regional organisation. In this case the agency will not make any positive contribution to the development of a safe and secure aviation industry, in which case the stakeholders will have a right to questions if it was necessary to be established within the EAC strategy. Consequently, lack of effective implementation of international standards by the partner states will affect the industry access to foreign markets and hurt our effort to develop the tourism sector as a single destination," he said. http://thecitizen.co.tz/sunday-citizen/41-sunday-citizen-business/19325-east-african- aviation-safety-agency-in-the-red-over-poor-funding-system.html Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC