Flight Safety Information March 30, 2012 - No. 064 In This Issue JetBlue Actions Show How Training Altered Cockpit Culture Investigators get voice, data recorders from JetBlue flight Police: Gun Found in Baggage at Philly Airport PRISM ANNUAL SMS AUDIT RESULTS AviancaTaca Plans To Spend $4 Billion On Airplanes For Brazil Unit EASA orders additional inspections on A380 wing parts JetBlue Actions Show How Training Altered Cockpit Culture By Alan Levin and Mary Schlangenstein More than three decades ago, a United Airlines jet crashed in Portland, Oregon, killing 10 people, because the co-pilot and flight engineer didn't speak up. The captain had ignored the flight engineer's warnings that the plane didn't have enough fuel to land safely. As the tanks ran dry, the junior crew members said nothing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board found. A JetBlue Airways Corp. plane taxis to the gate after arriving at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg . The events aboard a March 27 JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) flight, on which the co-pilot locked an erratically behaving captain out of the cockpit and diverted the plane to a safe landing, show how much has changed in a culture once typified by autocratic captains browbeating underlings even in the face of potential hazards, safety specialists said. "Thirty years ago, I doubt you would have found a co-pilot who would have done this because of fear of going up against a captain and fear of getting fired," John Nance, a former commercial pilot who now runs a Seattle-based safety consulting firm, said in an interview. The United accident prompted a revolution in how pilots are trained, Frank Tullo, one of a group of airline safety officers who devised new methods starting in the late 1970s designed to give all crew members responsibility for safety, said in an interview. Co-pilots were taught to speak up if they had concerns. Captains, many of whom had come from the military where officers were always considered to be right, were instructed to listen and encourage others to voice concerns. Crew Resource Management The training, known as crew resource management, is now required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, according to an advisory circular on the agency's website, and has progressed from classroom discussion in its early years to full- blown exercises in flight simulators. In 2004, the agency expanded the requirement to include pilots at so-called fractional jet operations such as NetJets Inc., which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Tullo said the JetBlue crew's actions were a textbook example of that training being used in an unusual emergency that probably hadn't been rehearsed. Examples included the flight attendants seeking help early in the disturbance from passengers if things got worse, and the off-duty captain responding to crew requests for assistance, Tullo said. Pilot Charged JetBlue Captain Clayton Osbon, charged March 28 with interfering with a flight crew, was tackled by passengers as he pounded on the cockpit door after leaving and then demanding to be let back in, according to an FBI affidavit. Osbon remains at Northwest Texas Healthcare System hospital in Amarillo, Texas, said Caytie Martin, a spokeswoman. She declined to comment on his condition. The co-pilot became concerned about Osbon's behavior shortly after the flight to Las Vegas left New York, according to the court filing. The co-pilot was identified yesterday as Jason Dowd, of Salem, Ohio, by a government official who wasn't authorized to release the information. The captain had yelled over the radio at air-traffic controllers and rambled about religion, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The co-pilot "became really worried" when Osbon said "we need to take a leap of faith" and "we're not going to Vegas," the FBI said in the affidavit. By the Book The co-pilot at that point suggested to Osbon that they invite the off-duty captain to join them, according to the affidavit. Osbon reacted by leaving the cockpit. With Osbon walking the aisle and ranting, the crew initiated several actions critical to ensuring their safety, Tullo said. The co-pilot told a flight attendant to bring the off-duty captain into the cockpit, according to the FBI. "The flight attendants had already notified certain passengers they may need their help," the FBI said in its affidavit. When Osbon began banging on the locked cockpit door to get back in, the co-pilot made an announcement over the Airbus A320's public address system asking passengers to restrain Osbon, according to the FBI. The pilots in the cockpit also locked the bullet-proof door to prevent Osbon from using a code to reenter, according to the FBI. "This is a home run," said Tullo, former vice president of flight operations at Continental Airlines, now part of United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) "We have really empowered the entire crew to be responsible for the safe conduct of the flight." 583 Dead The case files of the world's aviation accident investigators include many instances in which such quick action, coordination and communication didn't occur, with deadly results. A runway collision in 1977 between two Boeing Co. 747s in Tenerife, Canary Islands -- the deadliest accident in history with 583 fatalities -- occurred in spite of a warning from a flight engineer on one of the jets, according to AviationSafetyNetwork, which is partially funded by the Alexandria, Virginia-base Flight Safety Foundation. The captain of a KLM jet continued to accelerate for takeoff even after the engineer cautioned that there might be another jet on the runway, according to the group's website. In the Dec. 28, 1978, United crash, warning lights indicated a landing-gear problem as the jet approached Portland, according to the NTSB. The flight engineer noticed that there wasn't enough fuel to stay in a holding pattern assessing the issue. "Fifteen minutes is gonna really run us low on fuel here," he said, according to the NTSB transcript of the cockpit voice recorder. The engineer didn't raise his concerns again, even after 15 minutes had passed, according to the transcript. "His thinking process must have been, 'He's the captain. He must know what he's doing,' " Tullo said. "He ended up dying for that." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-30/jetblue-actions-show-how-training- altered-cockpit-culture.html Back to Top Investigators get voice, data recorders from JetBlue flight Officials are investigating pilot Clayton Osbon's erratic behavior aboard JetBlue Flight 191. (CNN) -- The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from JetBlue Flight 191, which made an emergency landing this week, have been retrieved and will be analyzed, officials said Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board will download the data Friday, said spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. Information gleaned from them will be given to the FBI, she said. Investigators are looking into the apparent midair meltdown of the captain, Clayton Osbon, whose remarks and erratic behavior Tuesday led the co-pilot to lock him out of the cockpit. Crew and passengers subdued Osbon as he screamed and banged on the door so hard the first officer thought Osbon would come through, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Osbon. The complaint says Osbon began making remarks during the flight that concerned the first officer, who is his co-pilot. "Osbon yelled over the radio to air traffic control and instructed them to be quiet. Osbon turned off the radios in the aircraft, dimmed his monitors and sternly admonished the FO (first officer) for trying to talk on the radio," the U.S. attorney's office in the Northern District of Texas said in a written statement. "When Osbon said 'we need to take a leap of faith,' the FO stated that he became very worried. Osbon told the FO that 'we're not going to Vegas,' and began giving what the FO described as a sermon." It was not immediately known whether the alleged remarks are audible on the voice recorder. But federal regulations state that planes manufactured since 1991 must record cockpit chatter on microphones. The JetBlue plane was new and would be subject to the rule. The cockpit voice recorder captures two hours of data and the flight data recorder, which measures the plane's speed and altitude, contains 25 hours. About 3½ hours into the planned five-hour flight from New York's Kennedy International Airport to Las Vegas, the pilot left the cockpit to use the lavatory, but he failed to follow security protocol, alarming the crew, according to an affidavit filed in support of an arrest warrant. He then banged on the lavatory door and told the female passenger inside that he needed to go to the bathroom. By that time, the first officer had summoned another JetBlue pilot who had been traveling as a passenger to enter the cockpit and the two locked themselves inside, the affidavit states. From the cabin, Osbon tried to enter his security code to gain access to the cockpit "and he banged on the door hard enough that the FO thought he was coming through the door," according to the affidavit. But the door held and, over the PA, the first officer ordered passengers to restrain Osbon. Several did just that, subduing the pilot in the forward galley. Osbon, who was been charged with interfering with a flight crew, has not made a public statement. He has been suspended pending an investigation and is receiving medical treatment, the airline said Wednesday. A court official said Osbon was still under care Thursday. JetBlue has repeatedly praised the first officer, along with an off-duty captain who stepped in to assist and other crew members. Some passengers have referred to the first officer as a hero. But his mother said on Thursday that he would reject the label. "Knowing my son, he would think that he's not a hero. He just did what he was paid to do," Jean Beatrice Dowd said of Jason Dowd. "That's just his job, and he loves his job. He's just a quiet man." He called his parents the night of the incident, his mother said. "He was pretty shaken up, and he couldn't say much." The incident took place on a significant date for the family -- the 10th anniversary of the death of Jason Dowd's older sister, who died of cancer, Jean Dowd said. "I know he was thinking of her, too, at the time this was all going on," Dowd said. The incident "has been earthshaking for us, too," she said. "To lose him would have been terrible for us." Jason Dowd, 41, who is married and has two young children, has not made a public statement. He was in New York, speaking with officials about the incident, his mother said. After the incident, the flight made the emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas. Osbon's stepmother said Thursday she has flown with him several times. "He loved to fly, a love which he got from his dad," Judy Osbon said in a statement. "He also took his piloting very seriously and was very good at it. I've only known Clayton to be a cheerful, conscientious and caring person." Her stepson was upbeat the last time they spoke, she said. Osbon's father, Ronald, who was a pilot, and a passenger were killed in a 1995 airplane crash in Florida, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot radioed he was losing power on both engines and was out of gas. The aircraft crashed near Daytona Beach Regional Airport. Back to Top Police: Gun Found in Baggage at Philly Airport PHILADELPHIA March 30, 2012 (AP) - Police say a man was taken into custody at Philadelphia International Airport for having a loaded handgun in his luggage a little more than 12 hours after a man with explosives in his bag was taken into custody. Lt. John Walker says the 42-year-old man was arrested without incident at a security checkpoint around 7 p.m. Thursday. Walker tells the Philadelphia Daily News it's unclear the man knew the .25-caliber handgun was in his bag. Earlier Thursday a man was arrested at the airport after powerful fireworks were discovered in his backpack after he arrived for a cross-country flight. Twenty-nine-year- old Joseph Picklo faces federal charges of attempting to carry an explosive device onto an aircraft. Authorities say Picklo had commercial-grade fireworks and two containers of powdery substances in his bag. Back to Top Passenger restrained after attacking US Airways flight crew A New Jersey woman aboard a US Airways flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Fort Myers, Fla., attacked crew members before being wrestled to the floor by an off-duty deputy aboard the flight. WBBH's Kelly Creswell reports. CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A passenger on US Airways flight 1697 from Charlotte to Fort Myers had to be restrained and put in hand ties after attacking the flight crew, according to an airline employee. The news was first reported on NBC17. Read the original report on NBC17.com. NBC-17 reporter Jonathan Carlson, who witnessed the aftermath in the terminal, spoke exclusively with members of the flight crew onboard US Airways flight 1697. They say the woman got out of her seat and attacked the flight crew, spitting in their faces, knocking one flight attendant to the ground and kicking the crew. One female flight attendant had bruises and bandages up her arms in addition to scratch marks. The flight arrived in Fort Myers shortly after 6 p.m. and was greeted by police and paramedics. The woman was taken out of the airport by police once the plane arrived. She was observed by medics in the terminal before being taken away. During that time she was screaming and crying. The flight crew said a Lee County Florida sheriff's deputy happened to be on board and helped tackle the woman. Flight attendants say the woman complained of being scared of flying shortly before she became violent. The same flight crew on Flight 1697 flew the return trip to Charlotte later Tuesday night. They were shaken and looking forward to returning to North Carolina. That flight arrived safely around 9:30 Tuesday night. Passengers on board were shaken; one saying the woman was restrained against a wall before being tied. Others praised the flight crew on how they handled the situation. http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/28/10903789-passenger- restrained-after-attacking-us-airways-flight-crew Back to Top Back to Top AviancaTaca Plans To Spend $4 Billion On Airplanes For Brazil Unit SANTIAGO - Airline group AviancaTaca Holdings (PFAVTA.BO) plans to spend close to $4 billion to acquire 50 airplanes for its Brazilian unit over the next two to five years, the airline's controlling shareholder German Efromovich said Thursday. "We are analyzing the acquisition of some 50 airplanes in Brazil to renew our fleet," Efromovich said on the sidelines of an air and space conference in Santiago. The Bolivian-born business man said AviancaTaca, which includes Colombia's flagship airline Avianca, hasn't decided which airplane maker it will buy the planes from, adding the decision will be based on quality and price. Efromovich also spoke about talk of Avianca listing its shares in New York. He said the company isn't in any hurry to list its shares outside Colombia for the moment. "There is a plan to issue ADRs, but we're waiting a better window [of opportunity] because the world is supposed to be in crisis," Efromovich said. On the upcoming merger of Chilean LAN Airlines SA (LFL, LAN.SN) with Brazilian carrier TAM SA (TAM), Efromovich welcomed the merger. "Professional competition such as LAN's is always positive," he said. Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/03/29/aviancataca-plans-to- spend-4-billion-on-airplanes-for-brazil-unit/#ixzz1qb9Q4UqE Back to Top EASA orders additional inspections on A380 wing parts European safety authorities are instructing Airbus A380 operators to conduct additional checks on wing parts for the type. The latest airworthiness directive requires visual inspection of shear cleats after full-scale fatigue testing turned up cracks on two intercostals cleats on the fixed leading edge. In its directive the European Aviation Safety Agency states that the check must be carried out within 2,500 cycles. A380s have been subject to close scrutiny in recent weeks following the discovery of cracks in wing-rib foot structures. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC