Flight Safety Information January 9, 2013 - No. 007 In This Issue Boeing Dreamliner incidents raise concerns about jet Brake problem grounds another Dreamliner flight in Japan 'Severe fire damage in 787 electrical bay, NTSB says Helicopter crash: Aircraft owner grounds six other aircraft as precaution CASA maintains suspension of Barrier Aviation (Australia) Russian volcanoes pose threat to aviation FAA statement on efforts to improve airline safety Minor Airline Fender Benders A Major Safety Concern Bottle to Throttle: A Short History of Drunk Pilots PROS IOSA Audit Experts Safety Conference Scheduled for Next Month in Dubai United Airlines ends transport of research primates USU student pilots receive brand-new CRJ700 flight simulator NBAA Announces 2013 Flying Safety Awards Call for Applications Boeing Dreamliner incidents raise concerns about jet Fire trucks surround a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner that caught fire at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts January 7, 2013. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner jet on Tuesday suffered its second mishap in two days, with the same airline and at the same U.S. airport - the latest in a series of setbacks that have heightened safety concerns over the new aircraft. A fuel leak forced a 787 operated by Japan Airlines to cancel takeoff at Boston's Logan International Airport, a day after an electrical fire on another 787 after a JAL flight to Boston from Tokyo. Asian customers rallied behind the U.S. planemaker, saying the incidents were glitches that can happen on new planes and confirming they had no plans to scale back or cancel orders for the aircraft, which has a list price of $207 million. Japan is by far the biggest customer for the Dreamliner to date, with JAL and All Nippon Airways (ANA) operating a total of 24 of the 49 new planes delivered to end-December. The aircraft entered commercial service in November 2011, more than three years behind schedule after a series of production delays. Boeing has sold 848 of the planes. JAL spokesman Kazunori Kidosaki said the carrier, which operates seven Dreamliners, had no plans to change orders it has placed for another 38 aircraft. ANA, which has 17 Dreamliners flying its colors, said it was sticking with its orders for another 49 of the planes, spokesman Etsuya Uchiyama said. State-owned Air India, which on Monday took delivery of the sixth of the 27 Dreamliners it has ordered, said precautionary measures were already in place and its planes were flying smoothly. "It's a new plane and some minor glitches do happen. It's not a cause of concern," said spokesman G.Prasada Rao. Air China, which sees the 787 as a way to expand its international routes, and Hainan Airlines also said they were keeping their orders for 15 and 10 of the planes respectively. China Southern Airlines, which has 10 787s on order and should be the first Chinese airline to fly the plane, was not immediately available to comment. "New airplanes more or less will need adjustments and currently we have no plans to swap or cancel orders," said an executive at Hainan Airlines, who was not authorized to talk to the media and did not want to be named. Delivery of the aircraft to Chinese carriers has been held up as the local aviation regulator has yet to approve the plane. Hainan Airlines expects to take delivery of its first 787 around the mid-year - some 10 months late. Other carriers already flying the Dreamliner are Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, LAN Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and United Airlines, according to Boeing data. 40 GALLON SPILL The fuel leak on Tuesday was noticed at about 12:25 p.m. ET (1725 GMT), after the plane had left the gate in preparation for take-off to Tokyo. About 40 gallons spilled, and the jet was towed back to the gate, where passengers disembarked, said Richard Walsh, a spokesman for state transportation authority Massport. The plane departed about four hours behind schedule and was due to arrive at the Japanese capital's Narita airport on Wednesday evening. No passengers or crew were injured in either incident, though firefighters were called out on both occasions. Boeing shares fell nearly 2.7 percent on Tuesday, following a 2 percent drop on Monday - wiping around $2.8 billion off its market value, or more than a dozen Dreamliners at list price. While many Wall Street analysts rate Boeing stock a 'buy' or 'outperform' - the manufacturer has delivered jets faster than the market predicted - some noted the potential for the combination of a fire and a fuel leak to affect public perception of Boeing and the new aircraft. People working at OG Travel and Eurex, travel agents in Tokyo, said they had not seen any impact on reservations on flights using the 787 aircraft. "I've not heard of any cancellations following these incidents," Eurex staffer Yasuhiro Hirashiki told Reuters. Carter Leake, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets in Virginia, downgraded Boeing shares, noting that fires are potentially lethal and electrical issues are tough to solve, though he and others stopped short of calling it a game changer for the Seattle-based manufacturer. "We're getting to a tipping point where they go from needing to rectify problems to doing major damage control to the image of the company and the plane," said Richard Aboulafia, a defense and aerospace analyst with Teal Group, a consulting firm based in Fairfax, Virginia. "While they delivered a large and unexpected number of 787s last year, it's possible that they should have instead focused on identifying glitches and flaws, rather than pushing ahead with volume production," he said. BATTERY FIRE Monday's fire occurred on a 787 plane that had just arrived from Tokyo and whose 183 passengers and crew had departed. The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday a battery in the auxiliary power unit aboard the plane jet had suffered "severe fire damage" and that surrounding damage was limited to components and structures within about 20 inches. It said the power unit was operating when the fire was discovered. Shares in GS Yuasa Corp, the Japanese firm that makes the Dreamliner batteries, fell around 5 percent in Tokyo on Wednesday after dropping 4 percent a day earlier. Boeing said it was cooperating with the investigations, but it would be premature to go into detail as the fire probe was ongoing. "However, nothing we've seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events, which involved power panel faults elsewhere in the aft electrical equipment bay," the company said, referring to the area where the fire occurred. The Wall Street Journal, citing a source, reported that United Airlines found improperly installed wiring in 787 electrical components associated with the auxiliary power unit, the same electrical system that caused Monday's fire. United spokeswoman Christen David said the carrier inspected its 787s after the Boston fire, but she declined to discuss the findings, or to confirm the Journal report. The fuel leak comes after the Federal Aviation Administration last month ordered all 787s to be inspected after leaks were found on two aircraft, stemming, it said, from incorrectly assembled fuel line couplings that could result in loss of power or an engine fire. Mechanical problems are not uncommon when new planes enter service and they often disrupt airline schedules, experts said. "I think we're dealing here with a situation where this aircraft is over-scrutinized for a number of reasons, including the birth difficulties," said Michel Merluzeau, managing partner at G2 Solutions, a boutique defense and aerospace consulting firm in Seattle. "Don't get me wrong. A battery fire is a very, very serious event. Especially a lithium-ion battery," he added. "And we don't know what the problem is. But the 787s is still a very safe aircraft to fly." Back to Top Brake problem grounds another Dreamliner flight in Japan Another Dreamliner Brake Problem Scare (Reuters) Japan's All Nippon Airways Co. cancelled a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner flight scheduled to from fly from Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan to Tokyo on Wednesday due to brake problems, a company official said. The mishap adds to a series of setbacks for the new aircraft this week. Back to Top 'Severe fire damage in 787 electrical bay, NTSB says The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the damage centered in a rack of lithium-ion batteries in the electronics bay of the 787 Dreamliner that caught fire on the ground Monday in Boston. NTSB investigator Mike Bauer works inside the 787 under fire investigation at Boston's Logan Airport. The space in front of his hand is where the lithium-ion battery was. The fire aboard an empty 787 Dreamliner parked at Boston's airport Monday left the floor of the jet's electronics bay blackened and plastic dripping underneath - and that was after firefighters ripped out and tossed a burning high-energy, lithium-ion battery onto the tarmac, according to a person with inside knowledge of the investigation. The incident caused "severe fire damage" to the electronics bay, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. It also heightened scrutiny of the plane's innovative electrical systems, particularly after earlier problems with the 787's power-distribution panels, including an incident last summer that has not been previously disclosed. The battery fire occurred after the 183 passengers and crew on the Japan Airlines flight had disembarked from a 12-hour trans-Pacific flight from Tokyo. But the person with inside knowledge said it can't be ruled out that such a problem could recur in flight - a nightmare scenario for any airline. "That battery is charged off the normal electrical system in flight," he said. "It pretty well stays charged all the time." Yet 787 Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett in an interview Tuesday steadfastly defended the Dreamliner's safety systems. Sinnett wouldn't discuss the specifics of the fire at Logan International Airport because of the investigation, but he spoke in detail about the safety of the 787's lithium-ion batteries. "I'm still very confident that any (battery) failure I would ever expect to see on an airplane in flight can be contained by the system," said Sinnett. "We feel confident it's a robust design." Sinnett also gave details about the four previous incidents involving electrical failures on 787 passenger flights operated by United, Qatar Airways and another airline. Although these were unrelated to and less serious than the Logan fire, they were more than the false warnings previous reports had suggested. Sinnett confirmed that those earlier incidents were traced to faulty circuit boards inside power-distribution panels in the same electronics bay. He said electrical arcing inside the boards damaged their functionality and shut down some of the plane's electrical power. But he said the sparking inside the circuit boards was tiny - "a low energy arc that lasted milliseconds, very small" - and produced no safety hazard, only a loss of function that was handled by the plane's multiple, redundant power systems. High-energy batteries The Dreamliner - whose electrical systems generate 1.45 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 600 homes and four times as much as a larger 777 jet - carries two large lithium-ion batteries, located in forward and rear electronics bays. The battery in the rear bay that caught fire is about one and a half times the size of a car battery. It's used to start the auxiliary power unit (APU), a small turbine engine in the tail that is used to provide electrical power while the plane is on the ground, or as a backup power source during an in-flight emergency. According to NTSB preliminary findings, airplane maintenance and cleaning personnel were on the airplane with the APU in operation when they observed smoke in the cabin. Emergency personnel who responded "detected a fire in the electronics and equipment bay near the APU battery box," the NTSB stated. "The fire was extinguished about 40 minutes after arrival of the first rescue and fire personnel." "One firefighter received minor injuries," the NTSB said. Aviation analyst Scott Hamilton of Leeham.net said he expects the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to soon issue an airworthiness directive mandating some precautionary actions. "I'd be surprised if the FAA doesn't quickly come out with an inspection order," Hamilton said. "Airlines are going to be doing this anyway." Monday's fire at Logan follows an in-flight fire during a 2010 Dreamliner test flight, and the four more recent incidents involving faulty electrical panels while the jet was in service. Sinnett said the first of the electrical-panel problems occurred last summer. He didn't name the airline, but back then only All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines were flying the Dreamliner. The incident wasn't made public at the time. He said the issue occurred again in December on a United flight that had to be diverted to New Orleans; a few days later on a Qatar delivery flight from Everett to Doha; and then again on a second United jet. United in late December reported "sporadic issues with our 787 generators and power distribution panels." Sinnett said all four incidents were traced to faulty circuit boards from a single manufacturing batch. The person with knowledge of the problems said the flawed circuit boards are manufactured in Mexico for United Technologies, which supplies the power distribution panels to Boeing. However, the person said the only impact of the arcing in the circuit boards was to cut off some of the plane's power supply from a generator, but not enough to present any safety issue. None of the planes involved was ever in danger, the person said. Sinnett said Boeing is still working to fix that problem. Despite those in-flight incidents, he said, the 787 is "running at a high dispatch reliability, on a par with where we were on the 777 at this point." Latest more serious The Logan fire incident is much more serious, however. In 2007, the FAA noted that the large, high-capacity, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries Boeing is using on the Dreamliner differ significantly from the nickel-cadmium or lead acid batteries used on other jets. Commercial aviation has "limited experience" with such batteries, the agency said, noting that in other applications "lithium ion batteries are significantly more susceptible to internal failures that can result in self-sustaining increases in temperature." Also, overcharging of lithium-ion batteries can generate high temperatures so that "the metallic lithium can ignite, resulting in a self-sustaining fire or explosion," the FAA said. Because of those concerns, the agency attached special safety conditions governing the design and maintenance of the 787 batteries. It said the jet's batteries must specifically preclude any heat buildup and include monitoring and warning systems in case of any failures. Sinnett said Boeing has met those design requirements. He said there are four levels of protection to prevent the most dangerous scenario, that the battery overcharges. Addressing an online report by The Wall Street Journal Tuesday that when United inspected its Dreamliner batteries after the Logan fire, it found some faulty wiring installed, Sinnett insisted the battery system is designed so that problems with the wiring cannot cause a fire. He said that although the 787 uses more electric power, it uses correspondingly less hydraulics and less pneumatics. That means less high-pressure fluid and less hot, high-pressure air moving around the aircraft in titanium ducts. The total horsepower generated by the 787's engines in cruise flight is actually less than on a conventionally powered aircraft, Sinnett said, and as a result there's "less potential for something bad to happen." 50 in service Boeing has delivered 50 Dreamliners to airlines. Boeing's marketing vice president, Randy Tinseth, wrote Tuesday on his blog that the plane has flown more than 18,000 flights and logged more than 50,000 hours. The NTSB now has three safety investigators examining the cause of the Logan fire as well as the fire and airport emergency response to the incident. The FAA and Boeing are also taking part in the investigation. The Japan Transport Safety Board has sent a representative and Japan Airlines will assist. The latest incidents, including a fuel spill from another JAL 787 at Logan on Tuesday, rattled investors. Boeing shares fell $2, or 2.6 percent, to close at $74.13. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020084827_787fireinvestigationxml.html?prmid=4939 Back to Top Helicopter crash: Aircraft owner grounds six other aircraft as precaution The Oregonian Investigators stand near the wreckage of a U.S.-owned cargo helicopter in Pucallpa, Peru, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. Five U.S. citizens are among seven people killed in the crash in the Peruvian jungle. The heavy-lift, twin-rotor Chinook BH-234 chopper, owned by Columbia Helicopters in the Portland suburb of Aurora, Oregon, crashed Monday shortly after taking off from the provincial capital of Pucallpa bound for Tarapoto. Aurora-based Columbia Helicopters has grounded six Chinook helicopters after a seventh in its fleet crashed in Peru Monday, killing an all seven crew members aboard. The ground aircraft include one helicopter that is supporting U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. Company officials said the Boeing-Vertol Model 234 choppers are being put "on safety stand-down" to allow a thorough inspection, said Todd Petersen, vice president of marketing. The company's Model 234 helicopters, a civilian, tandem rotor version of the military Chinook workhorse, will be out of service for two or three days, he said. One of the helicopters is in the shop in Oregon. Three are in Papua New Guinea, where the company has worked since the late 1980s. One is in Peru, where the company has had contracts for more than 20 years. The last aircraft has been in Afghanistan for about 18 months, and is on contract to the U.S. military. The move comes as officials at the 800-employee company dispatched a team of experts to the Peruvian jungle to investigate Monday's deadly crash, which occurred barely five minutes after one of the company's Model 234s had taken off from an airport in Pucallpa, Peru for the town of Tarapoto. Contracted by Canada-based Talisman Energy Inc., the aircraft, outfitted for petroleum exploration, was ferrying a sling load with rigging headed for a drilling location 180 miles away when witnesses saw smoke pour out of the helicopter. The crash killed all seven crew members on board -- all employees of Columbia Helicopters. The dead included Portland-area native Darrel Birkes, 62, as well as four other Americans and two Peruvians. "Our employees are grieving. We're praying for their families," Michael Fahey, president of Columbia Helicopters said Tuesday in Aurora. "It's a very sad day for us." President & CEO of Columbia Helicopter talks about crash of Chinook helicopter in PeruSeven Columbia Helicopter employees died Monday in a crash in Peru during a ferrying operation.Watch video The accident happened at 3:03 p.m. local time, just outside Pucallpa, a city in eastern Peru that sits on a major tributary of the Amazon River. Five minutes after takeoff, the Associated Press reports, Pucallpa airport control lost contact with the chopper and controllers saw "a big cloud of smoke" about four miles from the airport. Those killed included co-pilot Igor Castillo, and aircraft mechanic Luis Ramos, ages unknown, both of Peru. American crew members were command pilot Dann Immel, 53, of Gig Harbor, Wash.; maintenance crew chief Edwin Cordova, 46, of Melbourne, Fla.; 38-year-old aircraft mechanic Jaime Pickett, of Clarksville, Tenn.; 44-year-old load manager Leon Bradford, of Santaquin, Utah; and Birkes, a senior load manager. Birkes was born in Tigard, and attended Sunset High School, his brother Marvin Birkes said. He was a veteran, his brother said, and he moved to Peru about 10 years ago. Officials with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday were still determining what role they will play in investigating the crash of the aircraft, tail number N241CH, said spokesman Terry Williams. He saidthat because the investigation occurred overseas, NTSB would not be the lead agency. The Peruvian National Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the crash, senior officer Rusber Arbildo told The Oregonian. Witnesses described seeing smoke coming from the helicopter moments after take-off from Pucallpa. Video from the scene shows smoking wreckage. The crewmen appeared to have jumped from the chopper, a local police official Miguel Cardoso told the AP. Authorities had recovered five of the seven bodies as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, local time. Searchers were still looking through the wreckage for the other two bodies, Arbildo said. The BV234 was configured to haul external loads and was primarily used to carry oil field equipment, said Peter Lance, executive vice president. It remains unclear what brought the helicopter down. "I do not think weather was a factor," said Lance. "But there aren't many details right now." Petersen, vice president of marketing at Columbia Helicopters, denied reports in Peruvian media suggesting the Chinook, with a maximum gross limit of 51,000 pounds, might have been overloaded. "That is categorically untrue," Petersen said. The load list was believed destroyed in the crash but company officials believe the aircraft and its load, weighed a combined 47,000 pounds, 4,000 pounds shy of the limit. Lance said it has been more than a decade since one of the company's helicopters has crashed. According to NTSB records, a Columbia Helicopters a Boeing Vertol BV-107 II, 196CH, crashed Oct. 4, 1996 in a field three miles from the Aurora airport, killing two pilots and the on-board mechanic. Maintenance failure was cited as the likely cause. A March 2012 Portland Business Journal profile reported that the privately-held company's payroll had grown to $50 million in 2011. The paper reported that 2011 revenue grew 26 percent to about $175 million. Executives told the paper that part of the company's success came from its heavy-lift helicopter operations, which is used in military transportation, firefighting and energy exploration. http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest- news/index.ssf/2013/01/helicopter_crash_aircraft_owne.html Back to Top CASA maintains suspension of Barrier Aviation (Australia) Barrier Aviation remains grounded by CASA. (http://sirsteveincairns.smugmug.com) The Federal Court has granted an extension of Barrier Aviations' suspension by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to 15 February 2013. CASA confirmed to Australian Aviation that it continues to work with Barrier Aviation to determine whether defects in the operator's safety management and maintenance practices will be sufficient to lift the suspension by the due date. Spokesman Peter Gibson said: "There is no change to the situation but the investigation is continuing as quickly as possible". Barrier Aviation's air operator's certificate was suspended on December 23. "This action was taken because CASA believes permitting Barrier Aviation to continue to fly poses a serious and imminent risk to air safety," CASA said on issuing the suspension, adding: "CASA believes Barrier Aviation has been operating aircraft with serious and known defects". The airline, based in Cairns, has operated a fleet of 43 Piper and Cessna aircraft on essential services to remote regions in Australia's far north for the last 20 years. It is believed the greatest area of concern was maintenance performed on six aircraft at Horn Island. http://australianaviation.com.au/2013/01/casa-maintains-suspension-of-barrier-aviation/ Back to Top Russian volcanoes pose threat to aviation Four volcanoes have become active in Kamchatka, the Far East of Russia. According to Russian and American satellites, the eruption of Plosky Tolbachik continues, the activity of Shiveluch, Kizim and Karymsky volcanoes significantly increased. Seismologists say that ash particles that volcanoes erupt into the air can be dangerous for aircraft, including helicopters and airplanes of local airlines. Thus, the height of emissions from Shiveluch made up 4,800 meters above the sea level. On January 7, the ash above the volcano rose to the height of 8 kilometers. A large number of local earthquakes, avalanches were registered along with eruptions of lava and gases. Specialists assigned an "orange" code of danger to the active volcanoes on Kamchatka. According to seismologists, there is no immediate danger to Kamchatka settlements. Plosky Tolbachik volcano awoke on Nov. 27 after 36 years of dormancy. A large fissure eruption occurred in 1975-1976. The eruption of 2012 led to the destruction of two scientific bases of volcanologists. In addition, lava flows completely destroyed the tourist base, which was located at the foot of the volcano. The roar from the eruption can be heard on the territory of over tens of kilometers. Villages Mayskoye and Krasny Yar were covered with ash. No one was hurt. http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/09-01-2013/123414-kamchatka_volcanoes-0/ Back to Top FAA statement on efforts to improve airline safety "Safety is our mission. Our goal is to remain vigilant to maintain our excellent safety record. We already have achieved an 83 percent reduction in the risk for commercial aviation in the United States over 10 years, and we will continue our efforts to further reduce the risk by 50 percent by 2025. Passengers expect excellence from the aviation industry, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. "The nation's impressive safety record is a direct result of an unwavering commitment by government and industry to work together to monitor data and identify trends to prevent accidents. More than 90 percent of air carrier operations use voluntary reporting programs and this has led to significant training, operational and maintenance program improvements. New technology and regulations including safety management systems and NextGen initiatives also have contributed to this safety record." http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/08/3772889/faa-statement-on-efforts-to- improve.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Minor Airline Fender Benders A Major Safety Concern NTSB has included such accidents on its most-wanted list of safety improvements Spirit jetliner's wingtip accidentally clipped the tail of a parked U.S. Airways plane in Fort Lauderdale on New Year's Eve, causing minor damage to both aircraft. Although most ground accidents are... Jan. 05--It was barely a bump. But it demonstrated a critical safety problem: airliners, loaded with people and fuel, occasionally collide with other planes, service trucks, baggage carts and jet bridges while on the ground. In the latest incident, a Spirit jetliner's wingtip accidentally clipped the tail of a parked U.S. Airways plane in Fort Lauderdale on New Year's Eve, causing minor damage to both aircraft. Few of the 167 passengers on Spirit Flight 403 even felt the contact. Yet the National Transportation Safety Board wants to know exactly what happened because of the potential for disaster, if, for instance, the collision had been considerably harder. The NTSB has included such airliner fender-benders on its most-wanted list of safety improvements. "While commercial aviation has made extraordinary strides in safety, one area where risk remains is on the airport surface," said Eric Weiss, NTSB spokesman. "The bottom line is planes should not run into each other in the air or on the ground." Although most ground accidents are minor, the NTSB lumps them with more major mishaps, such as planes accidentally taxiing onto an active runway or using a wrong runway. All involve ground operations, and several ground accidents have been deadly, including aviation's worst disaster: in March 1977, a KLM 747 collided with a Pan Am 747 on a fog-shrouded runway in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. While planes or vehicles mistakenly drove onto runways more than 1,100 times in 2012, the number of airline fender-benders is small, only about 15 per year. The infractions are frequently the result of distraction or overload on the part of pilots, air traffic controllers and other airport workers, aviation experts say. "It's a human issue," said Mike Nonnemacher, operations director for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. "It could range from someone who gets complacent to someone who's inexperienced to someone who doesn't follow procedure." Nonnemacher said that in his 26 years at Fort Lauderdale, he has never seen a serious collision between two aircraft on the ground. Yet in July 2007, two jetliners came within 100 feet of colliding at that airport: a United Airbus A320 errantly taxied onto a runway just as a Delta Boeing 757 was touching down. A controller yelled at the Delta plane to immediately climb back into the air, averting disaster. A combined 307 people were on the two planes. Even when a jetliner suffers a tiny ding, repairs can cost an airline tens of thousands of dollars. Planes are usually pulled from service to be inspected for hidden damage, and passengers placed on other flights. South Florida's three major airports combined see fewer than one ground accident per year on average. Before the Spirit vs. U.S. Airways mishap, the most recent was in 2005, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. At Palm Beach International Airport, a Delta 767's wing struck a parked aircraft in 1993; in 1989, the engine of a Presidential Airways regional jet rammed a jet bridge. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, a DC-9 wingtip struck a food truck in 1995, and a Convair 440 collided with the corner of a terminal building in 1987. At Miami International, the wing of a Miami Air 737 struck a catering truck in July 2005. A VASP Brazilian Airlines MD-11 struck a parked Alitalia 747, rocking a combined 601 passengers in 1996; no one was injured. Outside of South Florida, there have been some relatively minor accidents that came close to becoming full-blown catastrophes. In April 2011, as it taxied to a runway, the wing of a superjumbo Air France A380 wing clipped the tail of a stopped Delta regional jet at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The smaller plane, holding 62 passengers and four crew members, was spun around 90 degrees. No one was hurt. In November 2010, a driver got out of a service truck and left the engine running at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The empty truck slipped into reverse and backed into a taxiing Skywest regional jet with 37 people on board. No one was hurt. In the Dec. 31 incident, the Spirit plane had just landed and was headed toward its gate, using a taxi lane near a remote aircraft parking area. When planes are parked in that area, the airport puts up barricades and red lights to warn other aircraft to steer clear. But no one told airport officials the U.S. Airways plane would be parked there. The Broward County Aviation Department is investigating why it wasn't notified. As for the Spirit plane, Nonnemacher said, "The pilot was doing what the pilot was supposed to do." http://www.aviationpros.com Back to Top Bottle to Throttle: A Short History of Drunk Pilots Last Friday, 48 year-old American Eagle (AAMRQ) pilot Kolbjorn Jarle Kristiansen was forced from the cockpit after airline employees detected booze on him at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Kristiansen subsequently failed a breathalyzer, was arrested, and currently awaits blood tests that will reveal how drunk he really was. He is suspended and faces an internal investigation that could cost him his job. In the U.S., federal rules prohibit a pilot from operating an aircraft if he or she has a blood-alcohol content of .04 percent or higher-or within eight hours of having consumed an alcoholic beverage, the period known as "bottle to throttle." As years of FAA simulator studies have shown, in addition to studies by Stanford University's Aviation Safety Laboratory, impairment from the effects of alcohol occurs at surprisingly low levels. Bad hangovers can deeply affect pilot performance, as well. (How far we've come from the days when Air France (AF) flight attendants would, as a matter of course, serve pilots wine with their mid-flight meals.) While inebriated pilots are rare, they do exist. In the late 1970s, a pilot got drunk in a bar called the Forked River House in Lacey Township, N.J., where he recruited two other patrons and then apparently buzzed the same bar in his small plane before crashing into a radio tower, killing everyone on board. In 1987, a California joy-flyer who, according to news reports had "guzzled beer shortly before takeoff," was later charged with murder after he flew a rented four-seat Piper PA-28 so low over the Pacific Ocean that he tried to "get water on the wing tip," a maneuver that killed two of the four passengers. Perhaps the most infamous instance of drunk flying occurred in 1977, when a Japan Air cargo flight crashed in Anchorage, Alaska, shortly after taking off. The pilot, two co-pilots, two cargo handlers, and 65 beef cattle didn't survive after the DC-8 stalled at an altitude of 160 feet and plummeted to the ground. The pilot, who was earlier seen staggering and slurring his words, had a blood-alcohol content about three times the amount that would have landed him behind bars if he were driving a pickup truck. According to Kelly Nantel, director of public affairs at the National Transportation Safety Board, there's never been a commercial airline crash caused by a drunk pilot. And as former airline pilot John Cox told USA Today in 2010, the FAA conducts numerous tests-more than 10,000 pilots are tested every year, with about 12 failing, on average-and crew members serve as barriers of protection against tipsy captains and co-captains. That type of colleague intervention occurred with a Qantas (QAN) pilot last summer, an Air Tran (LUV) pilot in 2011, and two America West (LCC) pilots who in 2002 knocked back 14 beers together and rang up a $144 tab at a Florida sports bar, then tried to fly about 5 1/2 hours later; they were reported to the authorities by security workers. The pilots were both sentenced to prison in 2009. (The captain, who had been on probation for a DUI, received a five-year sentence, and the co-pilot received 2 years.) Back in 1990, all three members of a Northwest Airlines (DAL) flight crew were legally intoxicated when they flew 91 passengers aboard a trip from Fargo, N.D., to Minneapolis, a roughly hour-long journey whose landing came without incident. The authorities had received a tip from someone who had seen them drinking in a bar the previous evening. They all served prison sentences, though two of the pilots, Norman Lyle Prouse and Joseph Balzer (the latter would eventually write the book Flying Drunk, published in 2009), were able to resume their careers after undergoing rehabilitation. According to his website, Balzer is now flying for American Airlines. Mayo is an associate editor for Bloomberg Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-08/bottle-to-throttle-a-short-history-of-drunk-pilots Back to Top Back to Top Safety Conference Scheduled for Next Month in Dubai A conference called Aviation Safety Culture, focused on establishing the highest levels of aviation safety across the Middle East, is scheduled for January 29 and 30 in Dubai. Organized under the auspices of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, the event is supported by Dubai Airports and Emirates Airline. The conference will include officials from airports, airlines, regulators and other industry stakeholders to discuss how the regional aviation industry can develop a community-wide safety culture. Other topics will include discussions about the challenges and planning associated with making this safety culture a reality. Companies such as AirBP, Boeing, Honeywell, Malakut and Maximus Air are also supporting the event. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainsafety/2012-12-17/safety-conference-scheduled-next- month-dubai Back to Top United Airlines ends transport of research primates PETA United Airlines, the world's largest carrier, will no longer ship non-human primates to research labs. Clarifying a policy that has been ambiguous since it merged with Continental Airlines in 2010, the airline today issued this statement: "We do not book, accept or transport non-human primates to or from medical research facilities domestically or internationally. We do ship non-human primates between zoos and sanctuaries within the 50 United States and Puerto Rico." With the adoption of similar rules by Air Canada last month (see: Air Canada to stop transporting research primates ), there are no longer any North American carriers that will move the thousands of primates that are imported each year to the United States and Canada (see: Activists ground primate flights). The number of major airlines that say they fly research primates has now dwindled to four: Air France, China Eastern Airlines, Philippine Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines. United has been under pressure from activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which launched a campaign after the merger, demanding that the merged airline explicitly adopt a policy banning research primate transport. Prior to the merger, Continental transported research primates; United did not. PETA says that its supporters sent 130,000 protest emails to the carrier, and demonstrated at its office in Sydney, Australia and at its Chicago headquarters. (Protestors are pictured there in May, 2012.) The announcement marks an about face from a fiercely pro-research stance that a United official published on the website of the Animal Transportation Association in September, 2011. It challenges other airlines to review their policies forbidding research primate transport. It reads, in part: "Virtually every major medical advance of the last century has depended upon research with animals ... I know that the greater good of mankind can be served by our assisting this industry in the transport of these animals." Lisa Schoppa, the author of the statement and then the manager of United's PetSafe programme, has since left the company. A United spokeswoman would not say when and why she left. http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/01/united-airlines-ends-transport-of-research-primates.html Back to Top USU student pilots receive brand-new CRJ700 flight simulator The USU aviation program was set back when its AST300 flight simulator broke down in spring 2012, but thanks the acquisition of a brand new, state-of-the-art CRJ700 simulator in December, the department is on course again. "It's taken a long time and it's been a lot of hard work to get everything going to get the proper funds," said Simon Paquet, a senior flight instructor. "Last spring many of our students didn't even get to finish up. Decisions started being made and we were finally able to get the funding set for this new sim." Even with the proper funding acquired from the university, Paquet said the department is responsible to pay back the expenses. "Our students pay for every hour that they're in the simulator," Paquet said. "Over several years this will actually be paid for through aviation student fees. Everything after that will be extra money that we'll be able to put away for a future sim. Not everything lasts forever and this will help us to be able to run ourselves so we don't have to go back to the school and ask for another loan in the future." Many commercial airlines require pilots to complete a course in jet-flight simulation before they can operate an actual aircraft. At USU, students can fulfill this prerequisite through training in the CRJ700 simulator. The aviation department is confident this is something that will attract new students to the university. "To be able to say that we have a CRJ700 simulator really helps us to sell our program," Paquet said. "We give tours to students who may want to come here and when you mention anything like this to them, 90 percent of the time we get a reaction of 'This is where I'm going.' That's because people are very impressed by it and they know how this is going to help their future, and there aren't very many other schools that offer this right now." The CRJ700 simulator offers students the chance to train for the type of plane that is being adopted by most commercial airlines. "It's a simulation of a popular plane that is becoming more widely used all the time," said Chris Sidor, another senior flight instructor. "A lot of the airlines are transitioning from actual CRJ200 models to the CRJ700. It's pretty much the same plane but only a little bigger and capable of carrying more passengers. They're everywhere." In addition to having an accredited flight simulator for the use of its students, Paquet attributes the success and growth of the aviation program to instructors and trainers who have flown for companies such as Delta Airlines. "It's great to have a simulator but you have to be able to actually teach your students how to properly fly the aircraft and what to do in certain situations," Paquet said. "We have very good instructors who have brought their experience from their airline training and they transfer the breadth of that knowledge to the students." The combination of experienced instructors and technologically advanced equipment sets USU apart from other universities that might offer similar programs. "Other schools might not have the opportunity of having instructors who came from airlines," Paquet said. "They likely have a simulator where students can just press buttons and see what happens. We don't do that here. We have a specific curriculum that teaches the student what they need to know to successfully man a flight from one point to another under different types of weather conditions and scenarios." The focus of the department is to prepare students properly for the situations they will face. "When the student starts ground school, they're building their plane from the ground up," Sidor said. "They're going down the bulbs and going over what every system does. Instead of just sitting there learning how to operate the throttle and takeoff, they learn how each system works and how they work with each other." Enrollment in the department has risen recently and the addition of the CRJ700 seems to be aiding that, Paquet said. http://www.usustatesman.com/usu-student-pilots-receive-brand-new-crj700-flight-simulator-1.2803549 Back to Top NBAA Announces 2013 Flying Safety Awards Call for Applications In an effort to recognize safety accomplishments in all forms, starting in 2013, NBAA will for the first time honor private pilots for outstanding safe flying achievement with the new Private Pilot Safety Award. Washington, DC, January 7, 2013 - The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announces its call for applications for the 2013 Flying Safety Awards. Over the decades, these awards have brought worldwide attention to the outstanding business aircraft safety record. Founded in 1953, the esteemed program marks its 60th year in 2013 with the creation of a new award for light business airplane pilots and the introduction of new web-based applications. History of the Awards Program The original NBAA Flying Safety Award rewarded safe flying on the basis of miles flown and was referred to as the "Million Miler Award." As business jet aircraft became prevalent, however, it became apparent that turboprop and piston-powered aircraft crews spent much longer periods of time accumulating award levels in what could be argued as less hospitable altitudes. The eventual resolution of this problem was to restructure the awards program to base the Flying Safety Awards on flight hours flown over a specific number of years. The number of years varies according to the award type in order to provide continual incentive. For decades, many NBAA Members in the light business airplane community have flown safely for business with a private pilot certificate, but without a safety award to recognize their achievement. In an effort to recognize safety accomplishments in all forms, starting in 2013, NBAA will for the first time honor private pilots for outstanding safe flying achievement with the new Private Pilot Safety Award. About the 2013 Awards The 2013 NBAA Flying Safety Awards will be given for the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2012. The categories of awards for which Members may apply are: * Member Company Meritorious Safety Awards - given for accident-free years and hours flown. The three award subcategories are: * Corporate Business Flying Safety Award * Commercial Business Flying Safety Award * Aviation Maintenance Department Safety Award * ATP or Commercial Pilot Safety Award (previously known as the Pilot Safety Award) - for accident-free hours flown * Private Pilot Safety Award (new in 2013) - for accident-free hours flown * Maintenance/Avionics Technician Safety Award - for accident-free years of service to corporate/business flight operations * Aviation Support Services Safety Award - for accident-free years of service to corporate/business flight operations NBAA also annually recognizes eligible companies for safe flying achievement in the following categories: * 75 Year Safe Flying Achievement Award * 60 Year Safe Flying Achievement Award * 50 Year Safe Flying Achievement Award The Safe Flying Achievement Awards give special recognition to Member Companies that have flown 50, 60 or 75 years or more without an accident. For example, in 2012, NBAA recognized two companies for reaching the safety milestone of flying 60 years or more without an accident - NiSource Inc. and The Procter & Gamble Co. - and two other companies for flying 50 years or more without an accident: Hormel Foods Corporation and Muscatine Corporation. New Web-Based Applications For the first time, NBAA is pleased to offer Flying Safety Award applications in a secure, web-optimized format. An NBAA Member website password is required to use the new online applications. Members are invited to take advantage of this convenient online option by visiting the NBAA Flying Safety Awards site. Applications also are being mailed to Member operators in printed format during the month of January. Regardless of submission method, all applications must be verified and submitted to NBAA by the deadline of March 1, 2013. The Flying Safety Awards are one of NBAA's most popular Member benefits. NBAA encourages all eligible operating Member Companies and their employees to apply and gain well-deserved recognition for their outstanding safety records. For more information, visit the NBAA Flying Safety Awards site. Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The Association represents more than 9,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the world's largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/10849607/nbaa-announces-2013-flying-safety-awards-call- for-applications?page=2 Curt Lewis