Flight Safety Information June 13, 2013 - No. 118 In This Issue Fuel-efficient Airbus A350 to make maiden flight How volcanoes and airplanes offer lessons for risk taking One still critical, three serious after plane crash at Seneca Golf Course Deadly plane crash OMAN Air Sponsors the Gulf Flight Safety Committee AGM Okla. crash places helicopters under new scrutiny Annual SMS Audit Results Released Operation Migration needs aircraft support Yep, That's a Helicopter Bicycle Embry-Riddle Capstone Survey Fuel-efficient Airbus A350 to make maiden flight Airbus's new A350 plane is due to take off on its much-anticipated maiden flight Friday, a milestone for an aircraft the firm hopes will help close the gap with rival Boeing in the lucrative long-haul market. Weather permitting, the next-generation plane will lift off from the southwestern city of Toulouse at 0800GMT with six people on board -a British and a French test pilot, a flight engineer and three other engineers at the back. The test flight of the long-haul plane -more than half of which is made of composite materials- comes just days ahead of the Bourget air show where Boeing and Airbus traditionally vie for the spotlight over plane orders. "All recent programmes before it, both by Airbus, Boeing and others, have had reasonably horrendous technical problems and delays," said Nick Cunningham, an aviation analyst at the London-based Agency Partners. "So every time you hit a milestone (such as a test flight), it's good news because it means that you've missed an opportunity to have another big delay." If the maiden flight is successful, Airbus will enter a test flying period it hopes will last less than 18 months, and plans to deliver its first A350 at the end of next year. The A350 will complete Airbus's long-haul stable, which includes the A380 super jumbo, and will gradually replace the older A330, a plane that has generated almost half of the firm's revenues in recent years, Cunningham said. The extensive use of carbon-based composites means the new plane will be lighter and deliver fuel economy- much like its rival, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Despite dethroning Boeing in the medium-haul segment, Airbus still needs to catch up with its rival in the long- range market, where the US firm dominates with its 777 and Dreamliner, despite the latter's recent technical problems. Initially meant as a direct competitor to the Dreamliner, Airbus has now positioned the A350 between Boeing's popular 777 and the new 787, hoping to eat away at both planes' markets. Boeing in the shadows? The test flight may cast a big shadow over Boeing at the Bourget air show, which kicks off on Sunday. The US company is hoping to use the event to prove its Dreamliner is well and truly back on track after recent lithium battery problems forced planes already in operation to be grounded for months. Christophe Menard, aerospace and defence analyst at Kepler Capital Markets in Paris, said that despite delays on the A350, Airbus was getting the plane out faster than Boeing managed to do with its Dreamliner. "If the plane flies well Friday, then it clearly means that they are more in command of their development process than Boeing," he said. Richard Aboulafia, a US-based aviation analyst, added Airbus could argue that "Boeing's ability to execute is questionable" and that the A350 "is a better bet in terms of timing and availability." Still, the 787 is ahead of the A350 in term of orders -890 versus 613. At the end of May, Boeing had delivered some 57 Dreamliners. And even if Friday's flight goes to plan, the A350 then enters the test flying phase where anything could still go wrong. "The risk is they find other things that they hadn't expected... They start building aircraft before they finish certifying and testing, so if you run into any issues, it gets very expensive as you have to fix the ones you already built," said Cunningham. "That's the problem that Boeing has been having with the 787 and it's an issue that Airbus themselves had with the A380, so it's a nail-biting time over the next year." http://www.france24.com/en/20130613-airbus-a350-make-maiden-flight-fuel-efficient-carbon-composite- toulouse-bourget Back to Top How volcanoes and airplanes offer lessons for risk taking When Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in 2010, EU aviation authorities saw little choice but to shut down airspace across much of Europe as a precaution against ash and grit choking aircraft engines. Though the decision minimised the risk of an airline accident, it had profound effects on the air and travel industries, causing an international bottleneck not seen since the 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington. In the first three days, 15-17 April, more than 42,000 flights were cancelled and ultimately 10 million travellers were affected. A month later, an eruption at the island's Grímsvötn volcano would cause another scare though with far fewer disruptions. EU risk assessment for aviation At the time, airlines and aviation safety authorities could only draw on isolated incidents in the past where ash plumes caused aircraft engines to stall in mid air. "The only international rule around volcanoes - in capital letters - was AVOID, AVOID, AVOID ...," Dame Deidre Hutton, chairwoman of the British Civil Aviation Authority, told the European Risk Summit in Dublin on Wednesday (12 June). The European Commission has since instituted risk-assessment procedures and other policies to address airspace disruption, including creation a European Crisis Co-ordination Cell (EACCC). The Commission also: * Established that airlines would provide risk assessments in future events and that national safety authorities would made the decision on whether it was safe to fly; * Organised ash simulation exercises; * Called for speeding up of European airspace and air traffic control integration to improve crisis response. Eyjafjallajökull is an extreme example of how regulators apply the precautionary principle to ensure public safety. Caution vs. competition While there was acceptance of the restrictions, at least initially, other uses of the precautionary principle in Europe have proved far more contentious. These include the longstanding disputes over genetically modified foods that have led some leading GM manufacturers to reduce their presence in the market and shift research operations to the United States. Other battles involve opposition to the development of shale gas, which is booming in North America; calls by the European Parliament for tighter rules on chemicals that some scientists say say can lead to human hormonal problems; and emerging about the development technologies at the microscopic level, or nanotechnology. "We must be careful not to regulate ourselves out of this opportunity," Sean Sherlock, the Irish minister for research and innovation, told the Risk Conference, a concern echoed by other speakers citing Europe's ability to compete with less risk-averse markets. Fear of flying Aviation may offer a less murky tradeoff between risk and regulation. A lost plane is immediate while it can take years to understand the impact of exposure to dangerous substances, or years of scientific review to understand the potential risks of new products and technologies. As the Eyjafjallajökull eruption continued to cause havoc with airlines, pressure grew for remedies as airlines losses approached €200 million per day. Initially, planes were rerouted around the ash cloud to flight paths and airports in Southern Europe, which was less affected by the ash. Regulators, the airlines and aircraft engine producers also agreed that adjusting engines to increase their tolerance to ash, lava fragments and dust would minimise the risk to passenger safety. The events of 2010, however, left regulators and the aviation industry having to decide how much risk was acceptable. "The interesting question is, if this situation had carried on for a number of days, where does precaution meet practicality?" Hutton told the risk summit. "The economy is losing hundreds of millions of pounds a day, and millions of people are being stranded. At some point the risk-based assessment changes, the cost-benefit analysis changes." "And I think it is perfectly possible that if had gone on longer than it did without being able to reach an agreement from the engine manufacturers, that difficult decisions would have started to be taken." Asked if the same risk assessments applied to aviation safety would change the assessments on Europe's recurring disagreements, such as the lingering uncertainties about GM crops, Hutton, a former British food safety regulator, said "it would be difficult to do anything other than" authorise GM crops. http://www.euractiv.com/specialreport-risk-hazard-policy/volcanoes-airplanes-offer-lesson-news-528523 Back to Top One still critical, three serious after plane crash at Seneca Golf Course A Cessna 172 airplane was landing and several hundred feet short of runway 15 at Bowman Field when it crashed onto the 18th hole of Seneca Golf Course Tuesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Four men, the pilot and three passengers, were taken to University Hospital, where one was in in critical condition and three in serious condition Wednesday night, said David McArthur, hospital spokesman. McArthur confirmed the identies of the men as Adam Breitmeyer, Cody Goodan, Josh Daddona and Josh Trumbo. Breitmeyer is the one who was in critical condition. The FAA's website says the Cessna was owned by Cardinal Wings Aviation LLC, which operates a flight school and rents airplanes at Bowman Field. The plane crashed at the teeing area of the 18th hole at the golf course,said Seneca PGA professional Kevin Greenwell. A report on the FAA's website said the plane was landing when it crashed, but a call to a spokesperson for the federal agency was not returned. The crash was reported at 10:27 p.m. The registration number listed on the plane's wing is N118JD, and an online FAA database says the fixed-wing, single-engine plane was built in 1975. An advertisement for the airplane on the Cardinal Wings website says the Cessna rented for $45 an hour. No one answered the company's phone and messages left for owner Brian Carnes were not returned. http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130612/NEWS01/306120057/Plane-crash-wreckage-still-site- Seneca-Golf-Course-remains-open Back to Top Deadly plane crash: Stinnett's Sharp was longtime pilot who loved to fly Many years have passed since Donald Sharp left the Texas Panhandle, but those who knew him growing up in Stinnett agreed on one thing: he loved to fly. His sudden death in an airplane crash Tuesday morning came as a shock to friends. Sharp, 64, was flying a small airplane from Indiana, where he lived, to Borger's Hutchinson County Airport when he began to have difficulties, Department of Public Safety officials said. He died while attempting an emergency landing on rough terrain about 27 miles north of Pampa in Roberts County. Zachary Jenkins, a graduate of the professional pilot program at Purdue University, survived the crash. Larry Gross, a professor in the aviation program, said Jenkins graduated a few weeks ago with a bachelor's of science after completing coursework under the aviation technology program at Purdue. Jenkins, 22, continued to be in satisfactory condition at Northwest Texas Hospital, spokesperson Caytie Martin said Wednesday afternoon. Jerry Blagg, a high school classmate of Sharp's, said he was shocked to learn of the crash because Sharp had been flying for such a long time. "I think he had his pilot's license before he even graduated," said Blagg. Mary Dalton, Sharp's high school typing teacher, said the former Rattler started flying while he was in still in high school and continued after graduation, and her impression was that he was an excellent pilot. "I would not have been afraid to go with him anywhere," she said. Bill Riemer, a friend and former classmate, said Sharp became a flight instructor after moving to Indiana. An employee at Indy Flight Training in Indiana confirmed Sharp had been employed in the past with the company as a certified flight instructor. Sharp was also listed as an Indiana dealer of Pipistrel aircraft. Memorial services for Sharp are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Memorial Park Funeral Home's Chapel of Memories, and burial will be in Llano Cemetery. Friends on Wednesday remembered Sharp as an upstanding citizen and student. "He was a wonderful student, very responsible, always doing something to better himself," Dalton said. "We were all very proud of him." Blagg echoed the sentiment. "He was a real good, likeable guy," Blagg said. "He never gave anybody any trouble." http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2013-06-12/deadly-plane-crash-friends-say-stinnett-graduate-was- longtime-pilot-loved Back to Top OMAN Air Sponsors the Gulf Flight Safety Committee AGM Oman Air hosts the Gulf Flight Safety Committee on 10 June, sponsored by Oman Air, NEXUS Flight Operations Services and MedAire/International SOS. The Gulf Flight Safety Committee (GFSC) was originally founded in Oman in 2004 by a group of Gulf based Safety Professionals from various aviation companies located within the GCC region. This group is made up of over 250 members representing 80+ organizations within the region. The group meets quarterly to promote safety improvement initiatives, including coordination with international organizations and bodies such as ICAO and IATA. New elections during the GFSC Annual General Meeting held here in Muscat resulted in the following Executive Board; Chairman, Capt. Mohammed A. Malatani, Co-Chairman, Capt. William Mermelstein and Secretary/Treasurer Capt. Mark Trotter. "We are very pleased to have the support of Oman Air and the city of Muscat to host our Annual General meeting, and participation by the Royal Air Force of Oman and the Police Air Wing" says newly elected Chairman Capt. Malatani. As a result of this annual meeting the membership agreed to a slight name change as the Gulf Flight Safety Council to better reflect the mission and goals. Capt. Malatani also extended his thanks to Capt. Manin Al-Said, General Manager Quality & Safety of Oman Air for their hospitality in hosting the GFSC in Muscat, Oman. The meeting comes one day before another important regional safety event. The International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transportation Association (CAO/IATA) events come as an initiative under the Regional Aviation Safety Group (RASG-MID) to enhance safety in the Middle East. The purpose of Safety Management Workshop is to; share best practices and lessons learned for Safety Management Systems (SMS) and State Safety Programs (SSP); provide break-out sessions for sharing of safety data and SMS/SSP implementation; and promote safety data tools and enhance safety culture. "The Gulf Flight Safety Council is pleased to partner with ICAO & IATA in our mutual goals of promoting safety in the region" added Capt. Mohammed Malatani, General Manger Safety of Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) and the new chairman of the GFSC. Back to Top Okla. crash places helicopters under new scrutiny OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A commission that evaluates medical transport services is placing its accreditation of a Kansas-based company under new scrutiny following the third deadly crash of one of its medical helicopters in Oklahoma since 2010, the commission's executive director said Wednesday. The latest crash of an EagleMed LLC helicopter occurred Tuesday night near the Choctaw Nation Health Care Center in Talihina in southeastern Oklahoma. Janet Sharp, spokeswoman for the health care center, said a patient who was being transported to a medical facility in Tulsa died, but it was uncertain whether the death was due to the crash or a previous medical condition. Sharp said the helicopter's flight nurse was transported to a Tulsa hospital following the crash and was listed in stable condition. The pilot and a medic suffered minor injuries and have been released, she said. She did not identify any of the helicopter's occupants. Eileen Frazer, executive director of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems, said EagleMed's accreditation by the agency will be reviewed following the crash, meaning that further action could be taken against the company pending the results of an investigation. "We will look for trends, especially in this unusual circumstance," Frazer said. Tuesday's crash occurred less than four months after an EagleMed helicopter crash-landed outside an Oklahoma City nursing home early Feb. 22, killing two people onboard and critically injuring a third. Another EagleMed helicopter crashed into a field near Kingfisher on July 22, 2010, killing the pilot and nurse and seriously injuring a paramedic. No patients were on board. Frazer said the company, based in Wichita, Kan., had just received its three-year accreditation when the February crash occurred. The accreditation process included an analysis of maintenance records of all its aircraft and crew, including pilots. The latest crash will require members of the independent, nonprofit group to make a supplemental visit to the company to gather more information. "We will have to go out there again," Frazer said. Frazer said no decision will be made on the future of EagleMed's accreditation and operations until the organization has a chance to review the final reports of investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies. "We don't jump to conclusions. We would have to look at NTSB reports before we see any trending," she said. EagleMed is cooperating with the investigation, said spokesman Robbie Copeland. "Currently, EagleMed is working with the NTSB and FAA, we're helping them with their investigation by providing the information they need from us," Copeland said. The helicopter involved in Tuesday's crash came down about 20 yards from the health care center as it was taking off about 7 p.m., Sharp said. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration were at the scene Tuesday, spokesman Tony Molinaro said. Molinaro said the cause of the crash was not immediately known. "We'll be gathering all types of information on the accident," he said. Information collected by FAA investigators will be turned over to the NTSB, he said. An NTSB spokesman, Keith Holloway, said investigators will focus on the cause of Tuesday's accident and try to determine if there are common elements with the previous crashes. "It takes a while before we determine the cause of an accident," Holloway said. "We don't look at the company, we look at issues. If there is something that reveals itself, we'll look at it." An NTSB report released in May said the pilot of the EagleMed helicopter that crashed in 2010 was pretending to hunt coyotes when his aircraft struck a tree and plummeted to the ground. The report also said the pilot was being treated for several medical conditions and had been prescribed multiple medications since at least 2007, when he told his personal physician he had bronchitis, hypertension and sleep apnea. It says the pilot was never treated for his sleep apnea and had not reported any of his medical conditions and prescription medications to the FAA. The report did not pinpoint the specific cause of the crash. Copeland said he did not know how long the pilot involved in Tuesday's crash had been flying for EagleMed. "If there is something we can do differently, we certainly will as soon as we have knowledge of the cause," Copeland said. "All I can tell you is the NTSB report is out for the accident in July 2010, as far as the other two, we won't know until the final reports are out from the NTSB." FAA records indicate the helicopter was manufactured by American Eurocopter Corp. of Grand Prairie, Texas, and received its operational certificate Aug. 31. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Okla-crash-places-helicopters-under-new-scrutiny-4596136.php Back to Top Back to Top Operation Migration needs aircraft support An FAA-mandated aircraft upgrade promises to be pricey, taxing the resources of a decade-old organization dedicated to restoration of the endangered whooping crane. Operation Migration was founded in 2001 to lead captive-bred birds on annual journeys from Wisconsin to Florida, working with a coalition of government and nonprofit groups seeking to restore a species that was driven to the brink of extinction by the 1940s. Co-founder Joseph Duff leads a small and dedicated cadre of aviators who pilot weight-shift-control aircraft in formation with the birds, teaching them ancestral routes between seasonal nesting grounds. Great care is taken to avoid exposing the birds to human contact: Pilots wear costumes and use puppets to interact with the birds, and the journey is both time-consuming and rewarding, Duff said. All was going well until a complaint prompted an FAA investigation that grounded the operation in 2012, thanks to pilot and aircraft certification issues. The FAA granted a temporary exemption (though not in time to complete the 2012 journey, which ended in Alabama rather than Florida) giving Duff and his organization two years to obtain special light sport aircraft (SLSA) to replace the experimental models used for years, and secure private pilot certificates for all three participating pilots. The nonprofit has turned to crowdsourcing to raise $84,700 to cover the cost of replacing the tiny squadron, and $26,350 had been raised by June 12, with 45 days to go. Duff said the new aircraft will be customized by North Wing, producer of various ultralight models, to meet the particular demands of the FAA and the mission. While a whooping crane can cruise at 38 mph, leading them often requires the aircraft to slow to 33 mph to allow the birds to catch up, just above the 32 mph stall speed. "That's something you can't do with a stick-and-rudder aircraft," Duff said. The control bar allows pilots to precisely control the wing shape, and the airflow separation boundary. "You can actually do that one-handed while you're turned around watching the birds," Duff said, noting that the pilot can feel passing air with exquisite sensitivity. "In fact, when the birds get ahead of us and they're flapping their wings ahead of us, you can feel that pulse in the wing." While the FAA relented on requiring commercial pilot certificates for these aviators, who devote much of the year to the mission, there will be work ahead customizing a North Wing SLSA model with a smaller engine and other modifications. Duff said North Wing, in addition to offering a discount, has also agreed to handle the paperwork and certification process. The whooping cranes are born to a captive flock housed at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, where the training begins with puppets and the aircraft, giving the birds a chance to acclimate to their "leader." The class of 2013 will soon be ready to fly to Wisconsin, where the birds will spend the summer before launching the 1,200-mile journey to the winter grounds in Florida. "If we're lucky, we finish by December," Duff said. Though he is always on the lookout for pilots willing to participate, it is a tall order. A full season of training is required to develop the skills for both handling the aircraft and working with the birds, who must sometimes be coaxed along the way. Pilots must be adept at precise control of speed and climb rate, and weight-shift-control aircraft are very different from conventional airplanes: Everything is backward. To climb, a pilot must push the control bar forward, for example, and the reverse is also true. Add to that the months away from home required by the job, and it becomes one with relatively narrow appeal. The fruits of the labor so far have been impressive: More than 100 birds are now flying the Eastern migration route (another population commutes between Texas and Canada), though more breeding pairs are needed before the Eastern population can sustain itself. http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/June/12/Operation-Migration-needs-aircraft- support.aspx Back to Top Yep, That's a Helicopter Bicycle OK, so none of us probably have any use for a flying bike, but it's alright to want one. It's perfectly natural. So just let the wild envy wash over you as this Frankenstein machine takes flight. Developed by three Czech companies working in unison, the bike was demoed for the first time in Prague today, where it underwent a remote-controlled five-minute flight. The 209-pound rig with its four battery- powered propeller pods isn't quite capable of carrying around a real human being yet, so instead a dummy got the inaugural ride. Hope he enjoyed it. According to the bike's developers, it'll need more powerful propellers before it can sustain flight with a human on board, but even so it's be wildly unpractical for any number of reasons include the bike's crazy width, a doubtlessly huge price-tag, and the fact that vertical flight on a bike is both wildly unnecessary and wildly dangerous. A full-on speeder bike would probably be a better end-game, but let's face it; we'll just have to take whatever crazy flying bikes we can (maybe) get and hope against hope that no one gets shredded into ribbons. (Haha just kidding RIP propeller bike victims.) Flying bike Jan tleskac http://gizmodo.com/yep-thats-a-helicopter-bicycle-512956288 Back to Top Embry-Riddle Capstone Survey Greetings, My name is Mitchell Serber, and I am a former air carrier pilot and longtime air safety advocate, currently working on my Capstone project through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Worldwide campus. I am a candidate for the Master of Aeronautical Science (MAS) degree with a concentration in Human Factors and have designed this survey around one of my areas of interest related to Loss of Control - Inflight (LOC-I) accident precursors. To be eligible to take this survey, I ask that you meet all of the following criteria: 1. You are a current and qualified FAR Part 121, 125 pilot with an air carrier registered in the United States of America. 2. Your primary air carrier assigned aircraft is multi-engine, turbine powered. 3. Your primary air carrier aircraft is equipped with an autopilot. Your participation in this survey may help advance the research understanding into causal factors of LOC-I accidents and should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey is certified anonymous and the SurveyMethods software ensures that I will not be able to identify you or your computer IP address. Any results will be completely de-identified, analyzed, and aggregated prior to publication. There is no remuneration for taking this survey; you are free to withdraw from this survey at any time without any negative consequence If you meet the above criteria, please click on the link below to begin the survey: http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?88ACC0D98CCAD4DC8C Feel free to forward this message to other potential participants. Thank you for your participation! Mitchell L. Serber Curt Lewis