Baltic carrier Estonian Air has withdrawn a Boeing 737-500 for examination and repair after it was damaged by multiple bird-strikes on approach to Tallinn.
The incident, at 11:30 yesterday, occurred as the aircraft was arriving at the Estonian capital following a flight from Oslo.
It struck a large flock of birds at a height of 900m (2,950ft) which resulted in impact to the CFM International CFM56 engines, the fuselage, radome, and stabilisers.
"The aircraft was withdrawn from use for further inspection and necessary repair," says the airline.
Estonian Air, which operates six 737s and a pair of Saab 340 turboprops, says the repair work could cause minor disruption to its flight schedule.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 09/10/2008.
quinta-feira, 9 de outubro de 2008
Twin Otter crash in Nepal reportedly kills 18
A turboprop aircraft operated by privately owned Yeti Airlines has reportedly crashed while on a domestic flight in the mountainous Himalayan nation of Nepal, killing 18 of the 19 people on board.
Reports from Nepal say the aircraft, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, crashed while on approach to the eastern city of Lukla's airport at around 08:00. It was on a domestic flight from Kathmandu.
The reports quote government officials as saying one person on board survived the crash while 18 people, 14 of them German and Australian nationals, were killed.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 09/10/2208.
Reports from Nepal say the aircraft, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, crashed while on approach to the eastern city of Lukla's airport at around 08:00. It was on a domestic flight from Kathmandu.
The reports quote government officials as saying one person on board survived the crash while 18 people, 14 of them German and Australian nationals, were killed.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 09/10/2208.
terça-feira, 7 de outubro de 2008
Up to 40 injured in Qantas mid-air jet 'upset'
PERTH, Australia (AFP) — Up to 40 passengers and crew were injured, some seriously, in a mid-air incident that forced a Qantas jetliner to make an emergency landing, the Australian carrier and police said on Tuesday.
The incident was the latest in a series that have tarnished the safety record of Qantas, which has long boasted a reputation of being one of the world's safest airlines.
The Airbus A330-300 made an emergency touchdown at an airfield near the Western Australian town of Exmouth after issuing a mayday call when the plane suddenly changed altitude during a flight from Singapore to Perth, Qantas said.
"A number of passengers and crew sustained injuries, including fractures and lacerations, on board QF72 this afternoon en route from Singapore to Perth following a sudden change in altitude," the airline said.
"Emergency services, including medical attendants, met the aircraft on landing," a statement from the 90-year-old Australian airline said.
Qantas could not immediately confirm the number of injured or whether it was turbulence or another factor that had caused the aircraft, which was carrying 303 passengers and 10 crew, to drop or rise suddenly during flight.
A fleet of emergency vehicles was on standby at the Learmonth air base, about 1,100 kilometres (680 miles) northeast of the state capital Perth, when the plane landed, said Sergeant Greg Lambert of the West Australian Police.
"It is understood up to 40 people were injured during a mid-air incident," he said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said early reports indicated that around 30 passengers and crew had been hurt, 15 of them sustaining serious injuries, including broken bones and cuts.
"While cruising in level flight, the aircraft experienced a sudden in-flight upset, resulting in injuries to a number of cabin crew and passengers, primarily in the rear of the aircraft," the bureau said in a statement.
"The crew declared a mayday and diverted the aircraft to Learmonth ... where it landed without further incident," it said, adding that it was sending seven investigators to Learmonth to establish what happened to the jet.
An emergency services worker said paramedics had boarded the Qantas aircraft and were tending to the injured after it touched down at around 1:35 pm (0535 GMT), 35 minutes before its scheduled landing time in Perth.
Australia's famed Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) said it was poised to dispatch four of its flying ambulances to airlift six to eight of the fracture victims to Perth for treatment, but said none were in danger.
"I don't believe that there are any in a life-threatening condition," said RFDS public affairs director Lesleigh Green.
"But if people have had hits on the head or have been hit by flying objects, until you actually assess that, you don't know whether it could be a spinal or neurological issue."
Qantas is sending two aircraft to Learmonth from Perth to collect passengers and crew stranded in the remote northwest of Australia.
In July, an exploding oxygen bottle punched a huge hole in the side of a Qantas Boeing 747-400, forcing an emergency landing in the Philippines. No passengers were injured in the mid-air drama.
The plane, which was carrying 365 people, was cruising at 29,000 feet (8,800 metres) en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne when the terrifying drama struck.
Australian air safety investigators in August announced a safety review of Qantas after two other incidents occurred involving its aircraft within two weeks.
On July 28, a Qantas Boeing 737-800 returned to Adelaide after a landing gear door failed to retract. In early August a Boeing 767 bound for Manila turned back to Sydney after developing a hydraulic fluid leak.
But the aviation watchdog, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), said that despite the review there was no evidence to suggest any links between three mid-air emergencies on Qantas flights.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRwyTQv8kp88rBqymM-LJIPZzUyg
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
The incident was the latest in a series that have tarnished the safety record of Qantas, which has long boasted a reputation of being one of the world's safest airlines.
The Airbus A330-300 made an emergency touchdown at an airfield near the Western Australian town of Exmouth after issuing a mayday call when the plane suddenly changed altitude during a flight from Singapore to Perth, Qantas said.
"A number of passengers and crew sustained injuries, including fractures and lacerations, on board QF72 this afternoon en route from Singapore to Perth following a sudden change in altitude," the airline said.
"Emergency services, including medical attendants, met the aircraft on landing," a statement from the 90-year-old Australian airline said.
Qantas could not immediately confirm the number of injured or whether it was turbulence or another factor that had caused the aircraft, which was carrying 303 passengers and 10 crew, to drop or rise suddenly during flight.
A fleet of emergency vehicles was on standby at the Learmonth air base, about 1,100 kilometres (680 miles) northeast of the state capital Perth, when the plane landed, said Sergeant Greg Lambert of the West Australian Police.
"It is understood up to 40 people were injured during a mid-air incident," he said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said early reports indicated that around 30 passengers and crew had been hurt, 15 of them sustaining serious injuries, including broken bones and cuts.
"While cruising in level flight, the aircraft experienced a sudden in-flight upset, resulting in injuries to a number of cabin crew and passengers, primarily in the rear of the aircraft," the bureau said in a statement.
"The crew declared a mayday and diverted the aircraft to Learmonth ... where it landed without further incident," it said, adding that it was sending seven investigators to Learmonth to establish what happened to the jet.
An emergency services worker said paramedics had boarded the Qantas aircraft and were tending to the injured after it touched down at around 1:35 pm (0535 GMT), 35 minutes before its scheduled landing time in Perth.
Australia's famed Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) said it was poised to dispatch four of its flying ambulances to airlift six to eight of the fracture victims to Perth for treatment, but said none were in danger.
"I don't believe that there are any in a life-threatening condition," said RFDS public affairs director Lesleigh Green.
"But if people have had hits on the head or have been hit by flying objects, until you actually assess that, you don't know whether it could be a spinal or neurological issue."
Qantas is sending two aircraft to Learmonth from Perth to collect passengers and crew stranded in the remote northwest of Australia.
In July, an exploding oxygen bottle punched a huge hole in the side of a Qantas Boeing 747-400, forcing an emergency landing in the Philippines. No passengers were injured in the mid-air drama.
The plane, which was carrying 365 people, was cruising at 29,000 feet (8,800 metres) en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne when the terrifying drama struck.
Australian air safety investigators in August announced a safety review of Qantas after two other incidents occurred involving its aircraft within two weeks.
On July 28, a Qantas Boeing 737-800 returned to Adelaide after a landing gear door failed to retract. In early August a Boeing 767 bound for Manila turned back to Sydney after developing a hydraulic fluid leak.
But the aviation watchdog, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), said that despite the review there was no evidence to suggest any links between three mid-air emergencies on Qantas flights.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRwyTQv8kp88rBqymM-LJIPZzUyg
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
FAA faulted for laxness on maintenance outsourcing
WASHINGTON - Nine U.S. airlines outsourced more than 70 percent of their major aircraft maintenance last year, and federal aviation officials' oversight of repair facilities is lagging, according to a government report.
One-fourth of the outsourced maintenance is being handled by contractors overseas.
The Transportation Department's inspector general said the outsourcing, which has more than doubled in four years, was of concern because the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to closely track how much maintenance is farmed out and where it is performed.
Although the FAA has taken steps to improve, "the agency still faces challenges in determining where the most critical maintenance occurs and ensuring sufficient oversight," investigators said in the report issued this week.
In their effort to lower costs, the report said, airlines continue to shift their heavy airframe maintenance from their own in-house mechanics and engineers to hundreds of repair companies in the United States, Canada, Mexico and countries in Central America and Asia.
Nine major airlines examined by the inspector general outsourced 71 percent of their heavy air frame maintenance — repairs and servicing to an aircraft's body, wings and tail — in 2007, up from 34 percent in 2003. More than a quarter of that maintenance — 27 percent — was performed at foreign repair facilities.
The airlines examined in the report were AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, America West Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. American Airlines, the nation's largest domestic carrier, was not included, the inspector general said, because it handles most maintenance in-house.
The FAA relies heavily on the airlines — and the repair facilities themselves — to make sure outsourced repairs meet the air safety standards and requirements of the individual airlines.
FAA requires each repair station to undergo a government inspection at least once a year, FAA spokesman Les Dorr said. The report says those inspections often are not being conducted by agency inspectors most familiar with standards and requirements of the airline whose planes are being repaired.
As much as five years lapsed between visits to some major maintenance facilities by inspectors assigned to individual airlines. Inspectors not assigned to a specific airline may not be familiar with the special maintenance requirements of that airline's planes, which are often customized.
The report cited a foreign facility, which repairs engines for an unidentified airline, that had not been inspected by an FAA inspector assigned to that airline in five years, a period in which the facility had repaired 39 of the air carrier's engines.
The report recommends FAA require airlines to provide more complete information on the extent and location of outsourced repairs, ensure air carriers and repair stations are better able to spot and correct problems, and improve the documentation of inspection results.
The FAA agreed it needs to do more. "We actually concur with all the inspector general's recommendations," Dorr said. "We have procedures in place that already address some of the recommendations, and we have some projects in progress that address others."
One safety expert, however, said the report underscores that FAA still has a long way to go toward resolving the outsourcing issue, which has been source of controversy for the agency for several years.
"What this report tells me is there is still a big problem with oversight — the FAA is not verifying that the oversight being provided by the air carriers is doing the job it's supposed to," said John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081004/ap_on_go_ot/airlines_maintenance
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
One-fourth of the outsourced maintenance is being handled by contractors overseas.
The Transportation Department's inspector general said the outsourcing, which has more than doubled in four years, was of concern because the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to closely track how much maintenance is farmed out and where it is performed.
Although the FAA has taken steps to improve, "the agency still faces challenges in determining where the most critical maintenance occurs and ensuring sufficient oversight," investigators said in the report issued this week.
In their effort to lower costs, the report said, airlines continue to shift their heavy airframe maintenance from their own in-house mechanics and engineers to hundreds of repair companies in the United States, Canada, Mexico and countries in Central America and Asia.
Nine major airlines examined by the inspector general outsourced 71 percent of their heavy air frame maintenance — repairs and servicing to an aircraft's body, wings and tail — in 2007, up from 34 percent in 2003. More than a quarter of that maintenance — 27 percent — was performed at foreign repair facilities.
The airlines examined in the report were AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, America West Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. American Airlines, the nation's largest domestic carrier, was not included, the inspector general said, because it handles most maintenance in-house.
The FAA relies heavily on the airlines — and the repair facilities themselves — to make sure outsourced repairs meet the air safety standards and requirements of the individual airlines.
FAA requires each repair station to undergo a government inspection at least once a year, FAA spokesman Les Dorr said. The report says those inspections often are not being conducted by agency inspectors most familiar with standards and requirements of the airline whose planes are being repaired.
As much as five years lapsed between visits to some major maintenance facilities by inspectors assigned to individual airlines. Inspectors not assigned to a specific airline may not be familiar with the special maintenance requirements of that airline's planes, which are often customized.
The report cited a foreign facility, which repairs engines for an unidentified airline, that had not been inspected by an FAA inspector assigned to that airline in five years, a period in which the facility had repaired 39 of the air carrier's engines.
The report recommends FAA require airlines to provide more complete information on the extent and location of outsourced repairs, ensure air carriers and repair stations are better able to spot and correct problems, and improve the documentation of inspection results.
The FAA agreed it needs to do more. "We actually concur with all the inspector general's recommendations," Dorr said. "We have procedures in place that already address some of the recommendations, and we have some projects in progress that address others."
One safety expert, however, said the report underscores that FAA still has a long way to go toward resolving the outsourcing issue, which has been source of controversy for the agency for several years.
"What this report tells me is there is still a big problem with oversight — the FAA is not verifying that the oversight being provided by the air carriers is doing the job it's supposed to," said John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081004/ap_on_go_ot/airlines_maintenance
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
Low fuel forced Italian MD-82 to land on closed runway
Italian investigators have disclosed that an aircraft on a domestic service between Milan Linate and Cagliari was forced to land on a closed runway because it burned diversion reserves during a prolonged hold.
While the Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) does not specifically identify the incident, which has led investigators to issue a set of recommendations, the circumstances match those experienced by a Meridiana Boeing MD-82 which declared a fuel emergency on 5 May while holding to land at Cagliari.
ANSV says the aircraft, with 36 passengers on board, had been cleared for approach but the crew was subsequently instructed to execute a go-around because of the presence of birds on the runway.
The aircraft made a second attempt to approach the runway, 14L, but was again told to abort. It was then placed in a holding stack over Cagliari.
Twenty-three minutes after the first landing attempt, the crew declared a fuel emergency to air traffic controllers and requested clearance to land, despite the runway's being unavailable.
ANSV says that the aircraft had around 2,900kg of fuel on board at this point, less than the minimum level of fuel - some 3,100kg - required for diversion.
The aircraft landed 10min after the emergency declaration. Controllers opened the runway shortly afterwards.
While the aircraft's flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders had been overwritten by the time the incident was reported, four days later, ANSV says fuel levels on board the aircraft had been checked prior to departure from Milan, and the pilots had decided they "did not wish to upload extra fuel" for the flight.
It adds that a NOTAM was in place for Cagliari, valid from 1 May to 25 July, warning crews of possible delays because of birds in the vicinity of runway 14L/32R.
The aircraft's fuel levels reached their minimum for diversion about 19-20min after the first aborted approach and 3-4min after the second.
The investigators point out that the captain is responsible for verifying carriage of adequate fuel, including reserves for diversion and a final reserve.
ANSV says the jet should have been able to divert to an alternative airport, Olbia, without having to declare an emergency and land on a closed runway. It has issued four recommendations to the Italian civil aviation administration, urging better fuel-planning awareness for crews.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
While the Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) does not specifically identify the incident, which has led investigators to issue a set of recommendations, the circumstances match those experienced by a Meridiana Boeing MD-82 which declared a fuel emergency on 5 May while holding to land at Cagliari.
ANSV says the aircraft, with 36 passengers on board, had been cleared for approach but the crew was subsequently instructed to execute a go-around because of the presence of birds on the runway.
The aircraft made a second attempt to approach the runway, 14L, but was again told to abort. It was then placed in a holding stack over Cagliari.
Twenty-three minutes after the first landing attempt, the crew declared a fuel emergency to air traffic controllers and requested clearance to land, despite the runway's being unavailable.
ANSV says that the aircraft had around 2,900kg of fuel on board at this point, less than the minimum level of fuel - some 3,100kg - required for diversion.
The aircraft landed 10min after the emergency declaration. Controllers opened the runway shortly afterwards.
While the aircraft's flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders had been overwritten by the time the incident was reported, four days later, ANSV says fuel levels on board the aircraft had been checked prior to departure from Milan, and the pilots had decided they "did not wish to upload extra fuel" for the flight.
It adds that a NOTAM was in place for Cagliari, valid from 1 May to 25 July, warning crews of possible delays because of birds in the vicinity of runway 14L/32R.
The aircraft's fuel levels reached their minimum for diversion about 19-20min after the first aborted approach and 3-4min after the second.
The investigators point out that the captain is responsible for verifying carriage of adequate fuel, including reserves for diversion and a final reserve.
ANSV says the jet should have been able to divert to an alternative airport, Olbia, without having to declare an emergency and land on a closed runway. It has issued four recommendations to the Italian civil aviation administration, urging better fuel-planning awareness for crews.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
FAA Reopens ADS-B Comment Period
In an unusual déjà vu-triggering step, the FAA has reopened for 30 days the comment period on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). The original comment period closed on March 3 this year.
The FAA received 1,423 comments submitted by 165 entities. Since then the ADS-B Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), which the FAA established in July 2007, has reviewed these comments and made 36 summary recommendations to the FAA.
It is the ADS-B ARC’s recommendations that the FAA wants the aviation community to review and comment upon. The deadline is November 3.
Separately, the Aircraft Electronics Association is encouraging its members to submit comments to the FAA and send a copy to AEA’s government and industry affairs office. A copy of the ARC’s report to the FAA is available on www.aea.net.™
http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/faa-reopens-ads-b-comment-period/
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
The FAA received 1,423 comments submitted by 165 entities. Since then the ADS-B Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), which the FAA established in July 2007, has reviewed these comments and made 36 summary recommendations to the FAA.
It is the ADS-B ARC’s recommendations that the FAA wants the aviation community to review and comment upon. The deadline is November 3.
Separately, the Aircraft Electronics Association is encouraging its members to submit comments to the FAA and send a copy to AEA’s government and industry affairs office. A copy of the ARC’s report to the FAA is available on www.aea.net.™
http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/faa-reopens-ads-b-comment-period/
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
BA flight forced to make emergency landing due to 'burning smell'
A British Airways flight from the UK to the US was forced to make an emergency landing after staff detected a burning smell.
The BA flight was diverted to Houston after a crew member detected a "burning smell" on board the plane, Flight BA195 from London's Heathrow to Houston diverted to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said the flight was diverted as a precaution after "what was thought to be a burning smell" was detected on board.
She said the smell was due to a fault with one of the television screens used for in-flight entertainment which had since been repaired.
BA said that none of the nearly 90 passengers and 15 crew members was in danger and that passengers were taken into the terminal building at Chicago and transferred on to domestic flights to enable them to continue their journey to Houston.
The spokeswoman said: "We apologise for the inconvenience to passengers but the crew did exactly the right thing in diverting as a precaution."
The plane landed at 1.20pm local time on Sunday (7.20pm BST).
Chicago Aviation Department spokesman Gregg Cunningham said that nobody was injured.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said the plane was secured without incident around an hour after it landed.
Only last month it was reported that a British Airways pilot had made an emergency landing at Heathrow after the crew smelled smoke in the cockpit.
The Airbus A319, carrying 121 passengers, was only 10 minutes into its flight to Zurich when the pilot announced that fumes had been detected coming from an air conditioning unit.
The captain of the flight decided to return to Heathrow as a precautionary measure.
Passengers were transferred to a replacement flight for their journey, and engineers were brought in to examine the plane.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/3143483/BA-flight-forced-to-make-emergency-landing-due-to-burning-smell.html
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
The BA flight was diverted to Houston after a crew member detected a "burning smell" on board the plane, Flight BA195 from London's Heathrow to Houston diverted to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said the flight was diverted as a precaution after "what was thought to be a burning smell" was detected on board.
She said the smell was due to a fault with one of the television screens used for in-flight entertainment which had since been repaired.
BA said that none of the nearly 90 passengers and 15 crew members was in danger and that passengers were taken into the terminal building at Chicago and transferred on to domestic flights to enable them to continue their journey to Houston.
The spokeswoman said: "We apologise for the inconvenience to passengers but the crew did exactly the right thing in diverting as a precaution."
The plane landed at 1.20pm local time on Sunday (7.20pm BST).
Chicago Aviation Department spokesman Gregg Cunningham said that nobody was injured.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said the plane was secured without incident around an hour after it landed.
Only last month it was reported that a British Airways pilot had made an emergency landing at Heathrow after the crew smelled smoke in the cockpit.
The Airbus A319, carrying 121 passengers, was only 10 minutes into its flight to Zurich when the pilot announced that fumes had been detected coming from an air conditioning unit.
The captain of the flight decided to return to Heathrow as a precautionary measure.
Passengers were transferred to a replacement flight for their journey, and engineers were brought in to examine the plane.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/3143483/BA-flight-forced-to-make-emergency-landing-due-to-burning-smell.html
Fonte: Flight Safety Information 07/10/2008.
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