| • | ALPA Takes NTSB to Task on Asiana Crash Reporting |
| • | Experts Urge Caution When Flying to Egypt |
| • | Can Cockpit Technology Get in the Way? |
| • | Spain Reports on 2010 Ryanair Fuel Incident |
| • | FAA Site Gives Lessons From Transport Aircraft Accidents |
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Safety Spotlights...
New Indian Aviation Regulator Passes First Hurdle
India’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) days as a regulator appear to be numbered now that the country’s government has approved “in principle” a new Civil Aviation Authority to replace it. India’s information and broadcasting minister explained that the new CAA will be an autonomous body tasked with looking at aviation safety issues and composed of a chairperson and at least seven but not more than nine other members. No date for the next step toward approving the CAA has been announced.
Pilot Charged with Falsifying Medical Certificate
Henry Albert Schaller, II, president of B2BJets, was indicted June 28 in a U.S. District Court in Miami for making false statements on multiple FAA airman medical applications, specifically that he’d never been convicted of a misdemeanor. He was also convicted in April this year of making a false statement to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Schaller also allegedly falsified a bill of sale stating that B2BJets purchased an aircraft even though another company actually took possession of it.
Philippines Airlines Removed from EU Black List
The European Commission removed Philippines Airlines from the black list of 278 air carriers banned from entering European Union airspace. Philippines Airlines has been on the list for three years because of numerous safety violations and is the only airline from that country that will be allowed access to Europe. All other Philippines-based airlines remain on the black list.
Real Tonga Airlines Safety Questioned
Polynesia’s Real Tonga Airlines has been given its first aircraft–an MA-60–by the Chinese government. However, the move has prompted New Zealand to suspend millions of dollars in tourism aid to Tonga because it is concerned about the twin turboprop’s safety record. According to the Fiji Times, New Zealand foreign affairs minister Murray McCully has stated that the MA-60 has an unacceptable standard of safety.
Rockford Details Satellite Approach Services
Chicago Rockford International Airport (KRFD)–65 miles west of Chicago O’Hare International Airport–has released guidelines for aircraft arriving for practice instrument approaches at the nine satellite airports controlled by Rockford approach control. Rockford officials remind pilots that approach control provides practice-approach separation and sequencing only when workload permits it, and then only as far as the final approach fix.
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The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) labeled the NTSB “reckless” last week for releasing operational details about the Asiana Airlines 214 accident in San Francisco on July 6. The Board has held nearly daily news conferences since the accident in which chairman Deborah Hersman has spoken about its initial listen to the cockpit voice recorder and other devices. ALPA said it is “stunned by the amount of detailed operational data from on-board recorders released by the NTSB this soon in the investigation,” and called the level of early disclosure “unprecedented.” The association believes releasing too much preliminary data can interfere with the investigative process, encourage wild speculation and “represents a detriment to flight safety” by making it appear the Board has already determined a probable cause. ALPA did not respond to requests from AIN to explain its concerns in more detail. NTSB public-affairs division chief Kelly Nantel told AIN, “One of the hallmarks of an NTSB investigation is transparency. We routinely provide the public with factual information throughout the investigative process. As an independent federal agency, we serve as advocates for the traveling public. For the public to have confidence in the investigative process, transparency and accuracy are critical.”
Experts Urge Caution When Flying to Egypt
With many eyes focused on Egypt since the downfall of President Morsi, business aircraft operators are wondering about their next trip to the region.
Thomas Winn, interim director of the Master of Security Management for Executives program at the University of Houston Downtown, told AIN, “If a trip to Egypt isn’t business essential right now, it should wait until all of Egypt gets re-examined. There’s obvious instability in the region, and I’m concerned about the potential for violence and retaliation.” But the recent uptick in local violence in Egypt doesn’t mean the country is completely off limits, as long as the right protective measures are in place. “If you do need to go,” Winn said, “make sure all passengers and crew realize that you now need more than just a driver in Egypt. You need an executive driver–one with security training–and a security protection agent. The security agent knows the local scene and can quickly alter a route on the ground to keep you out of trouble. Anytime you have an elevated threat like this, it borders on irresponsible not to use someone who understands the local security scene. Remember, if you don’t know where you’re going in a foreign country, it’s pretty easy to end up in the wrong place.” Winn suggested sites that offer up-to-date security news for free.
Can Cockpit Technology Get in the Way?
Cockpit technology could actually hinder business aviation flight safety, especially when that technology is retrofitted to older steam-gauge aircraft, said a July 1 podcast from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). The industry group lists the impact of technology as one of its Top 10 safety issues. Jim Lara, secretary of NBAA’s safety committee, expected that the biggest challenge he would face when upgrading his Beechcraft Baron would be the cost of installing the glass cockpit. In his view, however, the real test has turned out to be learning how to operate the new equipment. Lara offered accolades to one avionics manufacturer (which he chose not to name) for the classes it teaches to help bring pilots up to speed before they fly away. “[Without adequate training] you can find yourself sitting there and wondering ‘what is this doing now’ and ‘why isn’t it doing what I want it to?’” he said. Potentially even more important, Lara worries about the erosion of basic stick-and-rudder flying skills as pilots become dependent on the new gear. “Most companies are starting to recognize this [shortcoming] and are beginning to mandate more stick time in their basic operating procedures,” he concluded.
Spain Reports on 2010 Ryanair Fuel Incident
Spanish accident investigation agency CIAIAC has released its investigative report on, and a number of safety recommendations in response to, the May 10, 2010 Ryanair Boeing 737 incident. The CIAIAC sought to determine if Ryanair was flying into Spain with less than the recommended amount of reserve fuel. After making two missed instrument approaches to Spain’s Alicante Airport (LEAL) upon arrival from London Stansted Airport as a result of wind shear, the Ryanair flight in question proceeded to its Valencia alternate. Carrying 176 people, the aircraft was so short of fuel on final approach to Valencia that the crew called a Mayday before landing safely. Other 737s in Ryanair’s fleet experienced a similar situation last year when weather in Madrid forced a number of aircraft to divert to Valencia. The CIAIAC found the pilots of the 2010 Ryanair flight at fault for “inadequate decision-making in their decision to attempt the second approach and in their choice of an alternate airport…which resulted in their fuel dropping below the required minimum fuel reserve.” The CIAIAC also faulted Ryanair’s fueling policies. “Though they comply with the minimum legal requirements, they tend to minimize the amount of fuel…and leave none for contingencies below the legal minimums,” the investigation team concluded.
FAA Site Gives Lessons From Transport Aircraft Accidents
NTSB accident reports give us the cold, hard facts behind an accident, but those facts don’t always help us understand the “why” behind a crash. No matter the type of aircraft, operators want to know what it all means to them and how their crews fly. Little pearls of wisdom offer the value to a website called FAA’s Lessons Learned. While the site doesn’t attempt to address every aviation accident, it does “represent some of the most major accidents and their related lessons.” The site is divided into three major segments: airplane life cycle, accident threat categories and aircraft common themes. For example, click on flight-deck layout and avionics confusion under threat categories to find a brief concept synopsis followed by an opportunity to review any of 14 accidents that relate, such as the American Airlines DC-10 crash at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in 1979 or even as far back as the 1972 Eastern L-1011 accident in Florida’s Everglades. Are you wondering what lessons a 40-year-old accident has to teach? It wasn’t the aircraft that killed 112 of the 163 people aboard the flight that night. It was the crew’s failure to focus on flying the aircraft while they troubleshot a landing gear problem approaching Miami. Forty years later, the July 6 Asiana Airlines 777 accident in San Francisco seems to show that pilots are still not focusing on flying the airplane all the time.
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