AINalerts: June 13, 2006 | Printer Friendly

FAA Requiring New Runway Safety Margins
A new FAA policy will require Part 91, 121, 125 and 135 jet pilots never to land where available runway is not at least actual landing distance plus 15 percent. If conditions deteriorate en route, pilots will have to recalculate actual landing distance and the 15-percent safety margin. If the total is more than the available runway length, they will have to land elsewhere. The FAA will make the policy mandatory by issuing OpsSpec/MSpec C082 by June 30. Operators will have until October 1 to comply. This policy derives from the Southwest Airlines 737 runway overrun at Chicago Midway last December. (The FAA failed to mention in the policy notice that, according to the NTSB, the 737 pilots delayed for 17 seconds engaging the thrust reversers and landed with a 10-knot tailwind.) Among the problems the FAA found: about half of aircraft flight manuals (AFM) do not require checking if there is sufficient landing distance at time of arrival, even when conditions deteriorate; operators apply safety margins inconsistently and might not add a percentage to actual runway needed; AFM data developed with test pilots is difficult to duplicate in real life; and wet and contaminated runway data is often calculated from a dry-runway baseline, not using actual performance on wet runways.

Pilot Held Responsible for Citation Overrun
On May 15 last year a Citation CJ2 (Danish registration OY-JET) landed 1,000 feet down the 2,948-foot-long runway at Bader Field in Atlantic City, N.J., and crashed into the water. There were no serious injuries to the four occupants. The NTSB recently released its final report and concluded the accident was caused by the pilot’s “improper decision” to land on a runway of insufficient length, to land on that inadequate runway with a tailwind and “his failure to obtain the proper touchdown point.” The Safety Board determined that the twinjet would have needed at least 3,750 feet of runway to land under the existing wind conditions and aircraft weight. Further, the published airport diagram for the airport–found attached to the pilot’s control column after the accident–contained the notation “airport closed to jet aircraft.” The same notation is in the FAA Airport/Facility Directory.

Many Factors Led to Fatal Hansa Jet Crash
The NTSB’s recently released final report implicates errors and FAR violations in the Nov. 30, 2004 fatal accident of a Hansa Jet moments after taking off. The crash killed both pilots, including the founder, owner and president of Toledo, Ohio-based charter operator Grand Aire Express. An FAA permit to ferry the twinjet from Spirit of St. Louis Airport to Toledo Express Airport contained several limitations with which the crew did not comply. The aircraft had not flown in the previous eight months and the pilot, prompted by an absence of airspeed indications, had aborted a takeoff about an hour before the accident flight. The pitot tubes were blown out but a required leak check was not made. Also, because the maintenance manager at Midcoast Aviation did not perform a post-maintenance operational check of the trim tabs, he failed to notice that the cables had been incorrectly reinstalled, the Safety Board said. The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident was “the maintenance facility’s failure to properly install and inspect the elevator trim system, resulting in a reversed elevator trim condition, and the pilot’s failure to maintain terrain clearance.”

Next Up for Landmark: Van Nuys
No sooner had Landmark Aviation celebrated its refurbished Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) FBO and maintenance facility last Thursday, than it turned its eyes toward nearby Van Nuys Airport, where Landmark is seeking suitable property. The FBO at Van Nuys is “going to be a full-service site,” said Landmark CEO Roger Wolfe, “and we’re going to spend whatever it takes to make it a flagship operation.” Meanwhile, the $2.6 million renovation at LAX expanded Landmark’s ramp space by 10 percent and upgraded the terminal. The new lobby eliminates the long walk from the entrance area to the fuel desk. Now the ramp-side entrance opens onto a clean, functional lobby space. A new VIP room offers privacy and visitors can take advantage of concierge services, a business center, wireless Internet and flat-screen satellite television. Landmark LAX, said spokesman Andrew Farrant, “is the new Landmark-standard lobby.”

And ’Commercial Airspace’ Is?
As the user-fee battle rages, rhetoric from Air Transport Association member airlines is reaching vast audiences. Lost in the debate, however, is a reference made by ATA v-p of operations and safety Basil Barimo late last year, in which he coined the term “commercial airspace” and attempted to connect the user-fee issue with safety in relation to less experienced pilots flying very light jets in so-called commercial airspace. To help business aviation operators grasp ATA’s position, AIN asked Barimo to clarify his remarks. “We’re talking about airspace where large airliners operate,” he said. “The FAA should look at whether it makes sense to let an inexperienced [some new pilots will learn to fly in their VLJ, he believes], freshly instrument-rated private pilot operate in congested airspace. Training someone to fly an airplane is one thing; having the seasoned judgment to make the right decisions is something entirely different.”

Operational Alert

Takeoff Performance Advisory – The FAA recently issued AC 120-91 “Airport Obstacle Analysis” for Part 121 and Part 135 commuter operators, to help them analyze takeoff procedures and allowable weights to guarantee adequate vertical and lateral obstacle clearance during one-engine-inoperative departures. The AC was issued in part, the FAA said, because aircraft flight manuals don’t address lateral clearance requirements.

Also Noted...

The National Air Transportation Association slammed the FAA for issuing more stringent runway safety margin requirements in the form of a policy notice (see item in “Breaking Stories”). The organization said the FAA is “obligated to conduct a full rulemaking process” before issuing a final rule.

Pilot Steve Huisman, 41, was killed, and copilot Sean Launder, 25, was seriously injured in the crash of their King Air A90 (N7043G) yesterday after reporting a fuel problem and diverting to Tampa, Fla., on their way back to Sarasota. Tampa visibility was reported as 1 and 3/4 miles in rain and mist.

Business Jet Center and Business Jet Services at Dallas Love Field are among the best places to work, according to the Dallas Business Journal’s annual workplace survey. The affiliated companies were the only FBO and aircraft sales, charter, management and maintenance organizations to receive the award.

The HondaJet will make an encore appearance at this year’s EAA AirVenture, July 24 to 30 in Oshkosh, Wis. Last year, the very light jet spent just hours at AirVenture, but this time Honda will display the jet for the duration of the show inside the new Honda Pavilion.

Vitesse is not in the fractional-ownership business, according to a spokeswoman. “We sell strategic jet partnerships,” she said. An item in the June 8 issue of AINalerts about Vitesse acquiring TXI Aviation in Dallas said that Vitesse is starting a Hawker 800XP fractional-ownership program. That is no longer the case, according to Vitesse.

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