Aviation News, Headlines & Alerts
 
Month: <span>February 2012</span>

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Storm Slickens Jayapura Runway Causing Overrun


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Angara

What: Batavia Air Airbus A320-200 en route from Makassar to Jayapura
Where: Jayapura
When: Feb 7th 2012
Who: 148 passengers and 6 crew
Why: On landing in Jayapura, the flight encountered a strong storm.

Landing in rain, the plane overran the runway but did stop on pavement. The plane was towed to the gate where passengers disembarked normally.

No passengers were injured. The plane did not end up mired in soft ground, but abrasions on the plane’s skin, and lights on the runway were reported as the extent of the damage.


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Italian Ultralight Falls from Sky Killing Experienced Pilot and eighteen year old Photographer

What: Privately owned Alpi Aviation Pioneer 300
Where: San Donà di Piave (Venezia
When: Feb 5, 2012
Who: 2 aboard, 2 fatalities
Why: After taking off from Caposile Airfield, the plane lost altitude and fell vertically. and crashed in a field near San Donà di Piave. Franco Borin, 45 and Simone Conte, 18 died on impact. Conte was flying in order to take photographs.

The judge has ordered autopsies on the victims.

Investigators question the structural integrity of the aircraft.

Police and firefighters of San Donà di Piave responded to the scene.

The Alpi Aviation Pioneer 300 is classified as an ultralight.

Prosecutor Rita Uglolini who is coordinating the investigation has acquired a video which may have documented the fall.


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Gol Hydraulic Issue in Sao Paulo


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Fabricio Lucio

What: GOL Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-800 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo
Where: Sao Paulo
When: Feb 6th 2012
Why: On approach to Sao Paulo, the plane developed problems with the plane’s hydraulic systems. After making a safe landing, the plane was stuck on the runway. Eventually the plane was towed, and the patient passengers were able to disembark (after half an hour.)


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A380 Wing Cracks: Short Term Solution?

According to Airbus, A380 wing cracks (“non-critical wing rib-skin attachments on a limited number of A380 aircraft”) are a non-issue because they “do not make the planes unsafe.”

The plan is to use scheduled 4-year maintenance checks called “D-Checks” to screen planes for signs of cracking.

We are just curious if this was a manufacturing error or a design flaw. And even if it is not a safety issue, the idea of just waiting around till a scheduled check seems chancy at best.


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FAA Funding Goes to the Senate

The FAA has been funded by 23 short-term funding extensions in the last eight years. Today the Senate is expected to vote on long term FAA funding. (Friday, legislation funding the FAA till 2015 passed the House of Representatives).

A labor compromise stuck in the bill says that no less than 50 percent of airline workers must favor a vote on unionization before that vote can take place. Essentially it repeals a National Mediation Board ruling that absentee votes in union elections are not counted as votes against forming a union.

The House bill cut FAA funding to FY 2008 levels. The compromise bill keeps funding at FY 2011 levels.

No one is saying the bill is perfect, but the extensions are expensive.


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Brazil Flight Encounters Severe Turbulence


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Matheus Netto de Lima

What: Trip Linhas Aereas Embraer ERJ-190 en route from Porto Velho to Belo Horizonte
Where: Cuiaba
When: Feb 5th 2012
Who: 82 passengers and 5 crew; 6 injured
Why: While en route, the flight encountered turbulence.

Five passengers and one attendant were injured.

The pilots diverted to Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil where they made a safe landing.

None of the injured passengers were buckled in at the time of the turbulence. On landing, the injured were hospitalized.

Judge Interprets Widow as Unentitled. Canadian Charter is No Common Carrier


Mark McLean had a million dollar life insurance policy under Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company, through Sears Canada Inc. When he was killed in a Vancouver Island plane crash three years ago, it seemed an open and shut case that his widow would get an accidental death benefit of $1 million under the 2007 policy. McLean was one of four Seaspan employees on an amphibious Grumman Goose flight from Port Hardy to Chamiss Bay.

But the policy was only valid for the fare-paying passenger of common carrier. The charter restricted to employees or contractors of Seaspan does not qualify as a common carrier. The The Honourable Mr. Justice Bracken found that “In this case, the aircraft was not operating as a regularly scheduled airline and was instead under a charter restricted to employees or contractors of Seaspan. It was a flight where Seaspan determined who the passengers were, the time of the flight and its destination. Thus, it did not fit within the definition of “common carrier” under the accidental death benefit rider.”

The widow was denied the accidental death benefit of $1,000,000 under the policy.

In George’s Point of View


Unfortunately, a judge must base his opinion on the wording of the policy.

The Judge had no choice. The policy excluded a non fare paying trip. Everyone should take advice from Insurance 101 and get out the magnifying glass. Read the fine print. It is still valid advice.

Insurance Companies salivate when they win a case like this. The agents who sell these policies, even they don’t know what they are selling and if they do, fail to explain all the fine print that will be included in the policy if the proposed insured buys a policy, or fail to use a combination of Life Insurance and Accidental Death Insurance that combine to cover all eventualities.

No doubt when Mark McLean got on that plane, he was confident of his coverage. I believe that as Seaspan regularly chartered that flight exclusively for their employees, either they should have provided insurance coverage, or made certain that the employees are otherwise covered. Perhaps they too needed to take a magnifying glass to their policies as well.

Stupid, almost a scam, my opinion, misleading, overall.


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Japan: Tail strike and Go-around


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Kazuchika Naya

What: ANA All Nippon Airways Airbus A320-200 en route from Osaka Itami to Sendai
Where: Sendai
When: Feb 5th 2012
Who: 166 aboard
Why: The Airbus was landing when a sudden gust of wind caused pilots to abort the landing, and leaving scrapes of white paint on the runway.

While performing the go-around, the tail of the plane struck the runway. Pilots circled and made a second approach, which resulted in a safe landing.

Damage to the underside of the tail was significant, and the bulkhead was also damaged The local weather service did not have any indication of wind, and the investigation is underway.

The Delaminating 787: Causing Problems and Recalls


The Boeing 787’s composite skin is under the eye now, with the carbon fiber structure deconstructing after improperly joined structural stiffeners fail. Longerons are installed on a wound carbon fibre barrel, frames and longerons are secured to the skin to strengthen the structure, and reinforced by shims. Without shims making a tight fit, damage incurs to the carbon fiber.

The problem has been located on an All Nippon Airways (56), and two Qatar Airways airframes (57 and 58), all of which originate in Everett Washington.

More 787s are expected to turn up with the same problem.

The structural stiffeners are failing in the location of the Alenia Aeronotica-built horizontal stabiliser.

Boeing confirms that the problem is a “straightforward repair that should cause no short-term safety concern.”

Inspections are already underway, and strategic plans for repairs are on the drawing board. A 2010 problem involved the teardown and reinstallation of some Alenia Aeronautica-built horizontal stabilisers which had been assembled without adequate shims.

In George’s Point of View

updated


According to a Reuters article, Boeing is saying publicly that this will not affect production.

It SHOULD affect production.

Boeing needs to slow down and get it right. Thousands of souls will fly in these “things.” Boeing’s got to have it right. Instead of ramping up, slow down production. What good is an ambitious target rate if the planes come out needing SAFOs (Safety Alerts for Operators)?

Too fast reminds me of Airbus.

Filmmakers Lost in Aussie Chopper Accident

What: Bankstown Helicopter Pty. Ltd. Robinson R44 Raven II
Where: Jaspers Brush Airfield, Berry, NSW, Australia
When: Feb 2, 2012, 3:55 pm
Who: 2 aboard
Why: Taking off, the helicopter was carrying two men scouting locations for a Jervis Bay documentary when the Robinson crashed and caught the field on fire.

Andrew Wight, The fifty year old pilot was from Melbourne, writer-producer of the 3D movie “Sanctum” based on Wight’s near-death experience in an underwater cave.

Mike DeGruy, 60, of Santa Barbara, California, won multiple Emmy and British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, awards for cinematography. He was a specialist in underwater photography.

Four ATSB investigators will be investigating.

A Rural Fire Service (RFS) responded. The cabin of the chopper burned, and sparked a brush fire.

Daredevil CEO Dies in Experimental Plane Crash


Contact photographer J.B. Barbour

What: Raleighwood Aviation LLC Lancair IVP-TP (built by Carlos Garza)
Where: Boise Airport, Idaho
When: Feb 03 2012, 8:58 a.m.
Who: 1 fatality
Why: Steve Appleton was flying an experimental Lancair IVP-TP. On his second flight, he took off, turned back to the airport. He contacted ATC and said ““321 Lima Charlie, I’d like to turn back in, and uhh, land. Coming back in.” and then crashed.

Safety Board investigator Zoe Keliher said “Appleton took off at about 8:46 a.m, got the plane five to 10 feet off the ground and landed again. He returned to the hangar, then took off again at 8:54 a.m.; he got to between 100 and 200 feet when, according to witnesses, the plane suddenly stopped, banked and fell to the ground.”

It crashed between two runways.In 2004, Appleton survived a crash that gave him a punctured lung, head injuries, ruptured disk and broken bone. This time, Appleton died at the scene. The plane was badly burned.

He was the CEO of Micron.

He had several planes which he flew frequently. (He has owned 20 planes.)

The four seat experimental plane is sold as a kit. This one was built by built by Carlos Garza.

ICAO Spotlighting Indonesian Air Safety


Possibly, the problems in Indonesian aviation are about to be addressed. At least they’re doing something. “They” is the ICAO. Canada is lending Indonesia a helping hand.

There’s a new office in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal. Indonesia has set up office. The human resource department has signed an ICAO agreement: ICAO is posting a couple of experts, but the big thing is the $896,000 to upgrade Curug aviation systems. There are to be four points of concentration: safety oversight, civil aviation team support, training improvements, and assistance to the ICAO reps.


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Aerolineas Bird Strike Leads to Emergency Landing in Sao Paulo


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Simón Blaise

What: Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737-700 en route from Sao Paulo Brazil to Buenos Aires Argentina
Where: Sao Paulo
When: Feb 2nd 2012
Why: After takeoff from Sao Paulo, the flight suffered an bird strike, which disabled it. The vibrating engine had to be shut down. Pilots returned to Sao Paulo a quarter of an hour after leaving.

Passengers were provided alternative transport.


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Unqualified Pilot Sued for Daughter’s Death

Accidents are what happen when you think they won’t.

If Steven Fay had known Jessica Malin would die in the flight and he would survive, he never would have taken her on the twin engine Cessna on Jan 1, 2011. At 4:30 p.m. on on Jan 1, 2011, the day of the crash, the plane’s wings clipped treetops while landing in Orange about 90 minutes after sunset.

He shouldn’t have flown her. He was not certified to fly the plane, which crashed approach to Orange Municipal Airport. His license was revoked after the crash. He was arraigned on Feb 1 2012 for involuntary manslaughter for Jessica Malin’s death. Malin was his daughter. She was 35.

Fay denied the charges. He returns to court on Feb 24.


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Sugar Grove Family Sues Deceased Pilot

On January 23, 2010, there was fog at the time of takeoff and visibility was a half-mile. Gary Bradford and his passenger Drago Strahija were killed when Bradford’s plane crashed in a neighborhood eight minutes from the Aurora Municipal Airport.

The Doyles, the family in whose yard the plane crashed are suing the pilot’s widow. On April 5, the Doyle family will face Gary Bradford’s estate in court.

Rita Bradford and her deceased husband owned ENS Corp., a Florida IT firm. At the time of the crash, he had owned the plane for three months after 98 hours of instrument experience, and 52 hours of flight instruction in seven days.

The meat of the suit is that the Doyles say the pilot did not properly inspect, maintain or know how to land the Cessna.

When the Cessna crashed in the Doyle’s yard, the plane did not strike the house, but debris started a fire in the north side of the garage.

Spanair Calls it Quits


After Qatar Airways backed out of the Spanair deal, there was just no more money, so the owner of Spanair pulled the plug. (Spanair was owned by a consortium of investors.)

Spanair grounded all its flights and officially shut down on January 27, 2012. 20,000 were stranded by the sudden action. Spanair has filed for bankruptcy. 2,000 employees in the hub and 1,200 ground staff are now unemployed.

Spain may fine Spanair 9 million euros for not providing notice they were shutting down. On the company website there is an apologetic note saying all flights after Jan 28, 2012 are cancelled, and there are explanations how tickets may be refunded. A few alternative carriers are listed. The Spanair ticket desk has closed for the last time.

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