NTSB TO OPEN DOCKET ON INVESTIGATION INTO THE CRASH OF A PILATUS AIRCRAFT IN MONTANA

ON-DEMAND ACCIDENTS AT LOWEST LEVEL IN LAST 20 YEARS

Washington, D.C. – The National Transportation Safety Board
today released preliminary aviation accident statistics for
2009 showing an overall decrease in U. S. civil aviation
accidents that includes general aviation and on-demand Part
135 operations. In fact, on-demand Part 135 operations had
the lowest number of accidents and fatal accidents for that
type of air operation in the last 2 decades.

The total number of U.S. civil aviation accidents decreased
from 1,658 in 2008 to 1,551 in 2009. Total fatalities also
showed a decrease from 566 to 534. The majority of these
fatalities occurred in general aviation and scheduled Part
121 operations.

General aviation accidents decreased from 1,566 in 2008 to
1,474 in 2009. There were 272 fatal general aviation
accidents, down from 275 the year before. However, the
accident rate increased to 7.20 per 100,000 flight hours in
2009 from 6.86 in 2008, due to the decrease in the number
total of flight hours. Although fatalities decreased from
494 to 474, the fatal accident rate increased to from 1.21
to 1.33.

Last year, one fatal accident occurred involving a scheduled
Part 121 operator. On February 12, 2009, a Colgan Air,
Inc., Bombardier DHC-8- 400, operating as Continental
Connection flight 3407, crashed outside of Buffalo , New
York, resulting in 50 fatalities.

On-demand Part 135 operations reported 47 accidents in 2009,
a decrease from 58 in 2008. Fatalities also decreased from
69 in 2008 to 17 in 2009. The accident rate decreased to
1.63 per 100,000 flight hours in 2009 from 1.81 in 2008.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2010
SB-10-35

Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board will address the safety of children traveling in airplanes or in cars when it holds a public forum on child passenger safety on Thursday, December 9, 2010.

“American families are on the go, and children today are frequent travelers almost from the time they are born,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “Much more should be done to reduce fatalities and injuries of our smallest travelers, whether they are in a jumbo jet or their family’s car.”

The forum will be geared to providing parents and care givers information they can use immediately to protect their children while traveling. The forum will explore current education and other safety advocacy efforts by non-profit groups and government, as well as the continuing problem of nonuse of child seats and seat belts by a significant portion of the traveling public.

Safety experts from the transportation industry, trade associations, unions, advocacy groups, and federal government will be asked to discuss the best approaches for keeping children safe while flying and riding in cars, how to increase the use of child seats and seat belts, and the importance of government data collection on the issue of nonuse.

The NTSB has issued 33 safety recommendations addressing child passenger safety; 12 of these safety recommendations have been or currently are on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.

The forum, titled “Child Passenger Safety in the Air and in Automobiles”, will be held at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. Parents, care givers, and others interested in child safety are encouraged to view the forum in person or by webcast on the NTSB’s website, www.ntsb.gov. Additional information about the forum can be found at www.ntsb.gov/children.

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

February 4, 2011

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating an operational error that occurred near New York City in January.

The Safety Board was notified of a Traffic Collision and Alerting System (TCAS) resolution advisory that occurred due to a near midair collision involving American Airlines flight 951 on January 20, 2011, at about 10:30 p.m. EasternStandard Time. The American Airlines aircraft, a Boeing777-200 (N7CA), had taken off from John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Sao Paulo, Brazil and wasflying southeast. A flight of two U.S. Air Force C-17s was heading northwest toward McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. There were no injuries in the incident.

The NTSB has interviewed air traffic controllers on duty at the time of the incident, and is gathering information from American Airlines and the Air Force.

The air traffic controllers talking to each of the aircraft received conflict alerts, and immediately provided traffic advisories and turned their aircraft to resolve the conflict. In addition, the American Airlines crew responded to directions provided by TCAS. Radar data indicate that the aircraft came within a mile of each other at their closest point. The incident occurred about 80 miles southeast of New York City.

Betty Koschig has been designated the NTSB’s Investigator-in-Charge for this incident. Further information will be released as it becomes available.

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
November 2, 2010

The National Transportation Safety Board’s course,
“Transportation Disaster Response – A Course for Emergency
Responders,” scheduled for November 16-18, 2010, at the NTSB

Training Center in Ashburn, Virginia, still has openings for
those who may have a role in responding to major
transportation accidents.

NTSB specialists and speakers from the FBI, the New Jersey
State Police, and other emergency response agencies and
organizations with response roles in recent accidents will
discuss the operational and organizational challenges
encountered in responding to large-scale, high-profile
transportation accidents.

The complete course description, agenda, and information on
registration process and cost are available at:
http://www.ntsb.gov/Academy/CourseInfo/TDA402_2010.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 24, 2010
SB-10-45

NTSB CITES LACK OF BIRD STRIKE RESISTANT WINDSHIELD REQUIREMENTS IN FATAL CRASH OF HELICOPTER IN LOUISIANA

The National Transportation Safety Board today released a final report on a fatal crash involving a transport-category helicopter caused by a bird strike. The Board said the lack of requirements for bird strike-resistant windshields contributed to the crash, and called on the FAA to develop such requirements.

On January 4, 2009, a dual-engine Sikorsky S-76C++ helicopter (N748P), registered to and operated by PHI, Inc., crashed into marshy terrain near Morgan City, Louisiana approximately 7 minutes after takeoff from Amelie, Louisiana, on a charter flight to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Both pilots and 6 of the 7 passengers were killed in the crash.

The aircraft had reached level cruise flight at 850 feet mean sea level and 135 knots when the cockpit voice recorder recorded a loud bang, followed by sounds consistent with rushing wind and a power reduction on both engines. The aircraft crashed several seconds later. Feathers and other bird debris were collected from the canopy and windshield of the aircraft. Laboratory analysis identified the remains as coming from a female red-tailed hawk; the average weight of such a bird is 2.4 pounds.

The investigation revealed that the impact of the bird on the canopy just above the windshield near the engine control quadrant likely jarred the fire extinguisher T-handles out of their detents and moved them aft, pushing both engine control levers into or near the flight idle position, reducing fuel to both engines. The pilots were probably disoriented from the broken windshield and rushing air and were unable to react in time to maintain control of the helicopter.

The helicopter was originally equipped with laminated glass windshields that complied with European bird-strike resistance standards. PHI replaced the windshields with lighter-weight, aftermarket cast acrylic windshields that did not have any bird-strike resistance standards.

The NTSB determined that the helicopter crashed because of the sudden loss of power to both engines following the bird strike and the subsequent disorientation of the crewmembers. Contributing to the accident, the Board said, were the lack of FAA regulations and guidance requiring helicopter windshields to be resistant to bird strikes, the lack of protections that would prevent the T-handles from inadvertently dislodging out of their detents, and the lack of a master warning light and audible system to alert the flight crew of a low-rotor speed condition.

Recommendations were issued to the FAA dealing with, among other things, the design of S-76C++ fire extinguisher T- handles and engine control quadrants, and similar designs of other helicopters, and of audible low-rotor alarm systems; certification standards for helicopter windshields; and simultaneous dual-engine power loss training for helicopter pilots.