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NTSB Photo Opportunity with Caribbean Black Boxes

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a
photo availability on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 of the flight data recorder
and cockpit voice recorder from Caribbean Airlines flight 523, which
crashed during landing on Saturday July 30, 2011 in Georgetown,
Guyana.
Event: Photo Availability

Date/Time: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. (EDT)

Location: NTSB Headquarters
6th Floor
490 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC, 20594

Note: This is a photo availability only – no interviews will be conducted.
Guyana’s Civil Aviation Authority is leading the investigation.

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    Passengers were provided an alternative flight which left at 10:00 a.m.

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    NTSB Warns Old Weather Data on Pilot Displays Can Contribute to Plane Crashes

    The NTSB has sent out a safety alert concerning weather information that is up to twenty minutes old, although it may be advertised as real time data. The discrepancy in time can be fatal when weather conditions are in rapid flux. The NTSB has related this old weather information to two recent crashes that occurred at night:

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  • NTSB SAFETY RECOMMENDATION: 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91


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    The PDF may be viewed here:

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    Single-Engine Plane Cashed in Wisconsin; 2 Killed

    fireA single-engine plane crashed at Lawrence J. Timmerman Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the evening of July 29.

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    NTSB ANNOUNCES Lithium Ion Batteries in Transportation FORUM

    Today the National Transportation Safety Board announced that its upcoming forum, “Lithium Ion Batteries in Transportation,” will be held on April 11-12. The NTSB also released a preliminary agenda for the event.

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    Panel 1: Design, Development, and Use of Lithium Ion Battery Technology

    Objective: This panel will discuss the design, development, and performance of lithium ion batteries. The design and development discussion will focus on battery configurations; advantages and disadvantages based on chemistry, power stability, and energy density; physical and electrical protective devices; manufacturing procedures and best practices; and quality assurance. The battery performance discussion will explore failure modes and other performance issues. Discussions will also include the range of lithium ion battery manufacturing processes.

    Panel 2: Regulations & Standards for Lithium Ion Batteries

    Objective: This panel will provide an overview and update of domestic and international regulatory requirements and standards associated with manufacturing, consumer and industry use, and transportation of lithium ion battery cargo. Topics will also include current and future lithium ion battery safety challenges for regulatory agencies and standard setting organizations.

    Friday, April 12 (9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)

    Panel 3: Lithium Ion Battery Applications & Safety in Transportation

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    Training! Training! Training!

    The NTSB was discussing safety measures in late October, especially pilot training before stalls. The new rule has been a long time coming. Earl Weener, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, talked about the serious history of pilots wrongly pulling the plane’s nose up till the plane fell to the ground. If training is part of the problem, then at least that is a lack that can be amended.

    Only twenty-six percent of pilots train for high altitude stalls, but according to a NASA study, twenty-eight percent of stalls are high altitude stalls. Seventy-one percent of stalls happen while autopilot is on.

    In early November we heard how the FAA unveiled a rule about pilot training to avoid stalling airliners. It came about because of four crashes: Those crashes were Colgan 3407 in 2009, Air France 447 in June 2009, Pinnacle Airlines 3701 in October 2004 and USAir 427 in September 1994. (Too bad there have to be stall issues before stall training came to the attention of officials.) In the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air, it was determined that the pilots–as in the three other flights–in the midst of a blizzard in Buffalo pulled up on the nose of the plane, causing the crash. A meeting of air safety leaders in late November has jump-started the plans. Though something that has taken so long in the works can hardly said to be jump—started.

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