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Aviation Safety Action Program

Because of management issues, labor vs management issues, and the question of how much protection should pilots/crew have when they make a mistake, a number of big carriers have dropped the Aviation Safety Action Program. THe official goal of the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) is “to enhance aviation safety through the prevention of accidents and incidents. Its focus is to encourage voluntary reporting of safety issues and events that come to the attention of employees of certain certificate holders.”

But pilots are being punished for their honesty.

The program that is being dropped allows pilots and other airline workers to report mistakes they’ve made and safety issues.

This enables carriers to spot trends before they become safety issues.

So..why have Delta, American, U. S. Airways and Com Air dropped the program?

Should we even FLY these carriers if they are not following ASAP?

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    Cracked Window Sends Plane Back to Airport

    What: Bulgaria Air Boeing 737-300 en route from Tel Aviv to the Bulgarian city of Burgas on the Black Sea.
    Where: Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv
    When: May 14
    Who: 146 passengers
    Why: When a crack was discovered in a window, the plane returned to Tel Aviv. There were no injuries. Passengers were provided replacement transportation.

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  • Seat Belts: Airplanes AND BUSES

    George’s Point of View

    Yesterday we posted the NTSB’s safety recommendation that each person who is less than 2 years of age to be restrained in a separate seat position by an appropriate child restraint system during takeoff, landing, and turbulence.

    It does make sense that infants not be held during dangerous turbulence in a plane, but kept securely in a seat, just as it is required by law when in a car.

    With all of the accidents we see on buses, I would like to know why the NTSB has not mandated seatbelts aboard all buses. Not just for infants, of course, but for everyone.

    Out of NTSB’s own reports, “42% of the total (fatalities) are from side impact or non-collision (typically rollover) accidents. It is for this 42% of fatal accidents that seat belts have their greatest life saving potential”

    NTSB should also demand seat belts on all passenger buses and school buses.

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    Virgin Aborted Takeoff–Etc…

    A Virgin Airlines flight taking off from Canberra aborted takeoff to avoid an incoming flight viewed by other passengers crossing in front of them to the left. Noteworthy is a report that the Virgin Airline pilots hit the brakes when ATC said “Actually, stop, because we’ve decided we’ll let this other aircraft land first and then you can take off.” Another non-collision is a good thing; as nerve-wracking as a rejected take-0ff can be, obviously it’s better than the alternative.

    Boeing studies indicate one in 2000 takeoffs are aborted, though early rejected takeoffs may not always be reported.

    A 1992 Takeoff Safety Training Aid Aid by the FAA says that

    • More than half the RTO accidents and incidents reported in the past 30 years were initiated from a speed in excess of V1.
    • About one-third were reported as occurring on runways that were wet or contaminated with snow or ice.
    • Only slightly more than one-fourth of the accidents and incidents actually involved any loss of engine thrust.
    • Nearly one-fourth of the accidents and incidents were the result of wheel or tire failures.
    • Approximately 80 percent of the overrun events were potentially avoidable by following appropriate operational practices.

    For passengers, the terrors of flight are certainly eased when there is some explanation to go along with the crisis. Perhaps a lack of narration can be forgiven if the pilot has his hands full averting a would be crisis. Still, a couple of word scan be very comforting and enlightening.

    Personally, I can say this:

    Molly and I experienced a aborted takeoff from Athens.

    We were past the half way mark for sure and later were told the pilot had a warning light.

    The plane came to a screeching halt taking maybe 45 seconds or more to bring it to a halt.

    It is a scary situation, especially since the crew in the cockpit are dealing with whatever needs to be handled and we passengers are told NOTHING.

    Maybe daredevils and roller-coaster enthusiasts would get a kick out of it, but it was a kick I’d have just as well gone without.

    The plane was filled with people. We all weathered it pretty darn well. I heard no screams or crying, but they’d have had to be pretty loud, because my own heartbeat drowned out everything else. I’m sure there were a lot of rapid heartbeats that moment in that plane.

    But I am here now, thanks to that pilot and crew handling a situation they might not even have called a crisis.

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    Family Charges Bombardier with Negligence

    The National Transportation Safety Board’s decision on the Colgan Air Flight 407 crash is that the pilot responded inappropriately to the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover. The stick shaker only comes into play when the plane is already slow enough to stall. The plane fell 800 feet before crashing pointing northeast, away from the airport

    The family of Ellyce Kausner has filed a lawsuit against Bombardier. Bombardier is the manufacturer of the plane involved in the crash. The suit charges that Bombardier was “negligent and careless” in the design of the plane by not providing more efficient internal mechanical warning systems.

    Kausner was a 24 year old Jacksonville law student traveling to NY to visit family.

    At least 19 other families have filed suits.

    At the time of the crash, the automated “stick-pusher,” pushes the control column down in order to send the aircraft into a temporary dive so it can regain speed and recover from a stall but Capt. Renslow yanked back on the controls while adding thrust, manually overriding the stick-pusher.

    Colgan Air, Clarence Center, NY, Accident Dockets

    George’s Point of View

    Time for Bombardier to step up to the plate. Although this has little to do with the pilot, who had flunked numerous flight tests during his career and was never adequately taught how to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane’s fatal descent. Maybe Ellyce would still be here if the warning systems on the Bombardier were simply better.

    When the plane slowed down to a dangerous level, it set off the stall-prevention system, and the pilot performed the opposite of the proper procedure. So there were hiring and training issues involved too. And Captain Renslow had about 109 hours of experience, hardly enough to be pilot.

    Even if procedures seem counter-intuitive, shouldn’t the pilot be aware of them?

    Barring the inefficiency of an ill-prepared pilot, shouldn’t Bombardier have some kind of way to limit ineffective pilot responses?

    When the hiring and training fails, and when the pilot fails, shouldn’t there be some kind of fail-safe within the plane? Even a copy of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Not Crashing your Bombardier for pilots who flunked their last check write 16 months before and who apparently didn’t read the real manual?

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    FAA Administrator Huerta Calls for More Action


    – As the busy summer flying season approaches, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta today met with leaders from the general aviation community to agree on actions to enhance safety and reduce accidents. The general aviation fatal accident rate has remained flat over the past five years and 149 fatal accidents already have occurred so far this fiscal year, killing 262 people.

    “We cannot become complacent about safety,” Huerta said. “Together, we must improve the safety culture to drive the GA fatal accident rate lower.”

    In the short term, the group agreed to raise awareness on the importance of basic airmanship and to promote a positive safety culture. The following organizations attended the meeting and are partnering with the FAA to reach out to the many diverse facets of the general aviation community: Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), Helicopter Association International (HAI), International Council of Air Shows (ICAS), National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA).

    For the long term, Administrator Huerta called on the aviation community to install life-saving equipment (angle of attack indicators, inflatable restraints, two-axis autopilots) in older airplanes, to improve general aviation data, and to improve airman certification testing and training. To meet these goals, the general aviation community and the FAA agreed to work together to move forward as quickly as possible on three key initiatives:

    Participate and invest in the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC): Industry participation is key to data analysis that leads to the development of voluntary safety enhancements. The group uses a data driven process modeled on the highly successful Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST). Sharing data through the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system and other voluntary programs will help educate and shape the safety culture of the GA community. The FAA plans to expand ASIAS to general aviation in the next few years. FAA and industry will work together to find incentives to increase voluntary reporting.

    Support the overhaul of airmen testing and training standards: An industry and government working group is overhauling the standards by incorporating risk management and decision-making into flight training and testing.

    Expedite the Part 23 certification process to reduce costs and install new technology in airplanes: An industry and government committee is working on streamlining certification for the installation of certain safety technologies.

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    The Ides of Germanwings: One Year Later

    There is a time to go about our daily business. There is a time to set everything else aside, and just remember. Now it is time to remember.

    Dusseldorf airport set aside a room for German family members of the 72 Germans who lost their lives on Flight 9525.

    Today in Barcelona, flags were at half-mast and 149 candles lit as people gathered at Barcelona Airport to recall the victims of the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. On 24 March 2015, one year ago as of tomorrow, Flight 9525 was en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it crashed in the French Alps, killing 144 passengers, two pilots, and four cabin crew. The tragedy was engineered by suicidal co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. Family members gathered here, as well as emergency workers and officials.

    There were fifty-one Spanish lost in the crash. Four countries (including the US) lost three victims; seven countries lost two victims, and five countries lost one. I hope that all the families, where ever they live, found comfort somewhere.

    On Thursday, the victims’ names will be read and remembered; flowers will be left at the Le Vernet cemetery which houses the accident’s unidentified remains. Six hundred Flight 9525 victim’s friends and family will have a commemoration ceremony in Le Vernet village in the French Alps not far from the crash site. Weather prevents a visit to the crash site.

    I was in Le Vernet last July when 149 balloons were released. I can’t help but feel that I should be there again to support the families. I have just returned from Barcelona, and barely unpacked my bags. I can only hope that the year of mourning and grieving has been cathartic, and that the families are finding a way to embrace life again.

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