pilot error | George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster

Emirates Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Dubai

George Hatcher — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 17:36:54 +0000

Emirates flight EK-22 made an emergency landing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on June 25th.

The Boeing 777-300 plane, flying from Manchester, England, declared emergency after the crew reported that pilot vision was impaired.

The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained safe.

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Remembering Air India Express Flight 812

GJHatcher — Mon, 23 May 2016 06:12:55 +0000

On May 22nd, I took a few moments to remember Air India Express Flight 812.

I remembered when I went to Mangelore, where I’d walked the path the Boeing had taken when it overshot its landing. I tried not to revisit the tragedy of it all. I tried not to remember that if that cockpit had not been the site of the crew resource management issues, I might have had no disaster to remember. Hindsight vision is always sadly perfect.

There were eight survivors of that flight, and a hundred and fifty-eight fatalities. The plane ploughed through all barriers, arrestor beds and an antennae, and catapulted over the edge of the runway down a hill. Afterwards a support group was formed for the families, but all the emotional support in the world can never replace missing loved ones. I can only hope they visited you in your dreams.

All I want to say to the lost family members and the survivors is to treasure your memories. The cords of memories weave together the threads that make our lives, stretching from every point living and dead, and every heart we touch. As long as we remember the ones we love, that is how long they will stay with us.

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News You Didn’t Hear in February: Pilots Arm Detaches Leading to Hard Landing

GJHatcher — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 12:15:54 +0000

The carrier is Flybe.

The aircraft was on a scheduled commercial air transport flight from Birmingham to Belfast
City, with the commander, in the left flight deck seat, as pilot flying. It was night, and
although there was no low cloud affecting the airport, the wind at Belfast was a strong
west?south-westerly, gusting up to 48 kt. Before the approach, the commander checked
that his prosthetic lower left arm was securely attached to the yoke clamp which he used to
fly the aircraft, with the latching device in place. But his arm came off, leading to a hard landing.

Official report:

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Pilot Taking a Nap, Co-pilot Busy on Tablet; Jet Airways Boeing 777 Drops 5,000 Feet over Turkey

George Hatcher — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 16:43:37 +0000

An inquiry has been launched after the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found out that a Jet Airways flight abruptly descended 5,000 feet over Turkish airspace, on August 8.

The Indian media reports that the incident first came to light on August 12 when the Director General of DGCA, Lalit Gupta, received an anonymous SMS, informing him about the incident.

It was discovered that the captain of the flight 9W-228, on its way from Mumbai to Brussels, was taking a controlled nap at the time while his co-pilot was supposed to sit on the controls. However, the co-pilot claimed that she did not notice that the aircraft is descending below the assigned level since she was busy with her electronic flight bag (EFB) – a tablet containing aircraft documents. She realized the situation only after getting a call from the air traffic controller in Ankara, Turkey, and immediately woke up the captain, who then brought the Boeing 777-300 back to its level.

The DGCA has suspended the pilots and launched an investigation to find out whether the sudden drop was caused intentionally or accidentally by the co-pilot. The DGCA has also decided to audit the airline’s training procedures for the pilot.

According to Jet Airways, “The airline is also extending all co-operation in the matter to the DGCA by providing all necessary assistance for the inquiry. Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways as is also the welfare of our guests and crew and the airline will always take appropriate steps to ensure the same.”

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Tatarstan Airlines License Revoked

GJHatcher — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 15:52:16 +0000

Tatarstan Airlines operator of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in November in Kazan only flies seven planes. (Maybe 6, now?) The one that crashed was leased from a Bulgarian company, with a history of minor accidents.

Fifty people died on the Tatarstan Airlines jet that dived nose-down to a fiery grave in Kazan. The investigation says that even though the two pilots were on their second go-around (i.e. second attempt to land), everything was working until impact. Recovering from the botched landing attempt, they pulled up at a too steep angle. From a height of 700 m the airplane entered a nose down attitude, reaching a -75° pitch. They died trying to dive to recover momentum, and impacted at 450 km/h.

Human error? Sleep deprivation? The crash embodies what is wrong with Russian Airlines.

Russia has withdrawn the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines due to
“noncompliance by the airline with certification requirements for Russia’s civil aviation, violations of the established norms of flying hours, working and relaxation time.” The action came after it was discovered that Tatarstan Airlines breached rules regarding personnel training and rest times for flight and cabin crew. Of course, Tatarstan Airlines is

Currently there’s a political wrestling match going on whether or not to ban planes over twenty years old.

In my opinion? They could buy all the new planes they want, but unless they supplement with proper training and rest protocols, safety issues will remain the same.

Video of Impact

Aviation Casualties

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Cessna Crash in Sinaloa Mexico

GJHatcher — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 21:09:28 +0000

A privately owned Cessna 210 flew from Culiacan to La Noria; then an hour after leaving La Noria, the Cessna crashed in Sinaloa Mexico in a field and burst into flames.

Pilot Aaron Meza Martin del Campo, 21, and co-pilot Fortunato Ramirez Perez, 25 and two unidentified women died in the crash.

The accident is under investigation. THe cause may have been pilot error.

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Asiana Crash Updated

GJHatcher — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 15:58:24 +0000

On July 6, 2013 a crash occurred involving Asiana Airlines Flight 214, a Boeing 777. The crash occurred while the aircraft was landing at San Francisco International Airport and appears to be due to pilot error. Many incidents are attributed to pilot error, but there is rarely a single cause.

There are countless victims of general aviation and military accidents, many involving foreign claimants. These accidents range from air balloons, flight training, ground school, air ambulances, banner planes, aerobatics, helicopters, and propeller, turbo–prop and jet–powered aircraft.

The aircraft involved have been Cessna, Cirrus, Beechcraft, Piper, Bellanca, Piper, Lear Jets, Citation Jets, Bell helicopters, Sikorsky helicopters, Robinson helicopters, Aerospatiale helicopters and countless other aviation manufacturers.

Aviation operators are not immune; they are held accountable, as are maintenance facilities and private & public air traffic control centers. Below, please find News and NTSB updates on the Asiana Accident in San Francisco on July 6, 2013.

See Video

NTSB B Roll of Wreckage

In George’s Point of View
I’m not a pilot, mechanic, engineer or lawyer, but I have seen a lot of these accidents. I am reminded of the Amsterdam event -Turkish Air Feb 2008. In this crash, it was determined that a radio altimeter fault caused auto-throttles to prematurely respond. The crew failed to respond when the plane lost airspeed resulting in a stall and crash. If I were investigating, I’d look into the radio altimeter situation to make sure it was (or was not) part of the chain of events leading to this accident.

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Update on Asiana Crash

GJHatcher — Sun, 21 Jul 2013 23:16:48 +0000

49 Minute NTSB Video

The post Update on Asiana Crash first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Asiana Interviews

GJHatcher — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 22:14:53 +0000

Some stories of the Asiana Crash in San Francisco

Currently there are 51 hospitalized, 8 in critical condition, one child. Five fire attendants are being treated for burns.

Federal investigators talked to the pilots why they shut down the autopilot 82 seconds before landing. This was the first time the pilot had landed a 777 at this airport. When the fire started in the middle of the plane, there were passengers still in the back that had to walk through the smoke to exit, passing people trapped in their seats. Flight attendants heroically got passengers out of the plane, and tried to put out the fire.

One passenger Eugene Ra describes the instants before the crash, looking out the window knowing they were too low. THe plane’s impact was powerful enough that it snapped the plane, and the spines of at least two of the passengers. The cabin filled with smoke and fear. After the plane stopped, there was silence.

The plane flew in too low and too slow, initiating a stick shaker (stall) warning, and struck the sea wall, severing art of the tail.

Plane Crash San Francisco Asiana Airlines Crash Survivor Interview

* A cautionary note: The official investigation of the cause of the crash will take a year or more. No matter what news releases or speculations come about before the official investigation is just speculation. We do not know, for example, if some part or software in the plane malfunctioned, leading the pilots to respond as they did.

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Wheels Down on Lake Päijänne

GJHatcher — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:41:48 +0000

On May 20, two people aboard a float plane were safe after the pilot landed in Lake Päijänne Finland with the wheels down.

Neither the pilot or passenger had more than minor injuries, though the plane flipped on landing after the pilot forgot. Both pilot and passenger had minor bruises and a “cold bath.”

After the plane flipped, the men climbed on top of the cabin to await rescue.

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Lawsuit Filed in Jenni Rivera Crash

GJHatcher — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:24:30 +0000

The family of the victims (Arturo Rivera, makeup artist Jacob Yebale, attorney Mario Macias Pacheco and hair dresser Jorge “Gigi” Armando Sanchez Vasquez) of a 43-year-old Learjet that crashed in Mexico on December 9 have filed a negligence suit against Starwood Management LLC, Rodatz Financial Group Inc., McOco Inc. and Jenni Rivera Enterprises Inc.

Jenni Rivera was killed in the crash along with the 78 year old pilot and 20 year old co-pilot, neither of whom appeared to be licensed to operate the flight under the conditions (time and altitude) they were flying.

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Drunk American Eagle Pilot

GJHatcher — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:55:42 +0000

About a dozen pilots annually fail their Breathalyzer tests, and this year’s dozen will include an American Eagle pilot who boarded his flight at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and was arrested by airport police for failing a Breathalyzer test. It took two and a half hours to arrange for an alternative pilot to fly to New York. The affected pilot’s blood alcohol was measured at Fairview Southdale Hospital. The pilot was suspended.

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Sukhoi plane crash Caused by Pilot Error

GJHatcher — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:27:45 +0000

The National Commission on Safety Transportation announced that the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed into a mountain in Indonesia seven months did so as a result of pilot error. All 45 Aboard were fatalities.

Indonesian authorities claimed that the plane functioned adequately and there were no malfunctions of safety gear.

The fact that the pilot digressed from the route, and that the (foreign) pilots were not well aware of the mountainous terrain may be behind part of the decision. As a demonstration flight, the pilots were probably encouraged to make dramatic maneuvers at a terrible price.

Thirty-eight seconds prior to the impact, cockpit instruments issued a warning saying “pull up, terrain ahead”. Later the warning “avoid terrain” was issued six times, but the instruments were turned off because the crew assumed there was a problem with the database.

Officials said that “The crew was not aware of the mountainous area surrounding the flight path,”

The Jakarta radar service was incapable of informing flight crews of minimum safe altitudes.

The Russian pilots, while experts, were not intimate with the Indonesian topography.
Six minutes after takeoff, the pilot and co-pilot requested Jakarta ATC for permission to drop from 3,000 meters to 1,800 meters on the scheduled half-hour flight. Six minutes later, the plane struck Mount Salak.

Russian Pilots Bail out of Sukhoi Jet

The Investigation of Sukhoi Superjet’s Crash holds Answers to Many Questions

Black Boxes Located and in Indonesian Custody

Continuing Search for Sukhoi Superjet Wreckage Indicates Probable Black Box Location Buried Under Debris

Joy Flight Steals Joy

Superjet Wreckage Found

Sukhoi-Superjet Goes Missing on Demo Flight over Indonesian Mountains

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Plane crashes in German Meadow

GJHatcher — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:08:30 +0000

What: Mooney M20E Super 21
Where: Speichersdorf, Germany
When: Oct 21, 2012
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: 48-year-old pilot from the Erlangen-Hochstadt and his 53 year old passenger died in a crash. THe plane crashed into a meadow shortly after takeoff.

Emergency services arrived quickly but could not resuscitate the victims.The representative from the Federal Bureao of Aircraft accidents said that the cause of the crash was human error.

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Sukhoi SuperJet-100 Demo Disaster Final Report In October

GJHatcher — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:29:36 +0000

On May 9, the Sukhoi SuperJet-100 piloted by Alexander Yablontsev was making a demo flight in Indonesia when the pilot took it dangerously close to terrain, and flew south into the mountains instead of turning north to the airport, crashing the plane and killing all 45 aboard the plane. The Russian Trade and Industry Ministry accepted the findings of local experts which blamed the crash on human error. Pilots ignored the collision avoidance system’s warning.

The investigation is not officially over. The French and US reports are part of the investigation. The NTSB Preliminary report is brief:

On May 9, 2012, at 1450 local time, a Sukhoi SJ100-95, Russian registration RP97004, collided with terrain about 35 miles south of Jakarta, Indonesia. The airplane was on a demonstration flight. The 40 passengers and 4 crew were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed.

This investigation is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Committee of Indonesia (NTSC/KNKT). As the state of design and manufacture of the the ACSS/L3 Terrain Warning and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (T2CAS), the NTSB appointed a U.S. accredited representative upon being invited to do so by the NTSC.

Russian officials expect to make the final report public in October.

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Hunan Airlines Crash Report Released; Captain and 19 Others Blamed

GJHatcher — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:19:01 +0000

The report of the Henan Airlines crash suggests that Henan Airlines be fiend $795,000 due to safety issues and suggests the chief pilot should have his pilot’s license revoked, be removed from his post and expelled from the Communist Party, and should also face criminal charges.

The report says “says chief pilot Qi Quanjun did not locate the runway before landing.” The jet crashed 2260 feet short of the runway. The pilot crash landed under conditions of poor visibility, then left the plane, failed to evacuate the passengers and rescue the injured. The report names 19 people in all as contributing to the accident. Airline officials and local civil aviation authorities are also cited in the report and may be subject to “disciplinary penalties, be demoted or dismissed.”

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

What: Shenzhen Airlines/Kunpeng/Henan Airlines Embraer ERJ-190 en route from Harbin to Yichun China
Where: Yichun China
When: Aug 24th 2010
Who: 91 passengers (including 5 children) and 5 crew; 43 immediate deaths, 3 serious injuries and 50 minor injuries
Why: The plane overran the runway—and departed the runway on landing—at Lindu airport in Yichun city in Heilongjiang province at 10:10 p.m, split on impact, exploded, and burst into flames. 53 people were rescued, three of whom with serious injuries.

An investigation in 2008 revealed 100 pilots employed by Henan Airlines’ parent company had falsified their flying credentials; and about a hundred pilots flying for other airlines were found to have done the same thing.

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Jet Blue Pilot Facing Hearing in Court

GJHatcher — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:30:11 +0000

Update
U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson issued e a ruling Friday in Amarillo judging suspended JetBlue pilot Clayton F. Osbon as mentally competent to stand trial on federal charges stemming from a March 27 in-flight incident that forced his co-pilot to divert a Las Vegas-bound jet to Amarillo’s airport. He has no trial date set. It should be noted that the ruling that he is currently competent does not mean he was mentally competent at the time of the incident, at which time he was incoherent, racing inside the cabin, yelling about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and pounding on the cockpit door

What: Jetblue Airbus A320-200 en route from New York to Las Vegas
Where: Amarillo
When: March 27 2012
Who: 1 medical emergency, 135 passengers, six crew
Why: While en route, the pilot of the JetBlue Airbus suffered a panic attack. He was locked out of the cockpit and restrained, and another JetBlue pilot who was aboard assisted the first officer in the cockpit as they diverted to Amarillo and made a safe landing.

In George’s Point of View

JetBlue pilot Clayton F. Osbon was under the influence of medication when he was piloting that flight. It is too bad if we can not get this pilot medical help and at the same time put the medications on trial.

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Indian Pilots: One bad seed

GJHatcher — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:05:31 +0000

What: Air India Express en route from Cochin-Salalah
Where: Salalah
When: Nov 3, 2011 9:45
Who: 87 passengers

In George’s Point of View

India has made noises in the press about cleaning house regarding some of the bad pilots that skated through a flawed and corrupt school and accrediting system.

In this event, the pilot of an Air India Express COK-Salalah (Oman) flight, made three attempts to land. A cumulation of numerous small errors threatened passenger safety and defied standard operating procedures and included mis-entering data into the system.

The pilot forced the B737 to land using “autoland” in high cross-winds.

Wind speed on the ground was 25 knot (46 kmph) gusting to 35 knot (65 kmph.) Operating procedure allows landing when winds are no higher than 25 knots. The Boeing FCOM lists 35 knots as the max permissible crosswind landing component on a 45m wide. The pilot would have been correct to divert to another airport. There was adequate fuel to do so (if he had realized the numbers entered into the system were incorrect). Ground conditions were at the top of what Boeing allows and would be a challenge. Instead of diverting to Abu Dhabi, the pilot landed in defiance of safety norms.

The pilot attempted to land twice, and then decided to divert. Having been entered with incorrect data, the FMC (Flight Management Computer) incorrectly concluded there was only six minutes of flight time left. This was incorrect, as the plane had 4.7 tons of fuel, more than enough to reach Abu Dhabi, 75 minutes away.

On the pilot’s third attempt, the pilot autolanded (without having trained for autolanding.) It was a safe, if hard landing, and one that damaged the plane and nearly went off the runway. Two tires burst, and the landing gear was damaged.

Maybe this pilot is a fool, or maybe just careless. The plane did land with no loss of life. You know they always say “the devil is in the details.” I don’t know verifiable particulars. We don’t have available first hand data to analyze, but Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation does.

But when we see evidence of problems like this, we wonder if India has gone far enough in raising the bar.

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Door Switch Oops Rolls Nippon Flight

GJHatcher — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:33:20 +0000

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

What: All Nippon Airways Boeing 737-700 en route from Okinawa to Tokyo Haneda
Where: Hamamatsu
When: Sep 6th 2011
Who: 2 crew injured
Why: While en route, the co-pilot accidentally activated the rudder trim switch instead of the door mechanism.

The plane descended 6000 feet and rolled, injuring a couple of flight attendants. The first officer—2400 hours— leveled off, and was able to admit the captain who was stuck outside the cockpit, waiting to get in.

The flight continued without incident.

In George’s Point of View

If there is a problem, it comes out, eventually. My pilots tell me that after there is some kind of incident, we need to keep an eye on new incidents, reports, recalls, and especially advisories, directives and safety alerts. There can always be a relationship, no matter how obscure it seems at first glance.

You know how everyone has been looking at Air France Flight 447 with a new eye, ever since examination into the Air France Flight 471 on July 22 apparently fooled the autopilot into quitting with a swift descent. And Airbus investigators looked at this event twice because you have two the same plane types doing something similar?

Well, on the surface, this Nippon incident reminds me of Ethiopia Flight 409. It only reminds me because I saw a line drawing of the route of the plane as it spiraled out of control. It also was a 737.

I’m not calling the situation identical. Certainly if one of the pilots were locked out on a bathroom break—not that a pilot would do this on takeoff!—it would turn up on the voice recorder.

What if on Ethiopia Flight 409, someone had needed admission into the cabin?

It just makes me wonder if it is possible that the cabin crew accidentally activated the rudder trim switch. The Ethiopian Airlines plane had just taken off; it would not have been high enough to drop 6000 feet before recovery.

I know this thought is right out of the blue, and probably has no basis in anything but my wild imagination, but I am told by my pilots that although the switches are dissimilar, the door unlock switch is right next to the rudder trim. So, is it possible the trim switch could have been inappropriately engaged by accident on Flight 409?

Some airlines rectify this by requiring a third party to open the door if someone leaves the cockpit, but I have to wonder if this could be a design problem.

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Pilots Blamed in Aires Crash

GJHatcher — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:43:14 +0000

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

What: Aires Boeing 737-700 en route from Bogota to San Andrés Island Colombia
Where: Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport on the Colombian island of San Andres
When: August 15 2010, 2:15 a.m.
Who: 131 aboard, 6 crew, 4 minors, 121 adult passengers
Why: Prior to touchdown, the plane was struck by lightning (11 strikes recorded within 6 miles of the runway within a five-minute span of the crash)

According to Colombian media sources, Colombian aviation inspectors blame the pilot for not “adjusting” to flying in the high wind due to flying in too low an altitude.

The plane crashed and broke into three pieces. 115 were injured and one died; Maria Camila Angarita was a second casualty when she died in the hospital.

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Spatial Disorientation-in the pilot, or in the head of the investigator

GJHatcher — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:37:58 +0000

Donald Estell attempted to land the 21-year-old, single-engine Piper aircraft in challenging conditions, (on its second approach to St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia) but instead, struck a house. The crash that ended the life of 65-year-old Estell of Clayton, Mo., and Robert Clarkson, 77, of Belleville has been attributed to pilot error by a June 27 report by the NTSB. The crash occurred on Feb 21, 2010, and it happened (according to the NTSB) because of spatial disorientation.

A pilot who loses his orientation, and whose proprioception (perception of direction) is compromised is described as suffering from spatial disorientation. Most useful for maintaining orientation is an external visual horizon, which helps maintain the sense of “up and down.”

We know that spatial disorientation is a real condition. It is also one of several “pilot error” causes that officials point to when they can not figure out why an otherwise airworthy (or supposedly airworthy) plane crashes.

There are cases rightly or wrongly attributed to spatial disorientation, for example, the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 that spiraled into the sea off Beiruit; the May 12 2010 Afriqiyah Airlines Flight 771 crash where the pilot undershot the runway on approach to Tripoli; and the July 28 2010 Airblue Flight 202 which crashed in the Margalla Hills on an ILS approach to the opposite runway 30.* There are events attributed to spatial disorientation when it may or may not be a factor, and may or may not be the only cause. Even when it does occur, it is usually in combination with something else, such as foggy weather which obliterates the horizon, radar failure, cabin pressure loss (the sudden loss of pressure can cause a pilot to lose consciousness.)

Families who have lost loved ones in airline crashes rely on investigations to determine what systems failed, and what went wrong that caused the crash. It is the solemn duty of investigators (like those in the NTSB) to sort through the wreckage, and analyze the black boxes to determine to the best of their ability what went wrong. The final report is usually the result of a year or several years of intensive study and research. It is usually the more responsible or determined investigators who do not settle for a spatial disorientation cause blaming the pilot, but who look beyond it to find the underlying factor—the radar failure, or system failure, or pressure leak or faulty automatic pilot—that instigated the disorientation.

*See Comment

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India Aviation In Crisis-DGCA Examiners Examined

GJHatcher — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:47:28 +0000

What does it mean when the teacher flunks the exam he’s teaching?
What does it mean when three teachers flunk the exam they’re teaching?

Three Jet Airways examiners flunked the DGCA exam, Manoj Manha and M. Shain had “inadequate subject knowledge” of the Airbus they are purported to be experts of and Anupam Khanna was “casual” and “lacking in cockpit discipline.” Manha and Shain will be continuing as examiners after corrective training.

The deficiency casts a shadow on all of those whose expertise was qualified by Manha, Shain and Khanna.

It means that if the DGCA is going to follow through and maintain standards, every person qualified by these examiners (or otherwise taught by them) is scrutinized and retested.

Can pilots be deemed competent when they have been trained by incompetents?

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Diligent Kudos to AeroMexico for Averting a Disaster

GJHatcher — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:40:24 +0000

What: Aeromexico Boeing 737-700 scheduled from Costa Rica to Mexico City
Where: Costa Rica
When: Mar 12, 2011
Who: 2 (drunk) Mexican pilots, 101 passengers
Why: Saturday on arrival at the airport in Costa Rica for their shift, these two AeroMexico pilots complained of nausea. They probably had big heads too, since they had attended some kind of drunken revelry 7 hours before in San Jose, which is not long enough for the alcohol to be metabolized out of their systems. They were apparently intending to fly their shifts, but some eagle-eyed AeroMexico personnel correctly evaluated their condition. One of them refused the alcohol test, but not the other. Neither was allowed to fly, and both were suspended. The flight was delayed until replacement pilots (sober ones) were found to take the cockpit. Passengers were compensated for the delay.

In George’s Point of View

Is March the month for drinking? A case was just brought to our attention yesterday, and though it is not aviation, it is frighteningly similar, though I could argue they were completely different. But then, I could argue anything even if I’m not a lawyer.

The case I’m talking about is that of the BOLT Driver Arrested for DUI. Bolt is not an airline, but a bus division. So what is the similarity? There it was bussing (trucking) down the road when it was pulled over and the driver cited for tailgating, and driving in the wrong lane before he got his driving under the influence AND his license taken away. He was caught, sadly, not before his shift, and not by crew, but by passengers who clearly feared for their lives and called 911 from inside the bus, as the driver was either weaving, or napping or drinking, or all of the above. Someone had seen his pocket flask.

Okay, the obvious similarities are drunks at the wheel of communal transit. Both were caught before serious damage occurred. The difference—and this is crucial—are that the BOLT bus driver was allowed to take his shift, regardless of his condition. He put everyone aboard that bus at serious risk.

So kudos to AeroMexico. Even though all you’re going to hear about it is grousing from individuals complaining of the delay, your diligence probably saved the lives of 110 passengers.

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4000 Pilots Under the Eye After Fake Pilots Fly for Air India

GJHatcher — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:55:24 +0000

Four pilot impersonators, including Air India Captain JK Verma and Indigo’s Parminder Kaur discussed in the video below, were caught flying without proper licenses which has led to a countrywide pilot probe, seeking more fake pilots and shady flight schools. It has been discovered that bogus certificates were used to endow pilots with licenses. Sham pilots were found to be flying for Air India. Pilot Arjun Giare was caught cheating on in US pilots and his US license cancelled, but is currently flying for Air India. Discrepancies were found in certificates from a school in Delhi, the Chinmaya Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School in Vasant Vihar. Some flying schools appear to be sanctioning fake pilots; it is not known if this school is one of them.

The falsified documents have forced the India’s aviation authorities to examine 4000 pilot licenses for irregularities. Although the director general of civil aviation, Baharat Bhushan said that fake licenses are few, how can he know this is true before the investigation? There is a documented history of corruption, including 57 pilots who were being prosecuted for drunkenness on duty.

With no disrespect for the decedents who are not here to defend themselves, for the sake of those passengers who lost their lives, this is just a question that requires examination:

What about the licenses of Captain Zlatko Glušica, and first officer H.S. Ahluwalia—the pilots in the Air India Express Flight 812 crash in May of 2010—were they legitimate? Plato said, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” We can not be children and avoid the truth. We can not be afraid of knowing. For the sake of those who are now lost, and in the interest of justice, we need to shine the light of truth into that May 2010 cockpit, and in fact all cockpits where a pretender may be placing lives at risk..

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Family Charges Bombardier with Negligence

GJHatcher — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:57:29 +0000

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?

The post Family Charges Bombardier with Negligence first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

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