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Category: <span>Editorial</span>

Category: Editorial


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Boeing, Editorial, Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines, missing, Video, Viet Nam

No Mayday, then Gone

I could speculate here about what caused the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, but that is all it would be: speculation. One can look at the type of plane, the weather, and various circumstances, but the truth is that the devil is in the details, and we just don’t know the details. The investigation will turn them up; the investigation can be a long road down a circular path.

It makes it more difficult when there was no distress call. No mayday. Think of this: if something happens and you’re on a plane rapidly losing altitude—or with catastrophic issues which could be anything on a plane from a drunk grandpa to a bomb on board to a bad repair failing, to a sudden system failure due to frozen pitot tubes, what is the first thing that you are going to do if you’re part of the flight crew? That’s right—the first thing will be to fix the issue, and stay in the air. The last thing to do after the crisis is handled is to call ATC and let them know what’s going on.

But because there was no distress call, we can assume that whatever happened happened fast. And now the wildest speculation of all is that the two people with fake passports were terrorists carrying a bomb. Do we need to go down that thought path? There are plenty of things that could have gone wrong although the 777 has a a stellar safety record.

Now too, there is even speculation where the plane went down, apparently. There’s an oil slick approximately where the teams are searching. Maybe they’re right. Maybe under that slick, there’s a beacon to hear.

Still, I keep hoping there’s a raft somewhere full of survivors.


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Airbus, Aviation Attorney, Comoros, Crash, Editorial, Yemenia Air

A Disgraceful Attitude

 

Here are a couple of facts:

– Yemenia Flight 626 was an International Airbus A310-324 from Sana’a, Yemen, to Moroni, Comoros, that crashed on 30 June 2009 killing 152.

–French authorities charged Yemenia Airways with manslaughter over the Yemenia Airways crash.

–A judicial source said that Yemenia’s Airbus A310 “should not have been allowed to fly”.

–152 people died in the crash.

In spite of this, Yemenia announced they are “ready to challenge any allegation regarding the pilot’s competence, or the plane’s maintenance.”

They kept on flying a plane which was judged unsafe. Now Yemenia Airways is denying responsibility for the crash, which in all likelihood was a consequence of flying an unsafe plane.

Any way you look at it, no matter how vehemently they dismiss it, no matter how many times they make an “official” statement, in refusing responsibility for a plane crash on their watch —a plane crash which killed 152 people who trusted the airline to deliver them safely and which is clearly their responsibility—Yemenia Airways has displayed a disgraceful attitude.


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Aviation Attorney, Editorial

Blackhawk Lawsuit

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Photographer Clark Moody

Benjamin Franklin-Poor Richard’s Almanac
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

I’m not a pilot or a helicopter designer. I’m not an aviation engineer, or an aviation mechanic. Not an Aeronautical Scientist, Aerospace Engineer or Aviation Safety Inspector.(Although I do have the resources of 500+ experts in my Anonymous Experts database. I don’t consider myself an expert but I quote the experts.) I’m not even a farrier who pounds nails into horses’ hooves. What I am is a guy who works with people who were in aviation crashes; and I haven’t a clue what a “yaw boost servo” is, but that’s what failed in a Black Hawk crash, injuring two people and killing two. The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk was owned by the US Army and crashed in Texas A&M College Station, TX.

Someone in the Army performed a tedious and detailed technical readiness assessment to make the decision to purchase this Black Hawk in good faith.

Someone was trusting that Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Sikorsky Support Services, United Technologies Corp., Parker-Hannifin Corp. and Parker Aerospace Group had all their ducks in a row, all the T’s crossed, all the i’s dotted. That is to say that all the helicopter designers, aviation engineers, aviation mechanics, Aeronautical Scientists, Aerospace Engineers and Aviation Safety Inspectors (and all the unnamed professionals of the aforementioned companies) who had brainstormed to create this marvel of engineering, then pushed it to its limits and found it to be without flaw. The helicopter was conceived by, designed by and built by companies who have convinced the world that they know helicopters better than anyone else alive. No one knows more than they how important those tests are.

There were indications of problems long before the flight. I glanced online 2005 notices of the coast guard seeking sources for the servos repair—servos to be used on the Sikorsky H-60 class helicopter. One match does not a conflagration make, but I only looked online for about ten seconds.

The short story: the crew took off in the helicopter, and then it spun to the left until it wrecked. Can you imagine how helpless the pilot and copilot felt? How helpless the two crew who could do nothing? There was that moment aboard when some of them or all of them realized the helicopter was probably going to kill them.

So the “yaw boost servo” contributed to the pilots being unable to control the helicopter. The loss of control and crash were due to the failure of a part. It’s that old thing—kingdom lost for want of a nail.

A couple of people on that helicopter survived. One of them, Matthew J. Smith filed a lawsuit Jan. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Sikorsky Support Services, United Technologies Corp., Parker-Hannifin Corp. and Parker Aerospace Group, citing negligence, seeking damage over $100,000. That’s a lot of money for want of a nail. But our armed forces are risking their lives. They need the most reliable equipment—100,000 will not be nearly enough.


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Editorial

Hello 2014

On the last eve of 2013, sunlight sank and sent me home to supper on prime rib, salads, lots of goodies– to think on what to write. For several decades our New Year celebrations were in Las Vegas, then we changed that to staying home just because it became boring to be out when we have such a lovely space where we live. There’s no place like home.

To borrow a concept from Corinthians 13:11, last night I could say I was 2013, I thought as 2013, I spoke as 2013, I understood as 2013, I lived as 2013. But now is the dawn of 2014 and I have put away last year. Now I will henceforth speak in 2014. The language, and experience of 2013 is yesterday, gone forever. Looking at it like that, the year is fleeting (where did the whole year go so quickly?) Gone in a second, and I am, as are we all, faced with this new year, this tabula rasa. Where do I place my feet to not deface this drift of new fallen snow shortly to wear my footsteps? Forget resolutions—transitory things. These are our lives we are talking about. Our todays.

On a new year, it seems that we hold time like water in our hands. However tightly we clench our fingers, it drips away. But if that water falls on a seed, a seed may grow, and become something. Maybe that’s how we scatter ourselves in time, like the ripplings of a pond, and a scattering of those seedlings we have watered as we lived through the last 365 days.

On this eve, Nasa may be sending New Years Greetings from space to Time Square. I am happy to greet the new year from my home in California. After my most recent adventure in consulting, for one who travels so much, there is nothing to compare with the domestic bliss of home—except maybe the next venture.

I hope to still do my business abroad and keep the home fires flourishing.
I hope this year I always make the better choice.
I hope that I don’t lose sight of what is most important.
I hope I can help more people.
I hope to make more friends around the world.
I hope to do more than just live in my residence.
It is not as if the fate of the free world hangs in the balance, but for me, in my little corner of the world, the choices I make every day feel very important. Next year I hope to make the right choices, facing each bump, and flat and fork in the road with an awareness of everyone else on the path. I do not say goodbye to my good friend 2013 or the years before. Like my grouchy window wipers squeaking in protest, the past is not swept aside like raindrops. It lives in me.

This year I will not think of the year as an infant with a scant year to live. Instead, I will think of the metaphor of the dawn. How the dawn greets us with a fresh face every day, not just once a year. How brilliant is that? I am glad to be here, glad to be with my family and friends. I have worked with you, fought with you, wept with you, loved with you, laughed with you. I am sad for our losses, joyful for our successes. And with the dawn of 2014, I wish us all a bright new dawn of unlimited promise, hope, and maybe peace in the world. As Tiny Tim said last week and every Christmas since Charles Dickens brought him to life on December 19 1843, God bless us, every one.


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Editorial

Getting Past Indifference

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In George’s Point of View

When we are working on a case trying to get compensation for victims of a crash, we find that the court relies on friends and family to paint a picture of who the victim was, and how they used to fit in the world. Of course we all know that every human being is priceless; but it is the court’s duty oftentimes to put a numeric value on a person for the sake of compensation. Some courts can be remarkably indifferent to individuals. I was reminded of that truism when reading the word-pictures rendered by the boyfriend of one of the Kazan Airport Crash victims, Yana Baranova …” an incredibly focused and mature businesswoman. Her colleagues describe her as a “rising star” of their industry, and her drive would have doubtless carried her beyond her own expectations….” He barely glances over this description of her, but in his words, we do see the snapshot of a vital young woman lost in her prime.

Yana’s boyfriend is unaccustomed to dealing with the Russian bureaucracy, and refers to “indifference and a lack of surprise boarding on apathy” and officials who write off that attitude with “This is Russia.” As this young man notes, my experience too has been that Russian courts that can be apathetic.

It is true that the opposite of love is not hate; it is apathy. Elie Wiesel said that, and it is true. Apathy is the callus that has formed—like a healed blister over an injury— thickened, hardened, insensitive tissue formed over a wound to protect it. Over time, it may become expedient for an official not to stop and feel the pain, but it is a tragedy when that happens. Something of humanity is lost. When dealing with government and the courts, one has to remember that they have seen it all, not once but a hundred, a thousand times. Their souls are probably more blistered than your worst blistered feet in new shoes with no socks, worn day after day, in grueling conditions. No wonder they are calloused, insensitive, even hard. It is a grievous fact that too often robes of government, of jurisprudence, which should be worn to empower and embrace the rights of man and the rule of justice are often worn as shields and blades against the individual. For the law to work at its best, it should be objective, but never sacrifice sensitivity to the victims, or the families of the victims.

Sometimes it is up to our lawyers to remind the courts that the best and brightest of the legal profession went into the field because they were idealists who love the law; who stepped into their professions because they wanted to spearhead change for good, rights of man; who probably had specific agendas where they wanted to affect change; who believed they would be more effective than they are; who ran into barrier after barrier and who may have given up; who may have substituted apathy for the appearance of objectivity.

After consulting for forty years on a huge variety of cases, maybe I haven’t seen it all, but I’ve come pretty close. I can’t claim to have a crystal ball, but there’s not a whole lot that surprises me. I’ve developed a pretty good instinct about where and when courts go left instead of right.

In the US, our “rights-based” ethics system means that we all have the right to be treated as equal to others. Other countries may have “utilitarian ethics based on “good outcomes” vs “bad outcomes”, often with the rights of the individual getting crunched somewhere under the wheels of the system.

We can only hope to do our best to represent the individuals who were lost. We can only do our best to remind those who sit in judgement that underneath the armor and callouses we all wear to protect ourselves from being fragile in the face of all the storms of life, that we are all human, all deserving of hope, concern, and ethical treatment.

Asiana Airlines, Boeing, California, Crash, Editorial, NTSB, USA, Video

Automated Cockpit Props up Undertrained Pilots

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The Asiana investigation continues.

Back in July, the pilot who was insecure about making a visual approach in a 777 crashed at San Francisco International Airport on a visual approach in Asiana Flight 214’s Boeing 777. Specifically, he told NTSB investigators “it was very difficult to perform a visual approach with a heavy airplane.” The glideslope was not working at the San Francisco airport, and that was an instrument the (*undertrained) pilot was relying on. The plane came in so low the tail struck the seawall and broke off. The video below shows the plane rotate 360 degrees and catch fire by the runway.

New Asiana Crash Video

Video with news commentary

Before impact, the relief pilot in the jump seat repeated several times “sink rate” trying to warn the pilots at the controls that the jet was too quickly losing altitude. One of the pilots said “It’s low.” Then there was a stick shaker alert (which occurs when the plane is about to stall from flying too slowly. I once had a pilot do a presentation that included the disturbing grinding of the stick shaker alarm as it violently vibrated the control yoke. It’s an alarming direction to the pilots to increase thrust.)

When the stick shaker went off, the instructor called for a go around. It went off four seconds before impact. It was too late.

Both the instructor and the captain were relying on the auto throttle, and both were unaware it was off.

In George’s Point of View

I do not know how anyone can watch the surveillance video of the Asiana crash and not marvel that of the three hundred and seven people aboard the plane, there were only three deaths.

I’m not discounting the wounds of the injured, nor those three deaths, nor the tragedy of one of the teen victims being run over by an airport crash tender. (That’s a whole tragedy by itself—who knows if she might have survived but for being so obscured by foam that she was not visible to crash responders—through the firemen who carried her out surely must have known she was there.)

A dozen critically injured, a hundred-sixty-nine injured, but only three deaths.

It’s nothing short of a miracle. Especially on inspecting the condition of the burned out shell of the hull. Especially on reviewing the just-released surveillance video that shows the plane splintering after impacting the firewall, cartwheeling like a crippled gymnast down the runway and dissolving into a cloud of dust and flame. No jet fuel fire here——leaking oil ignited as it poured on to a hot engine.

The Kazan crash (Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363) from November 17th is fresh in my mind. Everyone aboard–fifty people (forty-four passengers and six crew) all died. The plane just fell from the sky while landing at an impossible 75-degree-nose-down attitude, piloted by a pilot whose license is apparently fake. Everyone in that crash died. (Tatarstan surveillance below.)

Of course one can see the physics—that everyone on the Tatarstan flight received the full direct impact, versus how the rolling of the Asiana plane dispersed some of the impact energy. Still, there is tremendous force in a crash.

I know I should be talking about pilot training, because this is yet another crash that appears to be due to pilots becoming too dependent on technology. But I will focus on that another day. Right now, I am overwhelmed after looking at the crash tape.

Asiana—Cartwheeling Catastrophe
I am surprised that I have neither heard or seen choruses of amazement that all but three people survived the rolling catastrophe in San Francisco. Some credit should perhaps go to the rescue crew, quick actions of the cabin crew, performance of the emergency slides, and maybe even the aerodynamics of the 777 whose seats are required to withstand 16g of dynamic force.

Sure, there was error involved in this crash, but when you look at the survival rate, some credit is due to the 5.5 billion Boeing put into research, development and safety of the 777.


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Air Safety, Air Traffic Control, Boeing, British Airways, communication, Editorial, Lufthansa, Norway, Norwegian Air, proximity, Scotland, UK

About Close Calls

After making note of the Oct 31 near miss in Oslo, I remembered this 100 foot close call of two Boeing 747’s over Scotland. This occurred in late June, when a Lufthansa pilot was climbing, and a British Airways flight were 24.3nm apart on converging courses. A STCA (Short Germ Conflict Alert)

The Oslo near miss could have been prevented if the repetition protocol have been observed.

The Scotland near miss had two planes
(DLH418 Lufthansa Boeing 747-830, D-ABYC Frankfurt (FRA) – Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD))

and

(BAW87 British Airways Boeing 747-436, G-BNLM London-Heathrow (LHR) – Vancouver (YVR))

on a collision course 100 feet Vertical/3.9 nm Horizontal and 1100 feet Vertical/2.8nm from impact. The study of the event concluded that actions of both the pilots and the controller contributed but that the pilots avoiding ATC instructions caused the proximity issue.

The added pressure of reporting incidents such as these should help pilots and air traffic control to avoid similar events in the future. It will do so ONLY if adequate attention is paid to the mistakes, if alternative/better responses are deter mend, if the resulting studies are closely attended, and if protocol is adjusted to reduce the possibility of such problems re-occurring. On some level, the protocol worked, because these incidents were not collisions. However, they were closer than they should be. All I can say about this event is that it is a good thing that mistakes are reported.


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Editorial, Nigeria, Public Statement

Maintenance Key to Nigerian Air Safety

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During a seminar on aeronautics and astronautics organised by the College of Engineering and Technology (CET), KWASU, aviation experts Leo Daniel and Christopher Odetunde said that Nigerian Aircraft are not maintained well.

Odetunde’s speech “World View of Aviation: A case for better Nigerian Aviation Policies”, Odetunde said that Nigeria has adequate laws in place to secure airspace, but the laws were barely enforced, that crashes will continue until the country starts following the protocol, making sure that everybody that is involved, all the laws are followed.

Leo, who must be a man after my own heart, spoke on “Technological Readiness Level of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Nigeria.” He said that “the cause of crashes is maintenance.”

How long have I been saying “Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance?” Long time. Glad to see the experts agree. A plane can be perfect when it arrives at an airline’s doorstep. But how well that plane fares, whether or not it is originally in good shape, depends entirely on how well it is maintained over time. Those of us with cars know, for example, how an engine can seize if one does not keep up with oil changes, or how it will burn up if one does not attend to the radiator. Think of how much more complex a plane’s systems are, and it is easy to see how important it is to maintain, maintain, maintain all the systems.

Hopefully the words of two professors of Aviation will be able help to move Nigerian Aviation into a safer place.


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Crash, Editorial, Embraer, Nigeria

Nigerian Flying Coffins

It is no wonder that Nigerians worry that planes are flying coffins, after the Associated Airlines Embraer crashed on October third. It’s the one that flew the remains of former governor of Ondo State Olusegun Agagu into the ground on October 3, killing 15 people on board. Should I ignore the irony that the passengers of the flight were taking the remains of the governor home when they all joined him in death? It is still too early for the complete analysis of why the plane crashed, but early reports are saying that there was an engine failure that led to the accident.

As the right engine developed problems, the first officer urged Captain Abdulraman Yakubu to abort the flight.

Captain Abdulraman ignored the copilot. He ignored the alerts that the take-off flaps were not activated. The black box indicated the captain was flying.

If he had aborted the flight, the passengers might still be alive. Thirty-one seconds after take-off, the aircraft stalled and nosedived.

But let’s not all jump on the pilot. Because the plane wasn’t airworthy to begin with.
The plane made its last flight on August 30 and had been grounded for about 33 days before the ill-fated flight on October 3, 2013. Someone needs to do their job and, dare I say it again….Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance!

It’s no wonder Nigeria suspended Associated Airlines. “The suspension is to make room for maintenance and operational checks.”

The Director General of NCAA said:
“Associated Airlines operations have been suspended by the NCAA. Let me say for the purpose of clarity, I said their operations, I mean all their operations of Associated airlines have been suspended by the NCAA. I did not say any certification was cancelled but all operations.”


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aborted takeoff, Editorial

Virgin Aborted Takeoff–Etc…

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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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compensation, Dana Air, Editorial, McDonnell Douglas

What is the Value of a Human Life?

In case you forgot, Dana Air Flight 992 is the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft en route from Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria which crashed on June 3rd 2012, in the Iju-Ishaga neighbourhood of Lagos, demolishing a furniture works and printing press building.

The accident, a combination of engine failure and subsequent forced landing, killed 163 people, ten of them on the ground. Eleven miles from the airport, the MD-83 crashed on its tail. It and the neighborhood went up in flames.

Why do I bring this up now, a little over a year later?

Because 11 families have received $100,000 each–

Because sixty-five families whose compensation payments have not been made, due largely to documentation issues and they are suing Dana Air —

Dana Air claims “95 of 125 families have received interim compensation of $30,000.”

I have been reading rhetoric lauding Dana Air for making what someone calls “unprecedented progress” in paying compensation.

Putting the value of a human life at $100,000 is lowballing the value of life. I am surprised that anyone would be commending such devaluation.

Is the operator looking for a gold medal for forking over a mere $100,000 for a loss of life?

Is this all a life is worth in that part of the world or is this something Dana insurer is declaring a fair compensation?


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Air Safety, Editorial

The Greatest Threat to Aviation Safety

According to the people who ought to know—the NTSB, Flight Safety Foundation, Boeing—recent studies indicate that the biggest threat to aviation safety is pilots not doing go-arounds.

Excuse me?

Apparently,pilots need to recognize and respond faster to unstabilized approaches (approaches that need correction in heading, speed and/or altitude.)

Pilots tend to want to land when they come in for a landing; and surveys indicate that although airline requirements are to abort landings if their approaches are unstable, go-arounds happen proportionally less often than they should. The Director of Global Programs at Flight Safety Foundation, Rudy Quevedo, “The physics of landing mean that the plane should be centered, on the correct trajectory, the correct descent rate and the right speed.”

In George’s Point of View

This conclusion seems to me a major oversimplification of the multitude of aviation problems.

I would not presume to say that I know if weather, mechanical failures or human failures are most frequently responsible for aviation disasters. I do know that problems tend to occur together.

I know, for example, that there are countries (like India where a recent aviation school scandal revealed the licensing of pilots who cannot fly or pass flying exams.) When a pilot who couldn’t pass his flying exam has an accident, a go round would not have helped.

And as for a crash like the Boeing 777 operated by Asiana Airlines that crash landed at San Francisco International Airport–the plane flown by someone unfamiliar with the airport and the plane he was flying came in too low and hit the seawall (among other things.) How can one say that failing to make a go around was the problem–when the plane was too low and at the wrong angle even before reaching the runway.

It is easy for a statistician to say some of these accidents could have been prevented with a go-around; but in how many of these accidents was a go around actually an option? Planes hit seawalls, encounter wake turbulence, strike cables, have flat tires, flap failures, bird strikes, suffer wind shear, idiots who attempt to open doors in mid-flight, and hundreds of other problems. A go-around is not always an option.

Undoubtably, especially on small planes, a second or even third shot at landing will correct minor landing physics issues. It’s probably somewhat easier on a small plane than a 777, And if you ask a pilot that had a runway overrun, he will probably tell you the exact instant when he should have gone for the go-around, and knew when it was too late.

It should be noted that sometimes when the plane is on a wrong trajectory, incorrect descent rate, and wrong speed, it might not be possible to manage a go-around; there may well be a factor like a bird strike, mechanical failure, faulty flight indication, or icing crimping the physics.

It’s very easy for a guy with a pencil in his hand to say pilots should have aborted their landings at the first sign of trouble. Sometimes we should look at surveys and statistics like Mark Twain, and realize that “There are lies, damned likes and statistics.”


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Editorial, NTSB, Video

A Small Point about the NTSB and Investigations

We’d like to remind people that NTSB investigations take a year or more.

We post news as it comes. The media being what it is, we hope everyone that reads our posts realizes that tertiary sources gleaned through the media are speculative at best. This speculation, published or not, does not compare in merit to NTSB investigations that take a year or more, and are examined with a fine-toothed comb in order to determine causes and consequences.

While the inexperience of the Asiana Crash on this particular plane at this particular airport may be a contributory cause, there may also be underlying causes that were behind autopilot being switched off, or the speed decreasing enough to cause a stick-shaker alert.

See a Boeing 777 stick shaker test below:

The NTSB has an extensive description of the investigative processes here:

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/process.html

Obviously, the brief summation of news teams and even witnesses can not compare to the depth and breadth of the official investigation.

Editorial

Happy Fourth


It is the Fourth of July.

Without naming names, I save a corner of my happiness for those countries in turmoil, and peoples of all nations and beliefs–I pray whatever their unhappiness is that it will pass, and they too will know some happiness in their own lifetime, in their own back yards.

Today, most of the USA will be grilling with friends and family.

Today we will share the heat, the plenty, the sunshine, the smoke, the food and the fireworks.

Today from sea to shining sea, we will celebrate our independence—another day, another precious year of this miracle of democracy in this land of unparalleled beauty and diversity. We may argue amongst ourselves, but I hope we can always remember, together, warts and all, we are beautiful. Our lives are the embodiment of a beautiful idea.

Today I will not think about the pundits who bring us bad news, and focus instead on the story of our country, the miracle that continues. As our lives inscribe another fourth of July into our own history books, let there be another unique page in our story.

This year, maybe we can invite a few more people to sit at our tables, so more of us can look forward to a well fed today, and a better, stronger, brighter future for our children.

Today we are still the United States of America, and this is our Independence day.

I have to reflect on my love of this holiday, but not too long because my family is waiting.

It’s not the flag waving, it’s what the flag represents.

I love this holiday because it celebrates our lives. It is a simple thing, really. America is families. Families in our parks, or in our own backyards. A hot dog, a hamburger, a chicken on every grill.

I love this holiday because this is where our kids play, where they grow strong and free, and spit watermelon seeds. I love this country because my children are free to argue their own opinions, not just about recycling and vegetarianism, but subjects like abortion and political theory. My children are free to be who they are. They are free to dream of who they can be. They are free to reach out and become the dream. Here sons and daughters can both play spontaneous games of touch football, or soccer or tennis or baseball, or compete in potato-sack races or lie on towels in the grass and stare up to count the leaves that twinkle in the sunlight, or the stars peeking out at dusk.

Tonight I will love this country even more when the babies that cried over fireworks last year will this year gaze at them in wonder.

Happy Birthday America from sea to shining sea. Have a happy fourth of July.

* all credit to whoever made this amazing photo found on the internet. You are an artist and an inspiration, whoever you are.


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Air Safety, Editorial, Yemen, Yemenia Air

Yemenia Spotless Record? Really?

I glance at a lot of news sites, mostly skimming just to make sure the facts are the same across the board, and I don’t usually stop and make comments about one particular site, or other. I’m usually focused on the message, not the messenger.

But once in a while, I come across erroneous content.

What should I do when I come across a site that posts an article that says up till the crash in the Comoros, Yemenia Airlines had an unblemished record?

What world is that staff reporter living in? Who gave them that information? Because it’s wrong.

Today’s Yemenia was formerly Yemen Airlines and Yemen Arab Airlines and Yemen Airways. (There may be more DBA names I’m leaving out.)

This airline, rebranded over and over, has had at least 11 crashes and a couple of hijackings thrown in (1973 and 1975.) Just take a look at the actual record.

And there were EU Safety sanctions in JUL 2008: EU safety action (Safety deficiencies noted by ramp inspections in several countries; Yemenia took corrective actions.); on JUL 2009: EU safety action (The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended the maintenance organisation approval EASA.145.0177 issued to Yemenia Yemen Airways, due to unresolved safety deficiencies.) On JUL 2009: EU safety action (The authorities of France suspended the certificates of airworthiness of the aircraft of type Airbus A310 registered in France (F-OHPR and F-OHPS) and operated by the carrier.) On NOV 2009: EU safety action (Member States will verify systematically the effective compliance of Yemenia with the relevant safety standards through the prioritisation of ramp inspections to be carried out on aircraft of this carrier.)

The EU is right to be so demanding. Yemenia Airlines has a dangerous record, no matter what the airline is called. Lack of safety is the reason the airline has been on the EU blacklist. Don’t the people of Yemen deserve a safe carrier?

(See below)

Hijacks first:

  • 14-SEP-1994——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia—— Boeing 737-2R4C Hijacker(s) demanded to be taken to Saudi Arabia. Duration of the hijacking: less than 1 day.

  • 25 August 1973——a Yemen Airlines Douglas DC-6 was hijacked during a passenger flight from Ta’izz to Asmara. The perpetrator forced the pilots to divert the aircraft with fifteen other passenger and six crew members on board to Kuwait Airport, for which a refueling stop at Djibouti Airport turned out to be necessary. In Kuwait, the hijacker surrendered to local police forces.

  • 23 February 1975——a Yemen Airlines DC-3 was hijacked during a flight from Al Hudaydah to Sana’a and forced to land at an airport in Saudi Arabia. There, the aircraft was stormed and the perpetrator overpowered.

  • 27-AUG-1993——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— Boeing 737-2R4C An Alyemda Boeing 737 aircraft was hijacked during a domestic flight from Riyan Airport (RIY) to Al Ghaydah Airport The hijacker, a Yemeni soldier who reportedly was armed with a handgun and a hand grenade, demanded to be taken to either Kuwait or Oman. The pilot convinced the hijacker that a refueling stop was necessary.

  • 20-JAN-1983——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— Boeing 707-300 Three hijackers forced the aircraft to land at Djibouti. After the aircraft landed a gun battle erupted inside the aircraft and two passengers were reportedly wounded. The hijackers subsequently surrendered and were taken Into custody by Djibouti authorities. The hijackers were convicted of air piracy in Djibouti and reportedly sentenced to six months In prison. This was suspended.

  • 22-AUG-1972——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— Douglas DC-6 Three passengers hijacked the Alyemda plane en route between Beirut (BEY) and Cairo. The flight diverted to Nicosia (NIC), Cyprus. The hijackers said that they belonged to a group named the Eagles of National Unity in South Yemen. After a three hour refueling stop the airplane continued to Benghazi (BEN), Libya. The hijackers surrendered to Libyan authorities.

  • 15-AUG-1985——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— Boeing 707-336C Climbing through FL230, water inadvertently spilled on the autopilot panel and the crew had to disengage the autopilot because the stabilizer trim wheel started to rotate. Control was lost as the plane pitched up and down. Control was regained at 1000 feet and an emergency landing was carried out at Aden.

  • 09-MAY-1982——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— DHC-7-103 A Dash 7 passenger plane, operated by Alyemda, crashed into the sea some 2 km from the Aden International Airport (ADE), Yemen. Of the 49 occupants, 23 were killed. The pilot had reported the runway in sight at a distance of 9 nautical miles (17 km) and was cleared to report on final for runway 26. The wind was reported 240 degrees at 5 knots. The aircraft reported short final, was sighted by the tower and cleared to land, then lost altitude andcrashed in the sea.

  • 26-JAN-1982——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)——The Boeing 707 was flying a cargo of military supplies from Libya to Damascus when it was attacked by an Iraqi or Israeli fighter plane. The crippled freighter managed to land at Damascus, but was considered damaged beyond repair.

  • 01-MAR-1977——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— Douglas C-47A-25-DK 7O-ABF Crashed into the sea off Aden. 19 fatalities, 19 aboard

  • 17-SEP-1975——Alyemda (Merged with Yemenia)—— Douglas DC-3 Nose, front fuselage and propellers where damaged following a heavy landing. Aviation News reported the accident happened on Sept. 16

  • 3 November 1958——a Yemen Airlines Douglas C-47 Skytrain #YE-AAB crashed near in Italy, killing eight people on board. The aircraft had been on a flight from Rome Ciampino Airport to Yemen with a planned stopover at Belgrade, carrying the Yemenite Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

  • 19 March 1969——a Yemen Airlines C-47 (registered 4W-AAS) crashed near Ta’izz during a post-maintenance test flight, killing the four occupants. It turned out that the elevator of the aircraft did work properly. Repair work had been done on that part, because it had been damaged some days earlier in a ground collision.

  • 16 September 1971——a Yemen Airlines C-47 (registered 4W-ABI) crashed near Rajince, Serbia when it encountered severe icing conditions, killing the five people on board. The aircraft had been on a multi-stopover flight from Yemen to Europe and had just departed Belgrade Airport.

  • 1 November 1972——a Yemen Airlines Douglas DC-3 (registered 4W-ABJ) was destroyed in a crash-landing at an airfield near Beihan.

  • 13 December 1973——a Yemen Airlines DC-3 (registered 4W-ABR) crashed near Ta’izz.

  • 14 November 1978——a Yemen Airlines C-47 (registered 4W-ABY) was damaged beyond repair in a heavy landing at an airfield near Ma’rib.

  • 26 June 2000——a Yemenia Boeing 737-200C, registered 7O-ACQ, was damaged beyond repair when it veered off the runway upon landing at Khartoum International Airport following a cargo flight from Yemen. Despite their plans to carry out a runway 36 approach, the crew landed straight-in on runway 18. The aircraft departed the side of the runway. The nose gear collapsed as it contacted obstructions.

  • 21 January 2001——a Yemenia Flight 448, a Boeing 727-200 with 91 passengers and 10 crew on board, was hijacked 15 minutes into a flight from Sana’a to Ta’izz by an Iraqi man. The plane was forced to land at Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport, where the perpetrator was overpowered by the crew.

  • 1 August 2001——a Yemenia Boeing 727-200 (registered 7O-ACW) was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway upon landing at Asmara International Airport following a flight from Sana’a with 107 passengers and four crew on board, none of whom were significantly injured.

  • 30 June 2009——a Yemenia Flight 626 from Sana’a to Moroni, Comoros crashed into the sea shortly before landing. Of the 142 passengers and eleven crew that had been on the Airbus A310-300 with the registration 7O-ADJ,[23] only a 12-year-old girl, Bahia Bakari, was recovered, alive and conscious, although suffering from extreme tiredness and hypothermia, cuts to her face and a fractured collar-bone.


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Airbus, Editorial, fire, maintenance, UK

Mechanics Forgot is no excuse

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Remember that British Airways Airbus A319 event we talked about the other day? The one where (oops) the engine cover fell off of the engine on that Oslo flight?

The one where “the coverings broke off and punctured the right engine’s fuel pipe, damaging the aircraft’s systems?” The Air Accidents Investigation Branch the investigation said evealed that the fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance.”

In George’s Point of View

Oops. FORGET does not work, not even once with an aircraft.

British Airways, compensation, Damages, Editorial, UK

Passengers denied fair compensation’ by British Airways


Here’s the situation–after the problematic Oslo flight, British Airways paid for food and hotel accommodation for stranded passengers who had been on the flight, but they deny further compensation. This is apparently British Airways attitude in regard to “thousands of passengers” impacted by the closures caused by the BA flight, according to Travel Weekly.

BA’s cancellation of 200 flights after the Oslo flight issue led to Heathrow’s brief closure (of two runways.) 200 flight cancellations affects a whole lot of people.

In this case, the European Commission’s new guidelines are going to be tested. Clyde and Co. said if the closure was a bird strike, BA would probably be off the hook, but if it was due to faulty maintenance, that’s their responsibility.

In my opinion, BA deserves all the ass kicking they get and a whole lot more for their laxity in accepting responsibility. I hope the passengers all sue for their damages. Maybe, just maybe a lawsuit will send a message to the operators of huge airline companies.

Editorial

Memorial Day

 

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone. It’s time honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country, to gather together, to remember the ones who need remembering, to thank the ones who need thanking, and to pull out the barbecue tongs and feed everybody else.
May 27, 2013

“The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage.”
Thucydides


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Airbus, Diversion, Editorial, fire, Singapore Airlines, Thailand

Singapore Airlines Emergency Landing

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The Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-300 en route from Singapore Dhaka with 105 passengers and 12 crew aboard diverted to Bangkok when they got an internal flight warning. There were no injuries.

In spite of the cargo fire suppression system, there was a burning smell and a fire.

The plane made a safe landing in Bangkok. The plane taxied to the gate, and passengers disembarked and were provided hotel accommodations, meals and transferred to another airline.

An investigation is underway.

Singapore Airlines’ spokesman, Nicholas Ionides said that “Flight SQ446 operating between Singapore and Dhaka diverted to Bangkok as a result of indications of smoke from the aircraft’s rear cargo hold.”

When Thai authorities clear the Airbus, it will be flown back to Singapore.

In George’s Point of View


It has been well documented that Airbus and Boeing are taking different paths regarding their approach on batteries.

But still, it is one of my least favorite things to read (especially while I’m halfway to Singapore) that there has been yet another cargo fire at all, regardless of what kind of plane it is on.

At least I had time to jot down some thoughts.

I hope that the media shines as bright a light on this airbus cargo fire as it has recently on the Dreamliner battery situation. Sure, the Dreamliner is developing new technology and Boeing is responsible for going the distance to keep new developments safe. The Dreamliner battery issue is new. But the fact that Boeing is developing new technologies and new solutions does not provide Airbus and an established plane like a A330-300 a free ticket when it comes to combustion.

Hopefully Airbus is paying attention to all problems and not getting too cocky. It should remember and respect that a plane is still an air-filled bubble hundreds of feet in the air. Until people develop their own wings, random combustion situations like cargo fires on an Airbus A330 are just as potentially hazardous situation–if not more so–than any battery incident that actually occurred on the ground.

Let us please see a fix for this problem.


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Bhoja Air, Editorial, Lithium Ion battery, press release

Anniversary of Bhoja Air Crash

The anniversary of a plane crash is always a sad day;

It is a day few people recall if they didn’t lose someone;

It is a day remembered by children as the moment they found themselves orphaned–and mothers and fathers who found themselves without a child; and husbands and wives who found themselves widowed.

It is a day with consequences that reverberate through the lives of those affected like ripples in a pond–except that ripples in a pond eventually come to rest, and the victims of a crash will be victims forever.

We remember the day Bhoja Air crashed. It was en route from Karachi to Islamabad, with 121 passengers and 6 crew.

The owner of Bhoja Air remembers too, and the FIA is not likely to let him forget:

FIA Sindh Director Muazzam Jah Ansari said Bhoja Air owner Farooq Bhoja was taken into custody for questioning during the Bhoja Air plane crash and was released on Sunday after initial investigation.

Farooq Bhoja was not arrested. His office was raided and the FIA seized official documents.

Press Release Below:


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Air Safety, Brazil, Editorial, technology

A Word about Safety, Brazil and Towers

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In George’s Point of View

With aviation safety issues buzzing in the US because of the widespread tower closures, I was surprised to find US safety being held as a higher standard in a critique of Brazilian aviation by pilot Antônio Carlos Cruzeta.

His article at *http://paduim.blogspot.com/2013/02/relato-de-um-piloto-de-linha-aerea.html pillories the conditions of flying in Brazil, even compares the pilot to driving a luxury BMW in the middle of a safari in Africa.

But I cannot but wonder if even as this pilot pushes for progress in Brazil, we in the US are bound to be falling back. Will it take an aviation disaster here to wake up our government that we need to maintain our current standards of safety?

A Brazilian pilot can ask that question, and so can we. How can pilots continue to fly millions of passengers millions of flights in state-of-the-art planes when losing so many towers? And now there are lawsuits piling up as localities begin legal battles to keep their towers. Should tower support be withdrawn, leaving pilots to “fly by the seat of their pants?” What do US pilots think of this withdrawal of support? DO pilots consider towers extraneous?

Three hours or so from home the ride from Rio was unusually turbulent. Though I slept all the way to Houston this time, will I be so confident in the future? I worry for the state aviation safety as thousands of pilots converge flying to and from airports where tower support was once but is no longer.

Closures

*English translation here: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpaduim.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F02%2Frelato-de-um-piloto-de-linha-aerea.html


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Air Safety, Editorial, maintenance

Maintenance is Key to Aviation Safety

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In George’s Point of View

Inevitably into my business life flows discussion of (aviation-oriented) sequestration, the closing of traffic control towers, and how this will inevitably lead to more aviation accidents.

Yes, I agree with Harrison Ford’s comment that accidents are going to happen. But that prediction leaves a lot unsaid.

Cutbacks in other places, cutbacks in maintenance budgets, in the number and quality of inspections and maintenance personnel are going to be just as lethal.

Turn on your mind’s eye and picture the air traffic situation as you would on the ground in your car. Suspended towers are like suspended traffic lights. Picture what would happen if intersections were eliminated, forcing traffic from smaller streets to the larger intersections that are already overburdened with traffic. Into this already overburdened traffic situation, maintenance shortfalls make the problem even worse.

You have older, poorly maintained vehicles in the flow of traffic, and they’re falling apart, causing crashes and pileups. On the ground, they cause disaster. More so, falling from the sky.

Maintenance is a complicated thing, because even the perfect man-made thing is subject to the laws of physics.

The most perfect plane would decay over time even if it were not flown. So of course, even the best maintained vehicles are subject to fatigue. And not everything is maintained to “perfect” standards. Believe me, I see this first-hand, as I fly.

When the first commercial planes were built, who would have guessed planes would be required to fly for so long, so continuously and over such distances. It’s miracle enough that a machine can get people off the ground at all, much less doing it continuously for twenty years.

As fleets age, you have rivets flying all over the place when there is metal fatigue. Especially with older planes, metal fatigue will be increasingly the cause of future plane crashes. There are two choices: 1) old planes will be automatically junked (unlikely to happen in our increasingly green society) or 2) extreme comprehensive and manditory testing must be put in to place. This testing-maintenance can not be cut back.

I don’t mean put in to place after an event. I mean in place to prevent an event. To be able to get the plane in the air in the first place, most components of plane have been studied to the breaking point already. That is the kind of knowledge that must be applied to maintenance schedules. Get those parts replaced well before they become the weakest link.

MAINTENANCE is where it is. You can see the decay on the inside, on the parts that don’t matter much for flight safety. The seats on a plane break apart. Window shades won’t close. They are stuck up there somewhere, and if you try and force them, they break. (Just think of what frailties develop in crucial components that the passenger can’t see.)

The metal on a plane degrades in the same way. (Engineers have a name and formula for it: Paris-Erdogan law.) If you sit on the wing of an airliner that you know is 20+ years old—such as the plane I was on yesterday from New York—and you encounter turbulence—as we did—any passenger stuck on that plane can’t help but look in disbelief at wings that are bobbling up and down and flexing like a preschooler’s teeter totter. Here’s the question you don’t want to ask yourself at 20,000 feet: are the wings going to stay put? Are they going to flex and flex and flex like a metal clothes hanger bending till it breaks? How do wings not come off the aging plane?

I’m not accepting of the fact that crashes will happen. That’s too easy to say. It is pure negligence to accept oncoming disaster and do nothing to avert it. We can’t just let it ride. The aviation industry must remain proactive, no matter the cost.

It’s like the poor horse in Central Park. The older he is, the more maintenance he requires to keep from collapsing as he pulls the buggies and sometimes heavy bodies of those in the carriage. He needs to be fed better, to have water more often, to have a pasture to enjoy, and other horses available where he can socialize. Though the needs of a living creature differ from those of a machine, it goes without saying that both will thrive better with love and care than without.

Maintenance is key. First-class maintenance. Constant, consistent, perpetual maintenance. It is not adequate to rely on the pilot alone to do his walk around of the aircraft prior to take off. Sure, the pilot should do his visual, but his walk should be preceded by the maintenance specialist. The experts must scrutinize, inspect, examine, and put the plane through its paces.

Especially the aging plane.


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Air Safety, Editorial

Aviation Oriented Jobs Projections

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Food for Sequestration thoughts:

  • Closing small airports.
  • Cut FAA Funding.
  • Cut 168 contractor-staffed air traffic control towers nationwide on April 1
  • Cut 21 (more) towers by Sept. 30.
  • Cut passenger and cargo capacity.
  • Cut Up to 132,000 aviation jobs.
  • Cut $80 billion a year from the nation’s gross domestic product
  • Cut two billion pounds of freight capacity

Aviation Jobs are still in demand, but expect inevitable cuts especially with new hires.

American Airlines advertising vacancies for 1,500 flight attendants and got 22,000 applications. US Airways got about 20,000 applications for 420 vacancies. Delta announced an opening for some four hundred flight attendants. Over 50,000 people applied for the job. According to AVjobs, a flight attendant makes between $14.50 and $20.49 per hour. An A & P Mechanic makes between $16.47 and $30 per hour. A mechanical engineer makes between $45,000 and $90,000 per year. A member of the flight crew makes between $24,000.00 and $100,000 per year. *


United Airlines Extends SF International Maintenance Op Center Lease
United Airlines is now committed for ten years to the San Francisco Airport area. UA and the San Francisco Airport Commission signed a ten year extension on the airline’s existing Maintenance Operations Center at San Francisco International Airport. The 130-acre San Francisco Maintenance Operations Center employs about 3,500 maintenance workers. According to United’s senior VP of tech, “The lease extension on our San Francisco Maintenance Operations Center benefits our people, our customers and the Bay Area. United’s investment underscores our commitment to San Francisco, the Maintenance Operations Center and its role in supporting the industry’s premier trans-Pacific hub.”

In George’s Point of View

I agree with Harrison Ford.

Harrison Ford said “Accidents are going to happen.”

Accidents have been happening all along. Expect more of them.

*Data from AV Jobs


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Air Canada, Air Safety, audio, Boeing, Editorial, Embraer, liveatc.net, Sunwing

Pilots Ignore ATC Directions, Hear Audio

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On March 11, 2013, an Air Canada Embraer ERJ-190 en route from Edmonton to Toronto,ON was on approach when ATC informed the pilots to abort the landing. Ground radar indicated something moving on the runway. Pilots continued to make the landing, and ignored ATC.

Mechanics working on a Sunwing Boeing had left a van running and in gear, which subsequently rolled without a driver across the runway. At some point, the van impacted the Sunwing 737.

In George’s Point of View


While we can’t make assumptions, apparently the pilots saw the van safely flew over it and made a secure landing.

However, there are a lot of errors here that could have been disaster. We are glad no one was injured. Safety first, everyone!

  • The maintenance crew for failing to secure their vehicle.
  • ATC for not using the call sign, even if it was evident to them who they were speaking to.
  • Pilots for ignoring ATC even if they saw the “threat” because there could have been an additional alert

That said, of course we are glad no one was injured.

Click Triangle below to hear audio

[sc_embed_player fileurl=”https://airflightdisaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Air-Canada-178-Ignores-Go-Around.mp3″]


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Air Blue, Airbus, compensation, Crash, Editorial, Lawsuit, Pakistan

Air blue Crash Heirs Case Hits Immobile Object

If you’re wondering about the Airblue 202 case, it has run into the politics of Pakistan. The situation has been piled high with difficulty. Even though I am an optimist and see opportunity in every difficulty, even though I have a great team of attorneys in Pakistan, and a great team here in the states coordinating on this case, there comes a time when we must realize where we stand. Despite our efforts, with the present laws and political situation, helping the families is like patching shattered glass with paste. It has been a very difficult to make things stick. Or to change metaphors, it has been an uphill climb.

The Flight: 28 July 2010, Airbus A321, Air Blue Fight 202, en route from Karachi to Islamabad

146 passengers and 6 crew members flew into a mountain near the airport. Witnesses wondered why it seemed as if “the plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down.”

Why it was flying so low? Why did it strike the mountain? Audio and a report were released that seemed to answer those question—lack of coordination in the flight crew.

Our study of the audio indicates the pilots are served tea early on, then…

  • Confusion ensues in the cockpit, caused by some unknown reason.
  • Wrong settings introduced into the settings that were already abnormal.
  • A tower operator who had gone for coffee was complacent.
  • Aircraft flew lower than normal.
  • Abnormal personality traits/interaction reflecting mistakes in the cockpit.
  • Weather and apprehension and strange out of norm complacency by the FO when he realizes they are going to die

When the audio was released and studied, it became clear there was no teamwork between the pilot Perve Iqbal Chaudhary and the first officer Muntajib Ahmed.

The pilot had 35 years and more than 25,000 hours of flying experience but made inexplicable mistakes and demeaned the co-pilot. The first officer was aware of the danger and tried to amend the situation but he had been so disheartened beforehand by sharp questions putting the first officer “in his place.”

He was unaccountably meek for a former F-16 Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot. The pilot did not properly respond to Air Traffic Control directives and automated cabin warning systems and flew the plane into a mountain. Air Traffic Control responses were less than professional. The first officer appeared helpless and ineffective.

On January 17,2013, two and a half years after the accident, the Peshawar High Court closed proceedings for the Airblue compensation case.

Counsel was directed to withdraw the client’s petition from the Islamabad High Court or the the Peshawar High Court. The client refused to do so on the basis that the cases were different. The court closed the case because the heirs of the victims had had filed an independent lawsuit at Islamabad High Court.

We believed the Airblue compensation case had merit. The pilot committed the error. The first officer was ineffective. They were Airblue employees.

Yes, there was pilot error, but the airline is doubly responsible, because the flight crew did not have adequate CRM training. (COCKPIT Resource Management/Crew Resource Management) Absolutely what happened in the case was the result of the airline failing to establish a working protocol.

It’s like children at school practicing a fire drill so they know what to do when a crisis occurs. Fire drills save lives. They prevent missteps in the face of danger. They give the people in trouble a set of directions to follow that will get them out of the jam they are in. A drill answers questions ahead of time, so precious time is not wasted figuring out what to do. Without the drill, what happens when disaster strikes? Chaos. Loss of life.

I feel bad for the people. First they lose their families. Then they don’t get all the compensation available to them.

Take a look at the safety recommendations from the report (pasted below).

See how 3.1-3.5 and 3.7 all duplicate the same working environment issue? Investigators recognize the troubled working environment. Today’s flight crews are taught CRM which means they have safe practices in place in case the captain is incapacitated and starts to fly into mountains like the captain of Air Blue 202.

But realistically, will recommendations change AirBlue? Will Air Blue be able to implement non-traditional interpersonal relations on the job? And if they can not, how will they ever fly safely with a first officer culturally unable to do his job?

The first officer was ineffective in securing the plane; and sadly, the court appears to be equally as ineffective in getting justice for some of the heirs of the victims.

Re: Investigation Report -AB-202 CHAPTER – 13 :

SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1 All aircrew be re-briefed on CFIT avoidance and Circling Approach procedures
and a strict implementation of this procedure be ensured through an intensive
monitoring system.

13.2 Aircrew scheduling and pairing being a critical subject be preferably handled /
supervised by Flight Operations.

13.3 The implementation of an effective CRM program be ensured and the syllabus of
CRM training be reviewed in line with international standards.

13.4 Existing aircrew training methodology be catered for standardization and
harmonization of procedures.

13.5 Human factor / personality profiling program for aircrew be introduced to predict
their behaviour under crises.

13.6 Instrument landing procedure for RWY-12 be established, if possible.

13.7 Safety Management System be implemented in ATS as per the spirit of the ICAO
document (doc. 4444).

13.8 New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) be completed and made functional on
priority

13.9 Visual augment system (Approach Radar Scope) be installed in control tower to
monitor the positions and progress of aircraft flying in the circuit.

13.10 Review of the existing Regulations for the compensation and their expeditious
award to the legal heirs of the victims be ensured.

13.11 Adequacy of SIB resources comprising qualified human resource and equipment
be reviewed.

13.12 Information to public on the progress of the investigation process through the
media by trained / qualified investigators of SIB be ensured on regular intervals.

13.13 NDMA be tasked to acquire in-country airlift capability for removal of wreckage
from difficult terrain like Margalla etc. As an interim arrangement, some foreign
sources be earmarked for making such an arrangements on as and when
required basis.

13.14 Civil Police Department be tasked to work out and ensure effective cordoning and
onsite security arrangements of crashed aircraft wreckage at all the places
specially remote / difficult hilly locations.

13.15 Environment Control Department be directed to recover the ill effects of
deterioration / damages caused to Marghalla hill due to the crash.

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