Experts reveal the best day to travel on a plane before Christmas in order to avoid airport chaos, and still arrive at your destination prior to the holiday rush.
30 years ago, Fresno experienced its worst aviation accident, resulting in the deaths of pilots Richard Anderson and Brad Sexton, and injuries to 21 people on the ground.
An official inquiry into the plane crash that claimed the life of Malawi’s vice-president, Saulos Chilima, six months ago ruled foul play. Findings released on Saturday (Dec 14) have determined that bad weather and human error caused the tragedy, putting to rest suspicions of foul play raised by Chilima’s party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM).
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said mysterious drones hovering over the Garden State are likely planes in a Saturday series of posts on the social platform X as public concern mounts over the sightings. “A…
Video – NTSB investigators say that a small plane crash in Douglas County over the summer happened during an emergency procedure drill and left both people onboard seriously injured.
The plane crash that killed Malawi’s vice-president Saulos Chilima six months ago was due to bad weather and human error, according to an inquiry released Saturday that ruled out foul play.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Friday marked 47 years since the University of Evansville plane crash that took 29 lives — including the basketball team and coach. Family, UE students and oth…
Three people were taken to local hospitals after a small plane crashed near Baptist East in St. Matthews around 6 p.m. near Breckenridge Lane and Kresge Way.
On the flight prior the LionAir accident flight on the Boeing Max registered as PK-LQP, an off-duty fully-qualified Boeing 737-MAX 8 pilot was traveling home on flight JT-43. The plane encountered problems similar to the next flight that crashed it (i.e. the LionAir accident flight from Denpasar to Jakarta.) The crew aboard the earlier flight managed to land the aircraft at the destination. Based on the crew’s entry in the AFML, the engineer at Jakarta flushed the left Pitot Air Data Module (ADM) and static ADM to rectify the reported IAS and ALT disagree and cleaned the electrical connector plug of the elevator feel computer. The aircraft was subsequently released to carry out flight JT610.(A different crew manned the fatal flight.) The pilot was interviewed by the Kantor Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi–Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia (KNKT). The KNKT committee is responsible for investigating and reporting air transportation system accidents, serious incidents and safety deficiencies involving air transportation system operations in Indonesia.
The KNKT estimates that the release of the final report for Lion B38M in August or September 2019.
The KNKT is cooperating with Ethiopian Authorities but will make no official comment. News media reports suggest that on the earlier LionAir flight, a third pilot had occupied the observer’s seat in the cockpit of flight JT-43 and that this pilot identified the automatic trim runaway issue at hand and initiated that the trim cut out switches be used.
The preliminary report on the LionAir crash is located HERE.
One year after Flydubai flight FZ-981 crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport, Russia, a monument to commemorate the victims was unveiled near the airport.
The plane was coming from Dubai on March 19th, 2016, when it crashed amid bad weather conditions, claiming the lives of 62 people.
The monument, named Interrupted Flight, has been designed by Rostov sculptor Anatolly Sknarin. It shows the names of the victims on a vertical stone slab.
Russian transport minister Maxim Sokolov was quoted as saying, “A year has passed from that horrible tragedy. Today, we open a memorial. Let me express condolences to the relatives of the victims.”
Space shuttle Endeavour’s final journey was a 12-mile ride from LAX, through Inglewood to the California Science Center in Exposition Park. Here it is in timelapse.
Because the FAA has received reports about unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, or “drones”) around JFK, the FAA is developing drone detecting technology. FAA Senior Advisor on UAS Integration, Marke “Hoot” Gibson, said “This effort at JFK reflects everyone’s commitment to safety.” The FAA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice, Queens District Attorney’s Office and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey participated in recent tests. U.S. Government is expanding on efforts to identify and deploy countermeasures to neutralize any threat posed by rogue UASs.
At JFK, five rotorcraft and fixed wing UAS participated in system evaluations this May. Approximately 40 tests took place. The JFK tests follow up on research performed at Atlantic City International Airport. Griffiss International Airport test site in Rome, NY, provided the flight commander, and expertise in planning the individual tests.
The NUAIR Alliance was part of the largest test of NASA’s UAS traffic management (UTM) research platform on April 19, 2016. That test consisted of 22 drones flying simultaneously at six different FAA UAS test site locations around the country.
According to a preliminary report released by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), the black box from Trigana Air jet that crashed in August will be sent to France for data retrieval.
The flight TGN267 crashed after it lost contact with the ATC during a flight from Sentani airport, Jayapura, to Oksibi, Papua. There were 54 people aboard at the time; all of them were killed.
The report released on October 7 said, “The downloading process to retrieve data from the FDR was unsuccessful. For further examination, the FDR data will be downloaded at BEA facility in Paris, France.”
The report further said that the cockpit voice recorder had a 2-hour recording but it did not give any clue as to what caused the crash.
About 100 Air France employees stormed a management and union official meeting on October 5, after the airline announced plans to shed 2,900 jobs in the next 2 years.
The airline, which is struggling to compete with global rivals, announced job cuts after failing to convince its pilots to work longer hours on same salary.
The airline’s human resources manager Xavier Broseta and the head of long-haul flights Pierre Plissonnier had to flee from the angry workers, with their shirts torn off.
Seven people, including a security guard, were injured in the incident.
French President Francois Hollande said, “Social dialogue matters and when it’s interrupted by violence, and disputes take on an unacceptable form, it can have consequences for the image and attractiveness” of the country.”
A criminal investigation has been launched into the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced today it has received ten replacement fuel proposals from producers Afton Chemical Company, Avgas LLC, Shell, Swift Fuels and a consortium of BP, TOTAL and Hjelmco, for further evaluation in the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI). The industry-government initiative is designed to help the general aviation industry transition to an unleaded aviation gasoline. The FAA will be assessing the viability of the candidate fuels to determine which fuels may be part of the first phase of laboratory testing at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center.
The goal is to have a new unleaded fuel by 2018.
“We’re committed to getting harmful lead out of general aviation fuel,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This work will benefit the environment and provide a safe and available fuel for our general aviation community.”
The 167,000 general aviation aircraft in the US that rely on 100 low lead aviation gasoline for safe operation are running on the only remaining transportation fuel in the United States that contains the addition of lead.
Commercial planes have never used leaded gas.
Congress authorized $6 million for the fiscal year 2014 budget to support the PAFI test program at the FAA Technical Center. PAFI was established to facilitate the development and deployment of a new unleaded aviation gasoline with the least impact on the existing piston-engine aircraft fleet.
The FAA asked fuel producers on June 10, 2013 to submit proposals for replacement fuels by July 1, 2014. The goal is to identify, select, and provide fleetwide certification for fuels determined to have the lowest impact on the general aviation fleet.
The FAA will analyze the candidate fuels in terms of their impact on the existing fleet, the production and distribution infrastructure, their impact on the environment, their toxicology and the cost of aircraft operations.
The Airbus Group launched their two-seater, E-Fan electric trainer airplane in France last month.
The all-electric all-composite experimental plane designed specifically as a demonstrator for the small electric aircraft technology made its first public flight in Bordeaux, France, during the Airbus’ E-Aircraft Day.
The aircraft is comparatively quieter than the non-electric planes and has zero carbon dioxide emissions during flight. Moreover, it lasts an hour for training flights and half an hour for manoeuvres.
According to Airbus, the E-Fan electric trainer plane will be used as a model for designing, building and selling two improved versions through their subsidiary company, VoltAir.
The guessing/math triangulating the path of Inmarsat’s pings was the only thing experts seemed to agree on regarding to pinning down the location of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Yet at the location, at least, the location according to the data laying out the path according to Inmarsat’s analysis, nothing was found in the recent search of the ocean floor off the coast of Australia. The engineers and mathematicians involved may have done their best but the guess seems to have been faulty or otherwise off somehow. If you will pardon the circular reasoning, if only we knew how it was off, we would know how it was off.
Investigators have come up with two maps that can be drawn based on the ping data, based on the speed. The variation is due to considerations of the pings which do not indicate the speed or direction the plane was moving, but only the probable distance between plane and satellite. See Inmarsat’s global representation …
However, there is opposition to the Inmarsat calculations which is presented by * Michael Exner (founder of the American Mobile Satellite Corporation) **Duncan Steel(physicist and visiting scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center) and satellite technology consultant ***Tim Farrar which presents other data that should be considered. See the Dopplar shift jpg…
My pragmatic response to these experts is a major simplification: just that the plane did not disappear into a textbook, under textbook conditions. The pings occurred in a real atmosphere, with atmospheric variations that were not and possibly could not have been taken into account. Not only are the speed, direction and height of the aircraft factors that must be taken into account, but also the quality of the atmosphere, density, weather, etc, plus factors that a non-mathmatical, non-scientist like myself would not even know how to bring into the picture. In this search at least, the untested math used is as vulnerable as statistics is to presenting a defective or imprecise representation, or a representation which would only be true under certain conditions.
For further study on this, * Michael Exner, the Atlantic Official Explanation article, input from physicist **Duncan Steele (who calculates “a uniform ring radius based on the aircraft-satellite range given the elevation angle and the satellite’s altitude, and the latitude of the sub-satellite point, the aircraft being taken to be at the same latitude in this simplified geometry; and satellite consultant***Tim Farrar.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration today announced the completion of a nationwide infrastructure upgrade that will enable air traffic controllers to track aircraft with greater accuracy and reliability, while giving pilots more information in the cockpit. This upgrade is a key improvement in the Next Generation Air Transportation System.
“This upgrade is an important step in laying the foundation for the NextGen system, which provides controllers a much more precise view of the airspace, gives pilots much more awareness and information, and as a result strengthens the safety and efficiency of our system,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This state-of-the-art satellite system is already providing controllers with visibility in places not previously covered by radar.”
The nationwide installation of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) radio network supports a satellite-based surveillance system that tracks aircraft with the help of GPS. This provides more accurate aircraft location information than the current radar system.
NextGen refers to a set of initiatives being implemented by the FAA in collaboration with the aviation community to ensure that the United States has the safest, most efficient airspace possible for decades to come. In addition to ADS-B, NextGen improvements are already delivering benefits that include more efficient air traffic procedures that save time and fuel and reduce emissions.
“The installation of this radio network clears the way for air traffic controllers to begin using ADS-B to separate equipped aircraft nationwide,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said. “It will also provide pilots flying aircraft equipped with the proper avionics with traffic information, weather data and other flight information.”
Of the 230 air traffic facilities across the country, 100 are currently using this system to separate traffic. It is expected to be connected and operating at all 230 facilities by 2019. All aircraft operating in controlled airspace must be equipped with ADS-B Out avionics that broadcast the plane’s location, by Jan. 1, 2020.
With the upgraded surveillance and broadcast system and aircraft equipped with ADS-B Out transponders, aircraft positions on controller screens update almost continuously, compared to every 4.7 seconds or longer with radar.
ADS-B also enables more accurate tracking of airplanes and airport vehicles on runways and taxiways, increasing safety and efficiency. The new system significantly improves surveillance capability in areas with geographic challenges like mountains or over water. Airplanes equipped with ADS-B In, which is not currently mandated, will give pilots information through cockpit displays about location in relation to other aircraft, bad weather and terrain, and temporary flight restrictions.
In addition to the operational benefits of ADS-B, each one of the 634 ground stations installed by Exelis of McLean, Va., is substantially smaller than a radar installation – resulting in less impact to the environment and less cost to maintain.
The new PHI Air Medical Eurocopter AS350B3 Ecureuil (#N395P) on its first flight had just delivered a patient from Rio Rancho to University of New Mexico hospital. Taking off from the hospital roof, the helicopter crashed, injuring the pilot and two medics aboard. No patients were aboard at the time.
The helicopter lifted off for 30 feet, spun, then fell back to the roof; the tail impacted the building and the helicopter rolled on to its side. It caught fire, but the fire was put out by sprinklers. The top two floors of the hospital were evacuated as a precaution. The accident occurred at a quarter to six pm on April 9, and NTSB investigators arrived Thursday morning.
PHI (Petroleum Helicopters International) flies patients to hospitals, medical equipment, gas, oil, and technology.
The thirty-day ping life that black boxes are known for is about to be history, thanks to Radiant Power Corp, and Air France 477. After AF447, U.S. and European agencies decided to raise their expectations of black boxes. In 2011, they mandated a requirement that acoustic emergency transmitters be powered for at least 90 days. But with the rapid-fire application (standard for aviation procedures) that standard goes into effect next year. Associations like the FAA and the NTSB, and the BEA in France are cognizant of the size of airlines fleets, and the prohibitive cost of upgrades; so it is common for safety standards to take a long time to go into effect.
If they had raised the bar sooner and faster, MH370 might have had a bigger “ping” window, but the black box batteries are quickly coming to the end of their span.
Recommendations included the standard of expecting a new, lower-frequency emergency locator on every airliner, in addition to the 90 day battery-life.
The video Below has a representative of Radiant Power Corp showing a current beacon.
While the real life mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappearance hit the headlines, Australian film producer Alister Grierson revealed that this real life event is eerily similar to the story line of his upcoming action horror film ‘Deep water’.
Considering the sensitivity of scenario, Arclight Films on Monday announced that they have decided to pause the work on Deep water. The film company’s managing director Gary Hamilton said ‘Out of sensitivity to the Malaysia flight situation, we’ve decided to put it on pause for now’.
The film is based on the story of plane crash survivors who have to face and fight hungry sharks.
The gearbox is a center of controversy in the investigation of the accident where the Bond Super Puma crashed off Peterhead, killing 16 men including two crew: Capt Paul Burnham, 31, of Methlick, Aberdeenshire, and co-pilot Richard Menzies, 24, of Droitwich Spa, who worked for Bond Offshore Helicopters, KCA Deutag employees Brian Barkley, 30, of Aberdeen; Vernon Elrick, 41, of Aberdeen; Leslie Taylor, 41, of Kintore, Aberdeenshire; Nairn Ferrier, 40, of Dundee; Gareth Hughes, 53, of Angus; David Rae, 63, of Dumfries; Raymond Doyle, 57, of Cumbernauld; James John Edwards, 33, of Liverpool; Nolan Goble, 34, of Norwich, and Mihails Zuravskis, 39, of Latvia; and non employees James Costello, 24, of Aberdeen, who was contracted to Production Services Network (PSN); Alex Dallas, 62, of Aberdeen, who worked for Sparrows Offshore Services; Warren Mitchell, 38, of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, who worked for Weatherford UK; and Stuart Wood, 27, of Aberdeen, who worked for Expro North Sea Ltd.
The inquiry blames the crash on gearbox failure, but for Bond and French company Eurocopter the question remains exactly where metal particles (evidence!) were found in the gearbox.
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board is convening a 2-day investigative hearing to discuss the ongoing investigation into the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 and to gather additional factual information. The hearing, which will be held December 10–11, 2013, at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center in Washington, DC, will focus on pilot awareness in highly automated aircraft, emergency response, and cabin safety. Parties participating in the investigative hearing will be announced at a later time.
Below is an update of the ongoing investigation. This is a factual update only and no interviews are being conducted.
• The investigator-in-charge and investigators from the Operations and Human Performance Group traveled to Korea and met with officials from Asiana Airlines and the KARAIB. While in Korea, investigators conducted numerous interviews with Asiana management and training personnel, observed Asiana procedures in a simulator and an exemplar aircraft, and gathered further documentation on airline training and policies.
• NTSB investigators from the Maintenance Group also traveled to Korea and reviewed the records for the accident airplane, including the maintenance that had been performed on the evacuation slides.
• The Survival Factors Group conducted an examination of the evacuation slide/raft systems at the manufacturer’s facility in New Jersey and is planning future testing of the systems. The group also re-examined the wreckage to gather additional information about the fire propagation and structural damage. Following that examination, the wreckage was sectioned and moved to a secure storage facility.
• Investigators and party members met in Seattle to examine the recorded flight data and compare it to the expected airplane systems operation. The Systems Group is currently developing a test plan for the mode control panel and the Vehicle Performance Group is finalizing the event simulation match.
30 years ago, Fresno experienced its worst aviation accident, resulting in the deaths of pilots Richard Anderson and Brad Sexton, and injuries to 21 people on the ground.
An official inquiry into the plane crash that claimed the life of Malawi’s vice-president, Saulos Chilima, six months ago ruled foul play. Findings released on Saturday (Dec 14) have determined that bad weather and human error caused the tragedy, putting to rest suspicions of foul play raised by Chilima’s party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM).
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said mysterious drones hovering over the Garden State are likely planes in a Saturday series of posts on the social platform X as public concern mounts over the sightings. “A…
Video – NTSB investigators say that a small plane crash in Douglas County over the summer happened during an emergency procedure drill and left both people onboard seriously injured.
One year after Flydubai flight FZ-981 crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport, Russia, a monument to commemorate the victims was unveiled near the airport.
According to a preliminary report released by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), the black box from Trigana Air jet that crashed in August will be sent to France for data retrieval.
About 100 Air France employees stormed a management and union official meeting on October 5, after the airline announced plans to shed 2,900 jobs in the next 2 years.
FAA Receives Unleaded Fuels Proposals
The Airbus Group launched their two-seater, E-Fan electric trainer airplane in France last month.
The new PHI Air Medical Eurocopter AS350B3 Ecureuil (#N395P) on its first flight had just delivered a patient from Rio Rancho to University of New Mexico hospital. Taking off from the hospital roof, the helicopter crashed, injuring the pilot and two medics aboard. No patients were aboard at the time.
