Return of the Volcano

Saturday Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano spewed a 7-miles plume of gas and ash. Initial warnings shut down airports in Iceland- (ISAVIA established a 120 mile no-fly zone around the volcano, closed Keflavik airport, and canceled all domestic flights.)

Tuesday airports in Ireland will be shut down. Forecasts are tentative because there is uncertainty how the plume will interact with the weather, but it is not expected to be as overwhelming as last year’s eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.


London volcanic ash advisory centre’s ash map
“some ash cloud may reach parts of northern Europe in the next 48 hours.”

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    Cerritos: Aeromexico Shattered Lives

    In George’s Point of View

    It is a strange, sad phenomenon how tragedies live on.

    On August 31, 1986, a Piper and a Douglas DC-9-32 collided over Cerritos California. The Piper, carrying the pilot and two passengers was going from Torrence to Big Bear. They departed Torrence at 11:46. The DC-9 from Mexico City was approaching Los Angeles with 58 passengers and 6 crew aboard. At 11:52 am, the DC-9’s left horizontal stabilizer sheared through the Piper’s cockpit like a can-opener.

    The Piper crashed in the Cerritos Elementary School playground; the DC-9 in a Cerritos neighborhood destroying five houses, damaging seven more and killing an additional 15 on the ground.

    Descriptions of the collision still fill me with horror.

    The accident predates some of the precautionary measures we have now. Now, the Piper would have a Mode C transponder, which would indicate that it was too high, breeching LAX Terminal Control area; LAX was not at that time equipped with automatic warning systems.

    It has been twenty-five years since that accident happened. A memorial ceremony now is being held commemorating the tragedy in the Cerritos Sculpture Garden, and another in Loreto, Mexico. The tragedy is being remembered by at least 30 US families, 20 Mexican families, in at least one home in Colombia, and one in El Salvador. It is being remembered in the neighborhood the wreckage demolished, where families neither need nor want a plaque to remind them of their loss.

    There is a reminder of this crash in every light plane, and every jet. In fact, everyone who flies now, everyone who has flown and not died in a crash owes a debt to the victims of this senseless tragedy, because this was the event that spurred the FAA to require “Mode C” transponders that could report three-dimensional positioning on light aircraft. This was the event that spurred the FAA to require TCAS on airliners.

    I still live to breathe the smoggy air of Los Angeles. And as long as I still have the breath of life, I will remember the day when these 82 souls breathed their last.

    Aviation tragedies shatters lives like broken glass, and there is no lawsuit, no settlement, no “all the kings horses, nor all the kings men” who can ever put families back together again.

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    Houston Tire Fire


    View Large at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Mark Kopczak
    What: Southwest Airlines en route from New Orleans to Houston
    Where: HOUSTON, TEXAS at Hobby Airport
    When: May 12 Tuesday evening 8 pm
    Who: 47 passengers 5 crew
    Why: When a tire caught on fire after landing at Hobby Airport in Houston Texas, passengers debarked via emergency slide and waited on the runway for transport to the terminal. Several injuries were sustained on the slide. The fire occurred apparently because of a flat incurred on landing.

    George’s Point of View

    I know it’s unfair to pick on airline company that has gone way out on the limb to keep the price of flying low and fair, but, maintenance is a must, there can’t be any cost-savings in maintenance.

    Including the tires!

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    Cleveland ATC: A Close Call

    What: Expressjet Embraer ERJ-145 en route from Cleveland to Kansas City Missouri
    Where: Cleveland Ohio
    When: June 26 2009
    Who: not available
    Why: Runway Incursion aborted. While at the controls, an air traffic control trainee scheduled the Expressjet and a CommutAir de Havilland Dash 8-200 on a collision course. The Expressjet pilot perceived the danger in time to avert the incident.

    The same trainee caused a similar incident between an Expressjet and a Southwest flight on June 3.

    George’s Point of View

    The trainee in question had very little experience. I am more critical of the training process than the trainee. What preparation was there ahead of time? That question is not answered for us. Perhaps this incident is proof that a training system is working, since a collision did not happen. Or perhaps it is an indicator that training methodology needs to be revamped. (Do air traffic controllers train on simulators? I don’t know.)

    What will we learn from this event? What will the ATC trainers learn?

    If I had been a fly on that console, I’d have quizzed that trainee on what he learned from his mistakes. One does not have to make mistakes to learn, but to progress, one must learn from ones mistakes.

    Skill, like character is forged like steel from iron, in trial by fire. How else does an expert become one without the benefit of experience?

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  • Maryland Medevac Needs Scrutiny

    The Maryland State Police Aviation Command that runs the fleet of 12 helicopters is long past due for drastic reforms in management and pay structures. The recent crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, U.S. Department of Transportation and the Maryland State Police.

    In 2008, the Maryland State Police Aviation Command had a budget of $22.8 million, 80 % from an $11 annual surcharge on vehicle registrations, 20% from the state’s general fund. There is no charge for Medevac use. Medevac helicopters have flown more than 120,000 patients since 1970.

    A recent audit criticized high turnover, vacancies and delayed maintenance, as well as inaccurate tracking of maintenance

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  • Accidental death verdicts

    The death of 4 individuals–pilot, Martin Rhodes, 48, of Stoke-on-Trent, Simon Marshall, 51, of Lichfield, Ryan Birch, 15, and his father, Tony Birch, 52, of Wolverhampton, have been recorded as accidental deaths. They were flying to France in a Piper Cherokee light aircraft when it crashed close to the Isle of Wight Airport, in Sandown, on August 5, 2007.

    source http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/displayarticle.asp?id=404453 author JONATHAN HORSFALL

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    NTSB Safety Recommendation A-12-7


    The National Transportation Safety Board makes the following recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration:

    Require repetitive inspection of Engine Components, Inc. cylinder assemblies produced between May 2003 and October 2009 (serial numbers 7709 through 52884) installed on Teledyne Continental Motors model 520 and 550 engines and removal of these cylinder assemblies once they reach the engine manufacturer’s recommended normal time (hours) in service between overhauls. (A-12-7)

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