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The Cost of Cheap Air Travel

Hindsight is teaching Brazil some hard lessons. Some uncomfortable things are coming to light, like how the warning signs have been ignored. There’s a long trail of complaints about Brazilian aviation from the people in the system–(air traffic controllers, pilots, airport employees, etc.) that urgent major improvements were needed went ignored.

Airline safety relies on government-provided infrastructure. To put it simply, you can not skimp on airports. Things like long runways, grooved surfaces, overruns, planned SAFE approaches. Brazil dragging its feet is what killed nearly 200 people, no matter what the investigation says.

Airports need standards, and standards need to be enforced. Would the accident have happened on a longer runway that was properly surfaced? The pilots did NOT skid off the end of the runway. When they couldn’t stop, the pilots decided t get airborne again.

The mechanics of landing

When landing, a jet gets the main wheels onto the runway, which takes up 1000 or more feet of runway.

The pilot deploys the speed brake lever, then pulls the throttles into reverse thrust. This takes up runway at the rate of 200 feet per second.

So what happens when the jet brakes and the pilot realises it is too slick to stop? The pilot must get the engines back max power–was there adequate time and space for the Airbus to do this? Obviously not.

Are we following in Brazil’s footsteps?

The FAA is asking Congress to pawn off federal funding responsibilities for a national system through “user fees” (as our current FAA administrator has asked Congress to do).

Our amazing safety record comes from not skimping, not searching for cost-cutting measures. Will we continue to set the world safety standard or not? Only time will tell.

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    Rudder Failure Fails to Alert Crew

    What: Air Canada Airbus A319-100 en route from Montreal,QC to Toronto,ON
    Where: Montreal
    When: Apr 14th 2009
    Who: 117 on board
    Why: As the plane was about to lift off, the rudder moved and the aircraft pivoted to the left. The crew completed the flight. Afterwards, maintenance in Toronto was informed and they replaced the yaw damper actuator and the #1 flight augmentation computer.

    George’s Point of View

    I question whether the crew should have continued on with this flight on board this plane before the maintenance repairs were completed. It is obvious that everyone survived and that is a good thing. But I wonder if the convenience of not stopping is worth either 1. the actual risk; 2. the perceived risk 3. passenger confidence.

    As far as confidence in an airline goes, as for me, ask me any day and I’ll tell you, I’d prefer to be a little late to being a little dead. I think most passengers would agree.

    If not stopping to perform repairs is Air Canada’s policy, then someone needs to rethink this policy, because the issue is not consumer confidence vs the bottom line. It is safety vs foolhardy cutting of corners.

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    British Airways: Take This Class and Please Don’t Die on Our Plane

    Take This Class and Please Don’t Die on Our Plane. That will be £125. Thank you for not dying on British Airways.

    British Airways has a problem.

    It seems that they developed a class for British Petroleum. You see, BP sends their staff to remote locations which are only served by airlines on the EU banned list. As we described it on the last article the last time we talked about it, these poor BA employees ended up on flights on planes that skydivers wouldn’t touch with a ten foot parachute.

    Anyway, this class they worked up must now be like a friday night paycheck burning a hole in their pocket. You see, they keep trying to market this class as a product. Like the guy who gets stuck with a warehouse full of Widgets. The first time we heard this, the class was being offered for purchase, and the purpose of the class was to teach aviation safety and how to behave during a crash to increase your likelihood of not dying on their plane.

    We think the whole thing is kind of fishy, since the plane is not supposed to crash. Landing safety is the airline’s responsibility, not an option. I wouldn’t keep writing about this but I keep getting notices about this class.

    So they’re now looking for a new market, and they’ve found it. They announced that the£125 four hour class on how to survive a plane crash will be available for FREE. Or actually, only free to passengers who want to pay in mileage points, i.e. rich people. So. Rich people can pay in points (or perks) to get a lesson on how not to die. If anyone else wants to be safe, you’re going to have to ante up the cash.

    We are not really arguing against the class, if they want to provide it. Maybe it will make some people feel safer. (Though probably not. Why would you take a course in how to crash if you thought you were going to land safely? It’s probably going to be full of white-knuckled flyers anyway.) We just believe that, since arriving safely is the responsibility of the airline, that the class should be for free. After all, we don’t charge school students for fire drills.

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    Goodyear Expert Cites Tips for Proper Aircraft Tire Maintenance

    AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — When it comes to aircraft tire maintenance, few people in the industry have visited more hangars and seen all manner of service work and maintenance procedures than Goodyear Aviation’s Rob Robson.

    Robson is a Product Support Manager for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT), and for more than 10 years he’s been immersed in aircraft tire product support for everything from piston singles to helicopters and fighter jets.

    By his own count, Robson has witnessed numerous aircraft tire maintenance procedures and has inspected hundreds of worn tires. He has seen firsthand the ill effects of improper maintenance. As a result, Robson can offer valuable advice for those who wish to better understand how proper aircraft tire maintenance can help to deliver more landings.

    The most important factor of any aircraft tire maintenance program is maintaining proper inflation pressure. According to Robson, the problems created by incorrect inflation can be severe. Over inflation often leads to uneven tread wear and reduced traction, makes the tread more susceptible to cutting, and places greater stress on aircraft wheels. Under inflation creates faster tread wear on the shoulders, damages the tire’s innerliner, and greatly increases the stress and flex heating in the tire that can lead to tire failure.

    “Because aircraft tire/wheel assemblies can lose up to 5 percent of their pressure each day, they need to be checked daily, or before each flight, with a calibrated pressure gauge when the tire is at ambient temperature (not heated by taxiing). Any tire that’s been run more than 10 percent underinflated should be removed from service,” Robson said. The industry veteran also recommends filling tubeless assemblies with nitrogen instead of air because it’s dry and non-combustible.

    Another key area of aircraft tire maintenance is making sure no harmful chemicals are used or spilled on the tires. Keep hangar floors clean of all debris to avoid foreign object damage to the tires. It is also important to inspect the tires closely, in addition to checking tire pressure, during pre-flights to check for any damage to the tires from service.

    These tips and more are covered in detail in Goodyear’s Tire Care & Maintenance Manual (PDF). For information about Goodyear aviation tires and dealer locations, visit www.goodyearaviation.com.

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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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    CASA Media Releases Direction for new A380 inspections

    Wednesday 2 December 2010

    The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has issued a direction to Qantas to conduct a further inspection of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on its A380 aircraft.

    This direction requires Qantas to inspect an oil filler tube that feeds oil to the engine’s high pressure/intermediate pressure bearing structure.

    The oil filler tube inspection must be carried out within two flight cycles.

    Under the direction, Qantas is required to conduct the inspections in accordance with detailed technical information contained in a service bulletin issued by the manufacturer Rolls-Royce this week.

    Inspections will be undertaken using specialist equipment known as a borescope, which is inserted into the oil tube and provides a view of the condition of the wall of the tube.

    Qantas engineers will be looking for any sign of the wall of the tube being out of tolerance and reduced in thickness, which could cause the tube to crack and leak oil.

    Evidence of a problem with the oil tube has been found during the investigation into the Qantas A380 engine failure near Singapore on 4 November 2010.

    The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has identified the condition of the tube as a safety issue and issued a safety recommendation to Rolls-Royce.

    CASA continues to liaise closely with Qantas, the European Aviation Safety Agency, Rolls-Royce, Airbus and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. In monitoring developments CASA will take any further action that may be necessary in the interests of safety.

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    Hawaii, Cleveland, etc…

    I should note at some point that every day there are dozens of small events that occur that we don’t talk about. For example, there was the event on the 7th when a 65 year old pilot beached his Cessna 310 (flying out of Monteray) in the ocean when he ran out of gas. He had notified authorities of his fuel situation, so the Coast Guard was on hand to rescue him…

    Or the fiasco 22 year old Jason Laurence Delta University student (Cleveland Mississippi) survived when the 1972 Cessna 150 he was flying failed, and flipped during an emergency landing in a groove in a cotton field, rolling end over end.

    Or the Piper PA-32 Saratoga went missing heading to Johnstown, Pa, and in which Michael Garrone of Allegheny Township, Pa., 52-year-old Chas Armitage Jr. of Parks Township, Pa., and his girlfriend, 49-year-old Laura Stettmier lost their lives when it crashed 12 miles southeast of the Grant County Airport in Petersburg.

    Or the United Express flight from Chicago to Omaha which landed in Des Moines on Friday with an undesignated engine problem.

    Or Thursday’s Pia birdstrike in Pakistan that ended with an engine shut down and a return to Islamabad.

    Or the fatal crash thursday of an experimental Rand Robinson KR-2 which took off from Mountain Empire Airport and killed the pilot a mile north of the airport at 1:10 pm.

    Or the experimental Quickie Q200 which crashed and burned when 60-year-old Gerald Brinkerhuff from Gobles was practicing touch and goes in Holland Michigan. Brinkerhuff did not survive.

    Every day there are numerous events that happen, and sometimes there’s just not enough detail available, or sometimes conflicting accounts make it difficult to determine what happened.

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