News
01 JAN 2002
The Aviation Safety Network recorded a lowest fatal airliner accident count since 1945: 34, claiming a total of 1118 lives aboard aircraft and over 2500 on the ground. (Seattle Times)
04 JAN 2002
The NTSB issued 5 safety recommendations to the FAA following 3 recent inflight fire incidents. Crewmembers should take immediate and aggressive action in response to signs of an in-flight fire and should be trained for that. (NTSB)
Safety Recommendations A-01-83/-87
The US Office of Inspector General plans to conduct a review of technologies being proposed to improve aviation security. Objectives are to identify and categorize aviation security technologies available for deployment now and those needing further research, engineering, and development; and to present recommendations on which of these technologies offer the best promise for immediate deployment or development. (OIG)
notification
07 JAN 2002 The NTSB released a safety study that examined the accident rates for aircraft used in certain government operations. The Board called for improvements in gathering data essential for the monitoring of public aircraft safety. (NTSB)
press release
07 JAN 2002 A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 aircraft (Flight 1281 LGA-ATL) with 163 passengers on board made a precautionary landing at New York-JFK after the crew reported an electrical problem and fumes in the cockpit. (Reuters) 09 JAN 2002
A Korean Air MD-11 cargo plane (HL7372) tipped on its tail at Sydney Airport, Australia forcing 10 crew members to be rescued by a cherrypicker. The plane had arrived from Seoul and a car was being unloaded when the incident happened. (Yahoo.com.au)
photo at Airliners.net
11 JAN 2002 The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has restated its ban on the use of mobile phones or any other communication gadget on board aircraft. In a statement NCAA said the ban was informed by the apparent and real danger which the use of such phones posed to air travellers. (AllAfrica.com) 11 JAN 2002
The FAA published new standards to protect cockpits from intrusion and small arms fire or fragmentation devices, such as grenades. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act authorizes the FAA to issue the final rule that requires operators of more than 6,000 US airplanes to install reinforced doors by April 9, 2003. (FAA)
press release
14 JAN 2002 Sibir Airlines Flight 852 from Frankfurt had to divert from Novosibirsk to Omsk due to bad weather. The Tupolev 204 (RA-64011) then overran the icy and snowy runway at Omsk by approx. 400m. (AP; Avia.ru) 14 JAN 2002
An Indonesian Lion Airlines Boeing 737-200 (PK-LID) crash landed immediately after taking off from Pekanbaru-Simpang Tiga Airport, injuring seven people. One of the engines is said to have broken off the wing after the impact; airline officials said the plane was only slightly damaged. (Jakarta Post)
accident description
14 JAN 2002 US airlines said they will start inspecting all checked baggage for explosives at the end of the week, as required by a new federal law. In some cases, bags may not be loaded unless a passenger also boards. In other cases, the bags will be sent through explosive detection machines, be searched by hand or bomb-sniffing dogs, or be checked by handheld wands that check for traces of explosives. (AP) 15 JAN 2002
The NTBS issued an update of their investigation into the American Flt 587 accident. Some delamination of the vertical stabilizer has been noted, but it is not known whether this occurred before impact or as a result of impact. More extensive and intrusive tests of the stabilizer and rudder will be done at NASA Langley. The flight data recorder continues to be analyzed (NTSB)
press release
16 JAN 2002 A Garuda Boeing 737-300 (PK-GWA) made an emergency landing on the Benjawang Solo River on the island of Java during a heavy rainstorm. The plane was operating Flight GA421 from Lombok to Yogyakarta, about 14 mls west of the crash site. Tthree out of the 54 passengers and crew were injured. (AP)
accident description
16 JAN 2002 The BEA issued their final report regarding the July 2000 Concorde crash, reaffirming previous conclusions that the crash was triggered by a blown tire. The findings of the BEA also noted a number of maintenance and operational problems at Air France, while stressing these were not related to the accident. (BEA)
press release & final report
16 JAN 2002 Thai Airways International said it will install reinforced cockpit doors on 16 of its Boeing 747-400 jets to improve in-flight security on services to the US. Thai plans to install dead-bolt metal and bullet-proof flight deck doors, a job which is expected to be completed by April 2003. (AFX) 22 JAN 2002
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report on aviation safety a regarding the FAA and Department of Defense responses to similar safety concerns. The report said the DoD and the FAA need to share information and work more closely together. Contacts between the two agencies are largely informal, based on personal relationships between safety officials. (GAO)
report GAO-02-77 (PDF)
22 JAN 2002 SAS carries out emergency inspections on DHC-8-400 main landing gears [to table of contents] Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS) has been examining all its DHC-8 Q400 planes overnight after problems were found in the main landing gear. SAS thinks it may be a production defect and has therefore notified Bombardier in Canada. All planes were examined before the morning traffic began and no further defects were found. (AFX) 23 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
Korean Air said that Delta Air Lines and Air France have agreed to restore a code-sharing arrangement which had been cut-off immediately after a Korean Air MD-11 cargo plane crashed after taking off from Shanghai in April 1999. (AP) 23 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
The FAA reported that the number of runway incursions nationwide dropped in 2001, reversing a long-term trend. Significantly, the two most serious types of incursion also decreased, along with the total rate of runway incursions. (FAA)
press release
24 JAN 2002 [to table of contents] An engine fire, spotted just before takeoff, forced the emergency evacuation of Northwest Airlines DC-9-40 at Indianapolis. Flight 1118 for Detroit was evacuated on the taxiway near Runway 32. (Indianapolis Star) 24 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
The NTSB says the pilot of a DC-3 cargo plane that crashed January 2001 near Unalaska had cocaine in his blood. Also, the first officer aboard the plane was taking antidepressants without the knowledge of the FAA. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Accident Description
25 JAN 2002 [to table of contents] A China Airlines Airbus A.340 (Flight 011, ANC-TPE) took off from the remaining 6000ft length of Anchorage Airport taxiway Kilo instead of turning onto Runway 32 for departure. The nose landing gear clipped a snow berm at the pavement`s end before it gained altitude over Cook Inlet and flew on to Taipei. (Anchorage Daily News) 26 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
American Airlines has taken one of its Airbus A.300 planes out of service for nearly a week after the pilot reported that the plane`s rudder was moving from side to side, causing the plane to fishtail, in an incident that federal investigators believe may be relevant to the crash of American Flight 587 in New York. (Newsday) 26 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
Police seized parts cannibalized from six Airbus A300 jets in a Panaviation warehouse at Rome-Leonardo da Vinci airport as investigators probed an international market in used airline parts suspected of being falsely certified as new or as properly inspected. (AP) 28 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
A newly discovered and very detailed`surveillance video from a tollbooth may reveal new information about the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, according to a Time magazine. (AP) 28 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
The FAA has proposed to assess a $900,000 civil penalty against American Eagle Airlines for allegedly violating hazardous materials regulations. FAA alleges that on one occasion in 2000, American Eagle Airlines improperly offered for transportation by air an oxygen generator. American Eagle accepted the shipment and transported it as cargo aboard a passenger flight. (FAA)
press release
29 JAN 2002 [to table of contents] The FAA has proposed to impose a $100,000 civil penalty against Delta Air Lines, for allegedly violating regulations regarding its FAA-approved anti-drug program. In the proposal, FAA alleged that Delta failed to provide an employee access to his drug testing records in 1994 as required by the procedures for transportation workplace drug testing programs. (FAA)
press release
30 JAN 2002 [to table of contents] United Express Canadair RJ N671BR sustained minor damage at Charleston, SC when the right wing struck the runway on landing due to wake turbulence from a C-17 engine runup. (FAA) 31 JAN 2002 [to table of contents]
The Ivory Coast Ministry of Transport said the January 2000 crash of a Kenya Airways Airbus A.310 was caused by a cockpit alarm falsely which indicated that the plane had stalled moments after take-off. The pilot failed to react properly. The plane`s take-off toward the sea at night contributed to the accident. (Reuters)
accident description
31 JAN 2002 [to table of contents] A cab was flung 25m into the air at Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport by the jetblast of a departing VASP Boeing 737. The driver, who is in coma, apparently missed the traffic lights. (Reuters)
