News
01 APR - New legal drink-fly limits for U.K. aviation personnel 07 APR - Air Memphis banned from Belgium
09 APR - Actions of pilot, controller led to near-collision of float plane, jet
09 APR - Over 40 people injured as Iberia flight hits turbulence
15 APR - NTSB releases final report on Challenger test flight accident
16 APR - Milan crash air officials jailed
20 APR - Alitalia MD-82 collides with vehcile on taxiway at Trieste
21 APR - Air-India jet partially rebuilt for trial
23 APR - NTSB recommends rigorous maintenance programs for firefighting aircraft
27 APR - Aerosvit B737 runs off runway at Moscow
29 APR - NTSB issues recommendations on engine inlet pressure probe icing
01 APR 2004 New legal drink-fly limits for U.K. aviation personnel [to table of contents]
Aviation personnel who drink on duty face breath testing by police under strict new alcohol rules. Pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers are now subject to a limit of 20mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. Licensed aircraft maintenance engineers now face the same 80mg limit as road users. (BBC)
Egyptian cargo airline Air Memphis has been banned from Belgium indefinitely following the April 2nd crash of a Boeing 707 at Cairo. The B707 involved, SU-AVZ, was a regular visitor at Oostende. (Het Volk) 09 APR 2004 Actions of pilot, controller led to near-collision of float plane, jet [to table of contents]
A Northwest DC-9 came close to colliding with a Cessna 206 float plane at Toronto after a controller broke from standard procedure and the Cessna pilot failed to report trouble with his landing gear, investigation into the August 2002 near-miss learned. (TSB)
TSB Report Number A02O0272
09 APR 2004 Over 40 people injured as Iberia flight hits turbulence [to table of contents] At least 47 people were injured when an Iberia Airbus A.340-300 ran into turbulence over the Amazon forest. Flight IB 6651 was en route from Madrid to Lima, Peru when the incident happened (El Mundo) 15 APR 2004 NTSB releases final report on Challenger test flight accident [to table of contents]
The NTSB says combination of a takeoff that was too steep and the subsequent rearward shifting of fuel caused the October 2000 crash of a Bombardier Challenger 604 that killed three crew members. The crash happened seconds after liftoff for a test flight from Wichita, KS. (NTSB, Wichita Business Journal)
NTSB AAB-04-01
16 APR 2004 Milan crash air officials jailed [to table of contents] Four officials accused of negligence and multiple manslaughter in the October 2001 Milan runway collision disaster have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 6½ to 8 years. Judges gave eight-year prison sentences to the director of the Linate airport and the air traffic controller who was on duty at the time. The former CEO of Italy's air traffic control agency ENAV, and the person who oversees Milan's two airports, were sentenced to six years and six months apiece. (CNN) 20 APR 2004 Alitalia MD-82 collides with vehcile on taxiway at Trieste [to table of contents]
An Alitalia MD-82 (I-DAWR) was substantially damaged after colliding with a truck at Trieste-Ronchi dei Legionari airport. The flight (AZ1357) had just landed after a flight from Roma-Fiumicino and was taxiing to the terminal when the right wing impacted the truck, damaging a fuel tank and causing a fuel spill on the taxiway. There was no fire, and none of the 91 passengers was injured. (ANSA) 21 APR 2004 Air-India jet partially rebuilt for trial [to table of contents]
The Air-India Boeing 747 destroyed by suspected Sikh militants near Ireland in 1985 has been partially reconstructed in a secret operation. The reassembled wreckage will be used as key forensic evidence in the trial of two Sikhs charged in connection with the attack, which killed 329 people. It will be displayed to the jury at a secret warehouse in the Canadian city of Vancouver. (BBC) 23 APR 2004 NTSB recommends rigorous maintenance programs for firefighting aircraft [to table of contents]
The NTSB issued recommendation letters to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Interior and to the FAA regarding maintenance programs for aircraft used in fire fighting operations. The recommendations are part of a package that includes probable causes for three air tanker accidents caused by in-flight wing separations resulting from fatigue fractures. (NTSB)
press release SB-04-12
27 APR 2004 Aerosvit B737 runs off runway at Moscow [to table of contents] An Aerovit Boeing 737-529 (UR-VVB) ran off the side of runway 07L at Moscow-Sheremetyevo after aborting the takeoff. The nose gear collapsed, but none of the appox. 100 passengers aboard flight 406 to Kiev were injured. (avia.ru) 29 APR 2004 NTSB issues recommendations on engine inlet pressure probe icing [to table of contents]
As a result of the investigation into a double engine powerloss incident involving an MD-82, the NTSB recommends the FAA to warn pilots to maintain vigilance for the signs of high altitude icing conditions and to pursue research to develop an ice detector that would alert pilots of inlet pressure probe icing. (NTSB)
Safety Recommendations A-04-34 and -35
