News
05 AUG - Safety board report criticizes Avinor`s handing of safety issues 05 AUG - Copa Airlines passes IATA safety audit and achieves IOSA registration
11 AUG - Icing a factor in two similar Airbus 321 incidents near Toronto, Canada
11 AUG - Tokyo: Korean B747 tyre punctured on landing by FOD from JAL B777
11 AUG - NATCA calls on FAA to repair glitch in airport movement surveillance system
11 AUG - Safety plan unveiled for Boston-Logan after rise in runway incursions
11 AUG - FAA raises safety rating for Trinidad and Tobago
12 AUG - JALways DC-10 loses engine parts over Fukuoka: one person injured
18 AUG - European Commission plans airline blacklist
18 AUG - West Caribbean Airways grounded following MD-82 accident
19 AUG - Northwest Airlines B747 nose gear collapseds on landing at Guam
20 AUG - Explosion on IL-62 being broken up at Almaty
24 AUG - French passngers refused to board Karthago Airlines plane over safety fears
26 AUG - French, Swiss to publish blacklist of airlines
26 AUG - FAA will not mandate use of child safety seats on airplanes
28 AUG - France publishes `blue` and blacklisted airlines
29 AUG - France temporarily grounds a Fly Air Airbus A.300
29 AUG - Belgium releases airline blacklist
29 AUG - FAA issues emergency AD on Boeing 777 ADIRU software
30 AUG - Italy refuses to publish airline `blacklist`, promotes whitelist
05 AUG 2005 Safety board report criticizes Avinor`s handing of safety issues [to table of contents]
A report by the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board (AIBN) strongly criticized the leadership of Norway's Airport and ATC authority, Avinor, for their handling of safety issues. The report concluded that "Management`s attitude to safety does not seem consistent with the company`s vision and principal safety objectives". The AIBN report criticized the ongoing process of restructuring and centralization, and judged that air safety had been jeopardized. In a response, Avinor doubted the factual basis of the AIBN report. (Aftenposten)
Copa Airlines has earned IOSA Registration from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA Operational Safety Audit Program (IOSA) is a standardized audit of airline operational safety management and control systems in such areas as corporate organization and management, flight operations, operational control/flight dispatch, aircraft engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, aircraft ground handling, cargo operations and operational security. (Copa Airlines) 11 AUG 2005 Icing a factor in two similar Airbus 321 incidents near Toronto, Canada [to table of contents]
TSB Canada released its final report into two similar Airbus A.321 incidents that occurred at Toronto International Airport on December 7, 2002. The investigation revealed that, both aircraft suffered pilot-induced oscillations in icing conditions during the approach. The Airbus A/321 normal, lateral flight control laws programmed into the elevator aileron computer provided higher roll efficiency in these wing icing conditions, which resulted in a reduced stability, causing the aircraft to roll slightly from side to side. In both occurrences, the pilots applied right and left control inputs to try to stop the rolling movement, but the magnitude of the oscillations increased. Both aircraft landed safely. (TSB)
Media Release
11 AUG 2005 Tokyo: Korean B747 tyre punctured on landing by FOD from JAL B777 [to table of contents] Upon landing at Tokyo-Narita, a Korean Air Boeing 747-400F cargo plane suffered a tyre failure. The failure was attributed to foreign object damage. Japan Air Lines flight 710, a Boeing 777-300, had lost a 40 cm by 2 metre long fuselage panel after landing three minutes earlier. The 747īs tyre was punctured after running over this panel. The runway remained closed for 24 minutes. (Asahi Shimbun) 11 AUG 2005 NATCA calls on FAA to repair glitch in airport movement surveillance system [to table of contents]
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) are calling on the FAA to invest the effort and money needed to fix a dangerous glitch in the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) that forces it into limited mode during bad weather. The glitch was exposed recently with a near-collision of two aircraft at New York-JFK during poor weather. Controllers at Boston-Logan have also seen the equipment not work in conditions where moderate or greater precipitation is in the area. (NATCA)
press release
11 AUG 2005 Safety plan unveiled for Boston-Logan after rise in runway incursions [to table of contents] Following a series of runway incursions on Boston-Logan International Airport`s intersecting runways, officials unveiled a safety plan. New signs will better indicate where planes should stop. Also, airport officials will escort all planes being moved around the airport for maintenance. This should prevent incursions like the one on August 8 in which a FedEx DC-10 was taxied onto an active runway by a mechanic. A JetBlue plane had already been cleared for takeoff from that runway. Since last September, Logan has seen 12 runway incursions. (CNN) 11 AUG 2005 FAA raises safety rating for Trinidad and Tobago [to table of contents]
The FAA announced it was raising Trinidad and Tobago's safety rating to the highest international safety category following a reassessment of that country's civil aviation authority. As a result of the reassessment, Trinidad and Tobago's safety rating was raised from Category 2 to Category 1. A Category 1 rating means that Trinidad and Tobago's civil aviation authority has been assessed by FAA inspectors and has been found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. (FAA)
press release
12 AUG 2005 JALways DC-10 loses engine parts over Fukuoka: one person injured [to table of contents] JALways flight 58 from Fukuoka to Honolulu suffered a nr. 1 engine failure some 22 seconds after takeoff. Large flames were briefly spotted from the engine and parts from the DC-10`s engine fell into a residential area, inuring one person. The flight returned to the airport where it landed safely around 20:20, half an nour after the incident. None of the 229 crew and passenger aboard the plane were injured. (NHK) 18 AUG 2005 European Commission plans airline blacklist [to table of contents]
The European Commission is planning to introduce a European Union-wide blacklist of airlines whose aircraft are grounded for safety reasons, Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said. He said the blacklist could be set up under an EU accord that will make sharing information on air safety obligatory. (Reuters) 18 AUG 2005 West Caribbean Airways grounded following MD-82 accident [to table of contents]
Colombian government officials said operations of West Caribbean Airways had been halted while investigators from the civil aviation authority reviewed previous inspections carried out by the airline. The carrier`s safety record was called into question after one of its MD-82 aircraft crashed August 16. (Guardian) 19 AUG 2005 Northwest Airlines B747 nose gear collapseds on landing at Guam [to table of contents]
A Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-200 (N627US) suffered a collapse of the nose gear during land roll-out at Guam International Airport. Flight 74 from Tokyo-Narita carried 319 passengers and 16 crew members. It skidded and came to rest on the runway around 14:18. All passengers were evacuated, during which three persons were injured. The aircraft was towed away from the runway around 14:00 the next day. (FAA, Pacific Daily News) 20 AUG 2005 Explosion on IL-62 being broken up at Almaty [to table of contents]
An Ilyushin 62 that had been withdrawn from use at Almaty Airport, Kazakhstan, was broken up there when fuel vapors ignited. The explosion killed one airport worker immediately and wounded two other workers. (MosNews) 24 AUG 2005 French passngers refused to board Karthago Airlines plane over safety fears [to table of contents]
An Airbus A.300 owned by Fly Air and operated by Karthago Airlines from Tunisia returned to Paris-Orly Airport due to a generator failure. The 224 Djerba-bound passengers refused to reboard their flight and had to spend the night at Paris before an alternate flight using Tunis Air aircraft had been arranged. The DGAC grounded the plane to carry out further investigations. The aircraft was found to be leaking fuel and other fluids, according to one airport source. (AP, Expatica) 26 AUG 2005 French, Swiss to publish blacklist of airlines [to table of contents]
The French DGAC will publish a blacklist of airlines that are not allowed to land on French airports. The list will be published August 29, followed by the Swiss aviation authorities who will publish a similar list on September 1. (DGAC, BAZL) 26 AUG 2005 FAA will not mandate use of child safety seats on airplanes [to table of contents]
The U.S. FAA announced that it will not mandate the use of child safety seats on airplanes because of the increased safety risk to families. The agency said its analyses showed that, if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket, families might choose to drive, a statistically more dangerous way to travel. (FAA)
press release
28 AUG 2005 France publishes `blue` and blacklisted airlines [to table of contents] The France aviation authorities DGAC published `blue` lists of airlines that are allowed to operate on flights to France and airlines that are likely to be chartered by French companies. The blacklist of airlines that are not allowed in France are Air Koryo (N.Korea), Air St. Thomas, International Air Service (Liberia), LAM Mozambique and Phuket Airlines. (DGAC)
DGAC lists
29 AUG 2005 France temporarily grounds a Fly Air Airbus A.300 [to table of contents] A Turkish Fly Air Airbus A.300B4 (TC-FLK) has been grounded at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport after inspectors discovered the airliner had a fuel leak and tyre problems. The airplane, headed for Antalya with 148 passengers, was grounded on Saturday and barred from flight again on Sunday after a second inspection. Inspectors discovered a small fuel leak on the left side of the aircraft and found two of its wheels were fitted with unauthorised tyres. On August 24 a Fly Air A.300 operating for Khartago Airlines ran into trouble at Paris, with passengers refusing to reboard the plane. (AAP) 29 AUG 2005 Belgium releases airline blacklist [to table of contents]
The Belgian transportation ministry released a list of airlines that are not allowed to land in Belgium. The list consist of nine cargo airlines: Africa Lines (C.A.R.), Air Memphis (Egypt), Air Van Airlines (Armenia), Central Air Express (D.R. Congo), Aldawlyh Air (Libya), International Air Tours (Nigeria), Johnsons Air (Ghana), Silverback Cargo (Rwanda) and South Airlines (Ukraine). Some of these airlines do not seem to exist anymore however. (Federale Overheidsdienst Mobiliteit en Vervoer)
Vliegtoelatingen voor niet-EU luchtvaartmaatschappijen (in Dutch)
29 AUG 2005 FAA issues emergency AD on Boeing 777 ADIRU software [to table of contents] The U.S. FAA issued an emergency AD to prevent the operational program software (OPS) of the air data inertial reference unit (ADIRU) of the B777 from using data from failed sensors, which could result in anomalies of a.o. the fly-by-wire primary flight control and autopilot. This AD resulted from a recent report of a significant nose-up pitch event. (FAA)
Emergency AD 2005-18-51
30 AUG 2005 Italy refuses to publish airline `blacklist`, promotes whitelist [to table of contents] Italian Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi, who called European Union efforts to create a blacklist of unsafe airlines `useless,` is trying to convince his EU counterparts that singling out safe carriers is more effective. Italy`s civil aviation authority ENAC has compiled a list of six airlines that are suspended or banned from Italy, though Lunardi refuses to officially turnover the names to the EU. According to Il Sole/24 Ore, the airlines would be BGB Air, GST Aero, Hozu Avia, Kuban Airlines, Hemus Air and Ghana Airways. (Bloomberg)
