News
02 APR - Aerocaliforna grounded by authorities for safety reasons 11 APR - TSB: excessive weight and icing primary causes of Caravan crash near Pelee Islan
11 APR - FAA amends airworthiness standards for flight guidance systems
14 APR - AAIB issues safety recommendations on A.320 series PFD/ECAM failures
14 APR - Cessna Caravan carries out emergency landing on road
19 APR - FAA issues NPRM on widespread fatigue damage prevention
21 APR - FAA raises safety rating for Venezuela
21 APR - Confusion over EU blacklisted airline
25 APR - NTSB calls for changes in FAA`s airliner design certification process
02 APR 2006 Aerocaliforna grounded by authorities for safety reasons [to table of contents]
The Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transports (SCyT) suspended the operations of Aerocalifornia for safety reasons. The airline has 90 days to comply with safety regulations. The suspension follows several inspections by federal authorities beginning more than a year ago, when the airline was instructed to make a series of changes to improve operations. One of the inspections showed that the airline had one-third of its fleet grounded and was taking parts from decommissioned airplanes to keep others operating. (Notimex, AP)
The TSB of Canada released its final report into the crash of a Georgian Express Cessna 208B Caravan off Pelee Island on January 17, 2004. Investigators discovered that, at take-off, the weight of the aircraft exceeded the maximum allowable gross take off weight by at least 15 per cent and that the aircraft was contaminated with ice. Therefore, the aircraft was being flown significantly outside the limitations under which it was certified for safe flight. The investigation also revealed that the aircraft stalled too low to allow recovery before it struck the ice surface of Lake Erie. The Board concluded that, on this flight, the pilot's decision to take off was likely adversely affected by some combination of stress and fatigue. (TSB)
TSB Communiqué
11 APR 2006 FAA amends airworthiness standards for flight guidance systems [to table of contents] The U.S. FAA issued an amendment to 14 CFR 25 (Airworthiness Standards). This action amends the airworthiness standards for new designs and significant product changes for transport category airplanes concerning flight guidance systems. The standards address the performance, safety, failure protection, alerting, and basic annunciation of these systems. This rule is necessary to address flight guidance system vulnerabilities and to consolidate and standardize regulations for functions within those systems. In addition, this rule updates the current regulations regarding the latest technology and functionality. Adopting this rule eliminates significant regulatory differences between the U.S. and European airworthiness standards. (FAA)
Document FAA-2004-18775-26
14 APR 2006 AAIB issues safety recommendations on A.320 series PFD/ECAM failures [to table of contents] The AAIB has become aware of several incidents involving reported failures on Airbus A.320 models, which have resulted in the loss of both the commander`s and co-pilot`s primary flight and navigation displays and the ECAM upper display. The AAIB issued a Special Bulletin to provide further information and to transmit Safety Recommendations. (AAIB)
Special Bulletin S3/2006
14 APR 2006 Cessna Caravan carries out emergency landing on road [to table of contents] An engine failure forced the pilot of an Amaszonas Cessna 208 to carry out an emergency landing on a road. The airplane, CP-2413, suffered engine problems shortly after takeoff from La Paz-El Alto (LPB), Bolivia. The airplane carried nine tourists and one pilot on a flight to Rurrenabaque (RBQ). None of the passengers were injured and the airplane was not damaged in the incident. (La Razon) 19 APR 2006 FAA issues NPRM on widespread fatigue damage prevention [to table of contents]
The FAA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding aging aircraft. The action is intended to prevent widespread fatigue damage by proposing to require that design approval holders establish operational limits on transport category airplanes. Design approval holders would also be required to determine if maintenance actions are needed to prevent widespread fatigue damage before an airplane reaches its operational limit. Operators of any affected airplane would be required to incorporate the operational limit and any necessary service information into their maintenance programs. Operation of an affected airplane beyond the operational limit would be prohibited, unless an operator has incorporated an extended operational limit and any necessary service information into its maintenance program. (FAA)
Document FAA-2006-24281
21 APR 2006 FAA raises safety rating for Venezuela [to table of contents] The U.S. FAA announced it is raising the safety rating of Venezuela to Category 1 following a reassessment of that country`s civil aviation authority. The last time the FAA assessed Venezuela`s civil aviation authority was in 1995. Venezuela has been in Category 2 since that FAA assessment. Since then, two audits by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have shown increasing improvements. (FAA)
press release
21 APR 2006 Confusion over EU blacklisted airline [to table of contents] Cypriot aviation authorities refused the first Cyprus-registered Boeing 747 permission to land at Larnaca and Paphos. The reason given was the fact that the operator, Air Universal Cyprus, shares the chairman of Air Universal Sierra Leone, which is listed on the EU blacklist. B747-200 5B-AUD was scheduled to be delivered, but flew to Athens, Greece instead. This EU country apparently allowed the plane to land. (Cyprus Mail) 25 APR 2006 NTSB calls for changes in FAA`s airliner design certification process [to table of contents]
The NTSB published a report, considering lessons learned about certification issues in four major accidents investigated by the Board between 1994 and 2001 that, collectively, accounted for 60 percent of the air carrier fatalities in that period. Overall, the Board found that the FAA`s certification process is sound and produces a high level of safety. However, the Board does make three recommendations for improving the process, dealing with documenting the identification of safety-critical systems, ensuring that the identification process includes evaluation of structural failures and human/airplane system interaction failures, and assessing safety-critical systems throughout the life of the aircraft. (NTSB)
