News
02 MAY - NTSB: contaminated wing caused fatal Challenger crash in Colorado 03 MAY - Drug and alcohol testing mandated for Australian aviation industry
05 MAY - Emerald Airways` AOC withdrawn
05 MAY - Batavia Air Boeing 737 skids off runway at Jakarta
10 MAY - Indonesia bans imports of Boeing 737-200
12 MAY - FAA revokes American Air Networks AOC
15 MAY - Eurocontrol launches `banned` aircraft alerting service
17 MAY - NTSB issues CV-580 safety recommendations on fuel crossfeed operations
19 MAY - Newspaper: weight distribution factor in West Caribbean MD-82 accident
23 MAY - NTSB cites flight crew, ATC in crash of air ambulance near Dan Diego
23 MAY - NTSB determines Learjet crash near Helendale, CA in 2003 was due to loss of cont
24 MAY - NTSB to assist in B727 wing fuel tank explosion investigation
25 MAY - ECAC releases SAFA annual report
26 MAY - ICAO audit: Italian ANSV needs larger financial resources
29 MAY - German Saab 340 hit by lightning
30 MAY - FAA raises safety rating for Ecuador
30 MAY - Equatorial Guinea grounds most airlines
30 MAY - Eurocontrol: Lack of 'just culture' leads to poor incident reporting
02 MAY 2006 NTSB: contaminated wing caused fatal Challenger crash in Colorado [to table of contents]
The NTSB determined that the probable cause of a Challenger jet crash in Montrose, CO was the flight crew`s failure to ensure that the airplane`s wings were free of ice or snow
contamination that accumulated while the airplane was on the ground. This failure resulted in an attempted takeoff with upper wing contamination that induced the subsequent stall and collision with the ground. The NTSB recommended the FAA to develop visual and tactile training aids to accurately depict small amounts of upper wing surface
contamination. FAA should then require all commercial
airplane operators to incorporate these training aids
into their initial and recurrent training. (NTSB)
news release
The Australian Government today announced the aviation sector will be required by regulation to introduce mandatory drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive personnel. Pilots, flight crew, cabin crew, ground refuellers, baggage handlers, security screeners, air traffic controllers and other personnel with airside access at airports will become subject to drug and alcohol testing. (CASA)
Media Release
05 MAY 2006 Emerald Airways` AOC withdrawn [to table of contents] Emerald Airways had its operating certificate withdrawn by U.K. Civil Aviation Authority officials following a safety inspection. The AOC was suspended for an unlimited period of time. The grounding caused disruptions to the delivery of mail to a.o. Scotland and the Channel Islands. (The Scotsman) 05 MAY 2006 Batavia Air Boeing 737 skids off runway at Jakarta [to table of contents]
Batavia Air flight 834 from Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) to Makassar/Ujung Pandang (UPG) and Merauke (MKQ) suffered hydraulic problems after takeoff. The aircraft, Boeing 737-200 PK-YTQ, landed back at CGK but overran the runway. Three people were injured in the evacuation. (Kompas, The Jakarta Post) 10 MAY 2006 Indonesia bans imports of Boeing 737-200 [to table of contents]
Indonesian airlines are not allowed to import Boeing 737-200 aircraft for safety reasons following a number of accidents involving such planes. Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa was quoted saying: 'Any requests to import Boeing 737-200s will be definitely rejected'. While restricting new purchases, The government would not ban the use of existing aircraft but will conduct a comprehensive audit to ensure that they are airworthy. (AFX News) 12 MAY 2006 FAA revokes American Air Networks AOC [to table of contents]
The FAA has revoked the air carrier operating certificate of American Air Network, Inc. AAN appealed the emergency order of revocation, but dropped the appeal after the FAA presented its case before an NTSB administrative law judge in December. The parties reached an agreement on certain terms of the revocation. The FAA determined that AAN permitted flights for hire or compensation to be conducted on its air carrier certificate when individuals who did not hold an air carrier certificate exercised operational control of those flights. AAN described itself as “a Part 135 management company.” The revocation followed an October visit to American Air Networks by FAA inspectors who spent four days reviewing flight manifests, pilot and maintenance records, and observing operations. The FAA's action is part of a national review of air taxi operational control issues. (FAA) 15 MAY 2006 Eurocontrol launches `banned` aircraft alerting service [to table of contents]
Eurocontrol has begun providing an alerting service to those European states which are the departure or arrival point for an aircraft deemed by national authorities to pose a safety risk. The new service will issue an alert if any company or aircraft that is listed by national authorities as posing a potential safety risk, plans to enter European airspace. (Eurocontrol)
press release
17 MAY 2006 NTSB issues CV-580 safety recommendations on fuel crossfeed operations [to table of contents] In the light of the fatal August 2004 accident involving an Air Tahoma Convair CV-580, the NTSB issued three safety recommendations: Issue a flight standards information bulletin to all principal operations inspectors of Convair 580 operators that familiarizes operators with the circumstances of the Air Tahoma flight 185 accident, including the importance of closing the fuel tank shutoff valve for the tank not being used during fuel crossfeed operations. (A-06-39, to the FAA) Require Convair 580 operators to set the left and right fuel boost pump output pressure settings on their airplanes to the same setting. (A-06-40, to the FAA and A-06-41, to Transport Canada) (NTSB)
NTSB safety recommendations A-06-39/41
19 MAY 2006 Newspaper: weight distribution factor in West Caribbean MD-82 accident [to table of contents] French newspaper Le Figaro, quoting an anonymous source, reported that the West Caribbean MD-82 that crashed in Venezuela, August 2005, was overloaded. It reportedly had a takeoff weight of 70,300 kilos, where mtow is 67,600 kilos. The cargo was badly distributed as well. Another factor would have been human factors with the captain declining suggestions from the copilot to switch on engine anti-icing. (El Universal) 23 MAY 2006 NTSB cites flight crew, ATC in crash of air ambulance near Dan Diego [to table of contents]
The NTSB determined that a combination of flight crew and air traffic control deficiencies led to the night-time crash of a Learjet 35A near San Diego in October 2004. The Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew`s failure to maintain terrain clearance during a visual flight rules (VFR) departure, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain, and the air traffic controller`s issuance of a clearance that transferred the responsibility for terrain clearance from the flight crew to the controller. Additionally, the controller`s failure to provide terrain clearance instructions to the flight crew, and failure to advise the flight crew of the minimum safe altitude warning (MSAW) alerts was also causal to the accident. (NTSB)
press release
23 MAY 2006 NTSB determines Learjet crash near Helendale, CA in 2003 was due to loss of cont [to table of contents] The NTSB determined that the probable cause of a 2003 Learjet accident near Helendale, CA was the loss of airplane control for undetermined reasons. The airplane was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder and Federal regulations did not require them. (NTSB)
press release
24 MAY 2006 NTSB to assist in B727 wing fuel tank explosion investigation [to table of contents] The NTSB is sending a team of investigators to Bangalore, India, to assist in the investigation of a reported left wing fuel tank explosion on a Transmile Air Services Boeing 727-200. The incident occurred May 4, 2006, during a ground repositioning. (NTSB)
press release
25 MAY 2006 ECAC releases SAFA annual report [to table of contents] The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) released its annual report of the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) programme. In 2005 5457 inspections were performed by ECAC member states on 748 different operators from 133 states. This resulted in 1182 Cat.3 (major) findings, a relative decrease compared to 2004. As a result of these inspections 13 aircraft were grounded. (ECAC)
ECAC/JAA Programme for Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft - SAFA 2005 (PDF)
26 MAY 2006 ICAO audit: Italian ANSV needs larger financial resources [to table of contents] The ICAO has finished a safety audit of the Italian aviation authorities. It was a.o. concluded that the Italian Air Safety Board (ANSV) should be given larger financial resources. Also, the Italian authorities should make sure that any legal investigation or prosecution relating to an accident should not hinder the ANSV investigation into the accident. (ANSV)
29 MAY 2006 German Saab 340 hit by lightning [to table of contents] A German Dauair Saab 340 was reportedly hit by lightning shortly after departure from Dortmund (DTM). Because some flight instruments were out of order as a result of this, the crew returned to the airport. The airplane was on its way to Poznan (POZ), Poland. None of the three crew and 31 passengers were injured. (flightmag.de) 30 MAY 2006 FAA raises safety rating for Ecuador [to table of contents]
The FAA announced it is raising the safety rating of Ecuador to Category 1 following a reassessment of that country`s civil aviation authority. The last time the FAA fully assessed the Dirección de Aviación Civil del Ecuador (DGAC) was in 1995, with subsequent technical visits from 1997 to 2002. The country`s civil aviation authority has shown increasing improvements since the FAA began providing technical assistance in 2002. A Category 1 rating means that the civil aviation authority of Ecuador 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. Ecuador has been in Category 2 since the 1995 assessment. (FAA press release No. AOC 12-06)
30 MAY 2006 Equatorial Guinea grounds most airlines [to table of contents] Equatorial Guinea`s ministry of transport has grounded the planes of all but one of the country`s 20 airlines. The national airline, Ecuatoguineana de Aviacion (EGA), and 18 other firms had their operating certificates revoked following an inspection of aircraft fleets by South African experts. Only General Works Aviacion was allowed to remain in business, pending verified improvements in safety and airworthiness standards by other companies. (News24) 30 MAY 2006 Eurocontrol: Lack of 'just culture' leads to poor incident reporting [to table of contents]
Eurocontrol`s efforts to reduce air traffic management (ATM)-related fatalities are being hampered by the lack of a `just culture` in most member states, leaving risks to go undetected until they are exposed by an accident. Although Eurocontrol set up a centralised ATM incident reporting and data sharing system several years ago, safety chiefs are convinced it is not working. They believe the failure of many European countries to protect the safety data reporting systems, and those who submit reports, from the law means that no-one dare use them. (Flight International)
full article
