News
01 JAN - BEA: icing cause of Fokker 100 crash at Pau, 2007 08 JAN - AAIB issues report on landing difficulties due to runway friction problems at Br
16 JAN - EASA issues emergency AD on A330/A340 ADIRU issues
17 JAN - AIBN releases report on ATR-42 serious icing incident
21 JAN - AAIU (Ireland): Cessna 208B stalled during go around in marginal weather conditi
22 JAN - ELT frequency changes in Australia
24 JAN - Air Tahoma grounded by FAA
28 JAN - Russian autorities revoke AOC of Dalavia
28 JAN - Caribair Dominicana's AOC suspended for one year
01 JAN 2009 BEA: icing cause of Fokker 100 crash at Pau, 2007 [to table of contents]
The French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) released the final report on their investigation into the accident involving a Fokker 100 at Pau Airport, Jan. 25, 2007. The airplane overshot the runway after an aborted takeoff. It struck a vehicle, killing the driver. All on board the F100 survived. The investigators concluded that the accident was caused by a loss of control caused by the presence of ice contamination of the surface of the wings associated with insufficient consideration of the weather during the stopover, and by the rapid rotation pitch, a reflex reaction to a flight of birds. (BEA)
BEA f-pg070125
The AAIB released the final report on their investigation of several incidents at Bristol International Airport. Resurfacing and re-profiling work was taking place on parts of the runway at BIA as part of a major project to resurface the manoeuvring area pavements, and sections of the runway surface were ungrooved ‘base course’ asphalt. From 14 November 2006, there were reports from flight crew of a variety of problems related to the friction characteristics of the temporary runway surface, though no serious incidents occurred until 29 December 2006. On that day, the flight crew of G-XLAC (a Boeing 737-81Q) experienced poor stopping performance during landing. Later that day, the flight crew of G-BWDA (an ATR-72-202) experienced stopping and lateral control difficulties during landing, and the aircraft departed the runway surface and came to rest on the grass area at the side of the runway. Later still, the flight crew of G-EMBO (an EMB-145EU) experienced lateral control difficulties during landing, and the aircraft partially left and then regained the runway. On 3 January 2007, another flight crew, also operating G-XLAC, experienced poor stopping performance. The airport was subsequently closed whilst grooves were cut in the base course. After it re-opened there were no further incidents. The investigation identified the following causal factors: 1. Reduced friction on the wet ungrooved base course sections of the runway caused flight crews to experience reduced braking action and reduced lateral controllability on landing in strong crosswinds; 2. The Flight Operations Department Communication (FODCOM) advice published by the CAA regarding operations on runways notified ‘slippery when wet’, in wet conditions, was not communicated by operators to flight crews; 3. The passing, by ATC, of braking action reports based on Mu-meter friction assessments, gave flight crews a false confidence in the braking action available on the wet runway. The investigation identified the following contributory factor: 1. G-BWDA landed in a crosswind outside the operator’s published limits and the subsequent use of reverse thrust was contrary to the advice contained in the company’s Operations Manual. The AAIB has made five Safety Recommendations. (AAIB)
AAIB Report No: 1/2009
16 JAN 2009 EASA issues emergency AD on A330/A340 ADIRU issues [to table of contents] EASA issued an emergency airworthiness directive covering procedures to be applied in case of certain "NAV - IR" fault indications on the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) of certain Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. The AD supersedes an earlier emergency AD dated December 18, 2008. It was issued following an accident in October 2008 when an Australian A330 experienced a sudden nose down order while in cruise. The AD states: "This order was preceded by an automatic autopilot disconnection and triggering of the "NAV IR1 FAULT" Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) Caution. Investigations highlighted that at time of the event the Air Data Reference 1 (ADR) part of ADIRU1 was providing erroneous and temporary wrong parameters in a random manner. This abnormal behaviour of the ADR1 led to several consequences such as unjustified stall and over speed warnings, loss of attitude information on Captain Primary Flight Display (PFD) and several ECAM warnings. Among the abnormal parameters, the provided Angle of Attack (AoA) value was such that the flight control computers commanded a sudden nose down aircraft movement, which constitutes an unsafe condition. At this stage of the investigation, the analysis of available data indicates that ADIRU 1 abnormal behaviour is likely to be at the origin of the event. Due to similar design, Airbus A340 aircraft are also impacted by this issue." (EASA)
EASA Emergency AD No.: 2009-0012-E
17 JAN 2009 AIBN releases report on ATR-42 serious icing incident [to table of contents] The Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN) released the final report of their investigation into a serious incident involving an ATR-42 in September 2005. The crew experienced uncommanded roll movements in icing conditions. The AIBN has uncovered several latent contributing factors and safety problems in this investigation. These safety problems can roughly be subdivided into four groups: - Operation of this aircraft type in icing conditions - Serious deficiencies in the company’s quality system and flight safety programme - Insufficient follow-up and rule enforcement on the part of the CAA-N after it had disclosed serious deficiencies in the quality system and flight safety programme in its flight operations inspections of the company over several years prior to the incident. - The company was assigned two new tendered routes despite the deficiencies in its safety management persisting. (AIBN)
AIBN SL 2009/02
21 JAN 2009 AAIU (Ireland): Cessna 208B stalled during go around in marginal weather conditi [to table of contents] The Irish AAIU released the final report of their investigation into the fatal accident involving a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan near Connemara Airport in July 2007. The Pilot attempted to land downwind in marginal weather conditions. This resulted in a late go-around during which control was lost due to inadequate airspeed. Contributory factors were: 1. Communications were not established between the Pilot and EICA thus denying the Pilot the opportunity of being informed of the changed wind conditions and the runway in use. 2. The aircraft was over maximum landing weight. 3. The altimeters were under-reading due to incorrect QNH settings. 4. The additional stress on the Pilot associated with the conduct of a demonstration flight. (AAIU)
AAIU Report No 2009-003
22 JAN 2009 ELT frequency changes in Australia [to table of contents] The Australian Civil Aviation Regulations currently require the carriage of an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) on most flights in Australian airspace. Changes are occurring to the requirements for the carriage of emergency locator transmitters (ELTs). From 1 February 2009, all ELTs must operate on frequencies 406 and 121.5 MHz. Many ELTs currently used in Australia operate on 121.5 and 243 MHz. These ELTs will become unusable after 1 February 2009. (CASA)
Emergency locator transmitter (ELT) changes
24 JAN 2009 Air Tahoma grounded by FAA [to table of contents] The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revoked Air Tahomas AOC effective January 14. Air Tahoma is a cargo carrier based in Columbus, OH. An FAA spokeswoman told The Columbus Dispatch that a recent audit resulted in 30 findings related to "systemic problems" involving record-keeping, maintenance and operations. The airline had been involved in a recent fatal accident when one of the airlines CV-580 aircraft crashed during a post-maintenance test flight. (The Columbus Dispatch) 28 JAN 2009 Russian autorities revoke AOC of Dalavia [to table of contents]
The Russian Federal Agency of Air Transport revoked the Air Operator Certificates (AOC) of four airlines after no improvement was seen within three months after the initial suspension. The AOC of Dalavia was revoked on January 26. Omskavia and Sibaviatrans were grounded on January 14 and Samara Airlines was grounded on on Dec. 30, 2008. (Federal Air Transport Agency) 28 JAN 2009 Caribair Dominicana's AOC suspended for one year [to table of contents]
The Dominican aviation authority Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil (IDAC) has suspended the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) of Caribair because it has failed to resolve safety concerns over unauthorized charter flights. IDAC director Jose Tomas Perez told reporters that Caribair has repeatedly violated aviation laws by carrying out charter flights in privately registered planes. The most recent incident was a gear up landing of a Cessna 550 Citation II jet (N815MA) at the Wilmington-New Hanover County International Airport, NC (ILM). The Citation reportedly suffered fuel exhaustion IDAC alleges that Caribair used this plane on on a commercial basis without IDAC authorization. (Listin Diario)
