Airline Safety: Drone hits British Airways plane approaching Heathrow Airport

A plane approaching Heathrow Airport is believed to have hit a drone before it landed safely, the Metropolitan Police has said.

The British Airways flight from Geneva was hit as it approached the London airport at about 12:50 BST with 132 passengers and five crew on board.

After landing, the pilot reported an object - believed to be a drone - had struck the front of the Airbus A320.
Aviation police based at Heathrow have launched an investigation.

Police said no arrests have been made.

If confirmed, it is believed to be the first incident of its kind in the UK.

A British Airways spokesman said: "Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight."

The airline will give the police "every assistance with their investigation", the spokesman added.

A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman said it was "totally unacceptable" to fly drones close to airports, and anyone flouting the rules can face "severe penalties, including imprisonment".

Steve Landells, from the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), said it had been "only a matter of time before we had a drone strike". He called for greater enforcement of existing rules.

Read more: Drone hits British Airways plane approaching Heathrow Airport - BBC News

Aircraft Safety: Airbus to regulators: We don't need Boeing's steel lithium ion battery box- by Steve Wilhelm

Airbus will follow Boeing’s lead and power its new A350 widebody jets with lithium ion batteries, but the company does not want to put the batteries in a steel box like Boeing did.

Airbus says its batteries are smaller and safer than Boeing's original Dreamliner design, which was plagued by problems when it was first launched. Airbus now wants to switch from a heavier nickel cadmium battery it has been using to the lighter lithium ion ones.

Flight Global this week reported Airbus is nearing regulatory approval for its lithium ion batteries, but the company is still arguing its design is safer than Boeing’s and that Airbus therefore won’t need to put the batteries inside heavy steel boxes.

“If you start to put a huge coffin around the battery system in place then you lose all the benefit of the lithium ion battery,” Airbus Executive Vice-President of Engineering Charles Champion, told Flight Global.

The entire fleet of 50 active Boeing 787s was grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration Jan. 16, 2013, after a battery aboard an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner overheated and charred, forcing an emergency landing in Japan. That was preceded by a Jan. 7, 2013 battery fire on a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner at Boston’s Logan airport.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) began adding steel boxes around the batteries as a condition for continuing to use lithium ion batteries in the Dreamliners.

While Boeing’s fix made some changes to the inner structure of twin eight-cell lithium ion batteries, the biggest change was to house each in a stainless steel box, vented to the outside of the jet, that would contain any future overheating incident.

After that, Airbus punted its own lithium ion battery plans by temporarily using heavier and more traditional nickel cadmium batteries on the competing A350. Airbus decided to switch to the nickel cadmium around the time Boeing was struggling with its Dreamliner batteries.

Now, though, Airbus is about to make the switch as it pits the A350 against the Dreamliner, and airlines push manufacturers to develop the most fuel-efficient planes possible. Airbus delivered the first A350 in December.

Read more: Airbus to regulators: We don't need Boeing's steel lithium ion battery box - Puget Sound Business Journal

Crash French Alps: Lufthansa knew that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had suffered severe depression

Lufthansa now says that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who crashed a plane in the French Alps last week – killing 150 people – told its flight training school in 2009 that he had gone through a period of severe depression.

The airline previously said it knew of no reason why the Germanwings co-pilot might deliberately crash a plane.

The revelation follows confirmation that Lubitz had suicidal tendencies years before obtaining his pilot’s licence.

Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, had acknowledged that he had interrupted his pilot’s training but had given no further details.

It now says that when he resumed training, he provided the flight school with medical documents showing that he had gone through a “previous episode of severe depression”.

Lufthansa cited e-mailed correspondence between Lubitz and the flight school.

The airline said it had passed the e-mails and additional documents to Duesseldorf prosecutors after internal investigations.

Investigators in Duesseldorf last week found torn-up sick notes showing that Lubitz was suffering from an illness that should have grounded him.

Read more: Lufthansa knew that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had suffered severe depression | euronews, world news

European safety agency orders global check of A380 wings

Europe's air safety authority has ordered checks on the entire global fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets for cracks on parts inside the wings — extending a previous order to check nearly a third of the planes.

The European Aviation Safety Agency last month issued an airworthiness directive calling for "a detailed visual inspection" of the aircraft's "wing rib feet" — the metal brackets that connect the wing's ribs to its skin.

That order applied to the 20 planes that have flown the most. Spokesman Dominique Fouda said the agency was extending the checks to the entire fleet of 68, used by seven airlines.

For more: European safety agency orders global check of A380 wings - latimes.com

Angry pilots say Air France crash inquiry shields Airbus - by John Lichfield

French air crash investigators were accused yesterday of "protecting" Airbus after it emerged that implicit criticism of the plane-maker was sliced from last week's report on the Rio-Paris disaster. 

The largest Air France pilots' union withdrew from the official investigation saying it had turned into a "one-sided" prosecution of the crew of the Airbus A330 which plunged into the south Atlantic on 1 June 2009. 

It was confirmed yesterday that the French air accident investigation agency, the Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses (BEA), had removed from its report at the last moment a "recommendation" that the "stall" warning on Airbus A330 aircraft should be improved or replaced.

For more: Angry pilots say Air France crash inquiry shields Airbus - Europe, World - The Independent

Fly-by-wire: Lessons from Air France Crash Flight 447 - by Robert P. Mark

No doubt automation has made flying easier, especially when it comes to delivering the smooth ride passengers expect in jets. But has passenger comfort that demands the precision of these automated systems taken our eyes off the ball of the basic airmanship component? Were the Air France pilots simply overwhelmed with more flashing lights and chimes than they could grasp as a stormy night flight came unraveled? Few pilots hand fly their aircraft in training or on the line. Can we really afford that insulation from actual stick-and-rudder flying any longer? Many companies–airlines included–don’t want to spend the time and money to train pilots for those one-in-a-million calamities that could appear in obscure corners of the envelope. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate that philosophy.

For more go to: Pitch and Power: Lessons from Air France Flight 447 - by Robert P. Mark

Air France Flight 447 Voice Recorder Retrieved from Atlantic Ocean Floor - by Matt Molnar

The French aviation safety agency BEA on Tuesday announced the discovery and recovery of Air France Flight 447′s cockpit voice recorder from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, nearly two years after the Airbus A330-200 disappeared.

The recorder was located late Monday night local time and retrieved early Tuesday morning by the Remora 6000, a US-built remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The discovery comes a day after the same team found and retrieved the airplane’s data recorder.

On June 1st, 2009, Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-200, was enroute to Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport from Rio de Janeiro when it apparently plunged into the Atlantic roughly halfway between South America and Africa, killing all 228 people on board. The cause of the crash has been impossible to determine without the data and voice recorders, which were widely believed to have been unrecoverable due to the extremely deep seas in the area.

For more: Air France Flight 447 Voice Recorder Retrieved from Atlantic Ocean Floor | NYCAviation

Netherlands: Dutch Police arrest Drunk Delta Pilot in Cockpit:- Airline Captain Was Planning to Fly from Amsterdam to New York

A Delta pilot has been arrested and fined for allegedly being drunk as he was preparing to fly from Amsterdam to Newark Liberty International Airport, outside New York City.

The Dutch National Police Corps has not identified the pilot but says he is a 52-year-old captain from Woodbury, N.J.

Delta issued a statement about Flight 35, saying that it was "canceled out of concern that a crew member appeared to be unfit for duty."

Note EU-Digest: This probably was  only one of the many pilots caught flying under the influence of alcohol. Why not test every pilot going on a flight as to his or her level of alcohol content in the blood? It's a simple breathalyzer test which takes less than 2 minutes. Far less time consuming than the "security tests" the flying public already have to endure every day. Best of all, it will save lives. 

For more: Drunk Delta Pilot Arrested in Cockpit: Airline Captain Was Planning to Fly from Amsterdam to New York

Icelandic volcanic ash cripples European airports

Airports across Europe were closed and thousands of passengers stranded Thursday after a giant ash cloud emanating from an Icelandic volcano filled the air space.
Britain announced that its air space would be closed to all but emergency flights from noon to 6 p.m. GMT, including at London’s massive Heathrow Airport, which services 180,000 passengers a day. Similar closings were in effect over Ireland and parts of Scandinavia.

For more: Icelandic volcanic ash cripples European airports - thestar.com

EU blacklists 100 African airlines - by Paul Juma

The European Union has blacklisted more than 100 African airlines on safety grounds, sparking an outcry from African airlines.

Last Tuesday, the EU published a list of airlines from 17 countries that it banned from the European airspace due to safety concerns. While the EU completely banned some airlines, it also slapped operational conditions on others, affecting a total of 111 African airlines from 13 African countries.

Affected by the ban are airlines from Angola, Rwanda, Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia. However, according to EU, both the banned and restricted airlines could still be allowed to fully operate in the region by using leased aircrafts of an air carrier which has not been banned and complies with relevant safety standards.

For more: Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports, Blogs, Photos, Videos - EU blacklists 100 African airlines

Complete body scan machines still not in use everywhere

On Tuesday, a devastating report in The Washington Post revealed that the full-body scanning equipment hyped after 9/11, which might have detected the explosives involved in last week’s incident, is still not in wide use. As the Post stated, “A plan that would have helped focus the development of better screening technology and procedures—including a risk-based assessment of aviation threats—is almost two years overdue, according to a report this fall by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.”

So, screening equipment that can detect plastic explosives exists, but it was not used in this case and, as the GAO predicted, “TSA cannot ensure that it is targeting the highest priority security needs at checkpoints; measure the extent to which deployed technologies reduce the risk of terrorist attacks; or make needed adjustments to its PSP [Passenger Screening Program] strategy.” As a result, the GAO concluded: “TSA lacks assurance that its investments in screening technologies address the highest priority security needs at airport passenger checkpoints.”

Robert Scheer: The Global War on Stealth Underwear - Robert Scheer's Columns - Truthdig

The Australian: Human error biggest risk of flying - by Charles Bremmer

For the complete report from The Australian click on this link

Human error biggest risk of flying - by Charles Bremmer

This has not been a good week for airline pilots. Four American ones - all employed by Delta, have been suspended for two blunders. Now we hear that Air France, the national carrier, has accused its pilots of dangerously sloppy flying.On Monday, a pair from Delta got muddled and put their Boeing down on a taxi-way at Atlanta instead of the runway. The other two, flying a Northwest Airlines Airbus from San Diego, failed to notice that they had flown past Minneapolis, their destination. That incident has sparked a furore while the more dangerous Atlanta bungle has been largely ignored. In the case of Air France, the story is complicated. The airline management is reacting to unrest among pilots over the way they have been blamed for recent incidents and accidents and especially the AF447 crash. Yesterday, the management sent all crew a memo headed: "Enough argument and false debate on flight safety". They accused "over-confident" crew of ignoring standard procedures and risking their aircraft. The management said it was especially unhappy with the way that pilots had blamed the AF447 disaster on the Airbus A330 and on faulty airline practices. "There are no procedures to correct, no new ones to create," it said.

Belfast Telegraph: Jet disasters claim the highest number of lives since 2002

For the complete report from the Belfasttelegraph.co.uk click on this link

Jet disasters claim the highest number of lives since 2002

The number of people killed in passenger airline crashes in the first six months of 2009 was the highest January-June total since 2002, new figures show. Two recent Airbus crashes, including the mid-Atlantic Air France disaster, swelled the 2009 half-year fatality figure to 499, Flight International magazine said. This compared with 175 deaths in the first six months of 2008 and was well above the half-yearly average of 344 for this decade. The years 2001-10 could now become the first decade since World War II when global airline accident rates did not show an improvement compared with the previous decade, said Flight International's operations and safety editor David Learmount.

Mail Online: Special Investigation - The series of mysterious Airbus 330 accidents culminating in tragic loss of Air France Flight 447

For the complete report from the Mail Online click on this link

Special Investigation - The series of mysterious Airbus 330 accidents culminating in tragic loss of Air France Flight 447

Made by Airbus, the giant European company that emerged around the time of Concorde’s development, the twin-engine, wide-bodied A330 is less than five years old. Since 1993, Airbus has received more than 1,400 orders for this plane and its close sibling, the four-engine A340, and there are around 1,000 of them in the sky. Each A330 costs about euro 150 million. ‘From nose to tail, the A330 and A340 incorporate the latest advances in Airbus technology and innovation,’ the company’s website says, adding that they exhibit ‘the best take-off and landing performance in all conditions, as well as high-efficiency flight’. With its human-proof computer systems, it is the most technically advanced aircraft in the world. So why has the Airbus 330's gleaming new fleet been so dogged by technical problems... and disturbing evidence of flawed cabling been so comprehensively ignored?

Company sources insist that the ADIRUs aren’t to blame because QF72 and AF447 used different types. This argument fails to impress the families’ lawyer, Tardivat: ‘We’re looking at the failure of large parts of the system, and there’s no way something like this should happen simply because of a problem with the pitot tubes. We need to look at the software. Was it the same – or very similar – in both planes? So far, Airbus won’t tell us. If it was, the fact that there were different boxes on different planes is no more important than one person using an IBM, another a Dell PC.’ Chris Hounsfield, editor of Aerospace Testing International, points to another possible cause: ‘Airbus crew have told me that their pilots can rely too heavily on an “intelligent” aircraft’s flying ability, and should the “intelligent” systems fail, they may not have had enough simulator training to cope with a sudden “flip” to mechanical systems.’

However, Tardivat and Hounsfield agree that the ultimate problem may lie somewhere else entirely – with the 100-odd miles of insulated wire connecting everything from computers to seat-back televisions. Ed Block, an American air investigator, has long been trying to draw attention to the dangers of some wire types. It was he who found the evidence of the likely cause of the disaster on TWA Flight 800, a Boeing 747 that blew up off Long Island in 1996, killing all 230 on board. He concluded the problem had been short circuits, or arcs, that ultimately led to sparking in the vapour-filled central fuel tank.

DailyFinance: Is Boeing's 787 safe to fly? - by Peter Cohan

Boeings 787 Dreamliner - are composite materials used unsafe in aircraft?

For the complete report from the DailyFinance click on this link

Is Boeing's 787 safe to fly? - by Peter Cohan

Yesterday, Boeing (BA) announced its fifth delay in the delivery of its latest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has 865 orders for the $178 million aircraft, which is designed to cost 20 percent less to operate and maintain. A big reason for these savings is the 787's use of composite materials -- for example, All Nippon Airways, which is to be first to receive the 787, said in April that fuel savings and higher revenue from the higher capacity 787 could add $100 million in fiscal 2011. But the very composite materials that are saving money for airlines are now contributing to the problems that delayed the 787 for the fifth time. And those problems raise questions about whether it can ever be safe to fly -- which would probably scare passengers from boarding the 787. In order to understand why the 787 might be unsafe, it is crucial to understand more about the 787's composite materials -- including carbon fiber reinforced epoxy tape. Older aircraft are made of aluminum, which is heavier than the composite material.

Composites are lighter and stronger hence able to fly more fuel efficiently. But engineers don't completely understand how aircraft made of composite materials will respond to the stresses of actual flight. This incomplete understanding is reflected in the computer models they use to design the aircraft. The reason for the fifth delay is that the actual 787 did not behave the way the model predicted.

BBC NEWS : Benin joins EU aviation blacklist

For the complete report from the BBC NEWS click on this link

Benin joins EU aviation blacklist

The EU's blacklist of airlines banned from flying to the 27-nation bloc has been expanded to include all of Benin's carriers and six based in Kazakhstan. The updated list also includes One Two Go Airlines of Thailand and Motor Sich Airlines of Ukraine. The banned airlines are considered to be unsafe. The European Commission says Angola and Indonesia have made improvements but it is maintaining a ban on their airlines.The six Kazakh airlines on the list are: Air Company Kokshetau, ATMA Airlines, Berkut Air, East Wing, Sayat Air and Starline KZ. In addition to Motor Sich Airlines, three other Ukrainian carriers are banned: Ukraine Cargo Airways, Ukraine Mediterranean Airlines and Volare Aviation. The list also imposes a total ban on airlines based in Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon. The European Commission says Angola and Indonesia have made improvements but it is maintaining a ban on their airlines.

The new list takes effect on Friday. EU member states can still take aviation safety measures at national level if they have an issue specifically affecting them.

Guardian: Boeing 777: Safety fears over crash jet's alarm failure - by Dan Milmo and Sam Jones

For the complete report from the Guardian Unlimited click on this link

Boeing 777: Safety fears over crash jet's alarm failure - by Dan Milmo and Sam Jones

The pilots of the British Airways Boeing 777 that crash landed at Heathrow on Thursday received no warning that the aircraft was losing power because of a problem with the aircraft's alarm systems, a source has told the Guardian. Because there was no signal from the Boeing 777's automatic warning system, the pilots did not realize anything was wrong until they approached the runway and noticed the plane was losing speed more rapidly than normal. The plane "fell out of the sky" just 10ft from the ground after stalling as it came in to land.

The fact that the pilots, Captain Peter Burkill and senior first officer, John Coward, did not receive an automated warning of the drop in engine power will cause concern about the safety of systems on the 777 of which more than 600 are in service. Although all commercial airplanes have programmed "inhibitions" on certain warnings so that the crew are not distracted by unnecessary alarms during the crucial takeoff and landing procedures, the alarm should have been triggered when the engines failed.The Guardian has also learned that a key instrument, the engine pressure ratio gauge, which tells the crew how much power is available, had failed. The pilots tried to coax more power from the 777, but it did not respond, according to an aviation source. Realising every ounce of lift would be needed to nurse the plane over Heathrow's perimeter fence, Coward, who was at the controls, dropped the nose to maintain speed. As he approached the fence, he lifted the nose, wringing the last reserves of energy from the plane. Then the aircraft narrowly missed a guidance beacon before stalling around 10ft from the ground. "It just fell out of the sky from a few feet," said the source. "It was the skill of the crew that kept those 136 people alive."