ASW, 8/09, P. 10

Safety News inBrief Pitot Probe Replacements

he European Aviation Safety Agency during flights at high altitudes in which improves A320 airplane airspeed (EASA) has proposed requiring op- inclement weather. Indications are that indication behavior in heavy rain condi- Terators of Airbus A330s and A340s the crew of an Air France A330 was tions,” the agency said. “This same pitot to replace the airplanes’ Thales Avionics experiencing such problems before probe standard has been made available pitot probes. the airplane crashed into the Atlantic as optional installation on A330/A340 The EASA said, in Proposed Air- Ocean on June 1, 2009, during a flight airplanes, and although this has shown worthiness Directive (PAD) 09-099, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris. an improvement over the previous … that the action followed reports of All 228 people in the airplane were standard, it has not yet demonstrated “airspeed indication discrepancies” killed. The investigation of the ac- the same level of robustness to with- by flight crews of A330s and A340s cident is continuing. stand high-altitude ice crystals as the A330s and Goodrich … probe.” A340s equipped The EASA said it would accept with Thales pitot comments on the PAD until Sept. 7, probes “appear 2009. The PAD did not indicate how to have a greater soon after that a final airworthiness susceptibility to directive would be issued but said that adverse environ- within four months after issuing the mental condi- final directive, Goodrich pitot probes tions” than those (part no. 0851HL) must be installed at equipped with pitot the captain and standby positions in probes manufac- place of the older Thales pitot probes tured by Goodrich, (part no. C16195AA). Probes at the first the EASA said. officer position also must be replaced, “A new Thales either with the same Goodrich probe or pitot probe … has with a new Thales pitot probe (part no. Brazilian Navy been designed C16195BA).

Obstacle Avoidance Ice Protection

he ground-based Obstacle Colli- ew U.S. certification standards sion Avoidance System (OCAS) have been adopted to require Thas been approved by the U.S. N a more timely activation of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ice protection systems on transport as the first audio-visual warning system category airplanes. to be used in U.S. airspace to warn The new standards implemented pilots against potential collisions with by the Federal Aviation Administration obstacles. (FAA) will require new transport air- OCAS Inc. said that its system craft designs to have either automati- Ann Mullikin uses a “low-power ground-based cally activated ice protection systems or radar” to track an aircraft’s proximity a method of alerting pilots to activate enough to warrant turning on their to an obstacle such as a power line, them. After their initial activation, the ice protection equipment,” said FAA tower or wind turbine. The system, systems must either operate continu- Administrator Randy Babbitt. which is installed on an obstacle, can ously, turn on and off automatically, or The rule applies only to designs for detect an aircraft’s proximity and alert pilots to cycle them. new transport category airplanes and to track and, if a collision is likely, can The certification change adds significant changes in current designs warn the pilot with flashing lights “another level of safety to prevent that “affect the safety of flight in icing and an audible alert. No additional situations where pilots are either conditions,” the FAA said. The agency equipment is required to be installed completely unaware of ice accumu- is considering further rule making that in an aircraft. lation or don’t think it’s significant would cover existing airplane designs.

www.flightsafety.org | AeroSafetyWorld | August 2009 | 9 inBrief

English Training Guidelines Hard Landings

wo international organizations are pilot-controller communications in finalizing guidelines for programs 2003 and defined six levels of language Tthat teach aviation English. proficiency — from “pre-elementary” at The International Civil Aviation Level 1 to “expert” at Level 6. Require- English Association (ICAEA) is working ments call for pilots and controllers to with the International Civil Aviation Or- demonstrate at least “operational” Level ganization (ICAO) to develop guidelines 4 proficiency to be permitted to be in- that recognize that training in aviation volved in international flight operations English “has specific objectives, content, after March 2011. criteria of proficiency, conditions of use, The ICAO Journal article quoted and professional and personal stakes ICAEA President Philip Shawcross as which set it apart from the teaching of saying that when the ICAO requirements language in any other area of human were introduced in 2003, they “essen- activity,” ICAO said in the ICAO Journal tially required that an entire new train- who were having to seek out suitable (Volume 64, No. 3). ing sector be established in a very short programs in the training marketplace.” Until now, there has been “no formal period of time. We began to see materi- The ICAEA guidelines will empha- system of accreditation or qualification als and techniques being employed that size the importance of “plain language for schools or teachers developing and were not necessarily appropriate to the in an operational context [as] the prime delivering aviation English training,” ultimate objective, and so it became focus of aviation English training,” as ICAO said. an early goal for us not only to provide well as the need for lesson content that is ICAO formally designated Eng- information and guidance to educators relevant to the pilot or controller group

lish as the language for international but also to the aviation decision makers being trained. Kaspar© iStockphoto/Andreas

Learjet Design Change Sought

ombardier should be required to change the design of the were stowed.” The NTSB said that the findings prompted thrust lever system in its Learjet 60 in the aftermath of a concern about “safety issues involving inadvertent stowage of Bfatal Sept. 19, 2008, crash, the U.S. National Transporta- the thrust reversers.” tion Safety Board (NTSB) says. “In March 2009, Learjet published a Federal Aviation Ad- Both pilots and two of the four passengers in the Global ministration (FAA)-approved temporary flight manual (TFM) Exec Aviation Learjet were killed in the late-night crash, in change in procedures, which described improved methods which the airplane overran the runway during departure from for quickly recognizing and handling situations when inad- Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. vertent stowage occurs,” the NTSB said. “However, the NTSB The NTSB investigation of the accident is continuing, is concerned that Learjet 60 pilots are not sufficiently trained but an examination of the engines found “evidence consistent to recognize that a failure could occur during takeoff as well with high thrust … and indicated that the thrust reversers as landing phases of flight and could subsequently result in the loss of system logic control requirements for maintaining deployed thrust reversers during a rejected takeoff.” The NTSB issued six safety recommendations to the FAA, including a call for the agency to require the design change “so that the reverse lever positions in the cockpit match the positions of the thrust-reverser mechanisms at the engines when the thrust reversers stow.” Another recommendation said the FAA should require training for Learjet 60 pilots “for takeoff as well as landing phases of flight on recognizing an inadvertent thrust reverser stowage, including the possibility that the stowage can occur when the requirements for deploying thrust reversers are not fully met, such as when the air/ground sensor squat switch circuits are damaged.” Bombardier

10 | flight safety foundation | AeroSafetyWorld | August 2009 inBrief

Hard Landings

perators should provide more training in procedures for The “primary trigger” for a hard/heavy landing report reporting suspected hard landings, the U.K. Civil Aviation should be the aircraft commander’s subjective evaluation of OAuthority (CAA) says in a new flight operations division the event, the report said, adding, “It must be clear to crew and communication. maintenance staff that all suspected hard/heavy landings must The communication was issued as a result of the U.K. Air be reported before further flight to permit a full investigation Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report on the hard land- and determination of continued airworthiness.” ing of an Airbus A321 at Manchester Airport on July 18, 2008. The AAIB said that the airplane was “not flared sufficiently” and the subsequent landing was “severe hard.” Neverthe- less, the AAIB said, “the possibility of a landing parameter exceedance was not reported by the crew following discussion with ground engineers who had been on the flight. The pres- ence of a landing parameter exceedance report was identified after a further two sectors had been flown, when an unrelated inspection of the landing gear found a crack in a wing rib gear support lug.” The CAA said that data systems in this particular A321 were not configured to automatically generate exceedance reports; instead, the data management unit (DMU) had to be in- terrogated manually. The pilots believed that, because the DMU had not produced a report, there had been no hard landing. The CAA said operators should “provide clear guidance and training to all staff to enable them to correctly report a suspected hard/heavy landing to enable investigation prior to any further operations.” Satyajit © D.

Wind Farms vs. ATC In Other News …

urocontrol is developing guidelines A comment period will continue he International Air Trans- for the assessment and mitigation of through January 2010. port Association has signed a Ethe effects of wind farms on air traf- Tmemorandum of understand- fic control surveillance systems. ing with India to “enhance the “Wind turbines can potentially have skills and knowledge of Indian a detrimental impact on the performance civil aviation personnel to sup- of surveillance systems used for air traffic port the development of In- control,” Eurocontrol said. “A wind farm dian aviation.” … The Australian could cause the loss or corruption of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority declared aircraft’s position, or may create (CASA) has begun a campaign false targets. These create additional to ensure that operators of model work for air traffic controllers and may aircraft and rockets comply with also result in safety issues.” safety rules that require them to The proposed guidelines were remain away from airports and developed in consultation with civil and below 400 ft in controlled airspace, military providers of surveillance systems unless they have CASA’s approval. in Europe, with input from Australia, The campaign follows an incident Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the involving a model aircraft being United States. flown near the Perth airport. © Tore Johannesen/iStockphoto

Compiled and edited by Linda Werfelman.