Aerosafety World, October 2007
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AeroSafety WORLD PRECISION-LIKE APPROACHES USE EXISTING CAPABILITIES BETTER INSIDIOUS ICE ARMAVIA A320 AT SOCHI Runway surface microweather Causal factors CABIN AIR CORPORATE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS Dry but generally harmless Getting the right training THEFlight JOURNAL Safety OF FFoundationLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION OCTOBER 2007 PRESIDENT’sMESSAGE Community he air safety situation in Brazil has been an What not many people know is that, in that issue since my first day on the job at the same week, there were victories in Brazil for Foundation. Everything started unraveling the protection of safety information. The safety with the midair collision between an Em- professionals in Brazil have been fighting back. Tbraer Legacy and a Gol Boeing 737-800. Within On Aug. 7, the investigator-in-charge refused hours, the highest levels of the Brazilian govern- to provide the House of Representatives with ment engaged in outrageous finger-pointing information from the accident investigation. He and speculation. Air traffic controllers revolted cited in court a 1994 Supreme Court ruling barring against what they characterized as unsafe condi- the incarceration of people who refuse to release tions and set off national air transportation and data protected by duty or professional obligation. political crises. We will have to wait for the of- It worked. The information was protected and he ficial investigation’s conclusions, but numerous didn’t go to jail. errors and circumstances apparently combined It didn’t end there. That same morning, crimi- to cause that tragedy. That errors were made is nal prosecutors seized computers and register understandable. That many warning signs were books from some ATC facilities. The seizure was ignored is troubling. appealed to a higher court and was reversed. Since On July 17, we got another reminder of what then, there has been talk of an initiative within can happen when warning signs are ignored. A Brazil’s House of Representatives to revise their TAM A320 skidded off the runway at Congonhas laws based on best practices elsewhere for the Airport, São Paulo, killing 199 people. Again, it protection of safety data. will be a while before we know the causes, but The safety professionals in Brazil are doing this happened at a difficult airport under difficult their job. They don’t make as much noise as the conditions. Previous incidents and safety reports politicians, but they are having an effect. They had warned of problems. Unfortunately, the safety are risking their careers and their liberty to do situation wasn’t really under control of the safety the right thing. Our job in the safety community officials. Instead, judges and city politicians de- is to make sure such efforts don’t go unnoticed, bated the types of airplane that could operate on or unsupported. We must not forget that their the runway and the conditions required. fight is our fight. That is what it means to be a Another political frenzy followed the Con- community. gonhas tragedy. The most discouraging moment came on Aug. 1, when the transcript of the cockpit voice recording was made public as part of an investigation by the Brazilian House of Repre- sentatives; the international press sensationalized the last few moments of that crew’s struggle. The William R. Voss recording should have been protected as part of President and CEO the safety investigation under international law, Flight Safety Foundation but the information took pressure off politicians and officials responsible for the airport. WWW.FLIGHTSAFETY.ORG | AEROSAFETYWORLD | OCTOBER 2007 | 1 AeroSafetyWORLD October2007 Vol 2 Issue 10 contents12 features 12 CoverStory | Advent of Precision-Like Approaches 22 InSight | Missing Perspectives 24 FlightOps | Insidious Ice 22 29 SafetyRegulation | Ice Protection Proposal 31 AviationMedicine | Airing It Out 38 CabinSafety | Beyond Passenger Service 44 CausalFactors | Into the Black Sea departments 1 President’sMessage | Community 5 EditorialPage | Glut 6 SafetyCalendar | Industry Events 8 InBrief | Safety News 24 36 LeadersLog | John W. Douglass 2 | FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION | AEROSAFETYWORLD | OCTOBER 2007 44 Sochi contents 31 38 AeroSafetyWORLD telephone: +1 703.739.6700 43 FoundationFocus | Membership Update William R. Voss, publisher, FSF president and CEO [email protected], ext. 108 50 | Separation Maintained DataLink J.A. Donoghue, editor-in-chief, FSF director of publications 53 InfoScan | Handle With Care [email protected], ext. 116 Mark Lacagnina, senior editor [email protected], ext. 114 57 OnRecord | Hammered by Hail Wayne Rosenkrans, senior editor [email protected], ext. 115 Linda Werfelman, senior editor [email protected], ext. 122 Rick Darby, associate editor [email protected], ext. 113 Karen K. Ehrlich, web and print production coordinator [email protected], ext. 117 Ann L. Mullikin, production designer [email protected], ext. 120 Susan D. Reed, production specialist About the Cover [email protected], ext. 123 More-precise approaches using existing equipment. Patricia Setze, librarian © D. Satyajit [email protected], ext. 103 Editorial Advisory Board We Encourage Reprints (For permissions, go to <www.flightsafety.org/asw_home.html>) David North, EAB chairman, consultant Share Your Knowledge William R. Voss, president and CEO If you have an article proposal, manuscript or technical paper that you believe would make a useful contribution to the ongoing dialogue about aviation safety, we will be Flight Safety Foundation glad to consider it. Send it to Director of Publications J.A. Donoghue, 601 Madison St., Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314-1756 USA or [email protected]. The publications staff reserves the right to edit all submissions for publication. Copyright must be transferred to the Foundation for a contribution to be published, and J.A. Donoghue, EAB executive secretary payment is made to the author upon publication. Flight Safety Foundation Sales Contacts J. Randolph Babbitt, president and CEO Europe, Central USA, Latin America Asia Pacific, Western USA Eclat Consulting Joan Daly, [email protected], tel. +1.703.983.5907 Pat Walker, [email protected], tel. +1.415.387.7593 Steven J. Brown, senior vice president–operations Northeast USA and Canada Regional Advertising Manager National Business Aviation Association Tony Calamaro, [email protected], tel. +1.610.449.3490 Arlene Braithwaite, [email protected], tel. +1.410.772.0820 Subscriptions: Subscribe to AeroSafety World and become an individual member of Flight Safety Foundation. One year subscription for 12 issues Barry Eccleston, president and CEO includes postage and handling — US$350. Special Introductory Rate — $280. Single issues are available for $30 for members, $45 for nonmembers. Airbus North America For more information, please contact the membership department, Flight Safety Foundation, 601 Madison Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314-1756 USA, Don Phillips, freelance transportation +1 703.739.6700 or [email protected]. reporter AeroSafety World © Copyright 2007 by Flight Safety Foundation Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 1934-4015 (print)/ ISSN 1937-0830 (digital). Published 12 times a year. Suggestions and opinions expressed in AeroSafety World are not necessarily endorsed by Flight Safety Foundation. Russell B. Rayman, M.D., executive director Nothing in these pages is intended to supersede operators’ or manufacturers’ policies, practices or requirements, or to supersede government regulations. Aerospace Medical Association WWW.FLIGHTSAFETY.ORG | AEROSAFETYWORLD | OCTOBER 2007 | 3 Serving Aviation Safety Interests for More Than 50 Years OFFICERS AND STAFF light Safety Foundation is an international membership organization dedicated to Chairman, Board of Governors Amb. Edward W. the continuous improvement of aviation safety. Nonprofit and independent, the Stimpson Foundation was launched officially in 1947 in response to the aviation industry’s need President and CEO William R. Voss F for a neutral clearinghouse to disseminate objective safety information, and for a credible Executive Vice President Robert H. Vandel General Counsel and knowledgeable body that would identify threats to safety, analyze the problems and and Secretary Kenneth P. Quinn, Esq. recommend practical solutions to them. Since its beginning, the Foundation has acted in the Treasurer David J. Barger public interest to produce positive influence on aviation safety. Today, the Foundation provides ADMINISTRATIVE leadership to more than 1,140 individuals and member organizations in 142 countries. Manager, Support Services Linda Crowley Horger FINANCIAL MemberGuide Chief Financial Officer Penny Young Flight Safety Foundation Staff Accountant Maya Barbee 601 Madison Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA, 22314-1756 USA tel: +1 703.739.6700 fax: +1 703.739.6708 MEMBERSHIP www.flightsafety.org Director, Membership and Development Ann Hill Membership Services Coordinator Namratha Apparao Membership Services Coordinator Ahlam Wahdan CommUNICATIONS Director of Communications Emily McGee TECHNICAL Director of Technical Programs James M. Burin Technical Programs Specialist Millicent Wheeler Member enrollment ext. 105 Technical Specialist/ Ann Hill, director, membership and development [email protected] Safety Auditor Robert Feeler Seminar registration ext. 101 Manager of Namratha Apparao, membership services coordinator [email protected] Aviation Safety Audits Darol V. Holsman Seminar/AeroSafety