Sunday, December 04, 2016

Embraer ERJ-175, operated by SkyWest Airlines, N161SY: Incident occurred December 04, 2016 at San Antonio International Airport (KSAT), Texas

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this incident. 

Aviation Incident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf 


Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms


http://registry.faa.gov/N161SY


Location: San Antonio, TX
Incident Number: ENG17IA005
Date & Time: 12/04/2016, 1453 CST
Registration: N161SY
Aircraft: EMBRAER ERJ170 200LR
Aircraft Damage: Minor
Defining Event: Landing gear collapse
Injuries: 1 Minor, 54 None
Flight Conducted Under:  Part 121: Air Carrier - Scheduled 

On December 04, 2016, about 1453 central daylight time, N161SY, an Embraer ERJ170 200L, operated by SkyWest Airlines, experienced an uncommanded retractionof the nose landing gear during rollout after landing on runway 4 at the San Antonio International Airport (KSAT), San Antonio, TX. The aircraft was originally scheduled to land at General Mariano Escobedo Int'l Airport (MMTY), Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. However, after departure from the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (KIAH), Houston, Texas the crew heard a loud "thud/pop" just aft of the flight deck. Because no warnings or indications were displayed on the flight deck, the crew decided to proceed to MMTY. When the landing gear was extended on approach, the crew received warning indications regarding the landing gear position and a "LDG GEAR LEVER DISAGREE" message. The crew declared a missed approach, retracted the landing gear per the quick reference handbook (QRH) procedures, and elected to divert to KSAT. Upon entering US airspace, the crew declared an emergency and performed a flyby of the control tower to verify landing gear position. The tower confirmed that the gear appeared to be in the down position. After touchdown on runway 4, during the landing rollout the nose gear retracted, without command, as the aircraft slowed to a stop. The crew and passengers evacuated the aircraft from the aft cabin doors via the evacuation slides. The airplane sustained minor damage. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan had been filed for the flight.

Pilot Information

Certificate: Airline Transport
Age: 38
Airplane Rating(s): Multi-engine Land; Single-engine Land
Seat Occupied: Left
Other Aircraft Rating(s): None
Restraint Used: 5-point
Instrument Rating(s): None
Second Pilot Present:
Instructor Rating(s): None
Toxicology Performed: No
Medical Certification: Class 1 With Waivers/Limitations
Last FAA Medical Exam: 05/01/2016
Occupational Pilot: Yes
Last Flight Review or Equivalent:
Flight Time:   2814 hours (Total, all aircraft), 685 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 189 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 46 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft), 11 hours (Last 24 hours, all aircraft)

Co-Pilot Information

Certificate: Airline Transport; Flight Instructor
Age:
Airplane Rating(s): Multi-engine Land; Single-engine Land
Seat Occupied: Right
Other Aircraft Rating(s): None
Restraint Used: 5-point
Instrument Rating(s): None
Second Pilot Present:
Instructor Rating(s):  Airplane Multi-engine; Airplane Single-engine; Instrument Airplane
Toxicology Performed: No
Medical Certification: Class 1 Without Waivers/Limitations
Last FAA Medical Exam: 01/01/2016
Occupational Pilot: Yes
Last Flight Review or Equivalent:
Flight Time:  862 hours (Total, all aircraft), 132 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 27 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft), 11 hours (Last 24 hours, all aircraft)

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: EMBRAER
Registration: N161SY
Model/Series: ERJ170 200LR 200LR
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Year of Manufacture: 2016
Amateur Built: No
Airworthiness Certificate: Transport
Serial Number: 17000569
Landing Gear Type: Retractable - Tricycle
Seats: 80
Date/Type of Last Inspection: 11/29/2016, Continuous Airworthiness
Certified Max Gross Wt.: 85517 lbs
Time Since Last Inspection:
Engines: 2 Turbo Fan
Airframe Total Time: 1307.3 Hours at time of accident
Engine Manufacturer: General Electric
ELT: C126 installed, not activated
Engine Model/Series: CF34-8E5
Registered Owner: SKYWEST AIRLINES INC
Rated Power: lbs
Operator: SKYWEST AIRLINES INC
Operating Certificate(s) Held: Flag carrier (121) 

The event airplane, an Embraer ERJ 170-200 LR, registration N161SY, serial number 17000569, was manufactured and delivered to the operator in 2016 and had accumulated 1,310 hours and 740 cycles. The NLG downlock springs were installed during manufacture and had accumulated the same time and cycles as the airframe.

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KSAT
Distance from Accident Site:
Observation Time: 1851 UTC
Direction from Accident Site:
Lowest Cloud Condition:
Visibility: 10 Miles
Lowest Ceiling: Overcast / 1300 ft agl
Visibility (RVR):
Wind Speed/Gusts: 10 knots /
Turbulence Type Forecast/Actual: / None
Wind Direction: 20°
Turbulence Severity Forecast/Actual: /
Altimeter Setting: 29.8 inches Hg
Temperature/Dew Point:
Precipitation and Obscuration:
Departure Point: HOUSTON, TX (IAH)
Type of Flight Plan Filed: IFR
Destination: Monterrey, FN (MMTY)
Type of Clearance: IFR
Departure Time: 1153 CST
Type of Airspace: Class B; Class D 

Airport Information

Airport: SAN ANTONIO INTL (SAT)
Runway Surface Type: Concrete
Airport Elevation: 809 ft
Runway Surface Condition: Wet
Runway Used: 04
IFR Approach: None
Runway Length/Width: 8505 ft / 150 ft
VFR Approach/Landing: Unknown

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 4 None
Aircraft Damage: Minor
Passenger Injuries: 1 Minor, 50 None
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Minor, 54 None
Latitude, Longitude: 29.531389, -98.468333 

Injuries To Persons

One minor injury was reported by a passenger which occurred during the evacuation of the aircraft. 

Damage To Aircraft

Scraping damage was reported to the lower fuselage skin, forward of the nose landing gear bay and the nose landing gear doors. Minor scraping to the underside of the right-hand engine nacelle was also reported. During the aircraft recovery, a failed downlock spring was found lodged in a lightening hole in the nose landing gear yoke, which obstructed the downlock operation for the nose landing gear. 

Flight Recorders

The aircraft was equipped with two combination Cockpit Voice Flight Data Recorders (CVFDR) which recorder identical sets of voice and parametric data. One CVFDR was sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders laboratory in Washington, DC for examination. The CVFDR recorded relevant data for landing gear and hydraulic system for the incident flight, and several previous flights. Due to the successful download of the stored data the other CVFDR was not downloaded for the investigation. The Flight Data Recorder Specialist's Factual Report can be found in the pubic docket for this incident. 

Tests And Research

The NLG downlock springs were removed and shipped to the NTSB Materials laboratory in Washington, DC. The right NLG downlock spring was received intact. The left NLG downlock spring was received in two separate pieces. The NLG downlock spring separated in the ninth coil from the lower end due to progressive crack formation. No evidence of overstress was observed.

During a visual inspection, external surfaces of the downlock spring wire had small openings, which resulted in surface roughness measurements that were above the allowable limit set by Embraer. Cross-sections prepared through multiple downlock spring coils along the length of the spring showed intergranular cracking at the openings. The openings and cracking were associated with white etching microstructure of the wire that was consistent with retained austenite, while the base material of the coils had microstructure consistent with martensite, as specified. The amount of retained austenite in a circumferential surface layer of the downlock spring coils was above the allowable limit specified by Embraer per AMS 5678.

Two spring pieces (an end segment and a ring segment) were documented using radiographic images. The computed tomography (CT) slice images were examined, processed, and analyzed by the NTSB to evaluate the components. The results of the CT imaging were inconclusive in locating crack location in the spring segments.

The manufacturer provided information to the NTSB regarding additional NLG and MLG downlock springs that failed during operations. The spring from this incident was the only one which resulted in an uncommanded gear retraction on landing. Manufacturing records for the incident spring were reviewed and compared with other events. The manufacturer identified a suspect batch of raw material for the springs, common to multiple events and springs with higher than allowable amounts of retained austenite. The aircraft manufacturer performed multiple quality audits throughout the supply chain for the spring manufacturing process and shared the results with the investigative team. 

Additional Information


On March 1st, 2017, Embraer released a retrofit letter, in conjunction with service bulletins for the E170/175 and E190/195 fleet. The letter addressed an inspection and possible replacement of the NLG downlock springs manufactured from certain material batches.

NTSB Identification: ENG17IA005
Scheduled 14 CFR Part 121: Air Carrier operation of SKYWEST AIRLINES INC
Incident occurred Sunday, December 04, 2016 in San Antonio, TX
Aircraft: EMBRAER ERJ170 200LR, registration: N161SY
Injuries: 1 Minor, 54 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft incident report.


On December 04, 2016, about 1453 central daylight time, N161SY, an Embraer ERJ170 200L, operated by SkyWest Airlines, experienced a collapse of the nose landing gear during rollout after landing on runway 4 at the San Antonio International Airport (KSAT), San Antonio, TX. The aircraft was originally scheduled to land at General Mariano Escobedo Int'l Airport (MMTY), Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. However, after departure from the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (KIAH), Houston, Texas the crew heard a loud "thud/pop" just aft of the flight deck. Because no warnings or indications were displayed on the flight deck, the crew decided to proceed to MMTY. When the landing gear was extended on approach, the crew received warning indications regarding the landing gear position and a "LDG GEAR LEVER DISAGREE" message. The crew declared a missed approach, retracted the landing gear per the quick reference handbook (QRH) procedures, and elected to divert to KSAT. Upon entering US airspace, the crew declared an emergency and performed a flyby of the control tower to verify landing gear position. The tower confirmed that the gear appeared to be in the down position. After touchdown on runway 4, during the landing rollout the nose gear collapsed as the aircraft slowed to a stop. The crew and passengers evacuated the aircraft from the aft cabin doors via the evacuation slides. During the aircraft recovery, a failed downlock spring was found impeding the downlock operation of the nose landing gear. The downlock springs from the nose landing gear have been retained by the NTSB for further examination. The airline transport pilot and passengers was not injured. The airplane sustained minor damage. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan had been filed for the flight.



According to the San Antonio Fire Department, an aircraft that reported an in-flight emergency on approach to San Antonio International Airport at about 2 p.m., landed and all 55 passengers were safely evacuated from the aircraft.

According to department spokesman Woody Woodward, a flight radioed it was having problems with its landing gear on approach to the airport. 

The plane managed to get its gear down, but upon touchdown, the landing gear collapsed. 

Woodward said everyone in the aircraft was safely evacuated and that there was no fire. 

He reports several passengers complained of minor injuries and according to scanner chatter there may have been some sprained ankles. No serious injuries were reported,

It is still unknown what type of aircraft was involved. 

An eyewitness said lights and activity from emergency response vehicles could be seen on the far north side of the airport, near private hangars, not the main airport terminals.

Though air traffic controllers were overheard telling flights that the runways were closed during the emergency. 

About 3:30 p.m. the airport was opened back up to air traffic, according to air traffic control chatter. 

Source:  http://www.mysanantonio.com



SAN ANTONIO - A plane made an emergency landing at San Antonio International Airport Sunday. The pilot declared an in-flight emergency after the plane began having issues with its landing gear, an official with San Antonio International Airport said.

One runways was closed closed to traffic while responders remained at the scene. People with flights in and out of the airport are urged to contact their airline.

A spokesman with San Antonio Fire Department said the plane landed without its landing gear and the nose of the aircraft collapsed. 

Fifty-five people were on board the plane, the official said. Only a few minor injuries were reported.

The emergency was declared just after 2 p.m. Sunday.

Nearly two dozen emergency units responded to the scene.

Source:  http://www.ksat.com

Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II, Twin Flyer Club Basel, HB-LSD: Fatal accident occurred December 07, 2016 at Basel-Mulhouse Euro Airport (LFSB), France

NTSB Identification: CEN17WA051
Accident occurred Wednesday, December 07, 2016 in Alsace, France
Aircraft: PIPER PA-34-200T, registration:
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

The foreign authority was the source of this information.

On December 7, 2016, at 1644 coordinated universal time, a Piper PA-34-200T airplane, Switzerland registration HB-LSD, was destroyed when it collided with the terrain near Alsace, France. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane departed the Nurnberg Airport (EDDN), near Bayern, Germany at an unconfirmed time and was destined for the Bale-Mulhouse Airport (LFSB), Alsace, France, when the accident occurred.

This investigation is under the jurisdiction and control of the French government. Any further information may be obtained from:

Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses
pour la securite de l'aviation civile
Zone Sud - Batiment 153
200 rue de Paris
Aeroport du Bourget
93352 Le Bourget Cedex
France
Tel: +33 1 49 92 72 00
Fax: +33 1 49 92 72 03
www.bea.aero 

This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information released by, or obtained from, the BEA of France.

L’aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse (EuroAirport) était bloqué hier soir : aucun vol ni au départ ni à l’arrivée, après le crash d’un petit avion de tourisme qui a fait un mort.

Les messages d’incompréhension, voire de colère, défilaient hier soir sur le réseau social Twitter. Des centaines de supporters anglais du club de football londonien d’Arsenal se plaignaient en effet d’être bloqués – comme d’autres passagers – à l’aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse, et d’être peu informés sur la raison des annulations ou retards de vols.

Visibilité exécrable

Arrivés la veille pour assister au match de Ligue des Champions entre le FC Bâle et le club anglais managé par Arsène Wenger, ces supporters devaient repartir hier.

Mais à 17 h 41, un avion de tourisme qui devait atterrir à l’EuroAirport a connu des difficultés et s’est crashé au seuil de la piste principale Nord-Sud. Mauvaises conditions climatiques, et donc visibilité exécrable due à un brouillard dense ? Problème technique ? Aucune information n’a été donnée hier soir. L’avion s’est embrasé et le corps d’une personne, le pilote, a été retrouvé parmi les débris de l’appareil.

Après cet accident, l’EuroAirport a donc décidé de fermer les pistes et de suspendre les vols, le temps de dégager les débris et de procéder aux constatations, jusqu’à 23 h au moins. « Le service de sauvetage et de lutte contre l’incendie des aéronefs (SSLIA) de l’EuroAirport s’est rendu immédiatement sur les lieux » pour éteindre le feu, a précisé hier soir la direction de l’aéroport. La piste principale a été fermée afin que la Brigade de gendarmerie des transports aériens (BGTA) puisse entamer ses premières investigations.

L’avion qui s’est écrasé au sol est un Piper PA-34 Seneca, d’une capacité de quatre places et capable de voler à une vitesse de croisière de 370 km/h avec un rayon d’action de 1 300 km. Ce bimoteur de l’école de pilotage venait d’Allemagne et rentrait à sa base située à l’EuroAirport.

http://www.dna.fr

Fisher Celebrity, N28JF: Accident occurred December 04, 2016 near Hampton Airfield (7B3), Rockingham County, New Hampshire

Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

http://registry.faa.gov/N28JF

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office: Portland, Maine

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf 

Docket And Docket Items -   National Transportation Safety Board:     https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

NTSB Identification: GAA17CA087
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, December 04, 2016 in North Hampton, NH
Probable Cause Approval Date: 03/13/2017
Aircraft: JACK FEHLING CELEBRITY, registration: N28JF
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The pilot reported that, during the approach to land, the biplane was low and to the right of the runway centerline. He further reported that to recover from the low altitude he added power, but the biplane struck a tree, which impaired its controllability. Subsequently, the biplane glided into small tree(s) and brush and came to rest nose down. 

The biplane sustained substantial damage to all four wings and struts.
The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot’s unstabilized approach, which resulted in the biplane being low and striking trees. 

The pilot reported that during the approach to land, the biplane was low and to the right of the runway centerline. He further reported that to recover from the low altitude he added power, but the biplane struck a tree, which impaired its controllability. Subsequently, the biplane glided into small tree(s) and brush coming to rest nose down.

The biplane sustained substantial damage to all four wings and struts.

The pilot reported that there were no pre impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

 


HAMPTON – No one was harmed when a 74-year-old pilot crashed a small biplane into a residential neighborhood Sunday while attempting to land at Hampton Airfield.

The pilot, a man from Newbury, Massachusetts, struck the top of a tree between 8 and 12 Reddington Landing with his biplane shortly after noon, according to Hampton Fire Capt. John Stevens. He then crashed into a patch of woods across the street next to 7 Reddington Landing, the plane's nose and wings badly damaged. Reddington Landing is near the southern end of the airfield's landing strip.

The pilot, whose name was not released, told first-responders he came in too low on his attempt to land, causing him to hit the top of the tree.

Sunday’s crash was the third involving small aircraft to occur at or around Hampton Airfield in the last three years. Two people were killed in a crash in 2014, and two others were badly injured in a crash in 2015, which they survived.

Stevens said the pilot was likely saved by a large amount of soft brush where it landed, softening the plane’s crash-landing.

“The small brush obviously served him well there,” Stevens said. “The smaller trees just kind of bent with him and allowed the plane to come down in a much gentler fashion compared to hitting a large tree.”

Chris Silver, the former Hampton fire chief who lives at 8 Reddington Landing, said he was inside his home when he heard the plane clip the tree, which is only a few feet from his house. He went outside to see the plane had crashed across the street, then went to help the pilot. He was soon joined by two other neighbors who together called 911 and helped the pilot get out of the plane.

Judi Savage, who lives at 7 Reddington Landing, said her children were playing in the woods close to where the plane crashed, which is only a few yards from her house. Her children ran inside to tell them to call 911, and her husband, John Savage, went out to join Silver in assisting the pilot.

Silver said the pilot appeared “a little shaken up” but unharmed. The pilot was then checked by an ambulance sent by North Hampton fire, and firefighters determined the pilot did not need to be transported to a hospital. Silver said the pilot then got a ride from the scene, and officials left Reddington Landing by 2 p.m. after marking off the crashed plane with yellow tape.

Stevens said the Federal Aviation Administration was notified of the crash and will begin conducting its own investigation.

Silver said he can recall seven plane crashes occurring in his 20 years living on Reddington Landing. He said he has always felt comfortable living close the airfield because he was always used to dealing with emergencies as a firefighter — though Sunday’s crash was the closest a plane has come to striking his house.

Judi Savage said plane crashes were less frequent when she first moved to the street. At that time, she said, crashes did not appear to be an imminent danger, but she has taken note of how frequently crashes have occurred in the last few years.

Garrett Miller, manager at Hampton Airfield, said Hampton Airfield would not comment on the crash, as it was “unrelated to the airport,” the crash having taken place off airfield property.

Hampton Police said the aircraft involved in the crash is called a Fisher Celebrity biplane and said that it was traveling from Beverly, Massachusetts, and heading to Hampton Airfield.

Source:  http://www.seacoastonline.com



HAMPTON — A pilot is left uninjured after his plane crashed across from 12 Reddington Landing at approximately noon on Sunday near the Hampton Airfield.


The fire department received a call at 12:32 p.m. and found the pilot, a 74-year-old man, had been able to remove himself from the crash and walk away from it. He was uninjured.


The pilot told rescuers that he was making an approach from the south when he clipped low branches and lost control of the aircraft, a 2015 Fisher Celebrity Biplane.


The fire department said that the low trees and brush wound up lowering the plane slowly, making the crash less dangerous than it may have been otherwise.


The FAA is investigating the situation. 


Source:  http://www.nh1.com





HAMPTON, N.H. - The pilot of a small plane is OK after crashing in Hampton.


The plane ended up getting caught on small trees and brush around 12:30 p.m. on Reddington Lane.


The 74-year-old pilot was able to get himself out of the plane without injuries.


The pilot told police he was too low on his approach to the North Hampton airfield and clipped a tree as he approached the runway.


Source:  http://www.fox25boston.com




HAMPTON, N.H. —    A single-engine plane crashed in the woods in Hampton Sunday afternoon.

Hampton and North Hampton police responded to the scene at 12:36 p.m. after a resident reported the crash.

The 74-year-old pilot had extracted himself from the plane by the time first responders arrived on scene, officials said.

The plane landed nose-down in a heavily wooded area. There was minor damage to the plane's wings and nose.

There was a small fuel leak, but fire officials determined that it was not an immediate hazard, fire officials said.

Officials said the Fisher Celebrity is registered to a man in Rye.

The North Hampton airfield is near the crash site, but officials said the plane was not at the airfield prior to the crash.

The pilot was evaluated by rescue crews and released at the scene, fire officials said.

The FAA is expected to investigate the crash on Monday.

Source:  http://www.wmur.com

Allegiant Air changes course by admitting it had too many aircraft mishaps

LAS VEGAS — Allegiant Air leaders who once battled any suggestion the carrier’s rate of emergency landings and other aircraft mishaps were unusually high are now taking a sharply different tack.

They’re offering something of a mea culpa.

The airline offered no pushback late last month when presented with a Tampa Bay Times analysis showing the carrier, in 2015, was four times as likely to suffer unscheduled landings due to mechanical problems as other major U.S. carriers.

“I can look at what we did (in 2015) and it wasn’t acceptable,” Allegiant CEO Maurice Gallagher Jr. said in an Oct. 26 interview at the company’s Las Vegas headquarters. “I don’t disagree with the thrust of your numbers. … We want to be well-known as being reliable and on time, and obviously safe, and that’s an important part of our brand. And we’re going to make sure we do those things. But if you stub your toe, step up and own it and move on.”

More openness by Allegiant may be particularly striking given the industry’s general abhorrence to discuss maintenance practices and emergencies.

“Well, you have to appreciate, you’re breaking pretty new ground here with this stuff,” Gallagher told the Times. “This industry historically has not talked about safety. There’s no upside to going out and talking about it.”

Throughout 2015, Allegiant was quick to blame its pilots union and the media for overhyping its rate of emergency landings, arguing that Allegiant had been unfairly scrutinized for routine events.

Gallagher, for example, told the Times in January that its stories about the budget airline were filled with “baseless assumptions and accusations.” One story, he said, “repeats the faulty premise that something is wrong with Allegiant. Let me be clear: There is not.”

But in interviews with the Times last month, Gallagher and other Allegiant leaders went further than ever in acknowledging the airline’s planes have suffered too many in-flight breakdowns.

That shift in tone includes Gallagher’s acknowledgment that one of the fastest-growing airlines in the nation will be slowing some of its expansion. “We just need to be more conservative,” Gallagher said.

In recent months, Allegiant has noted it needs to replace its fleet of aging MD-80 aircraft, which it said has proven far less reliable than it anticipated. To that end, the carrier is buying 12 new Airbus aircraft in the next two years, a departure from Allegiant’s business model of buying used aircraft at bargain prices.

In Ogdensburg, where Allegiant Air recently began offering direct flights between the Ogdensburg International Airport and destinations in Florida, officials at the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority are confident the carrier is safe, reliable and moving in the right direction.

Samuel J. LaMacchia, chairman of the OBPA board of directors, said he and other OBPA officials first had discussions with Allegiant Air more than three years ago regarding its potential for growth into the Northern New York market. Even at their most early juncture, he said, talks focused in part on safety and reliability.

“We go back to three and a half years ago and Allegiant was just starting their growth spurt, and we located them and they were the only airline that really had the business plan that would work for us for, and that had the ability to come to us,” Mr. LaMacchia said. “We looked into their safety records, we looked into what their development plans were three years ago, and they notified us three years ago that the MD-80s were a retiring fleet.”

Mr. LaMacchia said as Ogdensburg’s alliance with Allegiant Air moved forward, the Ogdensburg International Airport expansion project was tailored specifically to accommodate Allegiant Air’s expanding and newer fleet of Airbus A320 jets.

“The expansion was designed with the Airbus A320 in mind,” Mr. LaMacchia said. “The MD-80 can’t even fly out of our airport. It can’t come in, because it uses more runway space than the A320.”

The OBPA chairman said he and other OBPA officials keep close tabs on safety reports involving Allegiant Air, and have received assurances from company officials that the carrier takes seriously the safety of its passengers, pilots and crew. As a result, he said, he has 100 percent confidence in Allegiant Air’s ability to maintain the integrity of the planes it flies into and out of the north country.

“Absolutely. They said exactly what they were going to do and they provided us with a new airship that was going to provide service back and forth,” Mr. LaMacchia said. All of the airlines have similar issues, and I know they are a little more suspect maybe than other airlines, but if you look at the Airbus 320, it’s different. We have all of the confidence. It is a wonderful aircraft. It is clean, it’s nice, the service is great.”

Allegiant’s stance in June and July 2015, when a series of emergency landings at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport first attracted notice, was that nothing was amiss at the airline.

“Neither ourselves nor the FAA have found any trends that show us there is any cause for concern,” Allegiant spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler told the Times in June 2015.

At the time, Allegiant officials even indicated the age of its MD-80 aircraft was a red herring for anyone trying to link the planes to emergency landings.

“Maintenance events are not tied to any specific location or to the age of an aircraft,” the airline said in a written statement to the Times. “Most maintenance events are related not to the age of the aircraft, but rather to the number of takeoffs and landings (cycles) performed by an individual plane.”

Today, Gallagher said Allegiant has made important strides in improving its performance. But Allegiant is careful not to equate a lack of reliability with its aircraft to a lack of safety.

Allegiant began discussing its operational problems more openly earlier this year. In April, Gallagher addressed a room full of state and local government officials at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater hotel and acknowledged the airline had experienced a “bad summer” in 2015.

“When you put people and machines together, there are going to be problems,” Gallagher said at the time. “The issues you’ve read about in the paper are directly related to our own growth. We’ve since changed our management here (in Pinellas County). You won’t see that experience again.”

At about the same time, Allegiant chief operating officer Jude Bricker told Bloomberg News that the airline’s efforts to improve aircraft reliability have led to a lower rate of service interruptions such as aborted takeoffs and emergency landings, from 2.81 per 1,000 flights in April 2015 to 1.37 in March.

“We’re investing in everything we know to invest in,” Bricker said. “Most of the indicators we watch are positive. Everything is moving in the right direction.”

Certainly one lingering problem for Allegiant was fixed this summer when the airline’s pilots union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, agreed to a work contract. Allegiant had bluntly accused the union throughout 2015 and early 2016 of feeding media hype about aircraft maintenance problems.

“The Teamsters are trying everything they can do to make us look bad,” Allegiant’s then-COO Steve Harfst told the Times in September 2015.

But Gallagher’s latest comments indicate the carrier recognizes it bears some of the responsibility for that bruising publicity itself.

Story and comments:   http://www.watertowndailytimes.com

Scenes of yesteryear: Upside down over the Pacific



By John Russell 

Every once in a while I find myself thinking about the “good old days” when I was a senior about to graduate from Menomonie High School in June 1943. I welcomed the event and was pleased that I had survived 12 years of attending school — from kindergarten to my senior year — in the same building.

I was ready for a change. Unfortunately that “change” didn’t happen the way I wanted. Two weeks after my graduation from MHS, I turned 18 and it didn’t take long before my life was changed forever.

During the three years before graduating from Menomonie High, I was working as a clerk at Lee’s Drug Store, a job that found me working many school nights. And I was still working at Lee’s after graduation. One of my jobs was to deliver refreshing sodas and sundaes to the members of the Dunn County Draft Board at its monthly meetings where the fate of local men and boys and their future military service in the war was decided.

I was always the guy who delivered the treats, and when I took the tray with the goodies to their meetings, I often added “Ha, ha, you can’t catch me!” before I quickly left to return to Lee’s.

In the Navy now

Well, you know the rest of the story! It didn’t take long after my 18th birthdway for the draft board to find me. Four months later I was saluting Navy officers I didn’t know, followed by my assignment as a Navy photographer. I served in that role in Washington, D.C., Pensacola, Fla., San Diego, Calif., and was actively involved in the Pacific Theater on three small aircraft carriers: the USS Breton, USS White Plains, and the USS Shipley Bay.

For the next two years, I took and processed photographs of naval operations. It was a good life, considering the serious life of World War II. I had a spacious office and a darkroom, the latter the site of two bunk beds to accommodate myself and another photographer. It was busy place where we processed all the film from the gun cameras on the fleet of the squadron’s fighting planes that flew from our carriers in such battles as Ishigahci, Sakashima, and Okinawa.

I never flew from our ship since the squadron on our ship had only room for the pilot, but in training I had many aerial trips flying in planes like the Dauntless pictured here. I was a photographer that flew in several Navy planes, and one of my favorites to fly in was the SBD Dauntless.

Undaunted


The only problem with this plane — and two or three of other planes I flew in — was that I was always behind the pilot and usually situated above the wing.

Since most of the subjects I was assigned to photograph from the my position on the plane was directly over the wing. To be able to “shoot” the action and avoid the problem of the wing being in the way, the pilot would flip the plane upside down to give me a full look at the subjects below.

To prevent falling out of the plane, I was held in place by a gunner’s belt. As you might expect, I did have an occasional problem.

One very memorable moment came while flying upside down. One of the two clips keeping me in the cockpit gave way — and I was left hanging with only one clip keeping from falling out of the plane. I never wore a parachute on these occasions because of the difficulty of holding the large camera required to take the needed photographs.

All of this happened more than 70 years ago. I’m happy to report that I have been graced with many more years living a much less dangerous life in 2016.

Source:  http://chippewa.com

Avro RJ.85, LaMia, CP-2933: Fatal accident occurred November 28, 2016 south of Rionegro/Medellín-José María Córdova Airport (MDE), Colombia

Doomed LaMia Flight’s Engines Began Shutting Down Several Minutes Before Crash: Colombian officials say pilots didn’t warn of total fuel loss until it was too late




The Wall Street Journal
By KEJAL VYAS
Updated Dec. 26, 2016 4:49 p.m. ET


BOGOTÁ, Colombia—Pilots of the doomed LaMia charter plane knew its engines were shutting down several minutes before the crash that killed 71 people, but failed to notify air-traffic control until it was too late, Colombian officials said Monday.

Investigators from Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority said the pilots didn’t report “a total electric failure without fuel” until two minutes before the aircraft collided at 145 miles an hour into a hillside just outside Medellín, Colombia on Nov. 28. While the crew had asked for priority landing, they didn’t indicate imminent danger and investigators said the pilots spoke with controllers “in a completely normal manner.”

“There was no technical failure, only human and managerial error,” Freddy Bonilla, head of the investigation team for Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority, said in the first official report since the accident.

The 28-day investigation found that the Avro RJ85 aircraft left Bolivia nearly 1,000 pounds overweight and flew at an altitude above 30,000 feet, even though the plane isn’t designed to travel above 28,000 feet, Mr. Bonilla said.

In addition, the flight’s 1,839-mile trip was near the aircraft’s capacity for a tank of fuel, the Colombian official said. “The flight crew was conscious of the fuel limits and that they did not adequately have what was needed,” Mr. Bonilla said, adding that headwinds may have caused the aircraft to use more fuel.

Bolivian aviation officials should not have permitted the flight to take off, Mr. Bonilla said. “The conditions for the flight—as presented in the flight plan—were unacceptable,” he said, noting that the flight form was incomplete, naming only one of a required two alternate landing destinations.

There was no immediate response from the Bolivian government, whose investigators last week blamed the accident on a series of miscues by the airline and the pilot, calling it an “isolated” incident. The country’s airport authority had earlier filed a criminal complaint against one of its officials for allowing the plane to depart despite the incomplete flight plan. The official, Celia Castedo, is seeking asylum in Brazil.

Both Bolivia and Colombia have suspended LaMia’s operating licenses. Pilot Miguel Quiroga, who perished in the crash, was a co-owner of the airline along with Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, who was arrested earlier this month in Bolivia on manslaughter charges

The pilot and his co-pilot discussed the possibility of landing to refuel here in the Colombian capital or in Leticia but decided to continue 45 minutes northwest toward Medellín, Mr. Bonilla said, citing audio recordings of the crew’s communications recovered from the plane’s black box. The recordings were synchronized with a 24-minute video flight simulation and presented by Mr. Bonilla.

Yaneth Molina, the air-traffic controller in Jose Maria Cordova International Airport, described the harrowing final minutes in an interview earlier Monday with Colombia’s Caracol Radio. The LaMia flight, she said, never alerted them of any major problems before suddenly beginning an unauthorized descent for landing, looking to cut in front of three other planes that were scheduled to land before.

“That’s when I called them and they tell me about an emergency,” Ms. Molina said. “There were 71 victims, but it was too close. They were practically on top of the other aircraft. It could’ve been worse,” she said.

Colombian civil aviation officials declined to speculate why the pilots decided not to make a stop or report their low-fuel status earlier. Investigators say a potential refueling stop for the jet, which was crossing over Colombia at night, could have been Cobija. However, that airport lacks runway lights after dark and the flight was already behind schedule. The flight’s operators also had a strong incentive not to declare a fuel emergency because it would have led to sanctions that could have grounded the company, potentially putting it out of business. According to Colombian law, pilots or flight crew members found of negligence can face suspension or fines of nearly $115,000, Mr. Bonilla said.

Onboard were 4 crew members, 20 journalists and Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, a professional Brazilian soccer team on a Cinderella season, traveling to its first ever finals of the South American Cup. Six people survived the crash.

Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority, which is working with investigators from Brazil, Bolivia, the U.K. and U.S., said it would release a final report with its findings in April.

Hunter finds wreckage of 1951 Cochise County, Arizona, plane crash









BISBEE, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) -

A hunter found debris from an old plane crash in Cochise County.

The debris was in an area north of San Simon and was discovered on Nov. 22, according to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.

Search and rescue personnel were able to plot the coordinates thanks to the hunter’s help.

The crash occurred in July 1951.Two brothers killed. 

Source:   http://www.cbs5az.com