IATA's Air Safety Scorecard
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its 44th annual Safety Report showing that the 2007 global accident rate of 0.75 hull losses for every million flights by Western-built jet aircraft was slightly higher than the 0.65 rate recorded in 2006. This was largely the result of fatal... [read more]
BA 777 Crash Probe Focuses on Fuel
British air accident investigators probing the Jan. 17 crash landing of British Airways Flight 88 at London Heathrow continue to focus on fuel supply issues as the culprit in the spectacular total aircraft loss, the first-ever crash of a Boeing 777-236ER (G-YMMM). A week after the crash landing, the British...
RX for Disaster
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued its final report on a fatal December 2006 accident in which pilot error and impairment from medications factored in the aircraft loss. On December 22, 2006 a six-place Cessna 340A (N808RA) piloted by an orthopedic surgeon crashed in the Stono River...
Another EMS Aircraft Loss
A University of Wisconsin medical flight ended in tragedy May 10 with the fatal nighttime crash of an American Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter on a wooded bluff five miles outside downtown La Crosse, WI. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) helicopter was on a return trip to Madison after ferrying a patient to...
Nigeria Acts on Air Safety
The Nigerian Senate, acting on Senate Committee on Aviation recommendations, has approved an investigation into the disbursement and utilization of the intervention fund released by former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration in 2006 for the rehabilitation and development of infrastructure in the...
A (New) Wing and a Prayer
New wings are the answer to U.S. Air Force concerns on the aging A-10 Thunderbolt II, a tactical aircraft flying since 1975. Air Force officials awarded a contract to Boeing last year for 242 new A-10 wings constructed and delivered to depots for installment on existing Warthogs by 2011. Not all 356 of the...
Precision Landing System Ready for Takeoff
After many years of technology refinement, the USAF's Electronic Systems Center-led land-based increment of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) is poised to progress to the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase. The system uses the Global Positioning System, or GPS, to enable...
Iraqi Bird Study to Help Reduce Aircraft Mishaps
One of the U.S. Air Force's greatest airpower adversaries doesn't wear the uniform of another country; it wears feathers. Both deadly and expensive, aircraft accidents and mishaps caused by collisions with birds have cost the service approximately $35 million each year since 1985, according to USAF safety...
Eurocontrol DG in Media Meet
David McMillan, director general of Eurocontrol, recently met with Washington, DC-based media at a Newsmaker Breakfast sponsored by the Flight Safety Foundation. Both general media and representatives from the trade press attended the breakfast to hear about the latest activities of Eurocontrol, the European...
Integrating UAS into European Airspace
Eurocontrol has initiated a major program intended to ensure the safe and efficient integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the European Air Traffic Management (ATM) Network. Eurocontrol is providing the European lead on the ATM aspects of UAS flight outside segregated airspace. "The...
Safety and Technology Trends
Passenger Sues JetBlue Over Toilet Time Reuters reports that a New York man has sued JetBlue for $2 million, saying he was denied a seat on a flight and was instead told to "hang out" in the plane's bathroom. The cash would compensate for "extreme humiliation." When the passenger arrived...
Security Shortlines
Travel Downturn Predicted Fewer Americans are expected to fly this summer, but do not expect more empty seats as carriers park planes to help offset surging fuel costs. Airlines are reducing their capacity amidst a slow economy and rising jet fuel prices and the Air Transport Association says planes will be...
Safety Rules and Regs
AD 2008-10-51; Docket No. FAA-2008-0544; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-099-AD Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2008-NM-099-AD is sent to all owners and operators of all Dornier Model 328-100 and -300 airplanes. Background: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for...
Accidents and Incidents
Date Aircraft Type Narrative Death/Injury Remarks April 23, 2008 Parma, Italy Piper PA-46-350P German Regis D-EPOE A/c struck power lines and impacted terrain after departing on a local flight from Parma Airport (LIMP) Three fatalities Info obtained from Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) of...
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