Delta pilots oppose US Airways takeover

Just before the weekend, pilots at Delta Airlines reiterated their opposition to a takeover of their airline by US Airways. The Delta pilots have been opposed to the takeover from the outset, and since the pilots' union has a place on Delta's official committee of unsecured creditors, they may indeed have some clout in making sure that the US Airways bid fails.

A Reuters article on Airwise.com says:

The bid has been opposed by most Delta employees. The pilots' unions at America West and US Airways -- the two airlines that merged to form US Airways Group -- have also expressed reservations. But earlier this week the chief of the America West pilots' union said he was "neutral" to the bid and focused on protecting the interests of its members.

The Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said the new offer did not address issues it had raised earlier, including antitrust concerns, route overlaps, job losses and provisions of its contract with Delta.

It also said the increased offer would raise the debt load of the combined company by USD$1 billion.

"Delta pilots will not change any provision of our contract in order to facilitate the hostile takeover of our company," Lee Moak, chairman of the union's master executive council, wrote in a memo to pilots.

"As such, the MEC remains totally committed and one hundred percent focused on one thing -- the death of the US Airways' merger attempt," he added.

US Airways has said that any job cuts under its plan would be carried out through voluntary leaves of absence and attrition.

Good landing, wrong airport

This is NOT how you want to make the papers!

The Guardian in the UK tells the story this way:

As radio talk between pilots and air traffic controllers goes, it is not what passengers want to hear. Crew: "We've just touched down." Air traffic control: "It's the wrong airport." Crew: "I know."

An accident report yesterday revealed that a Dublin-based Eirjet plane, operated on behalf of Ryanair and carrying 39 passengers, had departed from Liverpool for Derry but landed five miles short at Ballykelly, a former RAF base used by the army.

An inquiry by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that the crew of the Airbus A320 had landed at Ballykelly after requesting permission to make a visual landing. Its automatic landing system was faulty, the report said. Once the 59-year-old captain saw Ballykelly, and not knowing there was another airfield in the vicinity, "his mind-set was this must be his destination airfield".

The co-pilot, it seems, was similarly minded. Part of the confusion was put down to the fact that the captain had not seen the Londonderry airfield map.

Don't they have Jepps over there on the other side of the pond??

The article says that the pax and their baggage were taken the remaining few miles to their final destination by road, and that another crew flew the aircraft out of Ballykenny.

Do locked cockpit doors impede communication?

There's an interesting article on the Airport Business website about an incident that happened aboard a British Airways aircraft last year that has prompted some re-thinking about locked cockpit doors.

The article, which was first published by The Scotsman, describes the incident that sparked the debate:

Cabin crew were unable to contact pilots during the evacuation of a British Airways aircraft at Edinburgh airport last January after flames were seen shooting from an engine, investigators have reported.

The staff wrongly thought the plane's communication system had been knocked out, and could not reach the pilots because the cockpit door was locked. They decided to evacuate the 98 London bound passengers after seeing a 6ft flame coming from the rear of one of the plane's four engines.

One of the three cabin crew said a passenger had a "horrified look" on his face, while others had already left their seats and were moving to the front of the Avro 146-RJ100 aircraft.

The report said some passengers and a member of the cabin crew at the rear of the aircraft were not aware an emergency evacuation was in progress until they reached the front of the cabin.

As a result of that incident, BA crews are now being specifically trained on as how to operate the communications system in reduced power. In addition, the UK government also has agreed that doors between the passenger cabin and the flight deck should remain unlocked until after an aircraft's engines are started to enable access in case there is a power failure.

Read the whole article here: Engine Fire Spurs Britain to Change Rules on a Locked Cockpit - Airport Business.

AA begins to recall furloughed pilots

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that American Airlines has recalled 11 furloughed pilots, the first to be invited back since layoffs began more than five years ago.

According to the article:

American spokeswoman Sue Gordon said the first group began training last week. Five were from the last group of pilots furloughed in April 2005, and six are more senior pilots who had volunteered to be furloughed.

To get the initial 11 pilots, American extended recall offers to about 80 furloughed pilots, Ms. Gordon said, with the others declining recall or deferring a decision.

Fort Worth-based American, the world's largest carrier, has told its pilots that it expects to recall about 10 pilots a month.

Ms. Gordon said the actual rate will depend on how many pilots leave.

Since October 2001, American Airlines furloughed more than 2,800 pilots.

AAIB: Cabin crew caused incident on turboprop

by B. N. Sullivan

A report from the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) on its investigation of a 2005 incident on an Emerald Airways flight says that the action of the cabin crew nearly caused the aircraft to crash. The incident, during which the aircraft's center of gravity was dangerously altered, happened aboard a British Aerospace ATP turboprop aircraft, and caused minor injuries to thirty-three passengers and four crew members.

According to a news article about the AAIB report, published on the Airport Business website, here is what happened:

The drama on board the Emerald Airways flight began soon after it took off from the Isle of Man's Ronaldsway airport on the evening of May 23, 2005, en route to Liverpool.

A broken seal caused a fine mist of hydraulic fluid, which staff confused for smoke, to fill the front of the 64-seat plane.

The investigation said cabin crew failed to follow standard emergency procedures and rushed the 33 passengers, many struggling to breathe, towards the rear of the plane.

This caused the aircraft to dip dangerously to the rear as the centre of gravity shifted backwards under the weight of people moving to the back.

...

Air accident investigators said the cabin crew, who declared an emergency, did not establish whether the hydraulic system problem and the onset of "smoke" were related.

They also did not follow the prescribed actions with regard to smoke on board, did not inform the flight crew they had moved the passengers to the back, and prior to landing back at Ronaldsway airport were not aware the nose wheel steering system was inoperative.

An emergency was declared to ATC and the aircraft returned to Ronaldsway where it managed to make a safe landing.

As a result of this incident, the AAIB made the following safety recommendation to the British Civil Air Authority (CAA):

Safety Recommendation 2006-069

It is recommended that the Civil Aviation Authority advises all operators of Commercial Air Transport aircraft in the UK register of the need to ensure that the training of cabin crew members includes an awareness that handling problems may result from the movement of the aircraft's CG position, should a significant redistribution of passengers be required in flight. This awareness training should include the necessity to both inform and seek the approval of the flight crew prior to such a redistribution taking place and should be reflected in the appropriate Cabin Crew Safety Manuals.

In May of 2006, the CAA suspended Emerald Air's operator certificate, although it's not clear if this incident had anything to do with the suspension. The airline has ceased operation.

Here's the link to the AAIB Air Accident Report for this incident: Aircraft Accident Report No 1/2007 (4-page 'PDF' file)

Debris from Adam Air jet found

The BBC is reporting that debris from the Adam Air B737-400 that went missing on New Year's Day has been found by fishermen just off the western coast of Sulawesi island. The BBC article says that a piece of the aircraft's tail was identified as belonging to the missing jet by a serial number.

"This morning I announced that there has been a finding of a part of Adam Air. What was found was the right tail's stabiliser, number 65C25746-76," the head of the search and rescue mission, Eddy Suyanto, told reporters.

Mr Suyanto said the fragment of the plane was found by a fisherman at 0300 local time on Thursday (2000 GMT Wednesday).

The section was found some 300m (985 ft) from the shore, near Parepare, a seaside town north of Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi province, Mr Suyanto said.

Later reports said a life vest and parts of airline seats had also been found.

It is still unclear whether the plane crashed into the sea, or if it exploded in mid-air.

Still no word on what a US Navy oceanographic vessel deployed to the search area may have found.

Technorati Tags: Adam Air, aircraft accidents, airliners, airline news, Indonesia

ESCAT: New ATC emergency response plan

The Aero-News Network (ANN) reported today on a new ATC emergency response plan that is due to go into effect next week. The article says that the Departments of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security have collaborated on the new plan which would put air traffic control into the hands of the military, should there be a major terrorist attack in the United States.

Says ANN:

Naturally, it has its own acronym -- ESCAT, for Emergency Security Control of Air Traffic. ESCAT pretty much eliminates any civilian role in determining response to a covered emergency, or even in deciding that there is an emergency.

On the other hand, it does acknowledge the economic component of such an attack, and offers options other than shutting down the skies over the entire nation, as happened after 9/11.

"The commerce of the U.S. could not stand another complete shut-down of the nation’s air traffic," said Ray Lewis, coordinator of the DoD Policy Board on Federal Aviation, to Government Security News. "Aviation represents over nine percent of the nation’s GNP."

Civilian observers are split. Some decry the lack of public input in drafting the plan, which military leaders say contains sensitive information. Some point to the track record of the Feds in administering so-called temporary flight restrictions, with little regard to economic damage. A big concern is a lack of a definition for victory, or any provision for termination of temporary powers.

But others say ESCATS allows regional isolation of a response, and poses lower risks to the economy than the old cold-war-era system. That system, which dates from 1980, was called SCATANA, for Security Control Air Traffic And Navigational Aids.

There. Don't you feel safe now??

Technorati Tags: air traffic control, aviation security, ECAT, terrorism

What happened to Adam Air flight 574?

What an aviation story to begin the new year. On New Year's Day, an aircraft belonging to Indonesian carrier Adam Air disappeared on a domestic flight between Surabaya, on the island of Java, and Manado on Sulawesi island. The plane, a Boeing 737-400, had 102 souls aboard -- 96 passengers and 6 crew.

Not long after the plane went missing, there were reports that the wreckage had been spotted, and that there might be some survivors. One of those reports was an Associated Press story, appearing on the CNN website and elsewhere, that said:

Rescuers found the smoldering wreckage Tuesday of an Indonesian jetliner that went missing during a storm. Officials said 90 people were killed but 12 survived in the country's second disaster in days.

...

The Boeing 737 operated by local carrier Adam Air crashed in a mountainous region of Sulawesi island in the northeast of the sprawling archipelagic nation, said local police Chief Col. Genot Hariyanto.

"The plane is destroyed and many bodies are around there," he said.

Adam Air spokesman Hartonom, who goes by just one name, said 90 people were killed and that there were 12 survivors.

Officials said rescuers were trying to evacuate survivors, but there was no immediate word on their conditions.

News about an aircraft accident is always sad, but hearing that there are some survivors does make the bad news a little easier to take.

But the next day the story about finding the wreckage and some survivors turned out to be false -- direct quotes and all! An article in the International Herald Tribune reported the following:

Officials said they had been misled by incorrect reports from villagers and local officials in the remote area where the wreckage was alleged to have been found. They plan to resume looking for the aircraft on Wednesday.

"We apologize for the news that we released earlier," said an Air Force official, Eddy Suyanto, the Associated Press reported. "It was not true."

I beg your pardon??

Meanwhile, the NTSB issued a press release announcing that they were sending a team to Indonesia to assist with the investigation, and the names of the crew who were aboard the missing plane were posted on Indonesian blogger Ikatan Remaja PLN's Site.

CNN did a story about the renewed search for wreckage or any other sign of the aircraft.

Three teams of searchers -- 750-800 people in all -- began fanning out Wednesday in Sulawesi in central Indonesia, journalist John Aglionby told CNN.

Meanwhile, three navy ships and five air force craft were deployed soon after sunrise over a large section of south and western Sulawesi and nearby waters, Bambang Karnoyudho, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, told the Associated Press.

The effort to locate locate the wreckage of the missing passenger jet intensified after reports from aviation and transport officials came out that the crash site -- and survivors -- had been found.

"The search and rescue team is still looking for the location," Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told El-Shinta radio, according to The Associated Press. He blamed villagers for spreading rumors that the wreckage had been located. "It has not yet been found."

By then, according to Reuters, the relatives of the missing passengers and crew were in an uproar -- rightly so -- and officials of the airline and the Indonesian government began pointing fingers at one another. About the only facts that could be independently verified were that there was bad weather along the route of Flight 574 that day, and that it disappeared about an hour before it was due to land in Manado.

So, did it crash into the sea? Would wreckage be found in a jungle, or on a mountainside? The Indonesian Air Force and Navy searched a wide area over Sulawesi's western coast and the Java Sea, according to an Associated Press article published on January 3 on Airport Business.

On January 4, Reuters reported that aircraft from Singapore were now assisting with the search. (We also learned that day that three of the passengers aboard the missing plane were Americans, a fact confirmed to reporters by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta.)

Early on, Indonesian officials had said that the pilots of Flight 574 had sent at least one distress signal before the plane disappeared, but on January 5, an Associated Press article reported:

An Indonesian jetliner that vanished with 102 people aboard did not issue distress signals or report any mechanical problems, a top aviation official said Thursday, contradicting earlier reports.

"Contradicting earlier reports"...? Where have we heard that before?

Iksan Tatang, the director general of air transportation, said the missing plane reported high winds before losing contact with the ground on Monday midway through its flight from Indonesia's main island of Java to Manado on Sulawesi Island.

"The plane did not report any complaints about the navigation, the condition of the plane or other technical problems," he said, adding that two signals from its emergency beacon - which is activated on impact - were picked up by a plane in the vicinity and a satellite.

That appeared to contradict earlier reports from officials that the pilot sent out two distress signals before the plane went down.

On January 5, there was still no sign of the missing plane, but that day stories in the news media revealed that the aircraft had changed course a couple of times before disappearing. An Associated Press article appearing in the Boston Globe and elsewhere said:

The plane left Indonesia's main island of Java for Manado on Sulawesi but altered course and turned westward halfway into the two-hour trip after being warned of rough weather near the city of Makassar, said Eddy Suyanto, head of the search and rescue mission.

But when it ran into winds of more than 80 mph over the Makassar Strait, it changed course again, bringing the plane eastward toward land, then disappeared from the radar, he said.

It is not clear why there have been no transmissions from the plane's emergency locator.

By yesterday, more helicopters and a U.S.Navy ship had joined in the search. Fox News also reported that the NTSB team had arrived in Indonesia from the U.S., as well as representatives from Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration and General Electric.

This morning, January 8, a Reuters story said that an Indonesian navy ship had detected a large object under the sea off the west coast of Sulawesi. Whether the 'object' will turn out to be a Boeing 737 is anyone's guess. Reuters also said that a U.S. ship with sonar capability and the ability to detect underwater metal, the USNS Mary Sears, is due to arrive tomorrow to join the search.

We can only hope that -- for the sake of the families of the crew and passengers, at least -- the plane, or some concrete sign of it, will be found. For now, after all of the conflicting reports and contradictions, all we can say with certainty is that Adam Air flight 574 vanished on New Year's Day.

Technorati Tags: Adam Air, aircraft accidents, airliners, airline news, Indonesia