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Entire Issue
 

AeroSafety World December 2011–January 2012 68 pages. [PDF 6.8M]

“Expectation bias” was probably at work when the first officer mistakenly called out a flap setting of 11 degrees during the final pre-takeoff check. The pilots apparently were preoccupied with other issues, including a high ram air temperature (RAT) indication that had led them to abort an earlier takeoff. Distractions included the schedule disruption, passenger discomfort because of insufficient air conditioning and the first officer’s concern for whether the autothrottle could be used for takeoff with the RAT probe heat inoperative.

Before the second takeoff attempt, the pilots had skipped critical checklist items and neglected to set the flaps and slats for takeoff, despite the first officer giving the expected callout. The takeoff warning system did not function, and the pilots were unable to control the aircraft when it stalled after lift-off. Of the 172 occupants, 154 were killed when the MD-82 struck the ground. This month’s cover story, based on the official accident investigation report, describes the accumulating errors building to tragedy at Madrid-Barajas Airport in 2008.

Features
 

Not Quite Clear (Text only)

Persistent confusion about nuances of complying with the U.S. law that separates public aircraft operations from civil aircraft operations should be reduced during 2012, say officials from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, other government agencies and commercial aircraft operators. [Download PDF 3 pages. 190K]

Lift Deficit (Text only)

A series of mistakes and omissions by the flight crew and an inoperative takeoff warning system were among the factors that led to the loss of control of a Spanair McDonnell Douglas MD-82 during departure from Madrid-Barajas Airport the afternoon of Aug. 20, 2008, said the final report by Spain’s Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission. [Download PDF 5 pages. 362K]

Financial SMS (Text only)

Excel worksheets help airline safety officers to predict return-on-investment while proposing risk mitigations. [Download PDF 3 pages. 279K]

Language Gap (Text only)

Did language proficiency and language use play a contributory role in the 2006 collision of an Embraer Legacy 600 and a Boeing 737-800 over the Amazon rain forest? Most accident investigators lack the tools and training to analyze language-related factors in aviation accidents. [Download PDF 6 pages. 714K]

No Longer Best (Text only)

Proposals call for reworking familiar systems that fall short in mitigating aviation risks. [Download PDF 4 pages. 264K]

A Black Swan Event (Text only)

The uncontained engine failure on a Qantas A380 on Nov. 4, 2010, did not precipitate a catastrophic accident, and 469 people returned safely to the ground at Singapore, said the Qantas Flight 32 captain, Richard de Crespigny, because five experienced pilots in the cockpit — three in the regular crew and two check captains — worked as a unified team with cool heads and a singleness of purpose. [Download PDF 2 pages. 141K]

Downward Trends (Text Only)

Data show a decline in U.S. helicopter accidents in 2001–2010, with an accident rate of 5.7 per 100,000 flight hours. [Download PDF 6 pages. 652K]

Disorientation After Dark (Text Only)

The pilot’s spatial disorientation after an inadvertent entry into dark night instrument meteorological conditions was responsible for the loss of control and in-flight break-up of a Bell 206L-1 LongRanger on an emergency medical services (EMS) positioning flight in Walnut Grove, Arkansas, U.S., the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board says. [Download PDF 4 pages. 456K]

Monitoring Safety (Text only)

The number of accidents involving scheduled commercial flights increased in 2010 to 121, up from 113 in 2009, the International Civil Aviation Organization says in a report analyzing global aviation safety performance. [Download PDF 2 pages. 337K]

Curbing a Killer (Text only)

The aviation community needs to re-energize its efforts to increase awareness, training and research regarding the potentially fatal consequences of spatial disorientation. There are still far too many examples of pilots falling prey to this age-old killer. [Download PDF 2 pages. 538K]

Departments
 

Executive’s Message | Great Expectations (Text only)

Of course, people have been talking about the challenge of automation dependency and its impact on training for years, but that crash of an Airbus A330 over the South Atlantic two years ago has moved people to act. [Download PDF 1 page. 94K]

Editorial Page | Essential Skills (Text only)

Training is a topic for endless discussion in the aviation community, and for good reason. Accidents often point out gaps in training curriculums that allow hazards to grow with fatal consequences. [Download PDF 1 page. 84K]

Safety Calendar | Industry Events (Text only)

A listing of aviation safety-related conferences, seminars and meetings. [Download PDF 1 page. 62K]

In Brief | Safety News (Text only)

Many European Union member states are in danger of missing 2012 “critical targets” for development and implementation of the Single European Sky — the ongoing effort to harmonize air traffic management throughout Europe, the European Commission says. [Download PDF 3 pages. 273K]

Data Link | Thai Score (Text only)

Only one of 16 unstabilized approaches flown by flight crews of Thai Airways in the first quarter of 2011 resulted in a go-around, according to data from the company’s Flight Safety Investigation Department. [Download PDF 4 pages. 501K]

Info Scan | Measures of Countermeasures (Text only)

Evaluation of a flight attendant fatigue-fighting program shows promise. [Download PDF 4 pages. 312K]

On Record | Head-Down at a Hot Spot (Text only)

The following information provides an awareness of problems in the hope that they can be avoided in the future. The information is based on final reports by official investigative authorities on aircraft accidents and incidents. [Download PDF 8 pages. 235K]

Smoke Fire Fumes | Selected Events in the U.S., August–October 2011

Selected Smoke, Fire and Fumes Events in the U.S., August–October 2011 [Download PDF 1 page. 219K]

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