AeroSafety World August 2010

The August 2010 issue of AeroSafety World. Download individual articles and departments now available in text only and Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF) format or the entire magazine (PDF only). If you do not have a copy of Adobe Reader, you can download and install a free copy from Adobe.

Entire Issue
 

AeroSafety World August 2010
68 pages. [PDF 4.3M]

Night vision goggles (NVGs) can enhance safety by improving helicopter pilots’ ability to see outside the aircraft. But NVGs also have limitations, which if not understood present hazards of their own.

Their reduced field of view has been described as “like looking at the world through a soda straw.” NVGs are capable of providing high resolution, but only under optimal conditions. In addition, the goggles react to brighter light by reducing the multiplication factor or “gain,” but cannot distinguish between light outside the aircraft and light from the instrument panel. Thus, the gain may not be optimized for the external illumination level.

The August cover story describes training that encourages pilots to maximize benefits from the goggles while minimizing their limitations.

Features
 

Lighting Up the Night (Text only)

Users of night vision goggles (NVGs) are acutely aware of the advantages these devices offer in improving a pilot’s ability to see in darkness and enhancing safety during night flight. They may be less cognizant, however, of some of the limitations that NVGs impose on night visual performance. [Download PDF 5 pages. 253K]

Emotionally Enabled (Text only)

Among the factors that caused one perfectly good aircraft to fall out of the sky, killing 50 people, while another very crippled aircraft made a safe water landing that resulted in only a few minor injuries, technical flying skills obviously play a major role. However, success or failure to a large degree can be linked to the captain’s ability to control his own emotions in order to think clearly, while being aware of the crew’s emotional and mental states. [Download PDF 5 pages. 187K]

Beyond Redemption (Text only)

Confusion and spatial disorientation prevailed when a bank angle warning sounded. The captain responded with erratic flight control inputs that aggravated the situation and precipitated a spiral dive. The pilots were wrestling the controls when the 737 disintegrated in a mangrove swamp, killing all 114 people aboard. [Download PDF 4 pages. 439K]

Data Development (Text only)

Flight Safety Foundation and Air Methods, the world’s largest air ambulance operator, have begun a two-year project designed to use flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) — sometimes known as flight data monitoring — to gather safety information on helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations. [Download PDF 2 pages. 179K]

Special Purposes (Text only)

Defenses against loss of control in flight (LOC-I) figured prominently in recent conference presentations to pilot training specialists from major and regional airlines. A recurrent theme was how to apply lessons learned from transport airplane accidents that happened in unremarkable flight conditions with properly functioning autoflight systems. [Download PDF 6 pages. 489K]

**Web Exclusive** Special Purposes (Expanded version of original article) Text only

Mystery Illness (Text only)

The Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) says its investigators were unable to pinpoint the cause of a May 2008 incident in which five crewmembers and an undetermined number of passengers on an Airbus A319-132 became ill, with symptoms ranging from drowsiness to a loss of sensation in their limbs. [Download PDF 4 pages. 226K]

Uncivil Aviation (Text only)

Amid negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus, risks of pilot confusion persist in the Nicosia FIR. The airspace of concern extends northward to Turkey from the Turkish Cypriot–governed northern part of Cyprus, an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. [Download PDF 4 pages. 283K]

Bird Strike Mitigation Beyond the Airport (Text only)

Between November 2007 and January 2009, U.S. civil aviation experienced four major accidents caused by bird strikes. The accidents demonstrated the range of aircraft categories and types affected by this threat, and served as a reminder that the entire aviation community is challenged. [Download PDF 4 pages. 252K]

Departments
 

Executive’s Message | Changing Vision (Text only)

During the last several decades, complexity has increased, and the pressure on the training system has increased. Cost pressures force training to be done in the absolute minimum amount of time. New training requirements are layered on top of one another and compete for what little training time is available. That doesn’t leave much time to develop understanding of complicated systems. [Download PDF 1 page. 91K]

Editorial Page | Training Footprint (Text only)

Airlines and corporate flight departments don’t want their complete training process mapped out for them, but if the training footprint is not enlarged voluntarily to deal with the complexities of modern cockpit systems we may see regulators move more and more in that direction, especially should there be one or two more high-profile accidents. [Download PDF 1 page. 68K]

Safety Calendar | Industry Events (Text only)

A listing of aviation safety-related conferences, seminars and meetings. [Download PDF 1 page. 69K]

In Brief | Safety News (Text only)

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $230,000 civil penalty against Continental Airlines for allegedly operating a Boeing 767 on 22 revenue flights during a time when the airplane was not in compliance with U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations. [Download PDF 3 pages. 195K]

In Sight | Contaminated and Closed (Text only)

Last winter’s unusually heavy snowfall caused major disruptions at most U.K. airports. Many scheduled airlines were obliged to cancel services, while charter airlines continued to fly, albeit with substantial delays. However, with the benefit of hindsight, could the current U.K. practices regarding operations with contaminated runways be improved? [Download PDF 3 pages. 248K]

Data Link | Fewer Runway Excursions in 2009 (Text only)

The 2009 picture of fatal accidents in worldwide commercial aviation showed no overall improvement from 2008, but in one important category, there was good news. Runway excursion accidents — targeted by the Flight Safety Foundation Runway Safety Initiative and the Runway Excursion Risk Reduction Toolkit — were fewer, according to newly released data from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. [Download PDF 4 pages. 232K]

Info Scan | Screen Test (Text only)

Thanks to trickle-down technology, new light aircraft have undergone a transition from analog flight instruments to computer screens similar to those on modern transport category aircraft. The “glass cockpit,” in which the electronic displays integrate aircraft control, autopilot, communication, navigation and systems monitoring, represents a significant change for general aviation. [Download PDF 5 pages. 130K]

On Record | Landing on the Hudson (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. 289K]

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