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| Accidents, Safety, Security and Training |
Accidents: AS 350 crashes on Catalina
July 01, 2008
Aerospatiale AS 350D, Avalon, Calif., May 24, 2008–The Island Express Helicopters AS 350 crashed on landing at Two Harbors, Catalina Island. The commercial pilot, a company employee and a passenger were killed and three passengers were seriously injured. Witnesses saw the helicopter about 300 feet above the surface and witnesses heard a “pop” sound and saw...
moreFactual Report: Gusts disrupt dogsled filming flight
July 01, 2008
Bell 206L LongRanger, Nikolai, Alaska, March 4, 2008–The pilot of the LongRanger was maneuvering while his passenger was filming a dogsled race when, he said, a gust of wind caused a loss of tail-rotor effectiveness. The helicopter started to turn to the right, and the pilot reduced collective pitch and followed the turn to regain control. He was losing...
moreFinal Report: Poor judgment preceded Citation crash
July 01, 2008
Cessna 560 Citation Encore, Cresco, Iowa, July 19, 2006–The NTSB attributed the crash of Citation N636SE to inadequate decision-making and poor crew resource management (CRM). The crew failed to obtain critical information–including runway direction and length–about Cresco’s Ellen Church Field Airport. Contributing factors were the crew’s failure to...
moreFinal Report: Offshore helo tangled with wind gusts on rig
July 01, 2008
Eurocopter EC 120B, Gulf of Mexico, Feb. 12, 2007–According to the NTSB, the pilot of the Era Helicopters EC 120 did not adequately compensate for the gusty wind conditions (20 to 25 knots) when attempting to land on the offshore oil platform, causing him to hit a flare boom extending from the platform. Contributing to the accident was the gusty wind....
moreFinal Report: Caravan accident fatal for two
July 01, 2008
Cessna 208B Caravan, Oak Glen, Calif., March 28, 2006–The NTSB said the Caravan stall-spin crash that killed the two pilots was caused by the pilot’s continued flight into IMC and his subsequent failure to maintain adequate airspeed. Cessna was operating the Caravan–flown by a company sales pilot and a regional sales distributor–on a sales demonstration...
moreFinal Report: Turbine blade failed
July 01, 2008
McDonnell Douglas MD 369D, Columbus, Mont., May 28, 2007–The Safety Board blamed this accident, which resulted in the death of a crewmember, on the fatigue failure of a turbine blade caused by a localized overtemperature of the turbine section due to nonuniform fuel distribution by the fuel nozzle. The helicopter was hovering at about 120 agl, inspecting a...
moreFinal Report: Citation II overran runway
July 01, 2008
Cessna 550 Citation II, Butler, Pa., Jan. 24, 2007–The NTSB attributed the runway overrun of the air ambulance Air Trek Citation II to the copilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed and failure to land at the proper touchdown point, and the pilot-in-command’s inadequate supervision. Factors were the PIC’s failure to activate the speed brake upon...
moreEclipse Developing Thrust Lever Software Fix
June 26, 2008
Eclipse Aviation said extra margin added to the Eclipse 500’s thrust lever forward range of motion should prevent the levers from being pushed beyond their design limits during normal operation. The software fix now under development comes in response to an FAA emergency AD issued on June 12 that called for thrust-lever inspections and revised procedures in...
moreFAA Holds First Aviation Fatigue Symposium
June 19, 2008
The FAA today wrapped up its first symposium focused specifically on managing fatigue in aviation. The three-day conference, dubbed “Aviation Fatigue Management Symposium: Partnerships for Solutions,” held in Vienna, Va., was attended by about 300 participants from airlines; pilot, flight attendant and controller unions; aviation associations; aircraft...
moreNTSB Addresses Landing Distances, Crew Fatigue
June 19, 2008
The NTSB issued a number of recommendations yesterday stemming from an April 12, 2007, landing overrun of a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Mich. None of the 49 passengers or three crewmembers aboard were injured, but the airplane sustained substantial damage. According to the Safety Board, “The probable cause of...
moreARG/US’s Feathers Ruffled at NATA Summit
June 19, 2008
ARG/US is publicly disputing claims made at the NATA Air Charter Summit held last week in Chantilly, Va., by the Air Charter Safety Foundation about its new industry audit standard. Russ Lawton, director of safety management for NATA’s ACSF, said the group had “very strong participation” from organizations such as Wyvern and ARG/US in creating the ACSF’s...
moreEclipse 500 Operators Responding to Emergency AD
June 17, 2008
The FAA and Eclipse Aviation are awaiting the results of thrust-lever quadrant inspections on the more than 200 in-service Eclipse 500s before determining what caused a maximum uncontrolled thrust condition in one of the very light jets on approach to Chicago Midway Airport on June 5 (see “Stuck Power Control Leads To Eclipse 500 Tire Blowout”). Late...
moreNTSB Calls on FAA To Address Pilot Fatigue
June 12, 2008
The NTSB cited three accidents and an incident involving a regional airline as the basis for a pair of recommendations issued Tuesday to the FAA related to pilot fatigue. Specifically, the Board called on the FAA to develop guidance for operators to establish fatigue management systems and methodology to assess their effectiveness, including their ability...
moreStuck Power Control Leads To Eclipse 500 Tire Blowout
June 12, 2008
Eclipse Aviation on Monday issued a “customer pilot communication” regarding an incident last Thursday in which an Eclipse 500’s main gear tires blew out during a landing at Chicago Midway Airport. But the event was more than a hard landing. According to the communication, which Eclipse emphasizes is for “informational purposes only,” the pilot of the...
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