A new technology from down under is vacuuming up cracks A quick head count of airworthiness directives (ADs) discloses that around one-fifth of them are directed at loss of aircraft structural integrity, either through corrosion, cracking or potential overload. This rough figure is probably not ...

The Oct. 14, 2004, crash of a Pinnacle Airlines [PNCL] regional jet illustrates how aircrews are not adequately protected against multi-engine flameout, and better training and recovery procedures may be in order. This may well be the central National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conclusion, ...

Spatial disorientation, in-cockpit distractions, and icing are all possible causes of the Dec. 20, 2001, crash of Eagle Air Ltd. flight EAB 220. The Cessna CE 560 Citation V took off from Zurich Kloten airport on a night ferry flight to Berne-Belp. Fog patches had formed at the snow-covered airport. ...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued "special conditions" for inerting the center fuel tank of Boeing [BA] B747 aircraft. Published in the Federal Register on Feb. 15, these add fuel system inerting to the ongoing safety program to minimize flammability sources, a program ...

The Deadly Tail-Strike Strikes Again Above and beyond the aging of airframes and normal wear and tear on structural components, there are valid concerns with accumulated and hidden misrepaired damage. The absolute importance of structural integrity in the pressure vessel has been graphically ...

A320 Braking Failures Implicate Control Unit Braking problems with the Airbus A319/A320 and A321 family are officially on the radar screen. Five incidents in three years in the United Kingdom involving a loss of braking after touchdown are bringing safety concerns to the forefront. The UK Aircraft ...

"Whirl-Mode" Phenomenon May Also Be At Play When a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules crashed about 19 miles northwest of Baghdad on Jan. 30, the natural assumption was that it had been brought down by enemy action. The brass weren't so sure because it had spun down from an altitude that ...

Challenger's Stabilizer Wing Prone to Icing Stall Coming so soon after NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol's Nov. 28, 2004, crash in snowy conditions in Montrose, Colo., and the Nov. 21, 2004, icy crash of the airliner variant in Baotou, China, the crash on Feb. 2 of another Challenger in similar ...

Crash investigations again highlight prominence of human error and mode confusion Ever since computers and airplanes came together, modal confusion and pilot perplexity have gone hand in hand. Now and again they hook up with grave consequences and there's an unintended outcome. Herewith we provide ...

More wake turbulence upsets and higher training costs could result from a new landing procedure proposed for Cleveland-Hopkins International airport in Ohio. Officials with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) are concerned that the new procedure could set a precedent applied elsewhere. The ...