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Article: Business aviation shows its safety weaknesses

By David Learmount
Flightglobal

Business aviation is subject to US and international safety initiatives that appear to be welcomed by the industry, but statistics suggest many operators are not getting the message. Runway excursion resulting in serious damage, one of the accident types theoretically among the easiest to eliminate, occurs regularly.

In 2007 there were 10 reported serious runway excursion accidents involving business jets, almost all in the USA. To late September the number of business jet excursion accidents was five. The Flight Safety Foundation, which studied 251 business aircraft accidents from 1991 to 2002 recently, found that 63 of them (25.1%) involved runway excursions.

Speaking at the European Business Aviation Association Conference and Exhibition in Geneva this year, FSF president Bill Voss highlighted runway safety in all its forms as being worthy of particular attention, but excursions in particular. He said: "Data shows runway excursions are the most common type of runway safety accident (96%) and the most common type of fatal runway safety accident (80%)."

The US National Business Aircraft Association has registered the industry-wide concern with the number of runway excursion accidents and reiterated the message to its member operators. Heightened concern followed the Federal Aviation Administration runway safety awareness campaign after the National Transportation Safety Board's publication of its report on an overrun from a snow-contaminated runway at Chicago Midway airport in December 2005. The fatal Comair Bombardier CRJ100ER crash in 2006 gave rise to new terminology describing a potentially serious runway safety risk: "runway confusion" - using the wrong runway without realising it. But, as Voss pointed out, among all categories of runway safety events, runway excursions produce 80% of the fatal accidents.

FAA Issues AD for Eclipse 500® Very Light Jet

AD Requires Eclipse 500 Pilot Inspections; Eclipse 500 Fleet Remains Airborne
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — June 13, 2008 — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) for the Eclipse 500 fleet of aircraft manufactured by Eclipse Aviation. The AD, released late Thursday evening, was issued following an emergency landing performed by an Eclipse 500 pilot on June 5, 2008 at Chicago Midway International Airport. Download 20081351_emergency_ad_eclipse.pdf

The two pilots and two passengers aboard the aircraft were not injured and the aircraft did not sustain any damage. In advance of the premature National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendation and the FAA’s issuance of the AD, Eclipse Aviation issued two communications proactively informing all Eclipse Aviation customers and Eclipse 500 operators of the occurrence in Chicago. As of this morning, all fleet operators using the Eclipse 500 already have complied with the AD inspection requirement, and their aircraft are in the air operating normally.

The AD requires a pilot inspection of the thrust quadrant assembly on each Eclipse 500 in advance of the aircraft’s next flight. Contrary to early erroneous reports, the AD does not require that any plane in the Eclipse 500 fleet be grounded. The required inspection of the thrust quadrant assembly can be performed by any licensed pilot and noted in an aircraft logbook. This inspection can be completed in less than 10 minutes. The isolated occurrence stems from an exceedance of certified design limits and Eclipse has instituted a procedure that deals with this condition.

NTSB ISSUES URGENT RECOMMENDATIONS TO FAA TO INSPECT ALL ECLIPSE 500 THROTTLE QUADRANTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12, 2008 SB-08-27

Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board today issued two urgent recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration to address a safety issue concerning a failure that resulted in uncontrollable engine thrust in an Eclipse 500 airplane and the lack of emergency procedures developed for that failure.

The Safety Board recommended that the FAA should require immediate inspection of all Eclipse 500 airplane throttle quadrants to ensure that pushing the throttle levers against the maximum power stops will not result in an engine control failure, and that the FAA should further require that all units that fail inspection be replaced and replacement parts be similarly inspected.

The Board also recommended that the FAA require Eclipse to immediately develop for the Eclipse 500 airplane an emergency procedure for a dual engine control failure and incorporate the procedure into the airplane flight manual and quick reference handbook via an airworthiness directive.

Composites Edged Aluminum In 2007

When composites first arrived on the light aircraft scene many pilots greeted them with skepticism -- but a recent review of General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) records by CompositesWorld.com shows that more than half of 2,675 piston-engine aircraft produced in 2007 (1,376) were built with composite airframes.

"A decade ago, less than five percent were," Jens Hennig, vice president for GAMA, told the publication. New manufacturers (with their roots in the kit airplane market) have embraced the technology and employed it in innovative and very popular designs, notably Cirrus, Diamond, Columbia, and Liberty aircraft, which together account for most of that market saturation. Cirrus Design, alone, accounted for 26 percent (710 aircraft) of the total piston deliveries in 2007.

Epic Aircraft may add to the tally in the future. The company produces numerous very high-performance composite kit aircraft (some of which are slated for certification), and in 2007 set a record during the Sun 'n Fun airshow by recording the most sales logged ($23 million) by any exhibitor. Said Dieter Koehler, vice president of engineering and certification for Epic, "Composite airplanes are stronger and safer than metal planes because of the worst-case hypothetical test conditions that are imposed by the certifying bodies."

GULFSTREAM ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Larry Flynn Moves to Marketing & Sales as Mark Burns Is Promoted Within Product Support Organization.

Savannah, GA, May 12, 2008: Gulfstream Aerospace, a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), today announced changes to its senior management team, precipitated by the scheduled retirement of Raynor Reavis, senior vice president, Marketing and Sales.

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Larry Flynn as senior vice president, Marketing and Sales,” said Joe Lombardo, president, Gulfstream Aerospace. “Larry has been a member of the Gulfstream leadership team for the past 11 years. As such, he has had an active say in the direction and growth of the company and has been responsible for managing our award-winning, international product support network.”
Flynn, who joined Gulfstream in 1995, is also a vice president of General Dynamics and has been president, Gulfstream Product Support, and president, General Dynamics Aviation Services. In these last two appointments, he was responsible for managing 12 company-owned service centers as well as an international network of authorized repair stations.

Honeywell licenses navigation system for general aviation

Honeywell International Inc. brought a new system into its Phoenix operations Tuesday by licensing a virtual navigation system built for general aviation. Honeywell is licensing the VistaNav 3D Synthetic Vision from Mercury Computer Systems and will offer sales and support of the product.

"Honeywell's licensing agreement with Mercury provides a synthetic vision solution for general aviation aircraft, which complements our Integrated Primary Flight Display synthetic vision system, currently on business aircraft," said Dan Barks, Honeywell's business director for general aviation operators and dealers

The system displays real-time daylight images of what a pilot could see outside the cockpit window, regardless of weather conditions or time of day. It is designed as a portable solution for general aviation software and equipment that commercial aircraft have used for years.

It also allows users to plan routes, download weather forecasts and perform other flight operations. In ground mode, the mobile computer can be used as a tablet computer, running Windows-based aviation software. Honeywell (NYSE: HON) is based in Morris Township, N.J. Its aerospace business is based in Phoenix.

FMI: Biz Journals

PAMA/SAE Institute is Seeking Subject Matter Experts for Composite Repair Certification Efforts

Following successful meetings in Amsterdam and Wichita last year, the SAE International Standards Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee (CACRC) and PAMA/SAE Institute have agreed to take the next step toward certification development. That step is a Program Design Workshop whereby industry stakeholders gather to develop and organize a series of certification tracks around specific bodies of knowledge.

PAMA/SAE Institute has reviewed the four CACRC-developed standards and has developed a “strawman” composite track matrix draft from which to begin our discussions. This matrix draft is not intended to be a recommended program, but rather a point from which to begin our discussions. Download composite_track_matrix_draft_022108.doc

The program development process will take place with a series of two-hour Webex telecons during the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April and will include two to four Webex telecons, depending on what the team feels is necessary. Following these Webex telecons, there will be a facilitated one-day live Workshop during the next CACRC meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, in Athens, Greece.