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 Flight Safety Information |
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 Flight Safety Information |
March 24, 2015 - No. 056
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Plane crash kills 150 people in French Alps; Europe in shock
Airbus crashes in French Alps, no survivors expected
SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France (AP) - A Germanwings jet carrying 150 people from Barcelona to Duesseldorf slammed into a remote section of the French Alps on Tuesday, sounding like an avalanche as it scattered pulverized debris across a rocky mountain and down its steep ravines. All aboard were assumed killed.
The pilots sent out no distress call and had lost radio contact with their control center, France's aviation authority said, deepening the mystery over the A320's mid-flight crash after a surprise 8-minute descent.
"The site is a picture of horror. The grief of the families and friends is immeasurable. We must now stand together. We are united in our great grief," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement after being flown over the crash scene and briefed by French authorities.
The crash left officials and families across Europe reeling in shock. Sobbing, grieving relatives at both airports were led away by airport workers and crisis counselors. One German town was rent with sorrow after losing 16 high school students coming back from an exchange program in Spain.
"This is pretty much the worst thing you can imagine," a visibly rattled Haltern Mayor Bodo Klimpel said at a hastily called press conference.
As helicopters were deployed to reach the crash site, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged reporters not to speculate on the cause.
Raw: People Gather at German Airport After CrashPlay videoRaw: People Gather at German Airport After Crash
"We still don't know much beyond the bare information on the flight, and there should be no speculation on the cause of the crash," she said in Berlin. "All that will be investigated thoroughly."
Lufthansa Vice President Heike Birlenbach told reporters in Barcelona that for now "we say it is an accident."
In Washington, the White House said American officials were in contact with their French, Spanish and German counterparts.
"There is no indication of a nexus to terrorism at this time," said U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.
Photos of the crash site showed scattered white flecks across a stony mountain and several larger airplane body sections with windows. French officials said a helicopter crew that landed briefly in the area saw no signs of life.
"Everything is pulverized. The largest pieces of debris are the size of a small car. No one can access the site from the ground," Gilbert Sauvan, president of the general council, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, told The Associated Press.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a black box had been located at the crash site and "will be immediately investigated." He did not say whether it was a data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder.
Germanwings is low-cost carrier owned by Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, and serves mostly European destinations. Tuesday's crash was its first involving passenger deaths since it began operating in 2002. The Germanwings logo, normally maroon and yellow, was blacked out on its Twitter feed.
Germanwings said Flight 9525 carried 144 passengers, including two babies, and six crew members. Officials believe 67 Germans were on board, including the 16 high school students from Haltern and two opera singers.
Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu says German contralto Maria Radner was aboard the crashed plane along with her husband and baby. The opera house in Duesseldorf said bass baritone Oleg Bryjak, was also on the plane.
View galleryA rescue helicopter takes off from La Seyne les Alpes, …
A rescue helicopter takes off from La Seyne les Alpes, French Alps, Tuesday, March 24, 2015, as sear ...
Dutch officials said one citizen was killed.
The plane left Barcelona Airport at 10:01 a.m., then began descending again shortly after reaching its cruising height of 38,000 feet, Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann told reporters in Cologne. The descent lasted eight minutes.
Eric Heraud of the French Civil Aviation Authority said the Germanwings plane lost radio contact with a control center at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, but "never declared a distress alert itself." He said the combination of loss of radio contract and the plane's quick descent prompted the control center to declare a distress situation.
"We cannot say at the moment why our colleague went into the descent, and so quickly, and without previously consulting air traffic control," said Germanwings' director of flight operations, Stefan-Kenan Scheib.
The plane crashed at an altitude of about 2,000 meters (6,550 feet) at Meolans-Revels, near the popular ski resort of Pra Loup. The site is 700 kilometers (430 miles) south-southeast of Paris.
View galleryA family of people involved in a crashed plane arrives …
A family of people involved in a crashed plane arrives at the Barcelona airport in Spain, Tuesday, M ...
"It was a deafening noise. I thought it was an avalanche, although it sounded slightly different. It was short noise and lasted just a few seconds," Sandrine Boisse, the president of the Pra Loup tourism office, told the AP.
Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told BFM television he expected "an extremely long and extremely difficult" search-and-rescue operation because of the area's remoteness. The weather in the area deteriorated Tuesday afternoon, with a chilly rain falling.
Winkelmann said the pilot, whom he did not name, had more than 10 years' experience working for Germanwings and its parent airline Lufthansa.
The aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa in 1991, had approximately 58,300 flight hours in some 46,700 flights, Airbus said. The plane underwent a routine check in Duesseldorf on Monday, and its last regular full check took place in the summer of 2013.
Winkelmann said teams from Airbus, Germanwings, Lufthansa and Lufthansa's technical division had arrived in France and were on their way to the crash site.
View galleryA man who appears to have waited for the missing flight …
A man who appears to have waited for the missing flight 4U 9525 reacts at the airport in Duesseldorf ...
The municipal sports hall of Seyne-les-Alpes, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Val d'Allos ski resort, was being set up to take bodies from the crash.
The safest part of a flight is normally when the plane is at cruising elevation. Just 10 percent of fatal accidents occur at that point, according to a safety analysis by Boeing. In contrast, takeoff and the initial climb accounts for 14 percent of crashes and final approach and landing accounts for 47 percent.
In Paris, French President Francois Hollande called the crash "a tragedy on our soil."
The last time a passenger jet crashed in France was the 2000 Concorde accident, which left 113 dead - 109 in the plane and four on the ground.
Merkel spoke with both Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy about the crash, immediately cancelling all other appointments.
"The crash ... is a shock that plunges us in Germany, the French and the Spanish into deep sorrow," said Merkel, who planned to travel to the region Wednesday.
The A320 plane is a workhorse of modern aviation. The single-aisle, twin-engine jet is used to connect cities between one and five hours apart. It is certified to fly up to 39,000 feet but it can begin to experience problems as low as 37,000 feet.
The A320 family also has a good safety record, with just 0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs, according to a Boeing safety analysis.
http://news.yahoo.com/french-media-report-plane-crash-alps-148-aboard-105318651--finance.html
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German Airbus crashes in French Alps with 150 dead, black box found
Airbus jet in crash renowned for safety
(Reuters) - An Airbus operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed into a mountainside in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren.
Germanwings confirmed its flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf went down with 144 passengers and six crew on board.
One of the plane's black box recorders has been found at the crash site, about 100 km (65 miles) north of the Riviera city of Nice, and will be examined immediately, France's interior minister said.
In Washington, the White House said the crash did not appear to have been caused by a terrorist attack, while Lufthansa said it was working on the assumption that the tragedy had been an accident, adding that any other theory would be speculation.
Aerial photographs showed smoldering wreckage and a piece of the fuselage with six windows strewn across the steep mountainside cut by ravines.
"We saw an aircraft that had literally been ripped apart, the bodies are in a state of destruction, there is not one intact piece of wing or fuselage," Brice Robin, prosecutor for the city of Marseille, told Reuters after flying over the wreckage in a helicopter.
Germanwings believed 67 Germans had been on the flight. Spain's deputy prime minister said 45 passengers had Spanish names. One Belgian was also aboard.
Also among the victims were 16 children and two teachers from the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium high school in the town of Haltern am See in northwest Germany, a spokeswoman said.
French police at the crash site about 2,000 meters (6,000 feet) above sea level said no one survived and it would take days to recover the bodies due to difficult terrain, snow and incoming storms.
Police said search teams would stay overnight at altitude. "We are still searching. It's unlikely any bodies will be airlifted until Wednesday," regional police chief David Galtier told Reuters.
In Paris, Prime Minister Manuel Valls told parliament: "A helicopter managed to land (by the crash site) and has confirmed that unfortunately there were no survivors."
It was the first crash of a large passenger jet on French soil since the Concorde disaster just outside Paris nearly 15 years ago. The A320 is a workhorse of aviation fleets and one of the world's most used passenger jets.
It has a good safety record. However, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network, Tuesday's crash was the third most deadly involving an A320. In 2007 a TAM Linhas Aereas A320 shot off a runway in Brazil, killing 187 people, while 162 people died when an Indonesia AirAsia jet went down in the Java Sea in December.
SHARP DESCENT
Germanwings said the plane started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height and continued losing altitude for eight minutes.
"The aircraft's contact with French radar, French air traffic controllers, ended at 10.53 am at an altitude of about 6,000 feet. The plane then crashed," Germanwings' Managing Director Thomas Winkelmann told a news conference.
Winkelmann also said that routine maintenance of the aircraft was performed by Lufthansa on Monday.
Experts said that while the Airbus had descended rapidly, its rate of descent did not suggest it had simply fallen out of the sky.
France's DGAC aviation authority said air traffic controllers initiated distress procedures after they lost contact with the Airbus.
"The aircraft did not itself make a distress call but it was the combination of the loss of radio contact and the aircraft's descent which led the controller to implement the distress phase," a DGAC spokesman said.
In emergencies, pilots are trained to try to fly the aircraft as their first priority, then pay attention to navigation and only then communicate with the ground.
The aircraft came down in an alpine region known for skiing, hiking and rafting, but which is hard for rescue services to reach. The search and recovery effort based itself in a gymnasium in the village of Seyne-les-Alpes, which has a small private aerodrome nearby.
STORMS, SNOW, CLOUD
As helicopters and emergency vehicles assembled, the weather was reported to be closing in.
"There will be a lot of cloud cover this afternoon, with local storms, snow above 1,800 meters and relatively low clouds. That will not help the helicopters in their work," an official from the local weather center told Reuters.
Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr, who planned to go to the crash site, spoke of a "dark day for Lufthansa".
"My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew," Lufthansa said on Twitter, citing Spohr.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would travel to the site on Wednesday. Germanwings and the Catalan regional government were preparing to take Spanish relatives there.
Family members arrived at Barcelona's El Prat airport, many crying and with arms around each others' shoulders, accompanied by police and airport staff.
In Llinars del Valles, the Spanish village that hosted the German schoolchildren, Mayor Marti Pujol said the whole village was distraught. "The families knew each other," he told Reuters. "The parents had been to see them off at 6 this morning."
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain called off a state visit to France in a sign of mourning for the victims. They had arrived in Paris minutes after the crash happened.
In Washington, President Barack Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with Germany and Spain after what he called the "awful tragedy".
Airbus confirmed that the plane was 24 years old, having first been delivered to Lufthansa in 1991. It was powered by engines made by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and France's Safran.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/24/us-france-crash-airbus-lufthansa-idUSKBN0MK0ZP20150324
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Germanwings Accident - Preliminary Information
| Status: | Preliminary | | Date: | Tuesday 24 March 2015 | | Time: | 10:40 | | Type: |
Airbus A320-211 | | Operator: | Germanwings | | Registration: | D-AIPX | | C/n / msn: | 147 | | First flight: | 1990-11-29 (24 years 4 months) | | Engines: | 2 CFMI CFM56-5A1 | | Crew: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 | | Passengers: | Fatalities: 142 / Occupants: 142 | | Total: | Fatalities: 148 / Occupants: 148 | | Airplane damage: | Substantial | | Location: | near Barcelonnette ( France) | | Phase: | En route (ENR) | | Nature: | International Scheduled Passenger | | Departure airport: | Barcelona Airport (BCN), Spain | | Destination airport: | Düsseldorf Airport (DUS/EDDL), Germany | | Flightnumber: | 4U9525 |
Narrative:
An Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings was involved in an accident in mountainous area in southern France.
Flight 4U9525 departed Barcelona, Spain at 10:00 hours CET on a regular passenger service to Düsseldorf, Germany. The flight reached its cruising altitude of FL380 at 10:27 hours. Starting 10:31 hours, the airplane began losing altitude. Last recorded position by flight tracking website Flightradar24 was over southern France at 10:40 hours CET.
According the French president François Hollande there were no survivors.
www.aviation-safety.net
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AAIB Centenary Conference
'100 Years of Accident Investigation - What's Next?'
Royal Aeronautical Society, London - 14 October 2015
Background
In 1915 the first UK 'Inspector of Accidents', Captain G B Cockburn, was appointed to investigate the underlying causes of aircraft accidents in the Royal Flying Corps. George Cockburn had learned to fly as a civilian, had competed in the Grande Semaine at Rheims in 1909 and was a founder member of the Royal Aero Club's 'Accidents Investigation Committee' in 1912. His appointment, as a professional air safety investigator, led directly to the formation after the war of the Accidents Investigation Branch as a civilian government organisation - now the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), part of the UK Department for Transport, and based at Farnborough, Hampshire.
AAIB Centenary Conference
To celebrate the centenary of the appointment of the UK's first professional air safety investigator, the AAIB is planning a one-day conference on 14 October 2015, entitled '100 Years of Accident Investigation - What's Next?'.The conference will be hosted and administered by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) at 4 Hamilton Place, London.
The exciting technical programme will be supported by speakers from a number of UK and overseas organisations, including the AAIB, major aircraft/engine manufacturers, operators and government regulators. Should you wish to present at the conference, please submit a presentation proposal in keeping with the conference theme, no later than 25th April 2015, to: enquiries@aaib.gov.uk
Registration will open soon, via the RAeS website, but in the meantime please save the date!
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2015 NSC Aviation Safety Committee Meeting
Meeting Dates: May 13-14, 2015
Meeting Location:
Embassy Suites Charleston Area Convention Center
5055 International Blvd
North Charleston, South Carolina 29418
(843) 747-1882
Hotel Reservations:
The preferred method is to book your hotel room online
For phone reservations call 1-800-362- 2779 and mention the National Safety Council
Registration Form
View the Meeting Agenda
Highlights of the ASC's 87th annual Seminar & Section meeting include:
* Updates and discussion on topics affecting each one of us including:"Airgonomics", HFACS, OSHA and Ramp Safety
* Learn New Ideas - Participate in discussions relating to aviation ground safety and grow your skills
* Tour of Boeing's South Carolina Facility. In Charleston, Boeing fabricates, assembles and installs systems for aft (rear) fuselage sections of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and joins and integrates mid body fuselage sections. The site is also home to the company's newest 787 Dreamliner final assembly and delivery facility.
* Networking and Benchmarking Opportunities
Should you have any questions, please contact Tammy Washington, NSC Staff Representative at or 630-775-2227.
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Upcoming Events:
Fundamentals of IS-BAH
March 31, 2015
Houston, TX USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657518
IS-BAH Auditing
April 1, 2015
Houston, TX USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657519
Fundamentals of IS-BAH
June 15, 2015
St. Hubert, Quebec Canada
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659069
IS-BAH Auditing
June 16, 2015
St. Hubert, Quebec Canada
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659079
Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF)
NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA
March 10-11, 2015
www.acsf.aero/symposium
ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar
April 21-22, 2015.
Washington D.C.
http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101-seminar/index.html
FAA Helicopter Safety Effort
three-day safety forum
April 21-23, 2015
Hurst, Texas
eugene.trainor@faa.gov
www.faahelisafety.org
ERAU OSHA & Aviation Ground Safety Seminar
Daytona Beach, FL
Apr.13-17, 2015
www.erau.edu/cmas
ERAU Aviation Safety Program Management Seminar
Daytona Beach, FL
Apr.20-24, 2015
www.erau.edu/cmas
Fundamentals of IS-BAO
April 23, 2015
PCAT Safety Smackdown, San Antonio TX USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657525
IS-BAO Auditing
April 24, 2015
PCAT Safety Smackdown, San Antonio TX USA
https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657526
Safety Smackdown
Partnership for Corporate Aviation Training
San Antonio, TX
April 20-22, 2015
http://www.p4cat.org/
WATS 2015
21-23 April
Orlando, Florida, USA
www.halldale.com/wats
ERAU Aircraft Accident Investigation Seminar
Daytona Beach, FL
Apr. 27-May 1, 2015
www.erau.edu/cmas
GWBAA Safety Standdown
April 30th
NTSB Academy
www.gwbaa.com
ERAU Advanced Aircraft Accident Investigation Seminar
Prescott Campus, AZ
May 4-8, 2015
www.erau.edu/cmas
IATA Cabin Operations Safety Conference
May 5-7, 2015
Paris, France
www.iata.org/cabin-safety-conference
ERAU Aviation SMS Seminar
Daytona Beach, FL
May 12-14, 2015
www.erau.edu/sms
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JOBS AVAILABLE:
Manager E-Learning and Training Support
Menzies Aviation
www.menziesaviation.com
AOD Safety Specialist
Fedex Express
Safety Management System (SMS) Analyst
Piedmont Airlines
WWW.PIEDMONT-AIRLINES.COM/CAREERS
MID-LEVEL AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR/MISHAP INVESTIGATOR
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=25539&siteid=5313&AReq=4926BR&Codes=ICLC
EXPERIENCED AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR/MISHAP INVESTIGATOR
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=25539&siteid=5313&AReq=4927BR&Codes=ICLC
Manager Airport Operations Safety in Portland Oregon
Alaska Airlines
https://tam.alaskaair.com/psc/asjobs/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?Page=HRS_CE_JOB_DTL&Action=A&JobOpeningId=25161&SiteId=10&PostingSeq=1扉
Safety Risk Manager
Air Astana
http://www.aviationjobsearch.com/job/safety-risk-manager/3104396
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Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC - Services
Curt Lewis, PhD, CSP, FRAeS
curt@curt-lewis.com
PH: 1-817-845-3983
Web: www.curt-lewis.com
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Contact Information
"Flight Safety Information" is a free service of:
Curt Lewis, PhD, CSP, FRAeS
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC
(Targeting Safety & Risk Management)
curt@curt-lewis.com
www.curt-lewis.com
www.fsinfo.org
PH: 817-845-3983
Fax: 682-292-0835
Twitter: curtllewis01
Skype: curt.lewis2
Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC is an international, multi-discipline technical and scientific consulting firm specializing in aviation and industrial safety. Our specialties are aviation litigation support, aviation/airport safety programs, accident investigation and reconstruction, safety & quality assessments/audits, system safety (PRA), human factors, Safety Management Systems (SMS) assessment/implementation & training, safety/quality training & risk management, aviation manual development, IS-BAO Auditing, airfield/heliport lighting products, patent infringement/invalidity expert testimony and Technical Support.
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