DID MISSED SWITCH BRING DOWN MEDICAL FLIGHT?
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the copilot of a Cessna Citation carrying an organ transplant team may have mistakenly turned on the aircraft's autopilot instead of its yaw damper, possibly leading to the crash of the aircraft in Lake Michigan off Milwaukee on June 4, 2007. Both pilots and the four members of the University of Michigan medical team were killed. The paper quotes a report from the NTSB's Recorded Radar and Airplane Performance Study Group, which did a computer simulation of the flight, as saying the results of the simulation are "consistent with the copilot inadvertently pushing the autopilot button instead of the yaw damper on the airplane center console." Shortly after takeoff, the cockpit voice recorder captured comments from the pilot that he was "fighting the controls" and blaming the problem on runaway trim. But the NTSB team says the results of the simulation "do not appear consistent with a pitch trim runaway." More...

ASA CRJ HOLED BY FIRE
While we like a good story as much as anyone, those facts are pesky things. Some remarkable pictures making the rounds on the Internet show a big hole burned in the skin of an Atlantic Southeast Airlines CRJ 200 and attribute the cause to an inflight lightning strike, which, considering the location behind the captain's head, conjures up some pretty interesting scenarios, much more interesting than the mundane reality. Within hours of running a photo and the lightning strike speculation, an AVweb reader delivered the straight goods by way of NTSB file number DCA09FA033, which suggests the cause was an electrical fire while the aircraft was being preflighted in Tallahassee for a trip to Atlanta last March 1. More...

"TAILSTRIKE" MAY WRITE OFF A340
An Australian newspaper is reporting that a $180 million Emirates Airbus A340-500 may be beyond repair and the 225 people who were on it last March 20 are lucky to be alive after a nasty scrape at Melbourne International Airport. New details have emerged about the mishap, which has been declared an accident by the Australia Transport Safety Bureau and resulted in the resignations of both pilots aboard. According to the Sunday Herald Sun the aircraft was bound for Dubai when it failed to get airborne before the end of Melbourne's 12,000-foot runway. The paper reported the flight crew yanked the big airliner off the overrun, scraping the tail in the process. It appears, from the description, the 340 flew in ground effect about two feet off the ground for about 400 yards, wiping out three approach strobes, which are about 30 inches high, and the localizer antenna, before barely clearing the eight-foot perimeter fence. More...

NTSB SETS HUDSON DITCHING HEARING
The NTSB will hear testimony on the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 on June 9-10 at its Washington, D.C., headquarters. The public hearing is being held to gather more information on the board's ongoing investigation of the mishap. All 155 people aboard survived the dunking in the Hudson River in New York City after the crew reported multiple bird strikes followed by a dual engine failure. In contrast to most NTSB investigations, at least part of this hearing will apparently focus on what went right in the Jan. 15 incident. More...

1549 FO BACK TO WORK
After four months of investigations, public appearances and outright hero worship, the first member of the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 is heading back to work on Monday, almost four months after the Airbus A320 ditched in the Hudson River. First Officer Jeff Skiles told The Associated Press the hiatus is the longest he's spent away from the controls since he was 17 and he's anxious to get back in the cockpit, even though his airline offered him the whole summer off. "I'm the first person to go back. It's not really any psychological reason, at least in my case, it's all these media events have constantly taken up my time -- three, four, five days a week," Skiles said as he prepared to throw the first pitch in the Milwaukee Brewers' home opener near his hometown of Oregon, Wis. "I do miss it and I'm going to enjoy going back." More...

WOOD AIRPLANES MAKING COMEBACK?
A Canadian research organization says wood could be incorporated into next-generation aircraft designs, but don't expect to see two-by-fours in the bulkheads. In his technology blog , Seattle Times writer Brier Dudley reports that a technology forum recently heard from FP Innovations President Jim Dangerfield, who said the firm has applied nanotechnology to cellulose and can extract nanomaterials that, in combination with other materials, could find their way into aircraft. The properties of the materials would depend on the source material, of which there is plenty of variety. More...

EDGE OF SPACE DEFINED
For decades, the altitude where atmosphere ends and space begins has been pegged at a largely theoretical 100 km., known as the Karman Line. Theodore von Karman picked that value as the point where any aircraft would have to be flying faster than orbital velocity to stay aloft, and it's become the generally accepted line. Well, a team of scientists from the University of Calgary say the theory isn't far from precise reality. The so-called edge of space is actually at 118 km. More...

AVMAIL: APRIL 13, 2009

Letter of the Week: Bird Problem

I am a long-time pilot and co-own a Bellanca Viking. This aircraft, with my partner at the controls, encountered a large bird shortly after departing Montgomery County Airport (GAI) April 5. We are all very fortunate that Jean Yves maintained his composure and managed to bring the aircraft back safely, a very impressive feat, considering the circumstances!

We all are, of course, very aware of the consequences of bird encounters, especially since Capt. Sullenberger's experience. Now the FAA is telling us that birdstrikes are indeed happening more often these days. It's not our imagination!

Now that this has been brought so close to home, the confidence that my family and friends had when flying with me has been badly shaken. I have to admit that it has shaken me as well.

Is there more that we can learn about the migration of these large birds, and is it at all predictable? Also, perhaps it's time to try to convince our government that something has to be done to trim the ever swelling goose population. The TSA is charged with regulating aviation security and does this with ever-broadening strokes. Nobody seems to get that these birds pose as big a threat as a terrorist might. After all, they managed to bring down an Airbus in the middle of a huge city.

Steve Tobias

Click through to read the rest of this week's letters.

WHAT'S NEW AT SUN 'N FUN?
The air show season "officially" starts on April 21 as Sun 'n Fun kicks off in Lakeland, Fla. for five days of showcasing the best in general aviation. If you're a company with something new to introduce at the show, we'd like to hear from you. We'll gladly accept your news releases in advance, on an embargoed basis, so we can give them the full attention they deserve. Simply send them to editor@avweb.com, specifying any embargoes, and we'll take it from there. See you at the show! More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

WANT A CHANCE TO WIN AN AV8OR GPS BY BENDIX/HONEYWELL?

All you have to do is click the image at right to enter your name and e-mail address. And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, but Bendix may send you information on the AV8OR. You may also forward this newsletter to friends and invite them to sign-up for AVweb's Sun 'n Fun coverage and qualify for the AV8OR prizes also. (We won't spam them, either, but we will send them our e-mail news Flashes.)

Deadline for entries is midnight, Monday, April 27, 2009.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

(There's nothing to buy. All you need to do is be registered with AVweb.)

Columns | Features | What's New | Calendar | Brainteasers

BRAINTEASERS QUIZ #142: TAME THAT CHECKRIDE
All pilots experience the jitters when the Designated Pilot Examiner(DPE) slithers into the aircraft and hisses, "Let's see what you know." So let's quell all fears and see what you know about Practical Tests Standards.

Take the quiz.

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AVIATION NEWS — DOG BITES MAN
Was the stolen Cessna 172 story just media sensationalism? Maybe so, admits AVweb Editorial Director Paul Bertorelli — but readers still wanted to read about it, and that's why we ran it. Read more in the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: ENOLA GAY — HISTORY'S SURPRISES
Front and center at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center is the Enola Gay, the legendary B-29 that flew into history in August, 1945. The pilot's seat looks as it did in 1945, except for one important detail. Paul Bertorelli has the story in the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog. More...

RESTORING THE ENOLA GAY
In sheer physical size, the B-29 Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, was the largest restoration project ever undertaken by the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. In this long-form podcast, NASM's Anne McCombs and Bob McLean explain what it took to get the airplane into the same shape it was when it completed its historic mission. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: ATLANTIC AVIATION (KELM, HORSEHEADS, NY)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Atlantic Aviation at Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (KELM) in Horseheads, New York.

AVweb reader Sandra Fox recounted her stellar experience at Atlantic:

My commercial instructor and I flew to KELM for my day dual cross-country (and lunch). ... On arrival, there was someone there to marshall us to parking and someone else to chock the wheels. They immediately asked if we needed gas and were on the way to the truck before we were inside the FBO. While registering the plane I mentioned we had been told the terminal had a small restaurant. The lady behind the desk pulled out the keys to the courtesy van, gave us directions to the terminal and told us how to get the parking ticket validated. When we got back I asked where I could look up the weather. She didn't just direct me down the hall, but escorted me to the room. Everyone at the FBO was friendly and accomodating. They were proactive in asking if I needed anything rather than waiting for me to ask first. I've already recommended KELM as a standard cross-country destination for the flight school.

Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.

AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!

SHORT FINAL

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

One day, while going into Detroit, Michigan, I had this exchange with a controller. They had an intersection MIZAR for many vears and added RAZIM.

Me:
"I know where MIZAR came from. What's the origin of RAZIM?"

Controller:
"That's MIZAR spelled backwards."

Me:
"If I were lexdysic, I'd have known that."

[Silence.]

Me (to the first officer, not over the radio) :
"He didn't get it."

Controller:
"Contact the tower. Have a nice yad."

David Gwinn
via e-mail

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

AVwebFlash is a weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

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Paul Bertorelli

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Glenn Pew

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