Sat, Feb 28, 2004
The Air Line Pilots
Association, International has applauded the findings of the
National Transportation Safety Board regarding the Air Midwest
Flight 5481 accident. The NTSB formally adopted its findings at the
sunshine meeting in Washington D.C. Thursday.
"The NTSB has correctly identified the significant issues
relating to this accident," said Capt. Kevin Wilson, Safety
Chairman for pilots at Mesa Air Group, which owns and operates Air
Midwest. "We applaud the Board for its diligence and
professionalism in uncovering the causal factors of this
tragedy."
Taken together, Board's
recommendations constitute an exhaustive overhaul of Part 121 air
carrier maintenance programs, including Air Midwest's. Specific
recommendations included greater attention by FAA inspectors to
overseeing the carrier's maintenance program, as well as
significant revisions to FAA's and carriers' weight and balance
programs. These issues are similar in many respects to issues
identified in several recent accidents. Clearly, the time is right
for government and industry to move forward together to address
these issues.
"What is critical is to make sure these mistakes do not happen
again -- at any carrier," commented Capt. Terry McVenes, ALPA's
Executive Air Safety Vice Chairman. "We urge all the parties
identified in the report to adopt the changes the Board has
recommended."
ALPA played a key role in the NTSB's investigation. The Board's
conclusions and recommendations included many of the issues raised
by ALPA's accident investigation team, and clearly confirmed that
the Flight 5481 pilots did their jobs correctly.
"The probable cause of this accident was the airplane's loss of
pitch control during takeoff," the Board noted. "The loss of pitch
control resulted from the incorrect rigging of the elevator control
system compounded by the airplane's aft center of gravity".
According to the NTSB
report, the following contributed to the January 2003 accident:
- Air Midwest's lack of oversight of maintenance activity;
- Air Midwest's maintenance procedures and documentation;
- Air Midwest's weight and balance program at the time of the
accident;
- Raytheon Aerospace (the contracted maintenance provider)
quality assurance inspector's failure to detect incorrect rigging
of the elevator system;
- The FAA's average weight assumptions at the time of the
accident; and
- The FAA's lack of oversight of Air Midwest's maintenance and
weight and balance programs.
ALPA represents 62,000 airline pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S.
and Canada.
More News
Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]
A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]
Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]
Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]
From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]
Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative
See All