AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*In a new lawsuit just filed, Flight Safety International has been sued by some of the survivors of the victims of the crash of COLGAN AIR Flight 3407. The suits allege deficiencies in stall recovery training for both the Pilot and Co-Pilot of the aircraft. Colgan Flight 3407, on service for CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, crashed on February 12 at Clarence Center, New York, while on approach to Buffalo. The DHC 8-400, on Domestic Service from Newark, New Jersey, carried 44 passengers and 5 crew members onboard. All were killed in the crash, as well as 1 person on the ground. The suits allege that Capt. Marvin D. Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Lynn Shaw were trained in flight simulators under contract with Colgan Air, Renslow in St. Louis and Shaw in Toronto. But the suits allege that neither Pilot received training using the stick pusher in Colgan aircraft. An NTSB re-construction of the accident shows that Renslow pulled back on the controls of the aircraft when the stick pusher was activated, causing the aircraft to stall and enter a spin from which he was unable to recover. The NTSB has not determined the actual cause of the accident, but preliminary reports have cited factors such as icing, Pilot fatigue, and "idle cockpit chatter" (violation of the sterile cockpit doctrine) as possible contributors to the accident.

*A TAM LINHAS AEREAS A320 had to make an emergency return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday, after suffering a bird strike. Flight 3192, on Domestic Service to Salvador, struck a bird while on its initial climb, between 500 and 1000 feet. The bird strike resulted in a loud bang. The A320 landed back at Rio a short time later without incident. A post flight inspection, shown above, revealed damages to 1 of the engines, thus the airliner has been removed from service for a full inspection and repairs.

*An IBERIA A320 was struck by lightning while on approach to Asturias, Spain, on Sunday, November 29. Flight 478, on Domestic Service from Madrid, with 80 passengers and crew onboard, suffered the lightning strike while on final approach. The A320 landed without incident, however post flight inspection did reveal an unknown amount of damage to the aircraft. According to media reports, the A320 has been removed from service for repairs.

*An EASYJET A321 had to make an emergency return to London Gatwick on Sunday, November 29, after being struck by lightning. Flight 8683 was on International Service from Gatwick to Lanzarote, Canary Islands, with 136 passengers and crew onboard. While inflight at 36000 feet, over Nantes, France, the aircraft was struck by lightning. The crew requested return to Gatwick, and the A321 landed without incident about 1 hour later. The aircraft was inspected and no damage was found, thus the A321 was cleared to resume its flight to Lanzarote about 4 hours later.

*A 1 month old infant died onboard a UNITED AIRLINES airliner, in a tragic accident, on November 24. According to media reports, the UAL aircraft was on International Service from Washington Dulles to Kuwait City, Kuwait, when the crew declared a medical emergency and diverted to London Heathrow. While inflight, a mother was breastfeeding her 1 month old child and had falled asleep. Upon awakening, the infant was found not to be breathing. Despite attempts to revive the child by a doctor onboard, and again at a hospital near Heathrow, the child did not survive.

*A CSA CZECH AIRLINES Boeing 737 had to make an emergency return on November 23, due to a door problem. Flight 878 was on International Service from Prague, Czech, to Tallinn, Estonia, when the incident took place. According to media reports, the crew requested return, reporting a suspected defect wtih a door while climbing thru 25000 feet. The 737 landed back at Prague without incident, about 20 minutes after its initial departure. In a brief statement, CSA said that no defect could be detected.