Desmond Latham

The return to something akin to normal aviation has taken place since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has also created new pressures on the sector.

A number of incidents have taken place reported mainly in the United States of near-misses and the blame has been placed partly on the limited number of Air Traffic Controllers and increased activity.

According to Federal Aviation Administration data, near-miss accidents where planes nearly hit each other have increased almost 25% in the last decade, with about 300 such accidents in the most recent 12-month period for which reports are available.

In January 2023 a Boeing 737 operated by Delta Airlines at JFK Airport in New York was on the runway rolling for a takeoff when an American Airlines Boeing 777 crossed over the centre line.

The Delta pilots hit the brakes to avoid a collision. Most General Aviation pilots know that this is a growing challenge as more pilots take to the air as well on smaller airfields across the world.

Another in the U.S. in February was only avoided because the pilots in command of the FedEx Boeing 767 cargo plane pulled off a late go-around but still passed within 100 feet of a Southwest Boeing 737 full of passengers.

While the NTSB and FAA study these incidents, travellers are hoping that their local carrier ascribes to the highest standards possible when it comes to aviation safety.

So it makes sense for IATA to host their inaugural World Safety and Operations Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam under the theme “Leadership in Action: Driving Safer and More Efficient Operations.”

Willie Walsh outgoing IATA Director General and former airline pilot has been a stickler for safety throughout his tenure.

“Safety is aviation’s highest priority, and this is reflected in the high levels of government participation and the fact that over 550 safety professionals from approximately 100 airlines, aviation regulators, aircraft manufacturers, and other safety stakeholders are in attendance. With its location in the heart of Asia and strong economic growth, Vietnam provides an ideal venue for the WSOC. We’re excited to have Vietnam Airlines, which has a growing route network connecting the region and the globe, as our host airline,” he said.

Safety Leadership Charter

The main aim of the luminaries gathered in Hanoi is to launch the Safety Leadership Charter with more than 20 airlines prepared to sign on.

This makes sense considering IATA’s Operational Safety Audit which turns 20 and the attempts being made to create a risk=based model tailored to each airline’s safety profile.

And risk profile.

It’s not the same for everyone, albeit the physics remains the same.

Without obsessing too much about the inevitable acronym, it’s the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) that we’re talking about.

Other subjects coming up this week include the thorny and growing problem of unruly passengers along with the usual runway safety, pilot training and other perennial topics up for discussion.

Plane Crash Diaries

While on the topic, the latest episode of Plane Crash Diaries hit the airwaves and was focused on icing. With the northern hemisphere heading into another winter, we hope that aviators in the north check their charts and make the right decisions in the upcoming frozen months.

Episode 36 starts with a short list and general description of the causes, then focusing on the two Aeroflot Atonovs accidents in 1971 and a design fault in the ATR-72.

There’s an unfortunately long list of commercial airliners lost due to icing, more than 540 accidents and events caused by aircraft icing by the late 1980s in the United States alone and most of these were fatal.

Anti-icing and de-icing research can be traced back to the early 1930s and in 1948, two scientists, AG Preston and Calvin Blackman conducted the first successful iced flight experiment in which the drag coefficient increased by 81% when the wing was covered and the pilot reported the plane was almost beyond control. I’m not sure of what aircraft they used but the results were extraordinary.

Other research by NASA on the DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft measured various conditions and ice shapes and their effect on aircraft thrust, landing flaps, and angle of attack. It’s thought that the first recorded case of a commercial airplane accident caused by icing occurred on December 15, 1920 when a de Havilland DH.4 mail plane operated by the United States Post Office Department crashed near Belleville, Pennsylvania, in the USA due to ice accumulation on the wings and control surfaces.

There was a happier end to another on 19th December 1946 where a Railway Air Service Douglas Dakota 3 stalled on take-off 1 km north-east of Northolt Airport in London. This was the case of the scheduled service to Glasgow Airport from London.

Four crew and one passenger were on board. Yes, you heard correctly, one passenger. So to matters more terminal if you excuse the extremely cheesy aviation pun.

Then there’s the highly unusual twin crashes of the Antonovs in 1971 both caused by ice accretion. ot Antonov An-12s crashed on approach to Surgut International Airport, just nine days apart.

The crashes occurred under near-identical circumstances due to the aircraft type’s lack of preparedness for flying in severe icing conditions. It’s the formation of an ice ridge by water droplets beyond the ice protection system and one side anti-icing system that is likely to cause rolling and overturn according to research documents.

A case in point of the ridge cause was an ATR-72 crash in 1994.

At that time, the airplane was at a severe level of icing condition, and the co-effect of the electric heating de-icing system at the wing leading edge and the natural conditions formed an ice ridge on the second half of the wing, resulting in a negative pressure zone on the one side’s aileron.