EJA/Hawker Midair w/ Glider....Everyone OK - Merged!

[Some guy]

If it is built like a brick $hithouse, then why cant they make decent seat belts?

Hawker in Midair Had Seat Belt Failure
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As the Raytheon Hawker 800XP that on August 28 collided with a sailplane in Nevada prepared to land (AINalerts, August 29), one of the jet’s passengers cinched up his seat belt and the inboard portion of the belt fitting detached. The passenger moved to another seat and the same thing happened again. The NTSB has notified the primary maintenance inspector at NetJets, the company that operated the Hawker, and the Raytheon completions center in Little Rock, Ark., to check the rest of the Hawker fleet. At press time, the NTSB investigator in charge told AIN that no further failures had been found. “It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time,” a Raytheon Aircraft spokesman told AIN. “Raytheon Aircraft Company is actively working with the NTSB during its investigation. We anticipate complete cooperation in those efforts and will incorporate any recommended actions, if necessary, to ensure continued safety for our operators.” [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][URL]http://www.ainalerts.com/ainalerts/up_arrow.gif[/URL][/FONT]

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???

Keep in mind how much knowledge the media and their reporters know about anything that happens in aviation. I don't think this story is fully accurate. The NTSB apparently found the seatbelt defects during their inspection. It has to do with a bent metal tab. Are the seat belts safe? Yes, but it does have somewhat of a poor design. When we learned of the seatbelt "flaws", we inspected all of the 800XP's and none of the seatbelts needed to be replaced. This type of belt is unique to the 800xp so no further fleet inspections were necessary.

And in defense of Raytheon, the belts are designed and built by an outside supplier.

 

[C680]

Built like a tank?

I don't think this story is fully accurate. The NTSB apparently found the seatbelt defects during their inspection. It has to do with a bent metal tab. Are the seat belts safe? Yes, but it does have somewhat of a poor design. When we learned of the seatbelt "flaws", we inspected all of the 800XP's and none of the seatbelts needed to be replaced. This type of belt is unique to the 800xp so no further fleet inspections were necessary.

And in defense of Raytheon, the belts are designed and built by an outside supplier.

There must be something to the story if the NTSB lead investigator is commenting on it. You don't think the story is fully accurate, or you know it isnt?

Look, I am not knocking Raytheon, I just laugh at those who say, Oh that aircraft is built like a tank, so glad it happened to a Hawker and not....(insert rival aircraft make and model here.)

Nice to fly a tank, but if the seatbelts are defective, what good does it do?

In defense of Raytheon...nothing. Belts designed and built by outside vendor is a lame excuse for failure of a critical safety component of your jet.

C.

 

[Some guy]

There must be something to the story if the NTSB lead investigator is commenting on it. You don't think the story is fully accurate, or you know it isnt?

Look, I am not knocking Raytheon, I just laugh at those who say, Oh that aircraft is built like a tank, so glad it happened to a Hawker and not....(insert rival aircraft make and model here.)


C.

Is it standard practice for the NTSB to start giving out details of an investigation before it is complete? That part just doesn't sound right to me. The story overall is accurate; however, I'm pretty sure the passengers were not the ones who found the defective belts. It is my understanding they were found during the investigation, after the incident, by the NTSB. Either way, NetJets did the right thing by checking all other belts in the fleet and I'm sure all other companies facing a similar scenario would do the same.
As far as flying tanks, I am 100% with you!

SG