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Error found in plane manual
[SIZE=-1]By EMILY C. DOOLEY[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]STAFF WRITER[/SIZE]
Just eight months after the Federal Aviation Administration announced a completed review of maintenance manuals for Beechcraft 1900s, the plane's manufacturer has issued a correction because of a backward illustration.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/images/plane19.jpg
[FONT=ms sans serif, sans serif, arial, helvetica]http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/images/bullet2.gif The tail section of the Colgan Air plane that crashed off Cape Cod is loaded onto a flat-bed trailer in South Yarmouth on Aug. 28, 2003.
(File photo by Vincent DeWitt) [/FONT]
This is the latest in a series of manual revisions that Raytheon Aircraft Co. has issued since two Beechcraft 1900Ds crashed in 2003, one in Charlotte, N.C., and one on Cape Cod, killing 23 people.
In both crashes, errors were found in Raytheon's maintenance manuals during the crash investigation. And in the Cape Cod case, a backward illustration was cited as a factor in the crash.
Last month, Raytheon sent out a safety notice explaining that an illustration in the maintenance manual for installing a rudder trim forward cable was backward.
The rudder trim is on the tail of the airplane and acts almost like power steering. Using the bad illustration as guidance would reverse the gear, meaning a plane would turn left when the pilot intended a right turn.
According to Raytheon, the error was discovered during a check after maintenance.
The FAA will continue to monitor revisions, FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said.
Twenty-one people were killed in Charlotte in January 2003; two pilots were killed off Cape Cod in August 2003. Both planes had recently undergone maintenance.
After the two crashes, the FAA began to review maintenance procedures for the Beechcraft 1900, 1900C and 1900D aircraft, Duquette said. The National Transportation Safety Board later made the same recommendation.
A March 2005 FAA letter about the completed examination of flight safety entries mentions the same manual version that is under revision once more.
''I can't believe they found another one after all they went through,'' said John Goglia, a former NTSB member who investigated both Beechcraft crashes.
Raytheon spokesman Mike Turner could not provide the number of revisions that have been made after the crashes because he said they were not tracked.
At least seven corrections
But as of February 2004, there had been seven corrections and one change made as a result of the crashes.
''The safety of our aircraft is our utmost concern and we continuously review our manuals and procedures for improvement,'' he wrote in a prepared statement. ''Aircraft maintenance manuals are constantly changing based on input from operators in the field, product improvements and new FAA requirements.''
Turner declined to answer further questions because of pending litigation.
As of December, there were 255 Beechcraft 1900, 1900C and 1900D aircraft registered with the FAA. Colgan, a US Airways express carrier, locally flies trips between LaGuardia and Hyannis and Nantucket, carrying a maximum of 1,330 passengers weekly in and out of the area. Seasonal flights to Boston are also available.
Meanwhile, a federal judge last month dismissed Colgan Air from two lawsuits brought by the family and loved ones of pilot Scott Knabe and first officer Steven Dean.
The two reported a control problem after takeoff and crashed off Point Gammon. Skipped maintenance steps, a faulty manual and lack of pilot checks contributed to the crash, according to the NTSB.
Dean's wife, Yisel Dean, filed suit in January claiming wrongful death, negligence, breach of express and implied warranty, gross negligence and unfair or deceptive acts and practices. Knabe's girlfriend, Lisa Weiler, filed a similar suit; both have been combined into one case.
Gross negligence claimed
The claim against Colgan was for gross negligence. It was denied because Dean asked for punitive damages, which are allowed in Texas where the pilot lived but not in Massachusetts where he worked and was entitled to workers' compensation, District Judge Patti B. Saris said.
Negligence, breach of warranty and unfair and deceptive practices still stand against the plane's manufacturer, Raytheon Co., and assorted subsidiaries. Turner declined to comment on the lawsuit.
''The opinion was thorough and conclusive and definitively decided that issue, however the case goes on because there are several defendants still in the case, including the manufacturer of the aircraft and the providers of the maintenance manuals with erroneous maintenance instructions,'' said attorney Mary Schiavo who represents Dean and Weiler. ''We will very vigorously press on.''
A jury trial has been set for September 2006, according to court documents.
In another lawsuit, Colgan was not so fortunate. The airline, which flew 667,960 passengers last year, sued Raytheon for damages it incurred for the loss of its airplane and associated costs. In the suit, Colgan attorneys cited the faulty manuals as reasons for the litigation. Raytheon countered that Colgan's maintenance crews and pilots were to blame.
A federal judge dismissed the case last week.
Colgan spokeswoman Mary Finnigan did not return calls seeking comment.
Emily C. Dooley can be reached at [email protected]. (Published: December 19, 2005)
[SIZE=-1]By EMILY C. DOOLEY[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]STAFF WRITER[/SIZE]
Just eight months after the Federal Aviation Administration announced a completed review of maintenance manuals for Beechcraft 1900s, the plane's manufacturer has issued a correction because of a backward illustration.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/images/plane19.jpg
[FONT=ms sans serif, sans serif, arial, helvetica]http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/images/bullet2.gif The tail section of the Colgan Air plane that crashed off Cape Cod is loaded onto a flat-bed trailer in South Yarmouth on Aug. 28, 2003.
(File photo by Vincent DeWitt) [/FONT]
This is the latest in a series of manual revisions that Raytheon Aircraft Co. has issued since two Beechcraft 1900Ds crashed in 2003, one in Charlotte, N.C., and one on Cape Cod, killing 23 people.
In both crashes, errors were found in Raytheon's maintenance manuals during the crash investigation. And in the Cape Cod case, a backward illustration was cited as a factor in the crash.
Last month, Raytheon sent out a safety notice explaining that an illustration in the maintenance manual for installing a rudder trim forward cable was backward.
The rudder trim is on the tail of the airplane and acts almost like power steering. Using the bad illustration as guidance would reverse the gear, meaning a plane would turn left when the pilot intended a right turn.
According to Raytheon, the error was discovered during a check after maintenance.
The FAA will continue to monitor revisions, FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said.
Twenty-one people were killed in Charlotte in January 2003; two pilots were killed off Cape Cod in August 2003. Both planes had recently undergone maintenance.
After the two crashes, the FAA began to review maintenance procedures for the Beechcraft 1900, 1900C and 1900D aircraft, Duquette said. The National Transportation Safety Board later made the same recommendation.
A March 2005 FAA letter about the completed examination of flight safety entries mentions the same manual version that is under revision once more.
''I can't believe they found another one after all they went through,'' said John Goglia, a former NTSB member who investigated both Beechcraft crashes.
Raytheon spokesman Mike Turner could not provide the number of revisions that have been made after the crashes because he said they were not tracked.
At least seven corrections
But as of February 2004, there had been seven corrections and one change made as a result of the crashes.
''The safety of our aircraft is our utmost concern and we continuously review our manuals and procedures for improvement,'' he wrote in a prepared statement. ''Aircraft maintenance manuals are constantly changing based on input from operators in the field, product improvements and new FAA requirements.''
Turner declined to answer further questions because of pending litigation.
As of December, there were 255 Beechcraft 1900, 1900C and 1900D aircraft registered with the FAA. Colgan, a US Airways express carrier, locally flies trips between LaGuardia and Hyannis and Nantucket, carrying a maximum of 1,330 passengers weekly in and out of the area. Seasonal flights to Boston are also available.
Meanwhile, a federal judge last month dismissed Colgan Air from two lawsuits brought by the family and loved ones of pilot Scott Knabe and first officer Steven Dean.
The two reported a control problem after takeoff and crashed off Point Gammon. Skipped maintenance steps, a faulty manual and lack of pilot checks contributed to the crash, according to the NTSB.
Dean's wife, Yisel Dean, filed suit in January claiming wrongful death, negligence, breach of express and implied warranty, gross negligence and unfair or deceptive acts and practices. Knabe's girlfriend, Lisa Weiler, filed a similar suit; both have been combined into one case.
Gross negligence claimed
The claim against Colgan was for gross negligence. It was denied because Dean asked for punitive damages, which are allowed in Texas where the pilot lived but not in Massachusetts where he worked and was entitled to workers' compensation, District Judge Patti B. Saris said.
Negligence, breach of warranty and unfair and deceptive practices still stand against the plane's manufacturer, Raytheon Co., and assorted subsidiaries. Turner declined to comment on the lawsuit.
''The opinion was thorough and conclusive and definitively decided that issue, however the case goes on because there are several defendants still in the case, including the manufacturer of the aircraft and the providers of the maintenance manuals with erroneous maintenance instructions,'' said attorney Mary Schiavo who represents Dean and Weiler. ''We will very vigorously press on.''
A jury trial has been set for September 2006, according to court documents.
In another lawsuit, Colgan was not so fortunate. The airline, which flew 667,960 passengers last year, sued Raytheon for damages it incurred for the loss of its airplane and associated costs. In the suit, Colgan attorneys cited the faulty manuals as reasons for the litigation. Raytheon countered that Colgan's maintenance crews and pilots were to blame.
A federal judge dismissed the case last week.
Colgan spokeswoman Mary Finnigan did not return calls seeking comment.
Emily C. Dooley can be reached at [email protected]. (Published: December 19, 2005)
