Shuttle America Article

[chperplt]

Shuttle America made more turnbacks than US Airways Express peers

The Associated Press February 22, 2004

A regional airline that has a hub at Pittsburgh International Airport was several times more likely to turn back or divert flights because of mechanical problems than its peers, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The airline, Shuttle America, based in Fort Wayne, Ind., said the record reflects caution rather than the safety of its turboprops.

Shuttle America planes had an average of 8.1 unscheduled landings for every 10,000 flights between January and September, the most recent period for which data was available, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review analysis of Federal Aviation Administration records and interviews with airlines.

All but two of the nine regional carriers that are subsidiaries or partners of US Airways had turnback rates of fewer than three unscheduled landings per 10,000. Besides Shuttle America, Trans State Airlines had 5.4 unscheduled landings for the same period.

Shuttle America, which flies to Cleveland and Columbus in Ohio, as well as 19 other destinations, has never had a plane crash in its five-year history, the company said. The carrier made 14,590 landings in Pittsburgh last year.

"These airplanes, they do fly a lot, and they do receive a lot of maintenance," Shuttle America CEO Scott Durgin said. "But at the end of the day, things will fail and you have to repair them."

Tim Sokol, the FAA's maintenance inspector for Shuttle America, said he has found no problems in the carrier's maintenance procedures.

But higher rates of mechanical difficulties should be taken seriously because malfunctions can lead to crashes, said Gary Eiff, a professor of aeronautical technology at Purdue University.

According to FAA records, on Feb. 3, 2003, a Shuttle America crew turned a plane back when a gauge showed the left engine's torque fluctuating. Mechanics replaced a torque sensor and the plane was back in service two days later. When the plane took off for Columbus a day later, the left engine began surging again, causing the crew to declare an emergency and returned to Pittsburgh.

Another plane abandoned its flight plan four times last year, once when a temperature indicator was pegged too hot and another time because of a failed navigation screen. In August, the same plane turned back when smoke was detected in the cabin and the left engine had to be replaced. Four days later, an electrical short caused the oil pressure to drop in the left engine.

Scott Fenton, a sales vice president for a West Virginia stained-glass company, said he was on a US Airways Express turbojet from Pittsburgh to Parkersburg, W.Va., when passengers used a fire extinguisher to put out smoke coming from under a rear seat. The plane turned back to Pittsburgh immediately.

"Nobody said anything, but I'm assuming everybody was scared, because I was scared," Fenton said.

___

Information from: Tribune-Review, http://www.triblive.com

NOTE: There is more to the article at the above website....

 

[tyuwerty]

Shuttle America made more turnbacks than US Airways Express peers


Scott Fenton, a sales vice president for a West Virginia stained-glass company, said he was on a US Airways Express turbojet from Pittsburgh to Parkersburg, W.Va., when passengers used a fire extinguisher to put out smoke coming from under a rear seat. The plane turned back to Pittsburgh immediately.

"Nobody said anything, but I'm assuming everybody was scared, because I was scared," Fenton said.

___

Information from: Tribune-Review, http://www.triblive.com

Article goes on to say that it suspected that it was excess airconditioning discharge. SA has FA's that are trained to utilize fire extinguishers, doubt a px would actually do it with the FA's blessing. Sounds more like a 1900 to me, I have heard of lots of new 1900 crews that have turned around because the cabin filled up with "smoke" on humid days.

 

[chperplt]

I have heard of lots of new 1900 crews that have turned around because the cabin filled up with "smoke" on humid days.

That would require a properly working VCS... I'm my 3000 hours in the 1900, I've never seen one that worked that well.

 

[Freddie Spencer]

has never had a plane crash in its five-year history, the company said

Very impressive!!!

 

[dispatchguy]

Re: Re: Shuttle America Article

Article goes on to say that it suspected that it was excess airconditioning discharge. SA has FA's that are trained to utilize fire extinguishers, doubt a px would actually do it with the FA's blessing. Sounds more like a 1900 to me, I have heard of lots of new 1900 crews that have turned around because the cabin filled up with "smoke" on humid days.

But, didnt the article say it was a

US Airways Express turbojet from Pittsburgh to Parkersburg, W.Va

And since when is a 1900 a turbojet, not knocking the 1900, but its still a prop. If this writer cant even separate turboPROP from turboJET, WTH else did he mess up on?

And since when did SA operate a turboJET, since that was his crux of the article anyway?

 

[Flash]

Please keep in mind the "turn backs" are usually requested because maintenance and dispatch do not want a broken plane taken to an outstation where it will sit until parts and a mechanic are ferried in. They would rather have the a/c return to Pit to get the problem taken care of and there may be a spare a/c on the ground to finish the flight. As far as the Pkb flight, SA does not service that city, it receives 1900 service by another express carrier.

 

[TWA Dude]

I loved flying the Saab but it did get a lot of electronic glitches. I recall having many aborted T.O.'s, lot's of ferry permits, and we even had to feather a perfectly good engine due to a spurious tailpipe hot warning. Still a better plane compared to the J41, though.

 

[Viper1948]

Hmmmmmm

Could the AP have told only half a story?????????

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shuttle America to receive award

The honor follows focus on unscheduled landings.

By Doug LeDuc [email protected]

of The News-Sentinel


An award Shuttle America is about to receive from the Federal Aviation Administration may say more than unscheduled landing data about the priority the airline places on maintenance.

The Fort Wayne-based regional carrier, which operates as US Airways Express, will be awarded the FAA's top honor in its Aviation Maintenance Technician awards program Wednesday.

The award will come three days after the Pittsburgh Tribune Review called Shuttle America's record on unscheduled landings into question. The airline has its main hub in Pittsburgh.

The news story acknowledged the airline's data wasn't directly comparable to unscheduled landing data supplied the FAA by eight other regional carriers that are subsidiaries or partners of US Airways.

But that didn't stop the paper from making the comparison.

It said the airline hasn't had a crash in its five-year history, and Tim Sokol, the FAA's primary maintenance inspector for Shuttle America, has found no problems with the carrier's maintenance procedures.

But, it said Shuttle America planes had an average of 8.1 unscheduled landings for every 10,000 flights between January and September, the most recent period for which data was available.

The report said Trans State Airlines had 5.4 unscheduled landings for the same period, and the rest of the airlines in the comparison had fewer than three unscheduled landings per 10,000.

But, the comparison was based on the paper's analysis of service difficulty reports filed with the FAA. And "we, as a practice, right or wrong, have submitted a service difficulty report any time we have brought an airplane back," said Scott Durgin, chief executive officer for Shuttle America.

Many airlines follow a less conservative reporting policy, he said. Had Shuttle America filed only the five unscheduled landing reports required by regulations, an analysis would have showed it had only 2.1 for every 10,000 flights, Durgin said.

"You think you're doing something . . . to protect against violating a federal regulation, and what you're doing is setting yourself up for misinterpretation," he said. "The story's incomplete."

A maintenance consultant quoted in the story said higher turnback rates could indicate pilots are cautious, and a low rate of turnbacks does not mean a carrier is safe.

It said two regional carriers operating as US Airways Express had fewer than two unscheduled landings per 10,000 flights, but had fatal crashes last year.

Durgin said Shuttle America takes a cautious approach responding to possible maintenance issues discovered in flight.

"If we've taken off out of Pittsburgh and we have an indication light that's not normal, you are perfectly safe and legal to continue on to your destination. You have to get the situation addressed before you can take off again," he said.

But, "we've brought the airplane back and either repaired the discrepancy on the aircraft and sent the passengers on their way or moved the passengers and crew and their baggage to a spare aircraft," he said. "It gets immediate resolution to the issue."


Hmmmmmmm

 

[Weasel Keeper]

Very impressive!!!

As a matter of fact...it is.



Shuttle America Receives FAA Diamond Maintenance Award

Fort Wayne-based Shuttle America, which operates as US Airways Express, has been awarded the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) top honor in its Aviation Maintenance Technician awards program. The program recognizes exemplary training of maintenance technicians. The program's top honor -- the Diamond Award -- is the highest within five FAA categories.
To receive the award, the FAA requires air carriers to have 25% of their eligible maintenance technicians participate in a training program and receive an FAA certificate of achievement. Shuttle America recorded perfect 100% participation of its maintenance team. Additionally, for an individual to receive the award in the Diamond category, each technician must finish 100 hours of training and satisfactorily complete a 3-credit college-level course in mathematics, English, science, management or similar subjects.

"It is my privilege to work with this team of Maintenance and Quality Assurance professionals. It is their commitment to training excellence that has earned us this award," said Scott L. Durgin, president and chief executive officer. "As Safety is our number one priority at Shuttle America, and this award demonstrates our commitment to dedicate the resources needed to maintain the highest of standards."

"The City of Fort Wayne is pleased to learn that one of its corporate citizens is receiving an honor that applauds the company's outstanding commitment to safety and training,” commented Graham Richard, City of Fort Wayne Mayor.
Shuttle America is owned by investment funds organized and managed by Wexford Management LLC, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based diversified investment company.

The airline operates a fleet of 19 Saab 340 aircraft out of US Airways Pittsburgh hub. The airline employs over 315 aviation professionals.

 

[belchfire]

An electrical short caused the oil
pressure to drop??? What it do,
blow a hole in the oil resevoir?

Or did it just cause a bad indication

the press and aviation don't mix well...