National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Cessna Aircraft investigators are probing the Oct. 7 crash of a Cessna Caravan 208 that killed 10 people returning from a skydiving event.
The single-pilot aircraft ferrying nine skydivers from Star, Idaho, to Shelton, Washington, located south of Seattle, went down in a steep nosedive into the rugged Cascade Mountains, said the local sheriff and FAA officials.
The crash follows warnings issued by the FAA in recent years regarding the Caravan’s susceptibility to icing. It is reported that a cold front had swept through the area where the aircraft went down, but officials won’t know for some time if weather conditions might have contributed to the fatal accident.
Last year, the FAA ordered Caravan operators to post placards warning that continued flight after encountering moderate or greater icing conditions is prohibited. Cessna issued an icing equipment supplement to the aircraft’s flight manual this past June and developed a low airspeed awareness system for flying into icy conditions.
Based on “best practices”, the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) launched its new safety initiative earlier this year. The RACCA Safety Initiative focuses on five specific areas including fatigue, initial operating experience, de- and anti-icing programs, enhanced flight following, and new cockpit technology. Draft programs covering each program are on the association’s web site http://www.raccaonline.org and will be modified as operators put them into effect.
Fatigue was identified as a problem in the cargo industry and RACCA’s Fatigue Education Program assists members in how, when and where crews can get effective rest. The Increased Initial Operating Experience and “Route Checks” helps operators implement a quality control program to insure that operators and crews are following good operating practices, company procedures and policies and the FARs.
Icing, one of aviation’s toughest issues, and the subject of a new certification requirement just published by the FAA, was addressed in the organization’s Approved Ground De- Icing/Anti-Icing Program that was developed with the FAA.
It incorporates best practices, allows use of holdover tables and is manageable by Part 135 cargo operators.
In addition to a flight following program, the safety initiative includes discounts on moving map displays, now being developed with Garmin, which includes terrain advisory features. RACCA is also working with S-Tec on special pricing for the S-Tec System 30 autopilot. The hardware includes a simple heading-hold/altitude-hold feature. FAA’s Final Icing Rule http://www.aviationtoday.com/ran/categories/commercial/7162.html
Cessna continues to enjoy strong interest in the Caravan. Cessna’s Caravan orders this year have already reached more than 200 percent of the goal for 2007, leading to increases in production rates beginning in 2008 that will more than double recent volumes.
Following the introduction of the Garmin G1000 integrated avionics package and TKS ice protection into all Caravan models, Cessna Aircraft said it received 59 Caravan orders at National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Meeting and Convention.
In addition, it also reported that Prop Transfer – Cessna’s Authorized Sales Representative in Russia and Kazakhstan – ordered six Grand Caravans during the recent Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association meeting in Hartford.
The Prop Transfer aircraft will be put in service by a Russian regional airline with service to seven destinations in Southern Russia. Initial deliveries are expected to begin at the end of 2008.
Cessna will offer optional TKS ice protection from Aerospace Systems & Technology on cargo pod-equipped Caravans scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2008.
The TKS ice protection system releases glycol based fluid through laser-drilled panels on the leading edges of the wings, and horizontal and vertical stabilizers to reduce ice accumulation. A slinger ring on the propeller also emits fluid to minimize ice accumulation on the prop, windshield, cargo pod and landing gear.
Aerial searches for downed general aviation aircraft, such as the Cessna Caravan 208 lost on Oct. 7, and the fruitless search for famed aviator Steve Fossett in Nevada, often involve the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).
Yingling Aviation of Wichita recently completed the installation of a special avionics package on a Cessna Model 182T specifically equipped to accomplish the Civil Air Patrol’s search and rescue missions. The milestone aircraft was the 100th completed by Yingling and Cessna for the CAP since Yingling received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the Special Missions Equipment installation in 2003.
The system includes two Garmin GMA-1347 audio panels, a Technisonic TDFM-136 FM transceiver for direct communication with law enforcement entities, a Becker DF-517 Direction Finder, and an optional ARTEX 110-406 Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) with ELT-NAV interface which transmits the aircraft’s position via satellite.
The modified Skylanes can also be configured to accommodate an ARNAV RCOM 100 SATCOM with NAT PTA-12 Telephone Dialer. The dual audio system allows observers in the back seats of the specially-equipped airplanes to converse among themselves while the pilot continues to communicate on a different channel.
“The mission of the Civil Air Patrol is important and extensive,” noted Bob Gallop, Yingling’s Vice President of Repair Station Operations. “We’re glad that we can contribute to the capability of the CAP by equipping their 182s with a package that makes their communications and interaction with search and rescue personnel on the ground and in other aircraft easier and more efficient.
“By interfacing existing avionics with the special package designed for the CAP’s search and rescue mission, we’re able to create airplanes that will be more efficient in doing their job and safer for the crews who operate them,” he added.
The Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the USAF, is a nonprofit organization with almost 60,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.
Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 25,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 60 years.
Yingling Aviation has been affiliated with Cessna Aircraft longer than any other fixed base operation, having been named the first Cessna dealer more than 60 years ago. Yingling is the largest Cessna parts supplier in the world.