Safety Spotlight

NTSB Member Statement—NASCAR Accident

Member Robert L. Sumwalt, concurring:

…..Failures on NASCAR's part allowed an un-airworthy aircraft to be dispatched and flown with a known maintenance discrepancy that directly led to the crash. Examples of NASCAR not having adequate procedures include:

·          No communication procedures for providing flight operations personnel (pilots and schedulers) with airplane airworthiness information.

·         No specific procedure for the director of maintenance to communicate maintenance status of an aircraft to anyone else within NASCAR.

·          No system through which any individual, including the director of maintenance, could remove an aircraft from flight status because of an airworthiness concern.

·          No procedure spelled out for a pilot to determine airworthiness before flight. Instead, the organization relied on an informal procedure where in most cases (not all), a pilot would attempt to determine airworthiness by a preflight fact sheet taped to the airplane with highlighted items signed off by a mechanic.

And for procedures that were in a manual, there was widespread evidence that many of those procedures were not followed. Of important note—when NTSB investigators interviewed the director of aviation after the accident, he could not readily locate the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual. ….

Visit the ASI Accident Database for additional details

(Search NTSB Number NYC07MA162)

This course will help you recognize the symptoms of aircraft aging, understand its impact, and mitigate the risks (approx. 45-60 minutes). Take the Course>>

In-Flight Electrical Fires Safety Brief

Although in-flight electrical fires are extremely rare, they can happen at any time—and they can be disastrous, as proven in the 2007 fatal accident involving a Cessna 310 in Sanford, FL. Learn how to recognize the symptoms and take action if you experience this type of event. Download it! (PDF file—487KB)