LINK

[Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

Data show high rate of airport incidents - While often not life-threatening, problems reported to FAA can lead to delays, frustration.

By Rob Schneider and Mark Nichols The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 27, 2000) -- Commercial airplane crashes are rare -- so much so that when a plane falls from the sky, we pore over every horrifying detail and every ghastly image.

Far less visible -- but far more common -- is the kind of problem that forces a pilot to delay a takeoff, land prematurely or scramble to figure out the cause of a flashing warning light.

That kind of problem seldom shows up in a headline or on the evening news, but it does -- or should -- end up in the files of the Federal Aviation Administration.

In 1998, the most recent year for which complete figures are available, the FAA recorded 448 "incidents" -- situations that in some way affected the operation of commercial airplanes in the United States.

Those situations ranged from something as mundane as a blown fuse to a flight crew's decision to declare an emergency after smelling smoke in the cockpit.

According to a computer-aided analysis by The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis International Airport had 20 incidents in 1998. Only two U.S. airports logged a greater number of incidents that year: Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo., with 29 incidents, and Greater Rochester International Airport in Rochester, N.Y., with 21 incidents.

Put another way, the number of incidents recorded in Indianapolis in 1998 was greater than the combined tally for busy international airports in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and St. Louis.

The Indianapolis incidents involved a variety of problems, most often mechanical difficulties. In one incident, a commuter plane blew both of its left main tires after landing.

In another, a blast from a jet engine pushed a cargo container into two ground workers.

In a third incident, part of a DC-10 cargo jet fell off the aircraft and plunged through the roof of a house near Mooresville.

None of Indianapolis' 1998 incidents resulted in significant aircraft damage or serious injuries. But at least nine times that year, flight crews declared an emergency before landing at the airport.

The 1998 numbers don't appear to be an aberration.

In recent years, Indianapolis International consistently has ranked among the nation's top 10 airports in terms of incident filings.

In fact, while the nation's airports as a whole have experienced a general decline in incident reporting since 1990, Indianapolis' primary airport has seen its numbers fluctuate. Although the facility's numbers dipped in the middle of the decade, the totals for 1997 and 1998 were comparable to those for 1990 and 1991.

Do such incidents make an airport more dangerous?

A former FAA investigator with years of experience says the answer is no. More often that not, he notes, incidents involve a simple action taken as a precaution -- not some last-ditch attempt to save an aircraft.

But the line between an "incident" and something more serious can be a thin one.

Last September, a Boeing 737 suffered engine failure as it took off from West Palm Beach, Fla., bound for Houston. In keeping with emergency procedures, the plane returned to the airport. In the process, however, debris from the engine fell over a 24-square-block area. No one on the ground was hurt, but the debris damaged vehicles and residences.

Incidents also can produce frustration -- and, of course, fear -- for the passengers involved in them.

Karega Rausch was heading to Denver when he boarded a plane in Indianapolis on Jan. 2. After sitting in the aircraft about an hour, he and his fellow passengers learned that the crew was looking at some "funny-looking water" under the plane.

The funny-looking water turned out to be fuel, so the passengers were hustled off the aircraft as fire trucks converged. The passengers got this explanation: The plane had just come from maintenance, and someone there apparently had forgotten to close a valve.

Later, the airline decided to switch to another plane, an aircraft arriving from Denver. Once that plane was on the ground, the passengers once again settled into their seats -- only to hear a startling announcement over the intercom: During a routine preflight inspection, a crew member had discovered two flat tires.

Eventually, the tires were changed and the plane took off -- and Rausch arrived in Denver seven hours late. Because the events happened just last month, they have yet to show up in the FAA's incident data base.

Some aviation experts question whether commercial aircraft really have had more problems in Indianapolis than in most other U.S. cities. The FAA's statistics, they say, may be misleading because of the way incidents are classified and reported.

In the aviation world, aircraft problems are labeled either accidents or incidents. An accident involves a death, a serious injury or significant aircraft damage. An incident is something that affects -- or could affect -- the safety of a plane but doesn't result in serious injuries or significant aircraft damage.

There's no mistaking an aviation accident: Accidents inevitably attract the attention of gawkers, reporters and, most importantly, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency responsible for reviewing and cataloging such mishaps.

In contrast, the FAA's incident reports rely on self-reporting. Some people wonder whether problems at busy airports get the same attention as those at slower-paced facilities, a disparity that might skew the numbers. Atlanta's busy Hartsfield International, for example, listed no incidents for 1998.

The FAA, however, defends its numbers. Agency spokesman Tony Molinaro insists enough checks and balances are in place to ensure that incidents are properly reported. A spokeswoman for the Atlanta airport confirmed the FAA's numbers for the facility.

Regardless of the safety record in other cities, why did Indianapolis have so many incidents in 1998 -- and throughout the earlier part of the decade?

Location might be a key factor, said Gary M. Eiff and Denver W. Lopp, associate professors in Purdue University's Department of Aviation Technology.

Flight paths in the eastern half of the country make Indianapolis a convenient place to land if problems arise, said Eiff, who has 5,000 hours of flying time. Indianapolis, he noted, falls within the "Golden Triangle," the heavily traveled area between New York, Chicago and Florida.

"If you had an incident in northern Indiana or northern or central Illinois, you wouldn't be diverted to Chicago, because it's so busy," Eiff explained.

Indianapolis International, on the other hand, is a centrally located facility with less air traffic and ample emergency equipment. The airport, for instance, has a 31-member fire department.

And then there's Indianapolis International's layout: The airport has two parallel runways and a third, non-intersecting runway. "Basically," said airport spokesman Dennis Rosebrough, "if you have one runway shut down, you have two others."

All of these factors make Indianapolis International attractive to pilots who might need to land in a hurry. One Indianapolis pilot who flies Boeing 727s put it this way: "I don't think anyone picks Indy because they like the coffee."

A problem on board an aircraft might start -- and end -- with something as simple as a flashing light on a cockpit console. But until a plane is on the ground and the cause of the problem has been determined, nothing is taken lightly.

Willis Ziese, who spent 25 years as an FAA investigator in Indianapolis before retiring in 1994, said pilots usually have the same reaction to a possible problem: assume the worst and prepare for that.

When a warning indicator goes off, a flight crew's training kicks in -- and bulging safety manuals come out. Crews typically follow a protocol, an emergency checklist for dealing with a given problem. Chances are, the pilot and another crew member, such as the flight engineer, will try to work through the problem while the first officer flies the plane.

"Does stuff like this happen all the time?" asked the 727 pilot. "No, but we train for it every six months."

Also contributing to the number of incidents at Indianapolis International might be the types of airlines and aircraft operating at the airport, said Eiff and Lopp, the Purdue professors.

American Trans Air has its headquarters and maintenance facilities at Indianapolis International, so the airline naturally tries to route planes to the airport whenever minor problems arise, they noted.

In addition, cargo carriers like Federal Express have greatly increased air traffic at the facility. In 1998, Federal Express reported five incidents in Indianapolis.

Ziese, the retired FAA investigator, said the types of incidents that have occurred at Indianapolis International are just part of the aviation business. They've happened in the past, he points out, and they'll undoubtedly happen in the future.

"If it's a machine, sooner or later something is going to quit playing," he said.

Ziese, who has been flying since 1945, even finds a silver lining in the relatively large number of incident reports logged for Indianapolis International: "I think that speaks well for the fact they are well trained and know how to deal with some unusual problems."

As for those passengers frustrated by the delays, detours and other headaches usually associated with incidents, Ziese said he understands their feelings.

But he wonders what their response would be if a pilot came on the intercom and asked: "We have this red light up here. How many of you want to bet your life it's just a false warning?"

======================================

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 27, 2000