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SAHEL AVIATION SERVICE

Office Address: Hangars 1 and 2
Bamako International Airport
Bamako
Mali
E-mail: sasflight@sasmali.com

COMPANY INFORMATION AND SAFETY BULLETIN

Edition No.: 4 Date: 01 November 2013

Safety Bulletins
The importance of aircraft instruments for the safety of flight can
never be over-emphasized. The pitot-static and venturi instruments
are vital in an aircraft, providing the flight crew with an accurate
indication of an aircraft's height, velocity, attitude and direction
essential for flight safety. These indication scan be compromised by
improper aircraft ground servicing techniques carried out by
personnel affecting pitot/static and venturi systems, sometimes days
or weeks before the intended flight.

Birgenair
Flight 301 was a flight chartered by Turkish-
managed Birgenair. On 6 February 1996, the
Boeing 757-225 operating the route crashed
shortly after take-off from Puerto Plata's
Gregorio, Luperón International Airport. There
were no survivors. The cause was a pitot tube
blocked by wasp nests that were built in it as it
had been some time since the plane had been
on any flights and it was not covered up properly
when stored.

Aeroperú Flight 603 was a scheduled flight

from Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima,
Peru, to Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez
International Airport in Santiago, Chile, which
crashed in the early morning of 2 October 1996,
killing all 70 people aboard. The pilots struggled
to navigate the aircraft after the failure of all the
plane's instruments. With the pilots unaware of
their true altitude, the plane's wing hit the water
and it crashed shortly afterward. The cause of
the instrument failure was a maintenance
worker's failure to remove tape covering the
static ports necessary to provide correct
instrument data to the cockpit.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroPeru_Flight_603 The Quality Assurance department of Sahel Aviation Service
highly appreciates the efforts of Capt. Juanita Seifert setting the
example for fellow SAS crew members, to install aircraft covers.
Bird Strikes – Are You Prepared?
On a fall day in 2011, an emergency medical service helicopter was travelling at about 100 knots and
around 1,000 feet above ground level (AGL) when the pilot began preparations for final approach. A
patient, a relative of the patient, and two EMS crew members were on board. The incident report states
that just before the pilot lowered his visor, a pair of mallard ducks smashed through the windscreen and
hit the pilot in the face. Bird remains and the rush of air into the aircraft stunned and momentarily blinded
the pilot. As noted in the report, the helicopter plunged about 500 feet. The pilot lost a few teeth and
suffered a damaged jaw, a broken nose, and temporary numbness in his left arm, but he managed to
safely land the helicopter. The initial pilot report stated: “Bird strike, landing uneventful.” But as radio
commentator Paul Harvey once stated, “Now you know the rest of the story.”A report this dramatic
doesn’t usually land on my desk. However, it illustrates a growing problem caused partly by the
combination of an increasing population of large birds and quieter helicopters that give birds less
warning that a major object is in their path.

Wildlife strikes have killed more than 231 people and destroyed more than 220 aircraft of all types
worldwide since 1988, according to a July 2012 report from the FAA and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture – and the report’s authors consider that number to be a conservative estimate. Most
(116,408) of the 119,917 reported strikes from 1990 through 2011 against civil aircraft in the United
States involved birds. The number of bird strikes was followed by 2,754 encounters with terrestrial
mammals (deer and coyotes on the runway, for example), 618 bats, and 137 reptiles, such as snakes
dropped in flight by birds. About 10 percent of the strikes damaged the aircraft.Arguably the best known
bird strike involved a plane. US Airways Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger became a national hero
when he safely landed his Airbus A320 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, after the plane collided
with a flock of Canada geese on climb-out from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Both engines lost power,
but all 155 people onboard survived.

If a bird collides with an aircraft, chances are it will do so between July and October, when they are most
active. And chances are it will be a gull, followed by a pigeon/dove, raptor, or waterfowl. North America
has experienced an explosion of the bird population during the past three decades as birds adapt to
urban environments and airports. This increase includes 13 of the continent’s 14 bird species that
average more than eight pounds, according to the FAA-USDA report. Meanwhile, U.S. commercial air
traffic has increased 42 percent from 17.8 million flights in 1980 to 25.2 million in 2011. This intersection
of trends has resulted in more bird strikes, causing an
estimated 586,170 hours of aircraft downtime and
economic losses of $718 million from 1990 through 2011 in
the U.S. civil aviation industry, according to the report.
Pilots can reduce the risk of a bird strike by following
certain preventive measures:
• Increase altitude. 76 percent of bird strikes
occur below 500 feet AGL and 97 percent
occur below 3,500 feet AGL. Additionally,
birds instinctively dive when threatened to
gain airspeed and manoeuvrability.
• Avoid flights over bird prone areas, such
as wildlife sanctuaries, landfills, and fish
packing plants. If you must fly over bird prone
areas, fly slowly until reaching a safe altitude.
• Wear protective eyewear with shatter
resistant lenses when operating in areas of
potential bird strikes.
• Keep landing/pulse lights on to get the birds’
attention.
Source: FAA Safety Briefing July/August
Tired of Fatigue

Humans are designed to be awake during the hours of light and to sleep during periods of darkness. In
scientific terms, this is called the body’s natural clock, or circadian rhythm. Disturbances to the
established circadian rhythm can reduce mental and physical performance, which can be described
in one word — FATIGUE. Pilots fly most operations alone and predominately under visual flight rules
(VFR). They generally work 12-hour day or night shifts. Medical crews typically work 24-hour-plus shifts.
Fatigue can be a significant factor in job performance, so HEMS work needs to incorporate plenty of
fatigue risk management methods. Advisory Circular AC00-64, Air Medical Resource Management,
provides guidance for initial and recurrent training of air medical transport crew members. The
Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) chapter in the FAA’s Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
(http://go.usa.gov/Yz4H) calls out the IMSAFE checklist, something readers of this column may have
seen previously.

IMSAFE Checklist:

Illness — Am I sick?

Medication — Am I taking medicines that

might affect my judgment or make me drowsy?

Stress — Am I under psychological pressure

from the job? Do I have money, health or
family problems? Stress causes concentration
and performance problems.

Alcohol — Have I been drinking within eight

hours? Within 24 hours? As little as one ounce
of liquor, one bottle of beer, or four ounces of
wine can impair flying skills.

Fatigue — Am I tired? Fatigue continues to

be one of the most insidious hazards to flight
safety, as it may not be apparent to a pilot until
serious errors are made.

Eating — Have I eaten enough to keep me

adequately nourished during the entire flight?

Most pilots, mechanics, and flight crews are task oriented and want to get the job done no matter what
we have going on in our lives. Everyone working in the aviation industry should use the IMSAFE risk
mitigation strategy. As the name suggests, it could make the difference between a safe flight, and “I
knew I should not be flying, but I did it anyway.”

Source: FAA Safety Briefing Jan/Feb

SAS SAFETY REPORTING FOR THE MONTH
SEPTEMBER
Indeed we remind all the crew and maintenance personnel that Sahel
Aviation Service has set a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of 2
reports per aircraft per week of operation and 1 report every two
weeks from maintenance. Hence, as per the set KPI of Sahel Aviation
Service, we should have received (38 reports). However, for the
month of September we have only received 9 reports. We urge
everyone to report even if it is a repetitive occurrence and to
contribute to the Sahel Aviation Service Safety Management System
(SMS)

CONGRATULATIONS!
On behalf of all Sahel Aviation Service personnel we would like to
congratulate Nuts with his daughters marriage.

Guess the Aircraft:

Nicknamed "The Tin Goose" was an American three-engine transport aircraft that was
first produced in 1925 and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933.
Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 were produced. It was designed for the
civil aviation market, and was also used by military units and sold all over the world.

Aviator of The Month

Adolph "Sailor" Malan

Adolph Gysbert Malan, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (24 March 1910 – 17
September 1963), better known as Sailor Malan, was a famed South
African World War II RAF fighter pilot who led No. 74 Squadron RAF
during the height of the Battle of Britain. Malan was known for sending
German bomber pilots home with dead crews as a warning to other
Luftwaffe crews. Under his leadership No. 74 became one of the RAF's
best units. Malan scored 27 kills, seven shared destroyed, three
probably destroyed and 16 damaged.

Malan survived the war to become involved in the anti-apartheid

movement in his country. His younger brother, George F. Malan, was
killed flying with No. 72 Squadron RAF as a Spitfire pilot in Tunisia, in
earlier 1943.

Quote of the month: "The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? —it is
the same the angels breathe." — Mark Twain