Flight Safety Information August 23, 2020 - No. 170 In This Issue Australia's Qantas grounds five Bombardier planes Turbulence forces airplane to divert to Boston FAA chief in Alaska next week for aviation safety meetings... FAA starts considering private space travel rules Air China reportedly in talks to expand business aircraft division Delta seeks to recall and recruit flight attendants Horizon to outsource heavy maintenance on Q400s... Safety Managment System (SMS) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Australia's Qantas grounds five Bombardier planes SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian airline Qantas Monday said it had grounded five of its Bombardier Q400 planes over concerns about the landing gear of the turbo-prop aircraft. Airline workers inspected all of Qantas's 21 Bombardiers after another operator, low-cost British carrier Flybe, raised concerns about undercarriage fittings on its fleet of Q400s, Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said. "We have picked up some issues with one or two of them (fittings) on each of the (five) aircraft and that has required us to take them out of service," Rushton told AFP. "Rectification work is starting today." Qantas said it hoped to have two of the planes, which are operated by regional airline QantasLink, back in service on the Sydney to Canberra route by the weekend. "We're basically allowing three to four weeks for the work to be completed," Rushton said, adding that the five affected aircraft were Qantas's oldest Bombardiers. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the inspections were carried out after discussions with the Canadian manufacturer. "Our approach to this issue, which requires the replacement of a main landing gear fitting component, is consistent with Qantas's proactive, conservative and safety-first approach to every part of its operations," he said in a statement. "The issue is not an immediate flight safety concern, but does need to be rectified before each aircraft can return to service." Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Turbulence forces airplane to divert to Boston BOSTON (AP) - An American Airlines flight from New York to Brussels has been diverted to Boston after experiencing severe turbulence due to thunderstorms in the New York metropolitan area. Massport spokeswoman Danny Levy (LEE'-vee) says Flight 172 landed safely at Logan International Airport at around 10:40 p.m. Sunday. American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith says there are no reports of injuries among the 159 passengers and 9 crew members on board. Smith says the Boeing 757 experienced turbulence after taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in bad weather. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA chief in Alaska next week for aviation safety meetings STATEWIDE (AP)-- The head of the Federal Aviation Administration will be in Alaska next week for meetings on flight safety and the state of aviation here. Randy Babbitt is coming at U.S. Sen. Mark Begich's request. A Begich spokeswoman says the trip was planned before last week's plane crash that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others. Begich's office says this will be Babbitt's first trip to Alaska, a state where air travel is vital for many residents. The office says the trip is intended to help Babbitt get a sense of technology, terrain, weather and other challenges pilots face. He's also expected to get a firsthand look at new technologies being implemented and to visit an aviation school. Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/20/1418534/faa-chief-in-alaska-next-week.html#ixzz0xQIVnLte Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA starts considering private space travel rules LOS ANGELES (AP) -Private space travel is expected to take off in the next couple of years, and aviation officials and industry officials hope to have figured out by then how to keep a space rocket out of the way of an airline jet, how to prepare passengers for flight and other logistical matters. The Federal Aviation Administration announced this week a partnership with universities and industry groups to address those challenges facing commercial space transportation. "If the plans of people like Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic are accurate, in the next three to five years there will be very frequent space tourism launches," said Scott Hubbard, a professor of astronautics and aeronautics at Stanford University. "That means you've got to clear the air space and if it's very frequent you've got to be sure to manage that together with airplanes going by," he said. The FAA tapped New Mexico State University in Las Cruces to lead the newly formed Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. It will team with seven other universities to conduct research in several areas, including space launch operations, traffic management and the laws, policies and regulations that may govern space commerce. Industry partners include SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. As private companies prepare to send ordinary people to space and take over the business of getting cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station from government, the FAA is trying to figure out how to promote the fledgling industry while ensuring the flights are operated as safely as possible. "If we had imposed all the current regulations on the Wright brothers' aircraft, they never would have gotten in the air," said FAA spokesman Hank Price, "We try to be as flexible as we can, to be as safe as possible but also allow testing of (private spaceships and rockets)." In the coming year, researchers will work with the FAA to define the most pressing issues that need to be addressed, including a future in which spacecraft and airplanes share the sky. In 2004, propelled by the successful flights of a privately financed manned rocket over California's Mojave Desert, Congress passed legislation providing the framework for how FAA can regulate commercial human space flights. The law, designed to help the space industry flourish at its outset without too much government interference, required the FAA to conduct a phased approach to regulating commercial human space flights. Since that time, FAA has issued several rules including mandatory training and medical fitness evaluations for crew members and preflight testing for companies seeking licenses to take passengers on an out-of-this-world joyride. Space tourists must be informed of the serious risks associated with human space flight, and must undergo basic training. One researcher said he is interested in finding ways to safely enable passengers with high blood pressure, diabetes and other medical conditions who want to experience zero gravity. "How do you evaluate those individuals, what kind of medical monitoring might be required, what sort of conditions would be acceptable to fly?" said James Vanderploeg, a professor of aerospace medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Vanderploeg said he has spent the last four years testing about 80 people who have paid Virgin Galactic a $200,000 ticket or placed a deposit for their journey. He said those people trained in a centrifuge that simulate weightlessness, and the tests have found the majority of the group, even those in their 70s and 80s, could handle the gravitational forces of a rocket launch and entry back to Earth. Price said the purpose of the new research is to help the FAA create more specific regulations, such as requirements for astronauts beyond a pilot license, standards of operations for spaceports, or insurance policies for manned or unmanned launches. "There are a lot of exciting areas to look into that have not been fully explored," he said. The other participating universities are New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida Institute of Technology Institute of Technology in Melbourne, and University of Colorado, Boulder. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air China reportedly in talks to expand business aircraft division Air China is in talks with the Beijing government to expand its business aircraft charter business, say Chinese media reports. China's flag carrier will have a majority stake in the venture and plans to acquire more business aircraft, say the reports, which did not name their sources. Air China's spokeswoman was not able to confirm the reports when contacted. The carrier already has a business aircraft charter arm, called Air China Business Jet. It manages a fleet of four aircraft: two Gulfstream G450s, an Airbus A318 and a Dassault Falcon 7X. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103631859436&s=6053&e=001HEbad6h5Gd0nevhz8jgCY5JTVB8BwkgtDECsHwS6ZcwXju1ruDSwBNvhgH3Oojdz4VmdFLT6Vuxf2OVo0SqHEAR4guxusX9u] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Delta seeks to recall and recruit flight attendants Delta Air Lines says it will recall furloughed flight attendants and recruit new ones with foreign language skills to accommodate passengers for its growing international markets. "We don't know how many we'll need," says Delta chief executive Richard Anderson in a weekly message to Delta employees. Anderson explains the furloughed attendants will get "first choice" for the positions before the company looks to hire from the outside. Because the company doesn't know how many of the furloughed attendants will want to return, it is hard to estimate how many new hires will be needed. "It will take a lot of time to sort through," Anderson says. The last time Delta added flight attendants, there were 100,000 applicants for 1,000 jobs, he says. "We know these positions are sought after." An emphasis is being placed on language skills that will support Delta's global network, due to the need to communicate with passengers in their own language, Anderson says. Training is scheduled to begin in January 2011 with personnel expected to begin flying by the middle of next year. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Horizon to outsource heavy maintenance on Q400s Regional carrier Horizon Air, part of the Alaska Air Group, has decided to outsource heavy maintenance work performed on its fleet of 40 Bombardier Q400 turboprops. According to an investor update filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the airline expects to save $3 million per year because of the move. Heavy maintenance that has been performed in-house at the company's maintenance base in Portland will be taken up by Empire Aerospace in Hayden, Idaho. A Horizon spokesperson says the airline has worked with Empire in the past. The decision was announced to employees earlier this month. The Horizon spokesperson says the move affects 109 positions, but that no employees have been laid off. The company has offered the affected employees a "generous" early retirement package and other employment options, such as another position at the airline. Horizon expects to incur a special charge less of less than $3 million in the third quarter due to the staffing adjustments, according to the investor update. During the earnings call of parent Alaska Air Group on 22 July, Horizon president Glenn Johnson remarked that heavy maintenance represented a "significant savings opportunity" as Horizon strives to meet its goal of a 10% return on invested capital (ROIC). Johnson also said Horizon was in discussions with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union that represented its mechanics "to determine whether we can realise the same level of savings within our current framework". Heavy maintenance work on the carrier's CRJ700 fleet, which is planned to be phased out, is already outsourced. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Puzzle [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103631859436&s=6053&e=001HEbad6h5Gd2KlYAH1pNb6uTK_43WIl5KCdEKx0V-w2dLIIhGkdTs_SmW-xQn_tKog6ru2lIx9JN5fT7NOYMrEerLGAy3ubuwN2WqV-G5GgEiinIHVC94uA==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC