Flight Safety Information September 6, 2013 - No. 185 In This Issue Recent U.S. Air Crashes Highlight Leading Cause of Deaths Charter jet makes emergency landing in Spokane Fire in the hold FAA Suggests Legal Flight Without Outside View Below 100 Feet United Recalls Almost 600 Pilots From Furlough DFW Airport Police Targeted TSA in Sting Operation FAA Safety Briefing - September/October 2013 Embry-Riddle to Host Workshop on Aviation Safety Management Systems Think ARGUS PROS IFA - Technical Workshop and Forum 26 & 27th November - Hong Kong Virgin Galactic aircraft cruises to supersonic speeds Houston Airports Unveil First Look at Proposed Spaceport Recent U.S. Air Crashes Highlight Leading Cause of Deaths By Alan Levin Pilots on an Asiana Airlines Inc. Boeing 777 that hit a seawall short of a San Francisco runway on July 6 said they had indications once they reached 500 feet altitude that they weren't properly set up to land. An Asian airline's wide-body slams into a sea wall. A 737 with 150 people aboard hits the runway so hard its nose gear buckles. A cargo plane barely misses houses before plowing into a hillside short of the runway. These recent accidents, marking the deadliest period for airlines in the U.S. since 2009, have something in common: had the pilots aborted their landings at the first sign of trouble - - a move known as a go-around -- they might have avoided tragedy. "They'd all be walking, talking and alive if they went around," Patrick Veillette, a pilot who teaches and writes about aviation safety, said in an interview. The three U.S. air crashes since July 6, which killed five people, spotlight the difficulty in getting pilots to abort touchdowns if they haven't made safe approaches to the runway. It's "the largest, lowest hanging piece of safety fruit" to make flying less hazardous, according to research sponsored by the Alexandria, Virginia-based Flight Safety Foundation. Crashes that occur during approach or touchdown are the world's leading category of aviation mishaps and deaths, according to data compiled by Chicago-based manufacturer Boeing Co. (BA) The biggest risk factor for such accidents is failing to approach a runway at the proper speed, altitude and heading, known as an unstabilized approach. If safety regulators can persuade pilots to conduct more go-arounds, lives may be saved and costs to airlines in damaged equipment and liability may be lowered. Non-Compliant Pilots Computerized flight-track records and a survey of 2,340 pilots sponsored by the safety foundation found that crews have a long way to go to comply with airline requirements to abort landings if their approaches were unstable. Almost all pilots, or 97 percent, continued to land in spite of the rules that they climb away from the runway and circle around to try again, according to the research. "That's a risk factor that we really need to work on," Rudy Quevedo, director of global programs at the foundation, said in an interview. The issue isn't simple or new, Quevedo and Veillette said. "There isn't a commercial pilot who can say, 'Shame on you. You should have gone around,'" Veillette said. "We've all been in situations where in retrospect, we should have gone around and didn't." In some cases, rules may be overly rigid, akin to imposing a highway speed limit that is so low drivers routinely exceed it, Quevedo said. Violating the rules has become so ingrained that airlines don't enforce them and pilots don't recognize when they are taking unnecessary risks, he said. Safety Critical Setting up a proper approach to a landing is critical to safety, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the aviation industry, and the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization. "It's really all physics," Quevedo said. "You want to be centered on the runway on the correct trajectory, the correct descent rate and the right speed." If that happens, a plane will almost always cross the start of the runway at a height of about 50 feet (15 meters), which is optimal for a safe landing, he said. Airlines typically require that a plane be stabilized at 1,000 feet above the runway in poor visibility and at 500 feet in clear weather. Pilots must also have performed required checklists, extended landing gear and configured the plane for landing, according to the foundation. "If not -- GO AROUND!" an FAA advisory to pilots and airlines says. Low, Slow While the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board hasn't said what caused the three recent crashes, information it has released shows evidence of the aircraft being unstable at points within a mile (1.6 kilometers) or two from the runway or of pilots perceiving they were off course. Pilots on an Asiana Airlines Inc. (020560) Boeing 777 that hit a seawall short of a San Francisco runway on July 6 said they had indications once they reached 500 feet altitude that they weren't properly set up to land, according to NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman. The crash killed three passengers and injured dozens as the plane broke apart and slid to a stop. One pilot told investigators the Asiana plane was below its optimal glide path at 500 feet, Hersman said July 9. Shortly after, the plane veered off the runway centerline, Hersman said. The pilots told investigators they failed to notice other warning signs, including that their speed had slowed so much that the wings were in danger of losing lift. When they recognized what was happening, they attempted a go-around, adding power too late to avoid the accident, Hersman said. Crash Landing A Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) plane landed nose-first at New York's LaGuardia Airport on July 22, breaking the landing gear and skidding across the runway. The NTSB hasn't said whether the Boeing 737-700 was on a stable approach. The captain took control of the plane from the first officer below 400 feet altitude, according to the NTSB. In previous NTSB cases, such shifts in control occurred after an emergency or because the captain thought the approach needed correcting. Nine people suffered minor injuries, according to the NTSB. The pilots of a United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) freighter that crashed in Birmingham, Alabama, on Aug. 14 received a cockpit warning that they were descending too rapidly 7 seconds before they hit trees, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said last month. Whether the pilots also knew they were too low for their approach, which should have triggered a go-around, hasn't been released. The Airbus SAS A300-600F hit a dark hillside before dawn and broke apart, killing both pilots. Dulled Sense The NTSB has investigated at least 21 cases since 1999 in which pilots could have prevented accidents or incidents if they had aborted landings that ran afoul of airline rules, according to the agency's case files. In an attempt to discover why such accidents continue to occur, the Flight Safety Foundation hired Martin Smith, a former pilot and psychologist who operates Presage Group Inc. in Mississauga, Canada. Smith oversaw the survey of pilots that found many weren't following airline rules. The pilots who didn't go-around after an unstable approach tended to have a dulled sense of the risks and didn't communicate as much with fellow crew members, Smith said the survey showed. They also believed they wouldn't be reprimanded for attempting to land in those cases. A similar survey of airline managers is under way to determine why the rule is so widely overlooked, he said. Unrealistic Criteria At the same time, some pilots said the criteria for a stabilized approach weren't realistic, Smith said in an interview. Researchers are attempting to design new standards that require aborting landings only in dangerous situations, improving safety without unnecessarily boosting go-arounds, which can create their own dangers, Quevedo said. "We should expect that if we have a policy, the people should follow the policy," he said. "But that being said, we need to make sure that the policy is good before we make people follow it. I don't think we're there yet." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-06/recent-u-s-air-crashes-highlight-leading- cause-of-deaths.html Back to Top Charter jet makes emergency landing in Spokane A chartered passenger jet made an emergency landing Thursday in Spokane after the flight crew smelled smoke. No fire was discovered, authorities said, but all 105 passengers and five crew members were evacuated from the Boeing 737-900 as a precaution. The jet, operated by Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines, was bound for Seattle from Minneapolis but diverted to Spokane International Airport for an emergency landing because of the smoky smell, said airport spokesman Todd Woodard. It landed about 4:10 p.m. Maintenace crews were requested for an inspection but the charter company also was looking at the possibility of bringing in a replacement aircraft, Woodard said. Sun Country Air is among the nation's largest charter operators and specializes in group travel needs such as college and professional sports teams and private tours. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/sep/05/charter-jet-makes-emergency- landing-spokane/ Back to Top Fire in the hold FIRES on Boeing's new 787 Dreamliners, together with two recent fire-related crashes of freighter aircraft, have increased fears about the flammability of modern aeroplanes. A report by the Royal Aeronautical Society, a stately British institution, points out that in America one flight a day is diverted due to a smoke incident and there is a one in 10,000 risk of a flight being disrupted by smoke causing the pilot to divert or make an emergency landing. Modern passenger aircraft are made increasingly of reinforced carbon fibre material which reacts more-and faster-to flame than aluminium; they are also more electrical than older models, with 150km of cabling in a single-aisle jet. Perhaps most worrying of all, there are now reckoned to be some 500 lithium-ion batteries on board a typical flight, including those in passengers' laptops and on the flight deck, where pilots are turning to tablet devices to replace the sheaves of paper documents that accompany any flight. Lithium-ion batteries have a tendency to overheat and are unable to contain "thermal runaway" in some circumstances. Electrical wiring, oxygen systems and insulation blankets join batteries as dangerous sources of smoke or fire. The big danger is not just fire damaging the aircraft, but smoke incapacitating the crew on the flight deck. If cabin crew and the flight deck cannot contain the smoke or fire, pilots have minutes to find a place to land safely before events spiral out of control. The International Air Transport Association studied flight safety incident reports from 50 airlines between January 2002 and December 2004. Nearly 3,000 smoke events were noted, of which 1,701 occurred mid-flight, mostly when the aircraft was at cruising height. Most involved a diversion and unscheduled landing. Similarly, in 2011 the Federal Aviation Administration revealed (in answer to a freedom-of-information request from cabin attendants) 1,250 smoke or fume events in 2010, slightly more than in 2009. While air safety in general has improved dramatically in the past 15 years, there has been no corresponding decrease in in-flight smoke alerts and emergencies. The result is that many more than one in a billion flights are affected by smoke and fume incidents, and so this cannot, in industry parlance, be regarded as "an extremely improbable event". Because, say the report's authors, the risk of a smoke or fume event is not sufficiently low, a host of measures are now being taken to reduce or mitigate the risks to passengers and crew. These include tougher rules to raise the standard of electrical wiring, tighter rules about the carriage of lithium ion in the cargo hold of both freighter and passenger jets, and better training to improve flight crews' awareness of the risks of smoke and fire. Passengers must hope that such sensible measures will succeed in quelling the fears about batteries so that laptops are not banned from cabin bags. http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/08/aircraft-safety Back to Top FAA Suggests Legal Flight Without Outside View Below 100 Feet The FAA has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that may allow some pilots to continue descending below 100 feet above the touchdown zone elevation (TZE) without seeing the runway environment. Generally pilots must abort the instrument approach and fly the missed approach procedure unless they can visually identify the runway environment at the decision altitude on precision approaches. The new rule would apply to pilots flying airplanes equipped with enhanced forward vision systems (EFVS) using a real-time image of the flight environment while flying on straight-in precision approaches. Airplanes equipped with synthetic vision systems would not qualify. Pilots flying under the new rule would also have to meet certain training and recent experience requirements in order to qualify. EFVS currently allows pilots to descend below the DA, but no lower than 100 feet above the TZE. With the proposed rule, pilots would no longer have to transition to looking outside the cockpit seconds before touching down on the runway. Instead, they could continue to use the real-time image of the runway environment on the EFVS until the airplane touches the ground. As a primary source, only EFVS on head up displays would qualify under the proposed rule. EFVS on head down displays could, however, be used by the pilot monitoring the approach all the way down to touchdown under 91.176a operations. Honeywell claims pilots can "consistently and safely fly to Cat II standards using a head down Combined Vision Display." No new rules were proposed regarding reduced takeoff minimums for pilots flying with EFVS. Comments regarding this NPRM can be submitted until September 9. http://www.flyingmag.com/news/faa-suggests-legal-flight-without-outside-view-below- 100-feet#kXvkc1vfAwSfVLvs.99 Back to Top United Recalls Almost 600 Pilots From Furlough (AP) United Airlines said it will call back almost 600 pilots who were furloughed during a time when fuel prices spiked and the Great Recession forced the airline to shrink. Training for the returning pilots begins next month and will be completed by the end of the year, the airline said. The returning pilots are the last of 1,437 United pilots furloughed in 2008 and 2009, according to the Air Line Pilots Association. United has about 12,000 pilots. The recall comes as demand for pilots at the big airlines is finally beginning to recover after a decade of airline bankruptcies, economic disruption, and changing retirement rules that kept senior pilots flying longer instead of retiring. In 2007, the U.S. raised the mandatory retirement age to 65, from 60. That means that in late 2012 pilots who had stuck around for those extra five years began retiring, creating demand for new aviators to replace them. In addition, pilots will require more time off between flights under new federal rules that take effect next year, which creates a need for more pilots. Delta Air Lines Inc. has said it wants to hire 300 pilots starting in November. American Airlines has offered recalls to all of its furloughed pilots, though some have exercised an option to defer their return. US Airways said last month that it would recall the last 66 furloughed America West pilots. Those two airlines merged in 2005. The pilots had been laid off in 2008. United had already recalled 342 pilots, the pilots union said Thursday, and 600 more took jobs with Continental after those two airlines merged in 2010. The final steps in merging the two pilot groups happened this week, meaning the airline can generally retrain the returning pilots on planes that formerly belonged to either airline. "Our furloughed pilots will be returning to a much better contract and to an airline with a brighter and more confident future," said Jay Heppner, a United captain and chairman of the Master Executive Council of its pilot union. Back to Top DFW Airport Police Targeted TSA in Sting Operation Security officers suspected of dealing in stolen parking passes Sources familiar with the probe said it started several months ago with an undercover investigation by the airport's Department of Public Safety. At least two Transportation Security Administration officers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport have been arrested in a police sting operation involving stolen parking passes and dozens of others could be in trouble, NBC 5 has learned. Sources familiar with the probe said it started several months ago with an undercover investigation by the airport's Department of Public Safety. Investigators found an American Airlines worker had stolen 100 parking passes for employee parking lots and recruited TSA officers to sell the passes to co-workers for $100 apiece, the sources said. One person who was aware of the investigation said as many as 20 TSA officers are suspected of selling or buying the passes. Another person said the number was closer to 40. It was not immediately clear whether or not the airline employee also had been arrested. TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon referred questions to airport officials. DFW Airport spokesman David Magana declined to comment on the investigation or confirm any arrests. TSA officers at DFW Airport -- even part-time -- are required to pay $102 every quarter to park in two employee parking lots. The stolen airline parking allegedly sold for $100 allowed employees to park for one year. http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/DFW-Airport-Police-Targeted-TSA-in-Sting- Operation-222618731.html Back to Top Click to Open! Back to Top Embry-Riddle to Host Workshop on Aviation Safety Management Systems Aug. 30, 2013 - Embry-Riddle's Professional Programs Office will offer a workshop on the Principles of Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) Nov. 19-21, 2013, at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus. Taught by Embry-Riddle faculty, the course is tailored for aviation safety practitioners responsible for the formation, implementation or expansion of an SMS within their organizations. The workshop provides a solid foundation in basic SMS concepts while also covering safety risk management (hazards, risks and controls); human factors; reactive, proactive and predictive safety management tools and methods; positive safety culture; and SMS implementation overview. Those who complete the course will understand the theory, principles and application of an SMS as well as ICAO requirements for implementation and FAA guidance for operators and organizations. All participants will receive a signed copy of Safety Management Systems in Aviation, co- authored by Dr. Alan Stolzer, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in Embry-Riddle's College of Aviation. The course is $1,400 per person, or $1,300 for those who register before Sept. 30, 2013. For more information and to register, visit www.daytonabeach.erau.edu/sms , write to case@erau.edu or contact Sarah Ochs, Director of Professional Programs, at (386) 226-6928. Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top Virgin Galactic aircraft cruises to supersonic speeds The commercial spaceline, co-owned by billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group, just pushed its flagship aircraft higher and faster than ever before in a second rocket- powered flight. Virgin Galactic's commercial spacecraft SpaceShipTwo cruising to 69,000 feet and a top speed of more than 1,000 mph, or Mach 1.43. We're one step closer to being able to cruise at 2,500 mph and experience five minutes of weightlessness 364,000 feet above the Earth -- if you happen to have a quarter of a million dollars lying around, that is. It may not have as cutting-edge a name as Elon Musk and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, but Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is the real deal, and it successfully sailed Thursday to supersonic speeds with the aid of a rocket engine for the second time. "We couldn't be more delighted to have another major supersonic milestone under our belts as we move toward a 2014 start of commercial service," Virgin Galactic founder and billionaire Richard Branson said in a blog post. Virgin Galactic's SS2 brings commercial spaceflight closer to reality (pictures) Virgin Galactic's Second Rocket Powered Test Flight While Musk's SpaceX is more a space transportation line aimed at assisting the launch of satellites and transporting other payloads to destinations like the International Space Station, Virgin Galactic's primary focus is taking the airline model to suborbital space. That puts it in the running for the title of world's first spaceline. At roughly 8 a.m. local time in the heart of California's Mojave Desert on Thursday, Virgin Galactic's launcher -- one of two Scaled Composite-made White Knight Two's the company owns -- reached 46,000 feet before SS2 disengaged and began flying on its own. The eight-seater aircraft -- designed for two pilots and six passengers -- then kicked on its hybrid rocket engine for 20 seconds, twice as long as the initial rocket- powered test flight. The thrust pushed the vehicle to 69,000 feet and a max speed of Mach 1.43, or approximately 1,090 mph. The SS2's first rocket-powered flight was in April of this year, when it reached 55,000 feet and Mach 1.2. And for the first time in flight, the SS2's pilots Mark Stucky and Clint Nichols -- of Scaled Composites, the aerospace manufacturer that also designed both the SS1 and SS2 -- tested the vehicle's "feathering re-entry system." The system turns the rudders up in a wing-like configuration to help the aircraft float to a safe altitude before reformatting to a gliding mode. Cofounded in 2004 by Branson's Virgin Group and the United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi Aabar Investments PJS, Virgin Galactic has been making substantial headway in its mission to introduce commercial spaceflight since it unveiled the SS2 in 2009. Today's flight marks SS2's 29th flight and the White Knight Two launcher's 132nd flight. The ultimate goal is to keep the rocket engine burning for 70 seconds until SS2 hits 2,500 mph and a max altitude of 364,000 feet. Virgin Galactic reports that it's already sold roughly 625 tickets at a cost of $250,000 each -- up from $200,000 until the price was hiked shortly after the initial test launch in April. Signed up for one of the first commercial Virgin Galactic Flights are celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Beiber, reports Space.com. Let's hope the price drops dramatically in the next few years, so less successful teen pop sensations can get their chance to fly in space. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57601588-76/virgin-galactic-aircraft-cruises-to- supersonic-speeds/ Back to Top Houston Airports Unveil First Look at Proposed Spaceport The Houston Airport System unveiled part of its vision for the future of Ellington Airport (EFD) today, as conceptual renderings of a possible Spaceport were released to the public. The design/drawings capture various elements of the overall project, including a terminal facility, an aviation museum and the accompanying aerospace industries that would most certainly arrive should Houston become the nation's ninth licensed Spaceport. "This is a new and exciting sector of the 21st Century economy that carries amazing potential for growth," said Houston Mayor Annise Parker. "We believe a licensed Spaceport in Houston would not only serve as an economic generator for the city but it would also enhance Houston's well-deserved reputation as a leader and key player in the aerospace industry." - Houston Spaceport Renderings - 3D Animation Video - Video Clips from 9/4 press conference Houston City Council members agreed with that assessment on July 17, 2013, when they voiced their overwhelming support for the pursuit of Spaceport licensing at Ellington Airport. Should the required licensing be secured, the Houston Airport System (HAS) would move forward in establishing the required infrastructure and support facilities needed to accommodate enterprises such as space vehicle assembly, launching of micro- satellites, Astronaut training, zero gravity experimentation and space tourism. "It's important to realize that this type of work is already taking place today," said Houston Aviation Director Mario C. Diaz. "This is not a conversation based on science fiction or futuristic projections. This is a conversation about how Houston can access and enhance an industry that is already well-established and growing exponentially." The city of Houston stands as an ideal location for a future Spaceport, featuring a booming economy with a strong aerospace industrial base, a well educated workforce with experience in the high-tech demands of space exploration and plenty of room for growth at a strategically located airport facility. Situated near the Gulf of Mexico, with ample available space for development, Ellington Airport seems tailor-made for the requirements that are associated with an operating licensed Spaceport. Diaz says licensing from the FAA could come as soon as next year. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=41495 Curt Lewis