Flight Safety Information December 11, 2013 - No. 253 In This Issue Air Force: Bird Strike Caused Wreck of $8M Jet. US REGULATOR TO AUDIT DGCA FROM TODAY (India) ICAO ANNEX 19 - THE NEXT STEPS IN PROACTIVE SAFETY MANAGEMENT ANA Holdings Inc : ANA to introduce MPL Training for Pilots. Authorities seek person who shined laser at aircraft landing at PBIA. EU Aviation Safety Agency allows tablets, smartphones in 'Flight mode' on planes Think ARGUS PROS Watch for: AVIATION MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING EXCHANGE Flight Safety Information - Searchable Database Follow FSI on Twitter Air Force: Bird Strike Caused Wreck of $8M Jet (AP) U.S. Air Force investigators have confirmed that a bird strike caused an $8 million jet to crash in Texas during a training flight in July. Two pilots suffered minor injuries when they ejected from the T-38 Talon before it plummeted to the ground south of Sheppard Air Force Base and burst into flames. Maj. Christopher Thompson was instructing a member of the German Air Force at the time. They were part of the base's Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. The program trains students from nine NATO countries. Sheppard officials said Tuesday the bird struck the jet's canopy, shattering it and sending fragments into an engine that then failed. The incident was compounded by the pilots' attempts to execute a turn that increased drag. The jet lost airspeed, then stalled. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/air-force-bird-strike-caused-wreck-8m-jet- 21167187 Back to Top US REGULATOR TO AUDIT DGCA FROM TODAY (India) NEW DELHI: With 33 major deficiencies and a looming vacancy at the top, the Indian aviation safety regulator will come under the scanner of the US Federal Aviation Administration from Wednesday. The FAA team was here three months back and had identified the 33 problem areas - mainly related to staff shortage and training issues. It is now coming back to see if any real progress has been made on them or should Indian aviation be downgraded for having a watchdog who is too weak to ensure safety even as Indian air traffic grows by leaps and bounds. While aviation authorities here are trying to ensure that a downgrade does not happen by listing a series of steps, the reality is that the government is unable to find a suitable person to head the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA). The current DG, Arun Mishra, has been selected by UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as its Asia Pacific head because of his experience in aviation. But after he leaves this month, the DGCA will be a headless organization and the aviation ministry will give additional charge of DG to a joint secretary. In fact, the FAA had in July 2012 warned the DGCA clearly, saying that it is "concerned that the aviation safety oversight provided by the government of India may no longer meet minimum international standards established by ICAO... extreme understaffing of technically qualified personnel raise concerns..." In no uncertain terms, it told India that the country was not downgraded in 2009 "dependent upon the government of India maintaining technical staffing and training requirements sufficient for effective aviation system safety oversight, with the understanding that the failure to meet these requirements would result in additional formal consultations". But the government here did not act, apart from saying that a Civil Aviation Authority loosely on FAA lines will replace the DGCA. That bill is supposed to be cleared in this session of Parliament. Also, the creation of CAA will take at least a year or two. The FAA's 33-point findings on DGCA which will come under the scanner from Wednesday are related to staff. It has even questioned how DGCA allowed Air India to start using the Boeing-787 without demonstration flights. A downgrade will mean Indian carriers, Jet and Air India, will not be allowed to add any new routes in the US apart from their existing flights. Also, their aircraft could be subjects to checks in US before being allowed to take off. "The government's continued failure to strengthen DGCA has put a question mark on entire Indian aviation growth story. We have been evading a downgrade by constantly making tall claims on this front. But now it remains to be seen if we can play the bluff game any longer," said an airline official. Aviation ministry and DGCA officials, on their part, say they have taken all required corrective steps and are hopeful of not being downgraded by FAA. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-regulator-to-audit-DGCA-from- today/articleshow/27196965.cms Back to Top ICAO ANNEX 19 - THE NEXT STEPS IN PROACTIVE SAFETY MANAGEMENT For the first time in 30 years, ICAO are set to release a new Annex - Annex 19 - that pulls together current safety management practices and future expectations for facilitating safety risks that exist in our lands and skies. The Annex looks to promote and enhance the alignment between the state and service providers and operators, which in my opinion should be welcomed and can only be a positive thing. Sharing and learning from each other is good, it's what we are taught as kids and is something we would do well to remember as adults. ICAO have provided us with Annex after Annex of standards and regulations depicting how things should be done in the industry, with lots of references to safety for operation of aircrafts, air traffic services, aerodromes, and airworthiness. This new Annex brings together all of these different provisions to further embed safety oversight and systemic risk sharing, but shouldn't we be doing this already anyway? There is a lot of emphasis on the management of safety risks, focusing on what we don't want to happen, and on the sharing of information. However, how worthwhile the sharing of information actually is depends on what is done with it. ICAO appear to be providing an answer to bridging the gap between simply being aware of other industry incidents and proactively managing and implementing further mitigation strategies to prevent the same thing from occurring on our own watch. But why has it taken a new Annex to be published for us to do this, shouldn't this be something we should be doing as part of working practice? How do organisations learn and share? It seems ICAO have produced this Annex to show that it is no longer acceptable just to Prevent, Detect and Respond; we need to be able to learn and share information, particularly as the demand for air travel increases. To that end, ICAO has offered greater support for the next generation of safety management systems. The co-ordination effort being established between State Safety Programmes (SSP) and the SMS provides an opportunity to improve the performance of the existing SMS to meet state safety policies and objectives, state safety risk management, assurance and promotion. We can no longer be seen just to be preventing, detecting and responding to occurrences. Learning isn't just about reporting, understanding, implementing and then backtracking; it's much more than that - learning is the sharing of knowledge and information, so let's get more information about our controls instead of the outcomes. How about we manage the precursor and build our resilience? Now, it's all very well saying this but how do we actually achieve it? Well, we need to start somewhere...so how about our controls? Do we have confidence in our controls? If not, why not? And what do we do about it to make sure we are confident in the controls in place? Yes, States play a role to establish and prescribe a State Safety Programme in order for us to achieve an acceptable level of safety. However, it is up to the service providers and operators who fundamentally need to demonstrate and actively manage risk and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies through their own Safety Management Systems. So, where do we go with Annex 19? Well, we have to make time to look at what we've got; we know an SMS will give us the means to do everything we need to do and to be able do them effectively in terms of manage hazards and associated risks, log incidents and occurrences to be able to report on performance. There will no doubt be policies and procedures with associated workflows that are required to be followed to ensure the investigation is appropriately dealt with. With Annex 19, we need more than this. We need a platform to not only do all the things we need to do, but also all the things we want to do; such as anticipating and predicting, strengthening our position and giving us confidence in our controls. Because if we're not doing that...well...in the eyes of Annex 19...are we doing it wrong? http://www.gaelquality.com/blog/november-2013/annex-19-the-next-steps-in-proactive- safety-management?goback=%2Egde_1804478_member_5812106301550919682#%21 Back to Top ANA Holdings Inc : ANA to introduce MPL Training for Pilots TOKYO, December 10th, 2013- ANA isto introduce a new type of basic training into its pilot education program. Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) training is specifically designed for aircraft cockpits crewed by two pilots and was introduced in 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization. ANA will begin MPL training from summer 2014 and will outsource the training to Lufthansa Flight Training GmbH (LFT)*1, the flight training subsidiary of Lufthansa, one of ANA's Star Alliance partners as well as Joint Venture partner. The MPL trainingis expected to result in a significant reduction in training time compared to previous training methods, but it will effectively and efficiently allow trainees not only to acquire piloting skills, but also essential skills required for airline operations including supporting flight operations.ANA decided to introduce the training after determining it met the group's requirements as a mean of providing effective, consistent training from basic stages to training on actual aircraft. LFT has a proven track record, and more than 400 copilots have already completed the course. ANA's training team and LFT have been working together for more than a year to combine their training know-how and prepare for the introduction of MPL. *The planis subject to the approval of the relevant authorities. *1:About LFT LFT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. The companyspecializes in training services andhas awealth of experience and technical expertise. LFT provides simulation training for pilots, emergency training, and service training for cabin attendants for more than 200 airlines, including airlines in the Lufthansa group. LFT has some of the largest training facilities in Europe including 39 flight simulators. Contact : Ryosei Nomura and Maho Ito, ANA Public Relations TEL +81-3-6735-1111 ANA Public Relations All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the eighth largest airline in the world by revenues (2011) and the largest in Japan by passenger numbers (2012). Founded in 1952, ANA flies today to 31 international destinations and 50 domestic cities with a fleet of 232 aircraft serving a network of 175 routes. ANA has 14,000 employees. In 2012, it carried 45 million passengers and generated revenues of $15.8 bn. ANA has been a core member of Star Alliance since 1999 and has joint-ventures with United Airlines on trans-Pacific and Asia routes and with Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines on Japan- Europe routes. Its Frequent Flyer Program, ANA Mileage Club, has more than 24 million members. ANA was voted Airline of the Year for 2013 by Air Transport World Magazines, and was awarded five stars by the world's leading Airline and Airport review site, SKYTRAX. ANA is the launch customer and biggest operator of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. http://www.4-traders.com/ANA-HOLDINGS-INC-6491175/news/ANA-Holdings-Inc--ANA- to-introduce-MPL-Training-for-Pilots-17600183/ Back to Top Authorities seek person who shined laser at aircraft landing at PBIA Authorities are trying to determine who pointed a green laser at a JetBlue aircraft as it was landing Monday night at Palm Beach International Airport - the third time a pilot has faced such a hazard in county skies in the last month and at least the 40th time this year. Flight 521 from New York's LaGuardia Airport was on its final approach shortly before 7:30 p.m. Monday when the pilot reported that a bright, constant laser beam had entered the cockpit, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said. The pilot was able to land the aircraft without incident. It came days after JetBlue personnel reporting Dec. 1 that a laser light had flashed on their plan as it landed at PBIA. A sheriff's helicopter encountered one in its cockpit Nov. 29 as it flew over Hagen Ranch and Lantana roads in suburban lake Worth. No arrests have been made in any of the incidents, but those responsible could face felony charges. In Florida, the act is a third-degree felony that can become a second- or first-degree felony if someone is injured or a plane crashes. Since the beginning of 2013, there have more more than 3,400 reported incidents involving lasers nationwide, said Kathleen Bergen, regional spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Through Nov. 17, there were 36 laser incidents involving lasers reported countywide and 279 statewide, Bergen said. "Many high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots who are trying to fly safely to their destinations and may be carrying hundreds of passengers," a statement posted on the FAA's website said. At least two people have been in arrested in Palm Beach County this year for incidents involving lasers and aircraft. In March, Frantz Exilhomme of Belle Glade was arrested for aiming a green laser at sheriff's helicopter twice in one night. He was sentenced to two years of probation and was forced to write a letter of apology as well as forfeit his laser device. In April, David Mansfield Jr. of suburban West Palm Beach was charged with aiming a red laser light at a sheriff's helicopter. He was later found guilty and ordered to pay court costs. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/authorities-seek-person-who- shined-laser-at-aircra/ncHLC/ Back to Top Aircraft strikes ILS at Stansted; 22 flights diverted Flights into Stansted Airport in the UK were disrupted Tuesday morning after a Gulfstream G550 struck and damaged the airport's instrument landing system (ILS) while landing in low visibility. The aircraft struck an ILS mast aerial on runway 04 at 0330 local time Dec. 10, putting the system out of service and disrupting inbound operations throughout the morning. A Stansted Airport spokesman confirmed the G550 landed safely and taxied to the stand under its own power, but there was "some damage" to the ILS system. He was unable to specify the aircraft's registration or serial number. The incident restricted arrivals on the airport's single runway until 1100. "We had about 22 diversions to Luton, East Midlands and Birmingham and we are still suffering some knock-on delays," he said. Outbound flights were unaffected. Around noon on Tuesday, the ILS was still undergoing repairs, but the spokesman said the fog had lifted sufficiently for the airport to lift restrictions on arrivals, despite the ILS remaining inoperative. He described the weather forecast as fair and added that the ILS for landing in the opposite direction could be used, subject to wind conditions. A spokeswoman for ATM provider NATS, which manages and operates the ILS equipment, said engineers are onsite and the system should be restored to full service later today. She did not have any information on the extent of the damage to the ILS. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Board (AAIB) has launched a probe into the incident and its team is on the scene. http://atwonline.com/safety/aircraft-strikes-ils-stansted-22-flights-diverted Curt Lewis