Flight Safety Information April 21, 2014 - No. 081 In This Issue Missing Jet Officials Mull Revamping Fruitless Search Efforts Malaysia Airlines Flight Turns Back to Kuala Lumpur After Malfunction Did boy, 16, hitch ride from California to Hawaii in plane's landing gear? Air China pilots warn fight safety under threat by unequal pay and lack of rest 8 Die in plane crash in northern Mexico No Wi-Fi in planes please, we are India FSF Releases New Fatigue Guidelines PRISM SMS Texas Search Group, FAA, At Odds Over Drone Use Flight Bound For SFO Diverted Due To Cracked Windshield Embry-Riddle Worldwide to offer UAS workshop in San Diego April 24, 25 Upcoming Events Missing Jet Officials Mull Revamping Fruitless Search Efforts Leading Seaman, Boatswain's Mate, William Sharkey searching for debris in the Southern Indian Ocean on April 6, 2014. As the Bluefin-21 unmanned submarine completed its eighth mission to look for wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on Monday, having already scoured two-thirds of the 121 sq. mi. (314 sq km) focused search area, authorities in Australia are mulling whether to adjust or roll back efforts. MH 370 vanished soon after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing early on March 8 with 239 people on board, and despite an intensive air, surface, satellite and underwater search, not a single item connected with the errant Boeing 777 has so far been found. Australia's Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Beazley told CNN that the multinational search team would "regroup and reconsider" if nothing is discovered on the section of the southern Indian Ocean seabed currently being scanned by U.S.-made sonar-equipped autonomous underwater drone. "You may well also consider bringing in other underwater search equipment," he said. "All these sorts of things will be on the table if nothing is found in the next few days." Six weeks after the twin-engine jet disappeared, it is increasingly unlikely that any debris would still be afloat, and officials have already suggested calling off air and surface operation. "Obviously that's one of the things you're going to consider," said Beazley. Officials believe the 11-year-old plane crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean based on analysis of data communications, although even this may be re-examined if nothing is discovered soon. Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday that the fruitless weekend search was crucial. "The narrowing of the search for today and tomorrow is at a very critical juncture, so I appeal to everybody around the world to pray and pray hard that we find something to work on over the next couple of days," he said. Malaysia's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainuddin met with relatives of passengers in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to discuss financial assistance. But family members reacted angrily to being urged to submit a compensation plan for consideration. In a statement, they refused to discuss such matters until seeing "at least a tiny bit of concrete evidence" that the plane had in fact crashed. They also complained "not a single one" of their questions was answered during the meeting. On Monday, up to 10 military aircraft and 11 ships took part in the ongoing search for debris from the missing aircraft across 19,300 sq. mi. (50,000 sq km) about 1,087 miles (1,750 km) northwest of Perth, Australia. But the weather forecast had conditions deteriorating, particularly in the north of the search area, as Tropical Cyclone Jack continues to move southward. http://time.com/69880/missing-jet-officials-mull-revamping-fruitless-search-efforts/ Back to Top Malaysia Airlines Flight Turns Back to Kuala Lumpur After Malfunction Malaysia Airline flight MH192 is seen on the tarmac after an emergency landing at the Sepang International Airport, outside Kuala Lumpur on April 21. A Malaysia Airlines plane with 166 people aboard landed safely early on April 21 after turning back to Kuala Lumpur due to a landing gear problem, the carrier said. Causing a blip of anxiety in the wake of the missing plane search, a Malaysia Airlines jet's landing gear malfunctioned during takeoff Sunday, causing it to turn back to Kuala Lumpur, the airline said. Flight MH192 was scheduled to reach Bangalore, India at 11:35 p.m. Sunday (2:05 p.m. ET), but was forced to return to Kuala Lumpur and made an emergency landing at 1:56 a.m. (1:56 p.m. ET on Sunday), the airline said in a statement. Seven crew members and 159 passengers about the Boeing-777 evacuated the plane safely, according to the statement. Malaysia Airlines tweeted "Alhamdulillah" - meaning "praise God" with the announcement that the plane had landed safely. Malaysia Airlines has come under harsh criticism for the way they have handled relatives of the 227 passengers aboard MH370, which went missing on March 8. A U.S. Navy underwater drone scanning the ocean floor for the jet could finish searching a circular area with a radius of 6 miles within the week, Australian officials said Saturday. Once the underwater vehicle scours the entire area, Australia may decide to scale back the search, Australia's ambassador to the United States, Kim Beazley said on CNN Sunday. Beazley said all search countries would be consulted before any alterations are made to the search plan. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/malaysia-airlines-flight-turns-back-kuala-lumpur-after- malfunction-n85291 Back to Top Did boy, 16, hitch ride from California to Hawaii in plane's landing gear? The boy who says he stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from California to Hawaii is loaded into an ambulance. (CNN) -- The first sign something was off was when the ground crew at Kahului Airport in Maui noticed a boy wandering the tarmac, dazed and confused. The story he told officials was even more incredible. The 16-year-old apparently hitched a ride from San Jose, California, to Maui, Hawaii, in the landing gear wheel well of a Boeing 767, Hawaiian Airlines said Sunday. "Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived," the airline said. He certainly is. If his story pans out -- and the FBI has been called in to investigate -- he rode in the tiny cramped compartment for almost five hours, at altitudes that reached 38,000 feet, without oxygen and under sub- zero temperatures. That has some experts questioning his story. "The odds of a person surviving that long of a flight at that altitude are very remote, actually," airline analyst Peter Forman told CNN affiliate KHON. "I mean, you are talking about altitudes that are well above the altitude of Mt. Everest. And temperatures that can reach 40 degrees below zero. "For somebody to survive multiple hours with that lack of oxygen and that cold is just miraculous. I've never heard of anything like that before." Videos bear out events Still, several parts of the boy's story pan out. Authorities don't know who the boy is. He didn't have an ID. The only thing he did have on him was a comb. He told authorities he was from Santa Clara and ran away from home Sunday morning, said FBI Special Agent Tom Simon. Investigators have surveillance camera footage of him hopping the fence at San Jose International Airport. There's also camera footage of him walking across the ramp in San Jose toward the Hawaiian aircraft, the California airport said. He told investigators he crawled into the wheel well of the plane, and lost consciousness when the plane took off. An hour after the plane landed at Kahului Airport, the boy regained consciousness and emerged to a "dumbfounded" ground crew, Simon said. The Maui airport has video of him crawling out of the left main gear area. "It makes no sense to me," Simon said. The teen hasn't been charged with a federal crime, and was placed with child protective services. Deadly incidents There have been other instances of stowaways in wheel wells -- but they haven't ended well. In February, crews at Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington found the body of a man inside the landing gear wheel well of an Airbus A340 operated by South African Airways. In 2010, a 16-year-old boy died after he fell out of the wheel well of a US Airways flight that was landing at Boston Logan International Airport. http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/21/us/hawaii-plane-stowaway/ Back to Top Air China pilots warn fight safety under threat by unequal pay and lack of rest Tensions in the cockpit, partly fueled by 'higher pay for foreigners', may hamper safety Air China says it has received the letter and is verifying each signatory. Photo: Bloomberg More than 100 Air China pilots have voiced their disgruntlement with airline management, citing tensions in the cockpit over unequal pay and physical stress from the firm's aggressive expansion. An open letter addressed to the flag carrier was signed by the pilots, many of them captains of Air China's international fleets, flying large aircraft such as Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s. The letter, verified by the airline, said most pilots could not get proper rest over the years due to the company's "blind expansion" policy, leaving their physical and mental health "severely damaged". Cultural and salary differences also caused a tense relationship between Chinese and foreign pilots, the letter said. The signatories alleged that foreign pilots had "longer rest, easier routes but higher pay". "The arrogance in the bones of [foreigners] plus the unfair payment has made the relationship between Chinese and foreign pilots intensive, extremely unhelpful to the cockpit management, and will eventually threaten flight safety," the letter stated. Air China confirmed to the South China Morning Post today that they were aware of the complaints and that they would be dealt with properly to ensure passenger safety. The pilots said they suffered from some oppressive policies which forced them to stay on duty even if they were "no longer willing" to do so. The excessive workload has taken a toll on many pilots' family lives, they said. The letter also noted that heart and brain diseases caused by hypertension were growing among young and middle-aged pilots. Air China employs more than 2,200 cabin service workers and 3,700 flight crew, according to its 2012 financial report. Xu Yanchun, an Air China spokesman, said they had received the letter and are verifying the list of signatories. "We are checking with every pilot whose name is on the letter to ensure its authenticity," he said. "For every confirmed pilot, we will get in touch with him individually for effective communication. "Generally speaking, our pilots are excellent, responsible and reliable," Xu said. Air China and other Chinese airlines have expanded their fleets in recent years to expand their international reach as cut-throat competition at home bears down on earnings. The fight for customers has ramped up amid economic growth and huge travel demand from the world's biggest market. Asia's biggest airline by market value, Air China said last year it would have 113 new aircraft by next year, according to Bloomberg. It also opened new routes to Geneva and Frankfurt in February, and secured permission to expand in North America, according to aviation consultancies. That month, Air China said its passenger turnover climbed 11.2 per cent year on year. Revenue passenger kilometres (the distance travelled by paying customers) grew 9.3 per cent for domestic flights and 16.7 per cent for international flights. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1493607/air-china-pilots-slam-exhausting-shifts-and-unequal- pay-open-letter Back to Top 8 Die in plane crash in northern Mexico Eight people were killed when a small plane hit a commercial building and then crashed into some warehouses in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, the Excelsior newspaper reported on its Web site Sunday. The eight-seat Hawker 800 crashed into an empty warehouse in an industrial park, the Coahuila Attorney General's Office said. Six men, including the two pilots, and two women died in the crash, Excelsior said. The plane's pilot was Alfonso Andre Reymond and the co-pilot was Israel Cabrera Hernandez, the newspaper said. Journalist Antonio Davila Campos, his wife, Irma Lopez, and their 10-year-old son were among those who died in the accident, Excelsior said. The plane was flying from Cozumel Island in Quintana Roo state to Plan de Guadalupe International Airport outside Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, investigators said. State emergency management office and emergency services personnel, as well as firefighters from the cities of Ramos Arizpe and Saltillo, responded to the crash and extinguished a fire that started at the industrial park. Emergency services workers needed more than four hours to recover the bodies, which were taken to the coroner's office. EFE http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/04/20/8-die-in-plane-crash-in-northern-mexico/ Back to Top No Wi-Fi in planes please, we are India National carrier Air India stumbled on this archaic - but still in vogue - rule while preparing to have Wi-Fi on its aircraft. NEW DELHI: Each time you board an aircraft to fly in India - or even overfly the country - you are journeying back in time. An iron curtain prohibits flyers in Indian airspace from enjoying Wi-Fi connectivity. While international flyers can log on to the net as soon as they are out of Indian airspace, desi ones can do so only before takeoff and after landing. National carrier Air India stumbled on this archaic - but still in vogue - rule while preparing to have Wi-Fi on its aircraft. A team of senior officials recently met officials of Geneva-based OnAir, which provides both internet and mobile connectivity to almost 30 top airlines globally like British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Thai. "We were shown a real time presentation of aircraft in air using Wi-Fi and/or mobile connectivity. All planes over India were shown in red, meaning they had neither of these two connections. We were told that India does not allow these two things in air and so even planes of foreign airlines equipped with Wi-Fi and/or mobile connectivity have to switch their systems off, while flying over the country," said a senior AI official. The airline was told that some private and foreign airlines had in the past sought permission to use Wi-Fi over Indian airspace but were not given the same. The AI team was dejected by the discovery of this stumbling block on providing internet on its aircraft. Installing the onboard systems and providing the satellite-to-ground support was neither too expensive, nor a big technical challenge. But, being the national carrier of India, it did not make sense to opt for a technology that can be used only over foreign airspace and not on desi one. "We are going to request the government to lift the ban on Wi-Fi in air and soon start a formal process with both the home and telecom ministry. Such a ban does not make sense when advanced countries actually take pride in ensuring flyers over their airspace remain connected all the time. Being a government company, we hope to get this ban lifted on our request. However, that process may take time and out plan of having internet in air is now delayed till that happens," said an official. In fact, "no Wi-Fi" is not the only Stone Age rule in the air here. India allows use of personal electronic devices only during cruise phase, while DGCA rules prohibit switching on mobiles at all times inside an aircraft till it has landed and taxied off the active runway. On the other hand, US and Europe have from January allowed their airlines to let passengers use personal electronic devices (PED) - including smartphones in aeroplane mode - in all durations of a flight. While they junked old fears that radio signals from PEDs can interfere with an aircraft's communications, navigation and other electronic systems, India still clings on to them. DGCA's civil aviation requirement 3.1 clearly says: "No person shall use any electronic device, which intentionally transmits radio signals like mobile/cellular phones, amateur radio transceivers, etc at all times while on board an aircraft for the purpose of flight." It also cites a corresponding rule in Aircraft rule (29 B): "No person shall operate, nor shall the operator or the pilot-in-command of an aircraft allow the operation of any portable electronic device on board an aircraft in flight." Archaic setup Installing the onboard systems and providing the satellite-to-ground support is neither too expensive, nor a big technical challenge Being the national carrier, it does not make sense for Air India to opt for a technology that can be used only over foreign airspace "We are going to request the government to lift the ban on Wi-Fi in air and soon start a formal process with both the home and telecom ministries," said an AI official http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/No-Wi-Fi-in-planes-please-we-are- India/articleshow/34022519.cms Back to Top FSF Releases New Fatigue Guidelines At Annual Business Aviation Safety Summit The report is the creation of NBAA's Fatigue Task Force San Diego, CA, April 16, 2014 - The Flight Safety Foundation announced today the release of the Duty/Rest Guidelines for Business Aviation, a joint effort with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). This report is an update to FSF's "Principles and Guidelines for Duty and Rest Scheduling in Corporate and Business Aviation," which originally was published by FSF in February 1997. The report is the creation of NBAA's Fatigue Task Force, headed by Leigh White. The intent of the update was to consider scientific advances in the past 17 years, and to identify how those advances should influence today's recommended practices for duty and rest scheduling. According to Ms. White in the forward to the report, "This combined effort set out to achieve a consensus that meets the safety and operational goals of the general aviation community. Similar analyses of various industry sectors are being done throughout the world by regulatory authorities that have predominantly focused on commercial air transport." The Fatigue Task Force consisted of the leading scientists in the fatigue management and industry experts, with experience in all parts of flight operation. The goal was to develop and publish a guide that is practical, easy to understand and easy to implement. Ms. White, President of Alertness Solution, gave a presentation about this new report at the 59th annual Business Aviation Safety Summit in San Diego earlier today. In the interest of industry safety, this report is available for no charge on the FSF website at www.flightsafety.org/dutyrest2014 . http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/11409583/fsf-releases-new-fatigue-guidelines-at-annual- business-aviation-safety-summit Back to Top Back to Top Texas Search Group, FAA, At Odds Over Drone Use An unmanned surveillance drone. SOUTH TEXAS (AP) - A Texas-based group involved in searches for missing persons around the nation has run afoul of federal aviation authorities who are prohibiting the non-profit organization from employing drones in its work. A fleet of four unmanned aircraft used by Texas EquuSearch is grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration while the agency develops rules that would allow for the commercial use of unmanned aircraft. But with that plan still more than a year away, the volunteer group that has participated in such high- profile cases as Natalee Holloway and Caylee Anthony is facing an extended wait before it can resume using an aerial tool credited with nearly a dozen successful finds. "It's a resource we've had success with and one we can't use," said Tim Miller, who founded Texas EquuSearch after his own daughter went missing in the 1980s. "We're volunteers. And for being a volunteer organization, they're making it impossible for us to help with this." The FAA advised Texas EquuSearch in February that use of drones must stop immediately because rules do not yet allow for commercial use of such devices. But Miller's search volunteers, who began as a group on horseback in 2000, claim their drones are not used for commercial purposes and therefore should not be subject to the restrictions. This is the latest in a series of skirmishes between the search organization and the agency that up until now did not include an outright order to ground all its drones. The FAA has been told by Congress to develop a plan to safely integrate commercial unmanned vehicles by the end of September 2015. Until then, organizations such as Texas EquuSearch could operate drones if they partner with a law enforcement agency or university already authorized to use the aircraft, said FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford. "The FAA approves emergency certificates of authorization for natural disaster relief, search and rescue operations and other urgent circumstances, sometimes in a matter of hours," he said. Attorney Brendan Schulman, who is preparing a lawsuit against the FAA on Texas EquuSearch's behalf, said the agency's solution isn't feasible. In many instances, he said, law enforcement agencies in the rural areas being searched don't have the authorization certificates to use drones. Even if they did, "the FAA has a very, very narrow definition of what it considers an emergency," Schulman said. In a sense, Texas EquuSearch is a victim of its own success and notoriety. Miller and his volunteers have been to 38 states and 11 countries, including participation in searches for Holloway, the U.S. teenager who disappeared in 2005 in Aruba; and 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in Florida three years later. The group's efforts gained media publicity and also caught the attention of the FAA, which "harassed and interfered .... before, during and after search and rescue missions involving model aircraft," Schulman wrote in a March letter to the agency's chief counsel. In the Caylee Anthony search, the Atlanta FAA office barred use of its drone. In 2011, the agency intervened in the group's search for a missing Indiana University student and "caused a lot of friction and distrust" with law enforcement agencies that prompted the group to stop using its drone, Schulman said. The organization, financed through private donations, is credited with returning 300 missing people alive to their loved ones. Miller said they've also recovered the remains of nearly 180 people who had been reported missing, with many of those cases contributing to criminal charges. He credited 11 of those recoveries to drone use beginning in 2005, including the body of a 2-year-old East Texas boy, Devon Davis, in a pond near his home two years ago. An extensive land and water search had failed but a drone flight spotted him after 15 minutes in an area dense with vegetation and with alligators lurking. "Alligators were going to have dinner," Miller said. "Devon would never have been found." But he said such successes will be harder to come by until the FAA changes course. Last week, a search in Louisiana was hampered by their inability to use the drone even for reconnaissance and for mapping. Instead, a two-person task was replaced with 18 people canvassing the ground. Miller is facing a similar circumstance with a search in Oklahoma in the coming days. "We're looking at over $4,000 (in expenses in the Louisiana search)," he said. "I just don't have that kind of money." http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/04/19/texas-search-group-faa-at-odds-over-drone-use/ Back to Top Flight Bound For SFO Diverted Due To Cracked Windshield SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (CBS) - A United Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco was diverted Saturday due to a broken windshield. The Boeing 757 took off from JFK Airport in New York Saturday morning bound for San Francisco with 138 passengers and 8 crew members on board. While in the air, pilots noticed a crack in the cockpit window. They had to make an emergency landing in a hurry. The closest airport that could handle a huge jet was Indianapolis, Indiana. The airline issued a statement: "The flight was diverted to Indianapolis International Airport where it landed routinely. Maintenance crews are examining the aircraft and we will accommodate customers on another airplane to San Francisco." The arrival sign at SFO showed United Airlines Flight 766 arriving 'on time' at 3:18 p.m., but the flight delay was expected to actually be by about 4 hours. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/04/19/flight-bound-for-sfo-diverted-due-to-cracked-windshield/ Back to Top Embry-Riddle Worldwide to offer UAS workshop in San Diego April 24, 25 Daytona Beach, Fla., - Professionals looking to gain a better understanding of the emerging unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry can take advantage of a two-day course being offered in San Diego April 24 to 25 by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide. Topics to be discussed include: introduction and impact of UAS; UAS designs; legislation, certification and regulation; industry concerns; applications; operational profiles; business opportunities; and the future of UAS. The course is developed and taught by Embry-Riddle Worldwide faculty with UAS operations and research experience. The cost of the course is $550, and continuing education units are available. For more information, click here or email training@erau.edu. About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 60 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business and Engineering. Embry- Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and through the Worldwide Campus with more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real- world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit www.worldwide.erau.edu , follow us on Twitter (@ERAUworldwide) and www.facebook.com/EmbryRiddleWorldwide , and find expert videos at http://www.YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv. Back to Top Upcoming Events: Embry-Riddle Worldwide to offer UAS workshop San Diego April 24, 25, 2014 www.erau.edu Airport Show Dubai May 11-13, 2014 Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) www.theairportshow.com/portal/home.aspx International Humanitarian Aviation Summit 12-14MAY Toledo, Spain wfp.org National Safety Council Aviation Safety Committee Annual Conference Savanah, GA - May 14-15, 2014 Contact: tammy.washington@nsc.org http://cwp.marriott.com/savdt/artexmeeting/ Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar 21-22 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand http://bit.ly/APASS2014 International System Safety Society Annual Symposium 04-08AUG2014 - St. Louis, MO http://issc2014.system-safety.org Curt Lewis