Flight Safety Information May 1, 2014 - No. 089 In This Issue Malaysia to release investigation report 7 weeks after jet disappeared DGCA grounds two aircraft for carrying liquor on board (India) Alaska Air Guardsmen rescue four men from airplane crash on glacier May Day activist attempted to hijack airplane (Turkey) Electric Airplanes Are Having Their Kitty Hawk Moment PRISM SMS United Airlines Pilots Call For CEO To Be Bumped From The Company Germany Levies Fines on Aircraft Operators Over Emissions Embry-Riddle to offer SMS Workshop for Aviation Executives May 20-22 ICAO Loss of Control In-Flight Symposium Upcoming Events Malaysia to release investigation report 7 weeks after jet disappeared KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia says it will release a preliminary report of its investigation into Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on Thursday, more than seven weeks after the plane vanished with 239 people on board. Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the report will be similar to the one the government sent to the International Civil Aviation Organization. The Boeing 777 jet disappeared March 8 while traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. Officials are still searching for the plane, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Radar and satellite data show the jet veered far off course for unknown reasons. An analysis indicates it would have run out of fuel in the ocean off western Australia where a massive multinational hunt has been focused, but not one piece of confirmed debris has been found. The air search for the plane was called off this week. Hishammuddin, who is also acting transport minister, said he will go to Australia next week to discuss the next phase of the search, a greatly expanded underwater hunt, and the cost involved. The head of the Australian agency leading the search has predicted that the search could drag on for as long as a year. The agency has also dismissed a claim by a resource survey company that it found possible plane wreckage in the northern Bay of Bengal. The location cited by Australia-based GeoResonance Pty Ltd. is thousands of miles north of a remote area in the Indian Ocean where the search for Flight 370 has been concentrated for weeks. A graphic from GeoResonance shows images depicting underwater "anomalies" suggesting deposits of various metals in the approximate formation of a passenger airliner "The Australian led search is relying on information from satellite and other data to determine the missing aircraft's location. The location specified by the GeoResonance report is not within the search arc derived from this data," the Joint Agency Coordination Center, which is heading up the search off Australia's west coast, said in a statement on Tuesday. "The joint international team is satisfied that the final resting place of the missing aircraft is in the southerly portion of the search arc." GeoResonance said in a statement sent Tuesday to CBS News that it had discovered materials "believed to be the wreckage of a commercial airliner" about 100 miles south of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal using proprietary technology which scans vast areas for specific metals or minerals. GeoResonance stressed that it is not certain it found the Malaysia Airlines plane which vanished on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, but called for its findings to be investigated. The company uses imaging, radiation chemistry and other technologies to search for oil, gas or mineral deposits. In hunting for Flight 370, it used the same technology to look on the ocean floor for chemical elements that would be present in a Boeing 777: aluminum, titanium, jet fuel residue and others. GeoResonance compared multispectral images taken March 5 and March 10 - before and after the plane's disappearance - and found a specific area where the data varied between those dates, it said in a statement. Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Tuesday that China and Australia were aware of the announcement. "Malaysia is working with its international partners to assess the credibility of this information," a statement from his office said. GeoResonance said it began trying to find the plane before the official search area moved to the southern Indian Ocean. India, Bangladesh and other countries to the north have said they never detected the plane in their airspace. The jet had contact with a satellite from British company Inmarsat for a few more hours, and investigators have concluded from that data that the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean. No wreckage from the plane has been found, and an aerial search for surface debris ended Monday after six weeks of fruitless hunting. An unmanned sub is continuing to search underwater in an area where sounds consistent with a plane's black box were detected earlier this month. Additional equipment is expected to be brought in within the next few weeks to scour an expanded underwater area. That search could drag on for eight months. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-investigation-report-to-be- released-7-weeks-after-jet-disappeared/ Back to Top DGCA grounds two aircraft for carrying liquor on board (India) Liquor bottles aboard one of the flights. (Express) Liquor bottles aboard one of the flights DGCA officials also found that both aircrafts were not carrying the mandatory operations manuals. Reuters Private jet owners protest coverage of DGCA checks The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded two aircraft - one of Bajaj Auto Limited's aviation arm and another of real estate firm Sobha Puravankara - for carrying liquor on board and other safety violations. "The aircraft were grounded for violating Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) 12/1994 that bans serving liquor on board domestic flights and the Delhi Liquor Licence Rules of 1974. We are will write to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security asking it to probe how the bottles were carried into the aircraft," a DGCA official said. While Sobha's aircraft, which came from Bangalore to Delhi, had a full-fledged bar, Bajaj Auto's aircraft, Bombardier Global 5000 (VT-BAJ), had come from Pune. "Bajaj Auto has told the regulator that the bottle of liquor was from a Dubai-Chennai flight on August 2, 2013, which had 12 passengers on board. We are verifying the details as the flight had taken place in August last year. Over the last nine months, the operator is claiming that it has had the liquor bottle on board," a source said. The officials also found "serious" technical lapses as both aircraft were not carrying the mandatory operations manuals as well as the Jeppesen manual or the comprehensive flight (route) guide. "Two women facilitators were found on board the Sobha aircraft. The Bajaj Auto aircraft had a woman attendant. They did not have the mandatory cabin crew training," the official said. DGCA said Sobha Puravankara is yet to explain the lapses. These groundings, on account of safety violations, are a result of over a month-long DGCA audit of operations by non- scheduled operators. Earlier this month, DGCA had grounded the aircraft and crew of GMR Aviation for three months for not clearing the pre-flight breathalyser tests. The DGCA, under powers conferred by Section 5A of the Aircraft Act 1934, stipulates that "no operator operating a domestic air transport service in India shall serve any alcoholic drink on board such as air transport service and that no passenger travelling on such a service shall consume any alcoholic drink while on board. All operators are required to include these instructions in their in-flight announcements and amend their operations manuals accordingly". http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dgca-grounds-two-aircraft-for-carrying- liquor-on-board/ Back to Top Alaska Air Guardsmen rescue four men from airplane crash on glacier An HH-60 Pave Hawk from the 210th Rescue Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, lands on Mount Spurr, a stratovolcano, in the Aleutian Arc of Alaska, in 2009. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Sean Mitchell, courtesy of the Alaska National Guard) JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Airmen with the Alaska Air National Guard's 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons rescued four men, ages 18 to 26, after their plane went down at the toe of Skilak Glacier last night. The pilot of the downed Cessna 172 aircraft texted family to request help and they notified the Alaska State Troopers, who then contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. The AKRCC requested assistance from the 176th Wing, Alaska Air National Guard's rescue squadrons at 9:10 p.m. last night, who responded by launching an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron with a team of Guardian Angel rescue personnel from the 212th Rescue Squadron on board, from Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson. The HH-60 landed, and the uninjured men walked onto the helo. The survivors were flown to Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna and released in good condition at around 11 p.m. The plane was flipped upside down, with half of it in a stream and the other half over gray glacial silt, making the blue plane challenging for rescuers to spot. "They had a small campfire, which helped us find them and also offered good wind indication for landing," said Capt. Aaron Zamora, the mission's combat rescue officer and a member of the 212th RQS. "They had already packed up their valuables and were ready for us," said Zamora. "And they were happy to see us," he said. The four survivors-Soldotna locals-had departed from Soldotna airport to sightsee. The Cessna pilot even pointed out his home from the helo while en route to the hospital. "In this case, the occupants were lucky to have cell phone service to get out a text message," said Senior Master Sgt. Robert Carte, superintendent of the AKRCC. "As always, we encourage pilots to follow FAA regulations by flying with the required survival gear, but adding to their personal kit as necessary to accommodate for the number and ages of potential survivors. Carte also recommends that Alaskans and visitors prepare for the busy outdoor summer season and lay out all of their survival equipment. He said outdoor enthusiasts should test their gear at home before venturing into Alaskan backcountry. The 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons were awarded four saves for the mission. http://www.youralaskalink.com/news/Alaska-Air-Guardsmen-rescue-four-men-from- airplane-crash-on-glacier-257406811.html Back to Top May Day activist attempted to hijack airplane (Turkey) An airline passenger attempted to hijack an airplane going from Nicosia to Ankara on May 1, threatening to detonate a bomb if the pilots refused to divert the flight to Istanbul. The hijacker reportedly said he wanted to join the May Day demonstrations in Turkey's largest city. The 50-year-old man, who was not named by the authorities, told the cabin crew of the Anadolu Jet airplane at 06.45 that he was carrying a bomb in his jacket. He then locked himself in the plane's toilet, shouting that he had a GPS device and would blow up the plane if they did not go to Istanbul, according to passenger Kansu Aksu who spoke to daily Hürriyet. The plane eventually landed in Ankara anyway. "After the plane landed in Ankara, over 10 policemen pulled the man from the toilet and detained him. The passengers are in now shock," Aksu said. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/may-day-activist-attempted-to-hijack- airplane.aspx?pageID=238&nID=65829&NewsCatID=341 Back to Top Electric Airplanes Are Having Their Kitty Hawk Moment A small, 21-foot long airplane took off in Bordeaux, France on April 25 while a French economic minister and a handful of local politicians watched. It was an attractive little plane, with a sleek, composite fuselage, an appropriately futuristic-looking cockpit, and big wide wings, but you have to listen to hear what's truly remarkable about it: the quiet whirr of its engines, as the electric E-Fan experimental aircraft took off on its first public flight. "Everybody wants a solution to oil," Jigar Shah, CEO of the Carbon War Room, which was founded by Richard Branson and others to combat climate change, told Scientific American. "Aviation is where it's going to come first." It's a field that ripe for disruption. Abstractly, it seems like airplanes are the greener choice than driving. An Airbus A380 can seat from 407 to 644 people, but, according to The Economist, "uses as much energy as 3,500 family cars, equivalent to six cars for each passenger." Long haul flights produce, on average, twice as much emissions per mile traveled per passenger than cars; short haul flights produce three times as much. MIT researchers estimated that fine particulates from airplane engines are harmful enough to have a measurable body count. The team estimated that airplane emissions kill around 10,000 people every year. That's why Boeing and the US military are working on making bio-jet fuel from camelina, jatropha shrubs or algae. It's why people get so excited at the prospect of a really slow, solar-powered plane. It's also why, even though, it only seats one, only flew for eight minutes, and only went 45 miles per hour, the E-Fan is an achievement. The E-Fan is made by the mostly-French Airbus Group, and while it appears to have jet engines, those are actually "shrouded" propellors, powered by 120 lithium ion polymer batteries arranged in the aircraft's wings. It can fly for about an hour, which might not seem like much, but considering that the Wright brothers' first flight was only three seconds, it's pretty good. The cost per flight hour on the would-be trainer aircraft is just 12 euros, compared to 40 euros for a comparable petrol-powered plane. So its eight minute demonstration was a wisp of a flight by a wisp of an airplane, but the pace of innovation in aviation is quick. The Wright brothers were getting off the ground for just seconds at a time in 1903. Within 15 years, the first airliners were being built. The E-Fan, then, can be thought of as a "first step" in the production of "successive generations of electric planes of increasing sizes, with the goal of building electric- powered jumbo jets within the next 20 years," France's Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg told France 24. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/electric-airplanes-are-having-their-kitty-hawk- moment Back to Top Back to Top United Airlines Pilots Call For CEO To Be Bumped From The Company It's been a rough few weeks for United Airlines; once again coming in dead last in an annual customer satisfaction survey of major U.S. carriers, and then posting a quarterly loss of nearly half a billion dollars while Delta and American earned huge profits. Now the leadership of the largest chapter of the United pilots union is making no attempt to hide their disapproval of CEO Jeff Smisek. The Street reports that in an April 25 letter to the 2,300 members of the Air Line Pilots Association chapter representing United's pilots based in Newark and New York, chapter officers write that "It's time to find a new CEO who understands how to run an airline, not just make excuses for his failures." The three officers explain that they "have absolutely zero confidence in the ability of present management to lead a turnaround." The letter takes issue with what are apparently still-lingering growing pains resulting from United's merger with Continental. That deal was approved in 2010 and the two carriers have been operating as a single entity since 2012. "[A] merger that should have been completed in three years or less remains incomplete after nearly four years (and) interdepartmental communication and cooperation are nearly nonexistent," reads the letter, which also cites "terrible employee morale and excessive outsourcing... combined with chronic operational and IT issues" as a reason that United's highest tier of frequent fliers have left the airline "in droves," according to union leadership. "No one else has a greater financial stake in United Airlines than the collective stake of our pilots," explains the letter. "Our careers should not be jeopardized by the worst senior management in the airline industry." This is just the opinion of the leadership of one chapter of the union. The other chapters will have their say when they all meet in Chicago next week. http://consumerist.com/2014/04/30/united-airlines-pilots-call-for-ceo-to-be-bumped- from-the-company/ Back to Top Germany Levies Fines on Aircraft Operators Over Emissions Germany ordered 61 aircraft operators from countries including Russia and the U.S. to pay fines for breaching European Union emissions-trading rules. The penalties are the first since the EU included aviation in its carbon market, the world's largest, in 2012, drawing protests from the U.S. and emerging countries. The emissions- trading system allows sanctions at the EU level and by individual governments for actions including failure to submit emissions permits to cover greenhouse-gas discharges. German regulators sent sanction letters, which order the recipients to pay fines, to 17 operators in Germany and 44 in other countries in and outside of Europe for not observing ETS rules in 2012, a spokesperson for emissions trading at the German environment agency said yesterday. Total penalties amount to 2.7 million euros ($3.7 million), said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified according to agency policy. German officials declined to name the recipients of the sanction letters. Emitters that fail to surrender the required number of permits face fines of 100 euros per metric ton of carbon under EU law. Member countries can also impose further penalties. EU emission permits for delivery in December rose 0.2 percent to 5.48 euros a metric ton at the ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 1:15 p.m. in London today. EU governments have delayed the decision on penalties, risking the credibility of the ETS, according to the Transport & Environment green lobby. The group earlier this year asked authorities in the U.K., the Netherlands and Germany to take steps to ensure airlines comply with the EU carbon rules. 'Equitably Applied' "We now need to see details of all offenders to ensure the law has been fairly and equitably applied," said Bill Hemmings, Brussels-based sustainable-aviation manager at Transport & Environment. Germany is responsible for overseeing about 500 aircraft operators under the ETS, including international airlines such as Delta Air Lines Inc., Air China Ltd. and Russia's OAO Aeroflot, as well as companies or individuals who own an aircraft. Operators have one month to object to the sanction notices, according to the agency. In the U.K., officials said there are no formal deadlines for the issuing of civil penalties in emissions cases. "The regulators will publish details of penalties issued in relation to a failure to surrender sufficient allowances in the event of any such penalties being issued, and once the appeal process is complete," a spokesperson for the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change said by e-mail. International Agreement The inclusion of aviation in the EU cap-and-trade program sparked opposition from countries including the U.S., India, China, Russia and Brazil, which said any curbs on discharges from airlines should be regulated by an international agreement. The EU subsequently agreed to freeze emissions-trading obligations for flights into and out of Europe and keep them only on flights within the bloc in 2012. The program originally covered the entire length of flights originating or ending at EU airports. Earlier this month, the EU prolonged the exemption and decided to spare carriers ranging from U.S. Airways to Air India Ltd. the need to pay for emissions from foreign flights for an extra four years, through 2016. Carriers in the ETS are given free emission permits making up 85 percent of the industry cap and have to buy the remaining 15 percent at auctions. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-30/germany-levies-fines-on-aircraft- operators-over-emissions.html Back to Top Embry-Riddle to offer SMS Workshop for Aviation Executives May 20-22 Daytona Beach, Fla. - Aviation professionals seeking to enhance their knowledge in Safety Management Systems (SMS) concepts and implementation of SMS within their organization can take advantage of a three day course being offered on the Daytona Beach Campus from May 20-22. Topics will include: 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. Attendees will be able to explain the theory, principles and application of SMS and will understand the ICAO requirements for implementation as well as the current FAA guidance for operators and organizations. All participants will receive a signed copy of Safety Management Systems in Aviation, authored in part by Dr. Alan Stolzer, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Aviation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. For more information, click here or email case@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. Back to Top DO NOT MISS THIS KEY AVIATION EVENT, REGISTER NOW! Although Loss of Control In-flight (LOCI) accidents are rare, they have accounted for one third of all fatalities in scheduled commercial aviation over the last ten years, more than any other category of accident. Addressing LOCI has therefore become a priority for the aviation industry. ICAO will convene a Loss of Control In-flight (LOCI) Symposium on 20-22 May 2014 in Montreal to share information and experiences of professionals from a wide variety of aviation disciplines to address this safety priority. Our List of Speakers includes: - Bertrand de Courville, Consultant to IATA, Co-chair of the European Commercial Aviation Safety Team. - Peggy Gilligan, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, FAA. - Kevin Hiatt, Senior VP for Safety and Flight Operations, IATA. - Jules Kneepkens, Rulemaking Director, European Aviation Safety Authority. - Terry McVenes, Director, Operational Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Boeing. - Harry Nelson, Executive Operational Advisor to Product Safety, Airbus. Click here to see the full list of our confirmed speakers >> Who Should Attend: The Symposium will attract aviation professionals from regulatory authorities, accident investigation bodies, manufacturers, airlines, training schools, international organisations, and members of the research and academic community. Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities: Industry stakeholders with relevant products and services are invited to exhibit and/or sponsor at this event in order to gain visibility with government and aviation industry audiences. For more information please contact: Ms. Enza Brizzi. ENGAGE. SHARE. MAKE A DIFFERENCE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER For more information go to:www.icao.int/meetings/loci Follow us at: Back to Top Upcoming Events: 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/ Embry-Riddle to offer Aviation SMS Workshop Daytona Beach, FL May 20-22, 2014 www.erau.edu/case ICAO Loss of Control In-Flight Symposium 20-22 May 2014 - Montreal www.icao.int/meetings/loci Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar 21-22 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand http://bit.ly/APASS2014 6th Annual Aviation Human Factors & SMS Seminar June 24th & 25th 2014 Dallas, TX www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1384474 21st Century Pilot Reliability Certification Workshop June 30th and July 1st, 2014 Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07605 Please contact Kacy Schwartz kacy@convergentperformance.com 719-481-0530 International System Safety Society Annual Symposium 04-08AUG2014 - St. Louis, MO http://issc2014.system-safety.org Curt Lewis