Flight Safety Information June 23, 2014 - No. 126 In This Issue Suspicion falls again on Malaysia Airlines flight 370's captain Zaharie Shah Competency, controls to be likely topics at Asiana jet crash meeting Air force hiring foreign pilots to fly front-line jets (Canada) Rush to fill air safety posts (India) Vietnam airline apologizes for accidentally sending flight to Nha Trang PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA How Dubai Became One Of The Most Important Aviation Hubs In The World Upcoming Events Suspicion falls again on Malaysia Airlines flight 370's captain Zaharie Shah EVER since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens on March 8, setting off one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history, there have been questions about its pilots. Now the official police investigation has identified the captain of the missing Boeing 777 as the prime suspect if the plane's disappearance turns out to be the result of human intervention. Malaysia's special branch focused the inquiry on Captain Zaharie Shah, 53, after intelligence checks failed to substantiate any suspicions about the other people on board the jet. It was lost on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew. Detectives conducted more than 170 interviews. They discovered that the captain, a jovial, outgoing, married man with a penchant for gadgetry and postings on social media, appeared to have made no social or work commitments for the future. That stood in contrast to the plans of his copilot, Fariq Hamid, and the rest of the crew. The investigators found that Zaharie had programmed a flight simulator in his home with drills rehearsing a flight far out into the southern Indian Ocean and a landing on an island with a short runway. These were deleted but computer experts were able to retrieve them. The pilot had made no secret of his unusual hobby, creating aviation videos that were posted on the internet. But behind the facade of a normal family life in a comfortable Kuala Lumpur suburb, with three children and a five-year-old grandson, police heard rumours of marital estrangement and tensions. All have been denied by Zaharie's family. The criminal inquiry relies on circumstantial evidence and does not solve the riddle of MH370. It does not rule out the possibility that the Boeing 777-200 jet was lost due to accidental mechanical failure or an act of terrorism. But it does establish the view of the police that if the loss was due to deliberate human action, the captain was the most likely perpetrator. The initial results of the inquiry have not been published but have been shared with foreign governments and investigators. They were disclosed by people in the aviation industry and government officials in South-East Asia. A spokesman for the Malaysian police said: "The police investigation is still ongoing. To date no conclusions can be made as to the contributor to the incident and it would be sub judice to say so. Nevertheless, the police are still looking into all possible angles." It was Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, who first gave a heavy hint about the government's suspicions of "deliberate action by someone on the plane" on March 15. On April 2, the chief of police, Khalid Abu Bakar, said: "We are investigating the four areas of focus, namely personal and psychological problems, sabotage and hijacking." He added that the simulator at Zaharie's home "had not been cleared". Asked about the simulator, the police spokesman said: "The leads uncovered so far are still being investigated." A separate international investigation team, including air accident specialists from Britain, America and France, is working to find out what happened to the aircraft. Relatives and friends of the pilot have fiercely defended him against speculation and rumour. They point out that the truth can emerge only when the plane is found and its "black box" flight data recorders are recovered. "To me he had everything in life. He had everything to lose. He is a cheerful, jovial man, a complete professional who would know what to do in a crisis," said Nasir Osman, who attended school in Penang with the captain. Zaharie's daughter, Aishah, has denounced speculation about her father as "lies" and his brother-in-law, Asuad Khan, said he often played with his five-year-old grandson. The search for possible wreckage - already an operation by sea and air of unprecedented scale - is due to shift to a new zone of the Indian Ocean at the end of this month, according to the Australian government, which is leading the hunt. The Sunday Times http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/suspicion-falls-again-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-370s- captain-zaharie-shah/story-e6frg95x-1226962734150# Back to Top Competency, controls to be likely topics at Asiana jet crash meeting Crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 A photo taken by Benjamin Levy shows fellow passengers from Asiana Airlines Flight 214, many with their luggage, on the tarmac moments after the plane crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013. (Benjamin Levy / Associated Press) The NTSB will meet in Washington, D.C., to weigh a variety of factors in fatal Asian Airlines crash Crash of Asiana jet at San Francisco International Airport last July killed three and injured more than 180 Pilot competency and automated throttle controls will be major topics of discussion when federal safety officials convene Tuesday to determine the likely cause of last July's Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco that killed three people and injured more than 180. The National Transportation Safety Board will meet in Washington, D.C., to weigh a variety of factors, including the skills and training of Asiana's pilots, the effect of computerized systems on flight crew awareness and the design of a Boeing Co. throttle system that adjusts airspeed automatically. Dismantling of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Asiana Airlines Flight 214 is dismantled and hauled to a hangar at San Francisco International Airport on July 12, 2013, six days after it crashed. (Jane Tyska, AP) On July 6, the Asiana Boeing 777 struck a sea wall and slammed into the runway while attempting to land at San Francisco International Airport. Investigators have said the pilots came in too slow and too low to touch down safely. The tragedy has raised questions about the abilities of the Asiana pilots, government oversight of South Korean airlines, and automated throttles, which the crew was relying on during the landing. The device - a sort of cruise control for airplanes - is designed to maintain airspeeds set by pilots. During trips to South Korea, NTSB officials interviewed Asiana personnel, studied records of the plane that crashed and reviewed the airline's polices and training procedures. The NTSB also has examined the contents of the flight data recorders, the so-called black boxes. Late last year, Asiana officials announced they would overhaul the airline's safety procedures and improve training to sharpen flying skills, such as increasing the hours of flight simulator training for landings without relying on automated guidance systems. The carrier has vowed to add safety specialists, improve maintenance and hire consultants to evaluate its procedures. Meanwhile, the South Korean government is considering additional training requirements and tougher penalties for accidents that result in casualties. In the latest documents filed with the NTSB, Asiana officials blamed their pilots and flawed automatic throttles for failing to maintain enough speed and altitude for landing in San Francisco. The airline asserted that design defects related to the speed settings misled pilots into thinking the system was maintaining the proper speed for arrival. In addition, the system lacked an alert to warn pilots if their airspeed sharply declined, the Asiana report stated. Airline officials conceded that their pilots failed to monitor and maintain the correct airspeed and altitude during final approach. Even the trainee captain at the controls that day said the landing was "very stressful" and that he questioned his ability to bring the plane in manually after he learned that one of the airport's landing guidance systems was not working. In response to Asiana, Boeing filed its own report with the NTSB, stating the plane's automated throttle system was working properly during arrival in San Francisco - the same conclusion the NTSB reached in its preliminary report on the crash. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-asiana-crash-hearing-20140623-story.html Back to Top Air force hiring foreign pilots to fly front-line jets (Canada) Royal Canadian Air Force cites a "labour shortage" for why it has hired former military pilots from overseas to fly transport jets and patrol aircraft. The air force says it takes about seven years - and $2.6 million - to train a pilot to fly the CF-18 fighter jet. a pilot with Air Transat says the air force has gone abroad to find experienced pilots to avoid the cost of training Canadians. OTTAWA-Canada's air force has been hiring foreign pilots to fly its front-line transport aircraft, maritime patrol planes and fighter jets, citing an inability to recruit Canadians to fill seats in the military cockpits. As debate rages about temporary foreign workers allowed into Canada to fill jobs in sectors like the service industry, it turns out that the Canadian Armed Forces has also gone abroad to fill its own labour needs. Citing a "labour shortage," the military has been recruiting pilots from foreign countries - notably the French and British air forces - to work in Canada and train Canadian pilots but also fly on operational missions around the globe. The foreign fliers are being pressed to fly many of the aircraft in the air force fleet, including the CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft, the C-130 Hercules and CC-177 Globemaster transport jets. The transport pilots are being hired for "pilot training as well as global strategic and tactical air transport." The labour market opinions that were prepared by the Defence Department in order to proceed with the foreign hires outline the needs of the air force. A Royal Air Force pilot from the United Kingdom with experience in anti-submarine warfare and long-range sovereignty patrol missions was sought to fly the CP-140 Aurora. "With minimal training he will be employed as a CP 140 Aurora aircraft commander where his experience will be used to help train new RCAF long range patrol crews," read the labour market opinion. Another RAF pilot with experience on the CC-177 Globemaster - a transport aircraft also flown by Canada's military - was brought onboard as an instructor. A pilot from the Hungarian Air Force was hired as an instructor to train student pilots in the Canadian Air Force. Other pilots experienced in air-to-air refuelling operations were sought from the Royal Air Force to fly the CC- 150 Polaris jet, which is used as both a transport and a refueller. In each case, the air force says it was forced to go abroad to hire personnel to fill a position it was "unable to fill through normal recruiting and training." However, the military says it is trying to recruit Canadians to serve as pilots. "Canadians are regularly recruited as Pilots and will continue to be recruited and trained through the (Canadian Armed Forces) well established Officer and Pilot training programs," reads one labour market opinion. The air force has hired 24 former foreign military pilots since 2012, including 19 from the United Kingdom, two from Hungary, and one each from Germany, France and South Africa, said Maj. James Simiana. "Those hires are complementary . . . to the hiring and training of Canadian pilots that is also taking place," said Simiana, a spokesperson for the air force. But Gilles Hudicourt, a pilot with Air Transat who obtained the labour market opinions, says the air force has gone abroad to find experienced pilots to avoid the cost of training Canadians. "They pretend . . . that they're actually going after some new skill," Hudicourt told the Star. "They're doing it to save on training money." Hudicourt has previously complained about the influx of foreign pilots allowed into Canada to work for charter airlines, like Sunwing, as well as helicopter companies, which he says takes away jobs from Canadians. And he says that applies to the air force when it hires military pilots from abroad to fill empty seats in its cockpits. He said the immigration rules are meant to permit organizations to hire abroad to fill a labour need "when there is no qualified Canadians to do the job," Hudicourt said. "You're not allowed to do it to save money," he said. "They're just taking these guys because they were already trained and it's just going to be cheaper for national defence . . . it doesn't seem right to me," he said. The air force says it takes about seven years - and $2.6 million - to train a pilot to fly the CF-18 fighter jet. In background material provided to the Star, the air force concedes that cost is a big factor in hiring former military pilots since the experienced aviators require little training and can be put to work immediately, filling gaps that "could not otherwise be filled in the short to medium term." On Friday, Employment Minister Jason Kenney unveiled changes to the temporary foreign worker program to address concerns that it was driving down wages and leaving Canadians unemployed. While the changes focus mostly on low-wage, low-skilled entry level jobs, Kenney's overhaul does touch on the issue of foreign pilots. No longer will airlines be allowed to make it a requirement that would-be pilots hold a type rating for a specific aircraft since the airline can provide that training. As well, the airline will have to present a transition plan outlining its strategy to reduce its reliance on foreign pilots while increasing its complement of Canadian pilots. "There was a consensus that there is no shortage of Canadian commercial pilots who could be trained to fly specific types of aircraft," reads a briefing note. It wasn't clear whether the changes would affect the air force's use of foreign pilots. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/23/air_force_hiring_foreign_pilots_to_fly_frontline_jets.html Back to Top Rush to fill air safety posts (India) New Delhi, June 22: Efforts are underway to fill up the vacant positions for flight inspectors in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), with global safety audit of the Indian skies just months away. As many as 29 posts of flight operations inspectors need to be filled up by the DGCA before the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) starts its audit in August. The FAA had downgraded the country's aviation safety rating to Category 2 in January after the DGCA failed to resolve the safety issues flagged off by the Americans. The FAA had raised concerns over 33 issues, including the filling up of several senior positions such as full- time flight operations inspectors (FOIs). According to DGCA officials, the FAA guidelines state that there should be one FOI for every 10 aircraft. "As we have around 750 aircraft in the country, at present, we need 75 FOIs. The recruitment process is going on and will be completed in a few weeks time," said a DGCA official. According to sources, the civil aviation regulator has been able to fill as many as 46 positions and has floated advertisements to recruit 29 more. "The recruitment process will be completed in a swift and efficient manner so that we are ready for the audit soon," the official added. In January, the aviation regulator appointed 18 chief flight operation inspectors and FOIs on contract. Before the FAA downgraded India to Category 2 in January, the government had approved the creation of 75 crucial posts in the DGCA to carry out inspections of airlines and private charter companies. Crucial positions such as chief, deputy and senior FOIs were also created in the flight standards directorate by the DGCA. The posts have been created based on the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The civil aviation ministry had earlier said the country would be ready for an FAA audit to regain its Category 1 status by June. However, the process is likely to be completed by August. India now shares the Category 2 status with Bangladesh, Belize, Gambia and Haiti. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140623/jsp/business/story_18540135.jsp#.U6gNpPldV8E Back to Top Vietnam airline apologizes for accidentally sending flight to Nha Trang Low-cost carrier VietJet Air issued a public apology on Sunday for flying 200 passengers to an airport some 140 kilometers away from their destination, last Thursday. The airline said that the incident was caused by a miscommunication between the flight's dispatcher and pilots. The airline said it is working with the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to identify who is responsible for the error. The VN692 airplane was supposed to fly from Hanoi to the Central Highland resort town of Da Lat but somehow ended up in Cam Ranh Airport near the central beach town of Nha Trang. On Saturday, the CAAV suspended the flight's coordinators and crew. When the passengers arrived at Cam Ranh, VietJet Air arranged another flight to take them to their actual destination. The carrier has withdrawn its initial explanation, which blamed bad weather conditions for forcing pilots to reroute the plane. In its latest press release, VietJet Air blamed its PR staff for failing to collect complete and accurate information before releasing the statement. CAAV chief Lai Xuan Thanh said the plane was accidentally rerouted to Dal Lat because another aircraft broke down. The flight operations coordinator informed all relevant teams, except the flight's Czech captain. Although regulations require that the captain sign two copies of the flight manifest, one given by the dispatcher and another from the ground service supplier, before departure, the captain in this case never raised an inquiry after the flight operations coordinator failed to present a manifest. He also failed to read the copy provided by the ground service supplier and was unaware that the plane had been rerouted, Thanh said, adding that the captain also failed to hold a meeting with his crew before boarding. As such, the captain followed the initial plan unaware of the changes. Although the incident was caused by multiple mistakes made by multiple parties, VietJet Air must take final responsibility, and if passengers can demonstrate damages caused by the error, they can file a lawsuit, Thanh said. Flight operations coordinators are typically employed by the company to coordinate information from the ground crew and air traffic controllers. In Vietnam, ground service providers are either companies who belong to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam or Vietnam Airlines, the national carrier. In this case, those individuals have yet to be identified. http://thanhniennews.com/society/vietnam-airline-apologizes-for-accidentally-sending-flight-to-nha-trang- 27590.html Back to Top Back to Top How Dubai Became One Of The Most Important Aviation Hubs In The World From the balcony of Stewart Angus' office overlooking Dubai International Airport it isn't obvious why Dubai has become one of the world's most important cities in aviation-and a dangerous rival to many of Asia's premier airports and carriers. Sure, there's the big, six-year-old terminal dedicated to Emirates Airlines. An Airbus A380 taxis to the gate. Cars speed along a highway while the city's ever soaring skyline stretches in the distance. But Dubai handled 66.4 million passengers last year, making it the seventh-busiest airport in the world. This year it should pass Tokyo, London's Heathrow, Los Angeles and Chicago's O'Hare, and climb to third place- behind only Beijing and Atlanta. As recently as 2006 it wasn't in the top 30. "The success is Dubai's location- it's Europe's most easterly hub and Asia's most westerly hub," explains Angus, a seasoned Brit who has worked for the Emirates Group for 19 years and oversees international business for the group's Dnata ground-services unit. Long an important stop on the trade routes between Europe and Asia, the United Arab Emirates is a key point on aviation's new Silk Road. With no snow to shovel off runways and no unions to strike-and within an eight-hour flight from two-thirds of the world's population-Dubai has swiftly become a perfect air link. And that's allowed government-owned Emirates Airlines, along with other Gulf carriers such as Qatar and Etihad, to shave off huge amounts of traffic from Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Today East Asia, Australia and New Zealand is Emirates' biggest market, making up 29% of the airline's revenue last year. Last year Dubai International handled 66.4 million passengers, and it expects 75 million in 2015. (photo: Patrick Castillo, Emarat Al Youm/AP) "In terms of charter traffic, 25% of Australia-to-Europe traffic has shifted from Hong Kong and Singapore to Dubai in the last couple of years," says Daniel Tsang of Hong Kong consultancy Aspire Aviation. Adds Jon Conway, Dnata's divisional senior vice president of Dubai airport operations: "I used to work in Hong Kong, and we thought we were pretty well placed geographically for all the China traffic, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. But Dubai is just such a convenient location." Indeed, the traditional linchpin of any international route system-the North America-Europe route-is being usurped by the overland route to Asia, a route that now usually goes through Dubai. "In the last ten years in aviation global business has shifted from being transatlantic to stretching toward Asia," says Andrew Charlton, the Australian chief executive of Swiss consultancy Aviation Advocacy. "Any person who can link a country with Asia is in a better place than someone who can't." On the vanguard with Emirates' invasion of Asia is Dnata, or Dubai National Air Travel Agency, which is one of the world's largest providers of airport services such as supplying onboard meals, handling cargo and staffing check-in counters. Emirates and Dnata learned from Singapore, basing their relationship on Singapore Airlines' partnership with Singapore Airport Terminal Services, which helped turn Singapore into a major international hub. Since 2010 Dnata's annual revenue has jumped 75% to $2.1 billion last year; SATS, meanwhile, has seen its revenue rise only 5.2% in the last three years to $1.45 billion. SATS remains Dnata's biggest direct rival in Asia, though the Dubai outfit also competes with Cathay Pacific's catering, cargo and ground-services businesses. "We would love more opportunities in Asia-Pacific, but we can't find enough," says Angus, a Dnata divisional senior vice president. Just more than 40% of Dnata's revenue now comes from Australasia, thanks in part to a carnivorous series of acquisitions-three in the last year. Its first international deal was a decade ago, when it bought Singapore ground-handling company CIAS. Dnata Singapore now gets a slice of the baggage-handling business at Changi Airport and also provides ground services at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. Another big chunk of Dnata's Asia business comes from a joint venture that handles ground services at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and ten smaller airports in western China. With China planning to add more than 30 airports by the end of next year, the company expects to pick up more business on the mainland. Dnata now operates in four Asian countries, including the Philippines and Pakistan. "Dnata is looking at Asia as a massive growth area, and its expertise in a multitude of activities gives them an edge over domestic incumbents," says Saj Ahmad, the London-based chief analyst of StrategicAero Research. Dnata started with two employees when Dubai's airport opened in 1959, recounts Angus, speaking from the company's blue glass office in the city's Garhoud neighborhood. When regional carrier Gulf Air decided to reduce the frequency of its flights to Dubai in 1984, the city's ruling Al Maktoum family had a problem: It had serious expansion plans for the coastal emirate but was now faced with being isolated aerially. So it launched the country's own airline, and last year the carrier generated $22.5 billion in revenue. As with Dnata, the airline is a unit of the Emirates Group, which is owned by the Investment Corp. of Dubai, an opaque, multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund. Research consultancy Oxford Economics estimates that aviation accounts for 250,000 jobs and 28% of Dubai's gross domestic product. The contest for Asian business may soon get tougher. An open-skies agreement, slated to take effect next year, will permit airlines based in the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to fly freely within the region without special permission and could bump Emirates out of routes in Asia's secondary cities. Without Emirates as its core client, Dnata may not be able to afford to operate in smaller airports. And there are challengers closer to home: Abu Dhabi's Etihad owns a 21% stake in Virgin Australia, a direct rival to Emirates-allied Qantas. Virgin Australia flies through Singapore, offering an Asian stop, as opposed to the Dubai-routed Qantas flights (Singapore Airways owns 20% of Virgin Australia). Etihad has also set up travel agent Hala Group, which could put pressure on Dnata's $180 million travel services division. One key target for Dnata is India, which is not in Asean. Dubai already sends 12.6% of its traffic there, and with the country planning to build another 200 airports by 2020, the demand for ground services will jump. Back home, Dubai's main problem is dealing with the rapid growth in traffic-next year it expects to handle 75 million passengers. "The reality is that the current airport here is now capacity-constrained," says Conway, the Dnata airport-operations official, from inside the 16-year-old Terminal 2. "We can't sustain the growth rates that we have here without developing somewhere else." But Dubai is quickly building a gigantic new airport, the five-runway Al Maktoum International Airport in the city's Jebel Ali area that will be able to accommodate 160 million flyers a year after it's completed in 2020. Part of the airport is already open for cargo planes and short passenger flights. Once it's done Dnata will find itself operating the world's largest air-freight facility, capable of handling 12 million tons of freight a year. (Hong Kong International Airport, now the world's busiest air-cargo center, handled 4.12 million tons last year.) But, of course, expansion is much easier in Dubai than in the dense, hemmed-in cities it competes with. "Compared with the major hub airports around the world-Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Seoul-here we're reclaiming desert," muses Conway. "Can you imagine the environmental impact assessment work required for London Heathrow to look at additional runway capacity? If you want to be in aviation, there's probably one town you want to be in right now: Dubai." http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2014/06/04/how-dubai-became-one-of-the-most-important- aviation-hubs-in-the-world/ Back to Top Upcoming Events: 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