Flight Safety Information July 14, 2014 - No. 140 In This Issue Improved Training for Helicopter Pilots Takes Off Air India jet makes emergency landing in New Jersey after engine fire Jet Diverted To Salt Lake After Lightning Strike Uganda Civil Aviation Action pushes airline to the wall Intoxicated pilot caught just before Canberra flight The FAA Is Deciding If Planesharing Apps Are Legal PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA The Jet Engine Efficiency Race: Pratt vs. GE Airbus revamps A330 jet in long-haul battle with Boeing NASA Cargo Shipper Launches Capsule to Space Station IS-BAO Training In Jeddah THE ALPA 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM Upcoming Events Employment (New Positions) Improved Training for Helicopter Pilots Takes Off Use of Simulators Increases as Chopper Industry Looks to Reduce Accidents By ANDY PASZTOR Buying or leasing a helicopter simulator is a multimillion-dollar decision, and contracting for training can run between $1,000-$1,500 an hour. FlightSafety International The commercial helicopter industry is experiencing a global flight-simulator boom, which is expected to improve safety and dramatically enhance business for companies that provide the training devices. Unlike airline pilots who have long relied on sophisticated ground-based technology to practice their flying and decision-making, helicopter aviators traditionally have done much of their training in the air-limiting chances to test their skills in the most dangerous situations. Now, full-motion simulators with high-fidelity visuals are expanding rapidly across major rotorcraft fleets with the biggest helicopters, and are showing up at smaller operators with lighter choppers. The result, according to industry officials, is an updraft in contracts for the companies that manufacture or provide training on the latest technology, such as FlightSafety International Inc. and Canada's CAE Inc. CAE -0.31% They are leaders in a burgeoning, multibillion-dollar market to prepare and drill chopper crews to handle in-flight emergencies. Such next-generation training systems will be showcased at the Farnborough International Airshow, which kicks off Monday near London. "We are seeing more and more operators move to simulators," said Nick Leontidis, head of civilian simulation and training at Montreal-based CAE. The company has "put a lot of focus on growing this part of the business," Mr. Leontidis said, by developing a new family of simulators and making all of its training hardware more readily available from Europe to South America to China. For both CAE and FlightSafety, the helicopter segment has been growing at nearly 15% annually over the past couple of years. CAE's total revenue last year rose 4% in its latest fiscal year to 2.1 billion Canadian dollars, while net profit rose 36% to C$191 million. CAE doesn't break out results of its helicopter business. FlightSafety is a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., BRKB +0.14% which doesn't break out its financials but said earnings improved last year. "Almost across the board, we're definitely seeing a marked increase," said David Davenport, FlightSafety's senior vice president. The company has installed eight new helicopter simulators since 2012 and plans to set up a half-dozen more around the globe. Mr. Davenport said most of those new ones are headed for Asia. Despite various safety initiatives, the industry still averages more than one major civilian helicopter accident a day somewhere around the globe-and those numbers have trended upward. By some measures, training accidents using actual helicopters account for roughly a quarter of all commercial chopper crashes. Since 2004, in just the U.S., some 1,600 helicopter crashes have resulted in about 260 fatalities. Some simulator customers shuttle workers to and from offshore petroleum platforms, others provide emergency medical transport and still others fly smaller choppers for a variety of civilian applications. Barely a decade ago, "there simply weren't any simulators available" even for operators itching to use them, said Tim Glasspool, head of European flight operations for Bristow Helicopters Ltd., which operates more than 60 large offshore and search-and-rescue helicopters in the region. Now, the unit of Bristow Group Inc. BRS -1.69% has its own suite of simulators in Aberdeen, Scotland. By the time the company starts flying its latest aircraft, the AugustaWestland 189 model, all of its crews will have finished simulator sessions. Simulators ensure "training consistency and the ability to focus on key (safety) issues" including "emergency procedures that you just can't replicate in the actual aircraft," said Mike Allen, president of domestic medical operations at Air Methods Corp. AIRM +1.31% The Englewood, Colo.-based emergency medical transport company is currently seeking bids to ensure access to simulators for 75% of its fleet, he said. Buying or leasing a simulator is a multimillion-dollar decision, and contracting for training can run between $1,000 and $1,500 per hour for a top-of-the-line helicopter. But that is significantly less than the hourly cost of the alternative: taking operational choppers off the flight line to teach pilots, some of whom require two recurrent training sessions annually. Moreover, simulators aren't sidelined by weather or maintenance difficulties. European safety regulators and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board have been pushing for greater reliance on full-motion simulators. The Federal Aviation Administration has mandated a long list of safety enhancements, particularly for emergency medical helicopters, but it has stopped short of imposing across-the-board use of simulators. For small fleets comprising fewer than two dozen helicopters, industry officials see simulators as economically challenging. "A lot of the smaller players will have to be driven to use them," either by regulations or industry pressure, according to Mr. Allen. Regardless, some veteran executives believe that is the only way to begin moving toward a safety level like that achieved by U.S. passenger airlines, which haven't had a fatal crash since early 2008. Helicopter operators "should be standing up right now and saying" the current situation "is not acceptable any longer," Scott Tish, chief pilot for Air Methods, told an industry conference earlier this year. Describing choppers as "step children left in the closet" while airlines have steadily improve their safety record, Mr. Tish said chopper advocates should tell the FAA to clear the way for simulators by arguing "this is the standard we need to see." http://online.wsj.com/articles/improved-training-for-helicopter-pilots-takes-off-1405093337 Back to Top Air India jet makes emergency landing in New Jersey after engine fire An Air India jet carrying more than 300 passengers made an emergency landing in Newark, N.J., with just one functioning engine after a fire in one of its two engines forced the pilot to abort the flight, an airport spokeswoman said Sunday night. No injuries were reported. The Boeing 777-300ER jet had "multiple blown tires" after a "rough landing" at Newark Liberty International Airport, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokeswoman Erica Dumas told the Los Angeles Times. Flight 144, a direct flight to Mumbai, India, carrying 313 passengers, had just left Newark at 4:36 p.m. when the pilot reported seeing smoke coming out of the left engine, Dumas said. The pilot guided the jet back to Newark and landed with just one engine, Dumas said. The incident had initially been blamed on a possible birdstrike. Dumas said the passengers were taken to a different terminal at the airport after landing and didn't have further information on where they went next. http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-air-india-newark-20140713-story.html Back to Top Jet Diverted To Salt Lake After Lightning Strike DENVER (AP) - A Frontier Airlines official says one of its planes was diverted to Salt Lake City after it was hit by lightning. Spokeswoman Tyri Squyres says Friday night's lightning strike damaged the airplane's weather radar. None of the 168 passengers was injured. She tells the Denver Post the plane was traveling to Seattle when lightning hit around 6:50 p.m. Because of bad weather, she said it was not safe to return to its Denver starting point without the radar system, so it landed in Salt Lake. The flight remained there for several hours while repairs were made. Officials with Frontier and the Salt Lake airport didn't immediately return calls from The Associated Press. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said Saturday that he didn't have any information about the diverted flight. http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/07/12/jet-diverted-to-salt-lake-after-lightning-strike/ Back to Top Uganda Civil Aviation Action pushes airline to the wall The smokescreen action by Uganda's Civil Aviation Authority, which, faced with failing an ICAO audit then turned matters on their head and suspended AOC's for airlines operating international flights like Air Uganda and Uganda Air Cargo to save their own skins, has now claimed its first financial victim. A number of Uganda's smaller air operators, flying within the country but also regularly to and within neighbouring countries, were apparently equally affected when their operations to for instance South Sudan and Eastern Congo were halted. Asante Aviation, which relied heavily on contracts and cash flow from work in South Sudan, had according to information received been unable to conduct such flights, and with the cash flow reducing to a trickle the endgame was accelerating, leading to their two aircraft being put up for sale by the financiers. This being bad as it is, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority's action is now also allegedly putting lives in danger as Mission Aviation Fellowship, in short MAF, which flew a great deal of humanitarian missions in South Sudan and elsewhere in the region, including flying missionaries to places where they were needed or take them out of locations when bullets started to fly, also can no longer conduct flights in South Sudan, forcing the missionaries to travel over at times extremely dangerous roads to reach their destinations or escape to safety with their lives and possessions intact. Other airlines based at Kajjansi too are affected, with the Aero Club no longer able to fly to Eastern Congo and Ndege Juu losing a lucrative contract from the EUTM which would have required flights into and out of Mogadishu. Tim Cooper of Ndege Juu said 'Because we no longer have an AOC that allows us to operate internationally we have had to disqualify ourselves from a number of contract negotiations whose value runs into the millions of dollars. I know that other smaller operators are in exactly the same position. It is not just the current financial loss that we are suffering, but the reputational damage that has been done is beyond measure. Rival operators from Kenya are now able to pick up the contracts that we have been forced to relinquish'. For some aviation pundits it is now just a matter of time when the dominos will start to fall and more airlines are pushed to the wall. 'Overall we estimate that we as an industry are running into multi-million US Dollar losses in terms of revenues. The cash flow is drying up after nearly a month of being unable to do international flights but our overheads remain, rent, utilities, wages, maintenance bills, insurance payments. There is no end in sight as yet when the UCAA will finally return AOC's allowing for international operations' said one source in a conversation this morning. Another source confirmed that '... in a worst case scenario that can take a few more weeks because they work like 9 - 5 from Monday to Friday. It seems they have no sense of urgency even though this can destroy aviation as we know it in Uganda'. There has also been hushed talk of airlines planning to take the UCAA to court with massive claims as a result of the developments over the past few weeks, in part focused on the authority claiming to act in accordance with the Air Operator Certification Regulations of 2014, which at least at the time the letters were written was not backed up by a Statutory Instrument and in part for other reasons which cannot be revealed here at this time for reasons of confidentiality and to avoid revealing legal strategy. It could not be established if those regulations have now been made legal or if the gazette notice is still outstanding. Some aviation experts also already pointed out a number of deficiencies and omissions in the new regulations for 2014, which according to another source exposed the rot in the CAA and in the words of yet another aviator shows 'incompetence, ignorance and arrogance' on the part of regulatory staff. It is clear that any dialogue between the operators and the regulators has all but broken down and that the quintessential element of trust has been trampled into the dust, raising the question for how long the UCAA's key staff can survive under this sad state of affairs when they are now perceived no longer as partners but as dictators and terminators. The UCAA in this case has ignored that part of their mandate which requires them to nurture and develop aviation in Uganda for reasons best known to the individuals behind these catastrophic decisions while hiding behind the notion that it was in the interest of safer air operations. The bitter truth is that it was in their very own interest to avoid being cited and their institutional failures becoming international knowledge, but the attempt to hide behind their smokescreen has clearly failed as the matter has gone into the public domain after all and fellow regulators in the region are shaking their heads in utter disbelief. From political sources it is also now understood that there may well be a major clean out at the authority once this sordid saga is finally over as in the words of one well-placed source 'this has brought Uganda into disrepute and no matter what they now say, they handled this very badly. Such actions have consequences, it might take a bit but be sure that some heads will roll'. There is also no confirmation that the board of directors has called for an emergency board meeting to have senior management explain themselves or has officially engaged with affected airlines, which if true will also leave their reputation in tatters. http://www.eturbonews.com/47947/uganda-civil-aviation-action-pushes-airline-wall Back to Top Intoxicated pilot caught just before Canberra flight An intoxicated pilot was caught preparing to fly a commercial passenger jet out of Canberra Airport while more than three times over the legal flying limit. Skywest Captain Damien John Shelley, who blew 0.07 at the 6am start of his shift, planned to fly five commercial flights across the ACT and NSW on October 13, 2012. The pilot, then 42, had been drinking the night before and was picked up in a random test at Canberra Airport. A tester from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority recorded Captain Shelley, who had already signed on for work with the regional carrier, above the 0.02 limit for pilots. The result was confirmed twice using a second breathalyser and again by a medical review officer two days later. While the pilot and tester waited for the confirmation, Captain Shelley conceded he had drunk four pints between 5pm and 10pm the previous day. He planned to fly from Canberra to Sydney, before making four flights between Sydney and Port Macquarie later that day. The incident was deemed so serious CASA referred it to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. The pilot was later charged with a criminal offence, but escaped with a non-conviction order in the ACT Magistrates Court earlier this month. Magistrate Peter Dingwall put him on a three-year good behaviour order. Captain Shelley no longer works for Skywest, an airline that was wholly acquired by Virgin Australia just weeks later. Such incidents are rare, according to CASA data. Of the thousands of random tests it conducts each year, only a tiny fraction of "safety sensitive" staff - including pilots, cabin crew and engineers - return a positive result. "The figures show over a number of years the level of positive drug and alcohol tests is consistently low," a spokesman said. When questioned about the protections that exist for passengers, Virgin Australia assured it had rigorous systems to prevent intoxicated pilots from flying. CASA random testing was backed up by a drug and alcohol management plan enforced by each airline. A Virgin spokesman said the airline had built a strong "fit for duty" culture among air crews that encouraged individuals to monitor themselves and colleagues and come forward with any concerns. "Safety is Virgin Australia's highest priority and all employees and contractors are subject to a strict drug and alcohol management plan policy, which includes comprehensive testing of staff to ensure we maintain the highest safety standards," he said. "Any employees who are found to have breached the DAMP policy are immediately removed from duty and managed in accordance with applicable policies." http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/intoxicated-pilot-caught-just-before-canberra-flight- 20140713-zt3ti.html#ixzz37RgKMBmx Back to Top The FAA Is Deciding If Planesharing Apps Are Legal The Federal Aviation Administration is formally deliberating on whether amateur pilots can use apps and websites to trade extra seats on flights they've planned in exchange for gas money. Amateur pilots aren't allowed to profit from flying passengers, but several startups like Flytenow have set up private plane ridesharing sites, akin to Zimride for the sky. Now, one startup called AirPooler has submitted an official request for legal interpretation to clear up the grey area, and confirms the FAA is expected to take a stance within its traditional 120 day window to respond. Until then, AirPooler has ceased listing flights on its site. The FAA didn't return a request for comment, which is somewhat expected as I'm told it's unlikely to discuss details of on-going deliberations. AirPooler's attorney Rebecca MacPherson, who is highly qualified to comment since she was the former FAA assistant chief counsel, tells me "This is an issue that the FAA is very uncomfortable with because they're worried about abuses. They're looking at what restraints they could put on the response to make sure there's a minimum number of bad actors in the marketplace." The FAA has historically prohibited private pilots from acting like taxis out of concern for safety. Commercial pilots and their planes are held to stricter "common carriage" safety standards because they're so viscerally taking other people's lives in their hands. Pilots typically only use word of mouth or other low- tech means of asking around if anyone wants to fly with them. There's just too much risk of corner-cutting if they're allowed to chase profits. Yet flying is expensive. Gas for a short flight for recreation or to improve a pilot's skills can cost hundreds of dollars. That prohibits many from the hobby. This is why the FAA does permit amateur pilots to find passengers and have them pay a maximum of their pro-rata share of the gas, oil, airport expenditures, and rental fees. If those came out to be $500 in total, the passenger could pay a maximum of $250, and the pilot has to pay a minimum of his pro-rata share - $250. The big rule here, though, is that pilots have to be planning to take the flight whether or not they get any additional passengers. They can't set up flights at the request of or just to meet the demand of passengers. This law gave rise to startups like AirPooler and Flytenow that want to make flying affordable for pilots, while giving others a fast, fun, reasonably priced way to travel that cuts down on total carbon emissions. Still, when I covered AirPooler, many readers said they were terrified of the idea of planesharing, especially the prospect of rookie pilots carrying passengers. You can see our intrepid writer Sarah Buhr actually go up with Flytenow in the video below. MacPherson says regulators "certainly have some legitimate concerns that these kinds of operations [like AirPooler] would require a little more oversight than they're used to giving the general aviation community." She was hopeful that the FAA will preserve the planesharing ability, but make it officially legal for pilots to list extra seats on flights they were planning on sites like AirPooler, and allow companies that facilitate the connection to earn a cut of the passenger's contribution. In the example above, if AirPooler took its 20 percent, the pilot would pay $250, while the passenger would pay the pilot $200 and AirPooler $50. "I did comprehensive research of everything the agency has said in this area, and I would be really surprised if they came out and said 'no you can't do it'...I don't think there's any evidence to support that position" MacPherson speculated to me, though obviously she's partial to AirPooler's side. She does predict at least three significant caveats if the FAA does approve planesharing. Flights listed with open seats have to actually be flown, whether or not passengers sign up. If someone repeatedly sets up flights and then cancels them for lack of interest, the FAA will come after them Pilots won't be able to set up an unlimited number of flights. Most pilots fly a handful of times a month at most, and less experienced pilots fly even less. Listing too many flights will warrant FAA investigation Professional private plane pilots won't be able to this use this system in their off-hours to drum up business. Big commercial pilots will probably be fine, but planesharing can't be used to promote for-profit flying otherwise it could be seen as a way to skirt commercial regulation. unnamed1If the FAA policed these issues, it could mitigate risks while democratizing access to both being a pilot and traveling via private plane. If it lets planesharers run amok, we could see inexperienced pilots cramming in too many flights that are beyond their skill level, which could have fatal results. At least the incentives are aligned, as the only people who want planes falling out of the sky less than the FAA are those on board. http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/08/planesharing/ Back to Top Back to Top The Jet Engine Efficiency Race: Pratt vs. GE Site 3B, 1 of 10 test sites at the GE Aviation Peebles Test Operation in Ohio. The tower houses fuel and other service lines required to operate an engine As airliners replace their fleets with more efficient models, jet engine makers are reimagining how planes are powered in a bid to score deals with Boeing (BA) and Airbus (AIR:FP). The narrowbodied Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320neo, slated to hit the skies over the next two years, are designed to take advantage of improved aerodynamics. CFM International and Pratt & Whitney (UTX) are building engines meant to cut fuel use by 15 percent, though they're taking different paths to get there. Jet engine sales in the next decade will total $500 billion, according to industry analyst Teal Group. CFM, a joint partnership of General Electric (GE) and French aerospace company Safran (SAF:FP), says it plans to close more than $8 billion in deals with airplane manufacturers for its new engine, the Leap, at the biannual Farnborough International Airshow that begins in England on July 14. First announced at the air show six years ago, Leap's technology was developed mostly at GE's global research center in upstate New York. GE has spent 20 years tinkering with a carbon composite used in the engine's fan blades, which can weigh one-third less than conventional aluminum ones. It's making carbon composite engines by molding a woven, flexible carbon fiber and cooking it with epoxy resin to yield a material as durable as metal. Other parts of the engine use materials with the low weight and heat resistance of ceramics. Three- dimensional printing has enabled GE's team to create one-piece parts that used to come in 20 heavier pieces. "They've really taken it beyond in terms of composites," says Wayne Plucker, an analyst at researcher Frost & Sullivan. GE's R&D operations last year cost $5.5 billion-twice what it spent a decade ago and more than 487 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. The funds cover everything from undersea oil facilities to bioengineering, but aviation is a top priority for GE, says Mark Little, who runs its global research center. "People around the world are flying a lot more, so the number of airplanes is going up by a factor of two over a decade," he says. "Airliners are refreshing their entire fleets, because with that high- priced fuel, you simply can't drag around the old engines." GE's revenue from aviation businesses is now 14.8 percent of its total, up from 10 percent three years ago. Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis for Teal Group, says competition helped push the long- gestating GE engine to market. "They needed to reinvent their product offering to fight off a challenge from Pratt," he says. Pratt's new engine, the PW1000G, is based on a counterintuitive idea: increasing efficiency by spinning fan blades more slowly. The two main parts of any jet engine are the fan, which moves air through the engine, and the turbine, which burns fuel to spin the fan. The relationship between the parts, traditionally connected to the same shaft, is push-pull: Turbines produce more thrust when moving at top speed, but fans create more drag as they spin faster. Pratt's new engines have geared turbofans, which allow the two components to move independently. The fan blades can slow down while the turbine spins furiously. Pratt declined to comment on its engine or competition with CFM. The CFM Leap engine undergoes icing tests in Winnipeg, Man. The Leap is 15 percent more fuel- efficient than the previous CFM engine Planemakers are split on which approach is best. Boeing, a longtime CFM customer, decided to design the 737 Max around the Leap engine. "We saw their technology road map and how they were bringing that to the Leap, and it made a lot of sense for us," says Keith Leverkuhn, general manager for the Max line. Boeing already has more than 2,000 orders for the plane, bringing CFM's total engines ordered to 6,770 as of June 30, an edge over Pratt's 5,500, according to the companies. CFM and Pratt are battling for Airbus's business and have split its orders for A320neo engines, says aerospace consultancy Ascend. Airbus lets airlines choose their engines, and 36 percent of its A320neo inventory will carry the Leap, while 35 percent will use the PW1000G; the other 29 percent are unannounced. Aboulafia says CFM will eventually have to make a geared turbofan engine to keep pace with the efficiency Pratt's design could achieve. For now, however, anyone in the market for a jet engine has a difficult decision to make, he says: "It's rather remarkable that they are able to take such different paths and have such similar results." http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-10/the-jet-engine-efficiency-race-pratt-vs-dot-ge Back to Top Airbus revamps A330 jet in long-haul battle with Boeing FARNBOROUGH England (Reuters) - Airbus announced a revamp of its twin-aisle A330 passenger jet on Monday, sharpening a contest with Boeing for up to $250 billion of orders at the core of the market as the start of the Farnborough Airshow fueled a debate about new technology. The European planemaker's decision to add new, more fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines to its best-selling long-haul jet comes as it tries to preserve market share against Boeing's all-new 787 Dreamliner and amid disappointing sales of its own new A350-800 model. The challenge facing new aviation technology was underscored on the eve of the Farnborough show, the world's biggest aerospace industry gathering of the year, when Lockheed-Martin's Joint Strike Fighter was pulled out of the opening day. The warplane is grounded following an engine fire last month although Lockheed hopes it will still make its international debut at the event this week. Two initial partners in the program - Canada and Denmark - are weighing fresh orders. The absence of the F-35 left Airbus to grab the limelight on day one of the July 14-20 show. The European planemaker's chief executive, Fabrice Bregier, predicted up to 100 orders for the A330neo during the event. The A330 has enjoyed a resurgence of sales helped by delays in deliveries of Boeing's technically ambitious carbon-fiber 787 jet, but it is in need of a revamp to keep selling. Analysts say that will also plug a potential future gap in the Airbus wide-body jet portfolio after poor sales of its A350-800 - the smallest of the next-generation A350 family and a model which looks set to be halted or suspended as a result. The 250-300 seat market is the largest segment of the wide-body jet market by volume and represents 4,520 aircraft worth more than $1 trillion over the next 20 years, according to Boeing's latest market forecast, published last week. Airbus believes the new A330-800neo and A330-900neo models can achieve at least 1,000 of those orders, but Boeing says the market opportunity is closer to 400 planes and even then, only for a short period. Still, the cheaper A330neo is expected to spark increased price competition. "The A330neo could potentially offer the right mix of fuel-burn reduction and lower acquisition cost ... Less clear is whether the economics and timing will be sufficient to sway customers from the 787 this time," said Rob Morris, head of consultancy at Flightglobal Ascend, in a report being published at the air show. OLDER TECHNOLOGY The A330neo will have a range increase of up to 400 nautical miles, with room for up to 10 extra seats in the cabin, Airbus said. The aircraft will also have aerodynamic improvements such as new wing tips, as well as an increased wingspan. Deliveries will start in the fourth quarter of 2017. Airbus said it would incur development costs for the A330neo from 2015 to 2017, with an impact of around 70 basis points on the group's 2015 return-on-sales target. The European group is aiming to replicate the success of its smaller revamped A320neo. But Boeing is relaxed about the challenge. "It is an older technology airplane that is being improved. It will compete with brand new technology airplanes that we've got across a wide spectrum of widebodies," Boeing co-CEO Jim McNerney told CNBC. "We feel highly confident in our new technology line that is already in place as it competes against a refurbished A330." Boeing begins the air show with a clear advantage after gaining 703 gross orders up to July 8, or 649 after cancellations, against Airbus's end-June total of 515 gross orders and 290 net. But after an intense sales drive in recent weeks, Airbus is expected to outpace its U.S. rival by about two to one at the air show. Analysts have generally predicted a low-key show, because of steadily growing fears of airline overcapacity. However, industry sources gathering at the event said evidence pointed to well over 500 orders or commitments ranging from a 100-plane lessor deal to a single plane for Fiji. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-airshow-britain-20140712,0,3389635.story Back to Top NASA Cargo Shipper Launches Capsule to Space Station A Cygnus cargo ship began a long-delayed, three-day journey to the International Space Station on Sunday following a successful launch aboard Orbital Sciences Corp's fourth Antares rocket. The 13-story rocket blasted off at 12:52 p.m. EDT from the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast. "It's a very exciting day for us," said Orbital Sciences vice president Frank Culbertson, a former astronaut who spent four months aboard the space station in 2001. "I think we found the secret to getting people's attention here on the eastern shore of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, and that's to launch on a Sunday in July," Culbertson quipped. "There's a lot of traffic out there right now." "It took a lot of effort for people to pull this off. We worked a lot of problems up to the last couple of months that had to be resolved. Even today, as we were working through the countdown, small things came up and people had to figure them out," he said. The last-minute issues included sailboats encroaching in an area blocked off so that the rocket's first stage could fall back into the water without posing a risk to mariners. "The Coast Guard went out to try to turn them around - one of them didn't want to turn around. I don't think they believed them," Culbertson said. With the range clear, Orbital Sciences proceeded to launch its Antares rocket on its second operational mission for NASA. The booster previously made two test flights, including a practice run to the space station last September. The Cygnus capsule is due to reach the space station early Wednesday. Astronauts aboard the outpost will use the station's robotic arm to snare the capsule from orbit and bolt it to a docking port on the Harmony connecting module. The capsule carries more than 3,600 pounds of food, supplies, experiments and research equipment, including 28 Earth-imaging CubeSats for San Francisco-based Planet Labs. The small satellites will be deployed by a specially made CubeSat launcher set up in Japan's Kibo laboratory module. Once Cygnus is unpacked, it will be filled with trash and equipment no longer needed on the station. After about a month, Cygnus will be released back into space and re-enter the atmosphere for incineration. Orbital Sciences is one of two companies hired by NASA after the space shuttles were retired to fly cargo to the station. The other company, SpaceX, made its third paid delivery in April. NASA is paying the companies a combined $3.5 billion for the station resupply missions. http://news.discovery.com/space/nasa-cargo-shipper-launches-capsule-to-space-station-140714.htm Back to Top The International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) comprises a series of international standards and best practices designed to help Business Aviation Operators worldwide achieve high levels of safety, professionalism and effectiveness. NEXUS Flight Operations Services is pleased to host the IBAC/IS-BAO Fundamentals and/or IS-BAO Auditor Workshops to be held 4th - 5th August 2014 in our Jeddah Headquarters The program consists of: Fully integrated Safety Management System, Organizational essentials Training program/tracking system, Regulations/requirements tracking system, Standard Operating Procedures, Maintenance Control system, Operations and Maintenance Manuals, International operations procedures and equipment requirements checklist, Administrative organization, Emergency response plan. At the core of IS-BAO is a comprehensive Safety Management System (SMS) designed to integrate all activities of a flight department or charter organization so they are operated in the most risk-averse manner possible. To register, please click on the links below for online registration and payment directly with IBAC. 4th August 2014 | Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Fundamentals of IS-BAO Workshop There is a $500 per person registration fee for this full day course 5th August 2014 | Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia IS-BAO Auditing Workshop for Internal Auditors and Support Services Affiliates There is a $750 per person registration fee for this full day course (this includes the IS-BAO Audit Procedures Manual) This course does not provide auditor accreditation. If you wish to become an accredited IS-BAO auditor click here for prerequisite details and registration fees For more information please see www.ibac.org/is_bao Back to Top THE ALPA 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM A Celebration of Pilots Helping Get the Job Done Safely & Securely August 4-7, 2014 | Washington Hilton | Washington, DC SPONSORSHIP & EXHIBITING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE Contact Tina Long at tina.long@alpa.org for more information or click here to download the sponsorship brochure. AGENDA AT A GLANCE Visit http://safetyforum.alpa.org for full agendas MONDAY - AUGUST 4, 2014 8:30-9:00 General Session-ALPA Air Safety Organization Update (Open to all ALPA Members Only) 9:30-6:00 ALPA ASO Group Workshops & Council Meetings - (invitation only) 9:30-4:30 Jumpseat Forum (invitation only) 12:00-5:00 Aviation Security Forum (invitation only) TUESDAY - AUGUST 5, 2014 8:00-6:00 ALPA ASO Group Workshops & Council Meetings - (invitation only) 9:00-5:00 Joint Aviation/Security Forum - (invitation only) WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 6, 2014 - 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM 8:30-9:00 Opening Ceremony 9:00-10:30 Panel: Surviving a Main Deck Lithium Battery Fire: New Technological Solutions 10:30-11:00 Break with the Exhibitors 11:00-12:30 Panel: Smoke In the Cockpit-Where Seconds Matter 12:30-1:45 Keynote Luncheon-100 Years of Commercial Aviation Mr. Paul Rinaldi - President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association 1:45-3:15 Panel: Finding the Runway with a Smoke-Filled Cockpit-Using All the Tools 3:15-3:45 Break With the Exhibitors 3:45-5:15 Panel: Landing A Distressed Airliner-What's Waiting at the Airport? 5:15-5:25 Presentation of the ALPA Airport Safety Liaison and ALPA Airport Awards 5:25-5:30 Closing Remarks 5:30-6:30 Hospitality Reception (Sponsored by Boeing) THURSDAY - AUGUST 7, 2014 - 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM 8:30- 10:00 Panel - Current Security Threats and Countermeasures 10:00-10:30 Break with the Exhibitors 10:30-11:30 Panel: A Discussion With Key Regulators 11:30-11:40 Presentation of the ALPA Presidential Citation Awards 11:40-1:00 Lunch (on your own) 1:00-2:30 Panel: Pilot Health & Occupational Safety 2:30-3:00 Break with the Exhibitors 3:00-4:30 Panel: Modernizing Our National Airspace System: The Flight Path, The Potholes and the Promise 4:30-5:00 Closing Ceremony 6:00-7:00 Awards Reception (Sponsored by Airbus) 7:00-10:00 Awards Dinner 10:00-11:00 Post Awards Reception Back to Top Upcoming Events: International System Safety Society Annual Symposium 04-08AUG2014 - St. Louis, MO http://issc2014.system-safety.org ACI-NA Annual Conference and Exhibition Atlanta, GA September 7 - 10, 2014 http://annual.aci-na.org/ IFA - Maintaining Airworthiness Standards and Investing in the Most Important Asset 'The Human Element' 17 - 18 September, 2014 Emirates Eng Facility, Dubai www.ifairworthy.com Public Safety and Security Fall Conference Arlington, VA October 6 - 9, 2014 http://aci-na.org/event/4309 IASS 2014 Abu Dhabi, UAE November 11-13, 2014 http://flightsafety.org/meeting/iass-2014 Back to Top Employment: Position Available - Safety Investigator Etihad Airways www.etihad.com/careers NTSB Position Available - Electronics Engineer https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/374545600 Position Available: Assistant Chief Flight Instructor LeTourneau University www.letu.edu/jobs Curt Lewis