Flight Safety Information August 13, 2014 - No. 166 In This Issue Tigerair Media Statement - Rebuttal Survivor: Engine out Before Iranian Airplane Crash NTSB SOLICITS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITS PROPOSED RULEMAKING TO UPDATE INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES Officials find loaded gun at Des Moines airport These are the international airlines that still don't have in-flight Wi-Fi Thai Airways jet makes emergency landing in Bali due to cracked window Flight AC8953 makes emergency landing at Ottawa airport PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA Japan to test first homegrown stealth fighter jet: report Embraer's Legacy 500 Executive Jet awarded Brazilian certification Cathay Pacific says has 90 aircraft on order at cost of $27 billion Wanted:...B-737 Freighter for Lease ISASI 2014 - Annual Seminar, October 13-16, 2014 Upcoming Events 5 August 2014 Media Statement Tigerair Australia strongly refutes allegations made in an article in Fairfax media on Saturday 02 August 2014. Safety was not compromised in any of the incidents mentioned and each of these have been managed as part of Tigerair's robust Safety Management System reporting processes. Safety is Tigerair's number one priority and we have strict procedures in place to ensure the highest standards of safety are maintained at all time. The information is not accurate and has been taken out of context. On any given day, routine reportable incidents are reported by airlines in Australia. Tigerair reported the incidents to the ATSB as routinely reportable matters through our normal Safety Management System reporting processes. The ATSB is currently reviewing the Sydney Perth incident and is not pursuing the tow incident. Tigerair continues to provide full cooperation to the ATSB and have carried out our own investigations as part of our normal review processes. http://www.tigerair.com/sg/en/ Back to Top Survivor: Engine out Before Iranian Airplane Crash TEHRAN, Iran - (AP) A survivor in the Iranian plane crash that killed 39 people said Monday that one of the engines in the turboprop went out after takeoff, though authorities said they were still trying to determine what brought the plane down. The crash in the Islamic Republic comes as its airlines fly aging aircraft and have trouble getting replacement parts, even though an interim deal on its contested nuclear program has loosened some economic sanctions. Some lawmakers have questioned the use of the IrAn-140, a twin-engine turboprop plane built with Ukranian technology off an old Soviet-era design, and President Hassan Rouhani has ordered them grounded until investigators determine a cause for Sunday's crash. "Iranian people deserve more than this. They don't deserve to suffer plane crashes," Mohammad Abedzadeh, who survived the crash with his wife, told The Associated Press. "I have nothing to do with politics. As a human being, I want all passenger plane ... sanctions to be totally lifted. We are talking about human lives, not politics." Abedzadeh said that the plane was only in the air for three minutes. He said he looked out the window and could see one of the propellers not moving after it ascended. The crash tore away the plane's tail, leaving it upright on a road. Abedzadeh said he and his wife escaped and tried to save others, but the ensuing fire that engulfed the aircraft burned his hand and face. "Everything happened within seconds," he said. "It was like a movie. Still I can't believe it." The cause for the crash remained unknown Monday. Ali Reza Jahangirian, the country's Civil Aviation chief, told state television that one engine did go out, but the plane should have been able to fly. He said the reason for the crash will be determined once officials analyze data from the airplane's black boxes. Iranian airlines, including those run by the state, are chronically strapped for cash, rely on aging planes and have a spotty maintenance record. While some operate Boeing and Airbus models, spare parts for Western-made planes are often hard to come by - largely because of sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program. Those difficulties have left Iranian airlines increasingly reliant on planes developed by the Soviet Union and its successor states, though parts for aging Soviet-era planes can also be tough to get. That's caused the country to be hit by a series of deadly crashes. Retired Iranian pilot Houshang Shahbazi said that the U.S. and the European Union be blamed for the crashes. "The responsibility of such accidents is on countries that impose sanctions on us because they have forced my country to turn to faulty aircrafts such as IrAn-140," Shahbazi said. "We have been under sanctions for about 35 years and unfortunately, it has been an extremely blind sanction imposed by the United States and the West." http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/survivor-engine-iranian-airplane-crash- 24926781 Back to Top NTSB SOLICITS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITS PROPOSED RULEMAKING TO UPDATE INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board announced today that it has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment regarding proposed changes to rules governing investigation procedures. The rules are laid out in 49 C.F.R. part 831. In the NPRM, the NTSB proposes organizing its investigation procedures into mode- specific subparts to make the rules easier to access and consult. The NTSB also proposes to update some terms and procedures, including using the term "event" to describe transportation mishaps in regulatory text that applies to all transportation modes. In addition, the NTSB proposes changes to its procedures for allowing party participants to share information for the purposes of making timely safety improvements. Under current regulations, party members perceive they are not allowed to share accident related information within their organization unless granted permission by the NTSB investigator-in-charge. If the rule change is implemented, party members will, under specific conditions, be able to share investigative information with supervisors for the purpose of improving safety without prior permission from the NTSB. The NTSB also proposes including more detailed information concerning its role in foreign aviation investigations, and adding the Statement of Party Representatives to NTSB Investigations (commonly known as the "party agreement") as an appendix to accompany part 831. The NPRM follows two NTSB's Federal Register notices from June 2012, which stated that the NTSB was undertaking a retrospective review of all agency regulations, in order to update them. In response to the June 2012 notice, the NTSB received comments concerning changes to part 831. The NTSB subsequently published a plan for undertaking such updates, which it published in January 2013. All of the proposed changes, along with the rationale for each of them, are in the complete NPRM, which is available at https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-18921. The public may submit comments to the NPRM via www.regulations.gov, Docket No. NTSB-GC-2012-0002, or via postal mail or facsimile, addressed to the NTSB Office of General Counsel. Comments should be submitted no later than October 14, 2014. RELATED MATERIAL Press Release: NTSB to Conduct Comprehensive Review of Regulations (June 25, 2012) http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2012/120625.html www.ntsb.gov Back to Top Officials find loaded gun at Des Moines airport Officials found a loaded gun in a carry-on bag during a checkpoint screening at the Des Moines International Airport on Monday, the Transportation Security Administration announced in a news release Tuesday. The TSA found a .45 caliber Springfield gun loaded with 12 rounds with an additional empty magazine in a carry-on bag at about 6:15 a.m. Monday, officials said. The TSA notified airport police, per standard procedure. Des Moines police took the gun and magazine, and cited one passenger. Firearms are prohibited at TSA security checkpoints, but they can be transported in checked baggage. Firearms in checked baggage must be unloaded and stored in locked, hard-sided containers, the news release said. Monday's gun was the third firearm TSA has discovered during checkpoint security screening at the Des Moines airport this year. TSA officials have found more than 1,240 firearms during checkpoint screenings nationwide this year, authorities said. http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2014/08/12/officials-find-loaded-gun-at- des-moines-airport/13978699/ Back to Top These are the international airlines that still don't have in-flight Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is slowly but surely ramping up on domestic US flights. A larger proportion of them offer some form of Wi-Fi compared to many other places around the world. The above chart, using data published by Morgan Stanley analysts Simon Flannery and Armintas Sinkevicius, lists major international airlines (those with more than 70 aircraft in their fleet) with no public trials, agreements, or contracts for in-flight Wi-Fi. (We will update this story with any statements from airlines listed above to the contrary). There is at least one possible solution for the many Wi-Fi-deprived international fliers that want (or need) to stay connected: hooking up with Gogo, the undisputed leader of in-flight Wi-Fi services for domestic airlines in the US. The company, which went public just over a year ago, reported earnings this week. Investors weren't particularly impressed with the result (the stock is down 5% at the time of writing), but the company has plenty of room to run internationally. After ending the June quarter with 2,058 commercial aircraft online in the US, and only 19 commercial aircraft overseas, Gogo expects to have as many as 100 "rest of the world" aircraft hooked up by the end of the year. http://qz.com/248252/these-are-the-international-airlines-that-still-dont-have-in-flight- wi-fi/ Back to Top Thai Airways jet makes emergency landing in Bali due to cracked window A Thai Airways plane with nearly 300 people on board was on Tuesday (Aug 12) forced to make an emergency landing in Bali after a crack was found in the cockpit window. Flight TG467 was travelling from Sydney to Bangkok. DENPASAR: A Thai Airways plane en route from Sydney to Bangkok made an emergency landing on the Indonesian island of Bali after a crack was discovered in the cockpit window, officials said Wednesday (Aug 13). The Boeing 747, carrying 273 passengers and 21 crew, was six hours into the journey Tuesday when the captain found the defect and decided to land on Bali, the airline said in a statement. The Daily Mail Australia identified the flight as TG467 and reported that the cracked window caused a fall in cabin pressure. A spokesman for the island's airport described the landing at around 5pm (0900 GMT) as a "minor disruption". There were no reports of injuries and the passengers stayed in a Bali hotel overnight. They were set to fly on to Bangkok later Wednesday in another plane. Thai Airways said it was sending a team to Bali to investigate the incident and supervise the changing of the damaged window. In September last year, more than a dozen passengers were slightly injured when a Thai Airways jet skidded off the runway in Bangkok after the landing gear malfunctioned. Just over a week before that incident, dozens of passengers and crew were injured when a Thai Airways A380 superjumbo hit severe turbulence during a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/thai-airways-jet- makes/1309866.html Back to Top Flight AC8953 makes emergency landing at Ottawa airport Smoke in the cockpit reported on flight AC8953 travelling from Fredericton to Toronto Emergency landing at Ottawa airport (Aug. 13, 2014) Sean Costello tweeted this photo that shows emergency crews on the tarmac at Ottawa's Macdonald-Cartier International Airport on Wednesday morning, after a Toronto-bound flight made an emergency landing. (Photo supplied by Sean Costello) Ottawa firefighters and paramedics were also called to the airport. Paramedics did not treat anyone for injuries, while firefighters were told to stand down before arriving. Paramedics got called around 6 a.m. There were four crew members and 69 passengers on board, they added. A couple of people waiting to fly at the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport tweeted their flights were delayed due to the landing. Air Canada could not immediately be reached for comment. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/flight-ac8953-makes-emergency-landing-at- ottawa-airport-1.2735068 Back to Top Back to Top Japan to test first homegrown stealth fighter jet: report A group of major Japanese firms are planning a test flight next year for the nation's first homegrown stealth fighter jet, a report said Tuesday. The consortium - led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - is developing a jet that has similar technology to US-made F-35 stealth fighters, with a prototype set for a test run in January, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said. About 39.2 billion yen ($384 million) has been invested in the project, said the report, which did not cite sources. Following the initial flight, the jet will undergo about two years of testing at the defence ministry with Tokyo set to decide on whether to buy the plane by early 2019, it added. The story could not be immediately confirmed. Japan, which sees a security alliance with the United States as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, has long depended on US manufacturers for military hardware. But the conservative government has been looking to expand Japan's military influence, and has relaxed a self-imposed ban on weapons exports. Last month, Tokyo loosened the bonds on Japan's powerful military, proclaiming the right to go into battle in defence of allies, in a highly controversial shift for the officially pacifist country. The development of a homegrown jet comes amid worsening tensions with Beijing over rival claims to islands in the East China Sea. Japan said last month that its military scrambled fighter jets a record 340 times in the three months to June in response to feared intrusions on its airspace. Chinese government ships and planes have been seen off the disputed islands dozens of times since Japan nationalised some of the archipelago nearly two years ago. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/12/japan-to-test-first-homegrown-stealth-fighter- jet-report/ Back to Top Embraer's Legacy 500 Executive Jet awarded Brazilian certification SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil - The Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil - ANAC) today granted type certification for the Legacy 500 executive jet during a ceremony at the Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (LABACE), in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Embraer expects to receive certification from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in the upcoming weeks and certification by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) thereafter. "We are thrilled with the achievement of the Legacy 500 certification, a revolutionary jet that delivers true innovation to our customers," said Frederico Fleury Curado, Embraer President and CEO. "I want to congratulate our teams for their passion and their dedication to bring to market this extraordinary aircraft." The flight test program comprised four prototype aircraft, which have carried out extensive function and reliability testing. The Legacy 500 test fleet completed over 1,800 flight hours. Over 20,000 hours of tests were conducted in laboratories with rigs for aircraft avionics, electrical, hydraulic, and environmental systems. Production of the Legacy 500 has already begun and the first delivery is scheduled for September. Up to six aircraft will be produced in 2014, and production of the Legacy 500 will increase throughout 2015. "We are very pleased to confirm that all Legacy 500 design goals have been achieved or exceeded" said Marco Tulio Pellegrini, President and CEO, Embraer Executive Jets. "This aircraft is a game changer! With greater range and better field performance than originally planned, the Legacy 500 sets a new standard for the midsize class." Legacy 500 main Characteristics Specifications Design Goals Certified Legacy 500 Range (1) 3,000 nm / 5,556 km 3,125 nm / 5,788 km Takeoff distance(2) 4,600 ft / 1,402 m 4,084 ft / 1,245 m Unfactored landing distance(3) 2,400 ft / 732 m 2,122 ft / 647 m Block fuel for 600nm @ M0.80(4) 2,610 lb / 1,184 kg 2,540 lb / 1,152 kg Maximum operating altitude 45,000 ft / 13,716 m 45,000 ft / 13,716 m Initial climb altitude(5) 43,000 ft / 13,106 m 43,000 ft / 13,106 m Time to climb to initial climb altitude(5) 22 min 22 min Maximum operating speed (MMO) Mach 0.83 Mach 0.83 High speed cruise(6) 460 kt / 852 km/h 466 kt / 863 km/h Maximum payload(7) 2,800 lb / 1,270 kg 2,800 lb / 1,270 kg Payload full fuel(7) 1,600 lb / 726 kg 1,600 lb / 726 kg Total baggage & stowage volume 150 ft3 / 4.25 m3 155 ft3 / 4.39 m3 External noise Stage IV 23 EPNdB below stage IV Engine thrust 6,540 lbf 7,036 lbf Engine flat rating ISA + 15 oC ISA + 18 oC (1)NBAA IFR reserves; 200 nm alternate; 4 pax @ 200 lbs each; baseline aircraft; LRC (Long Range Cruise) (2)SL; ISA; MTOW (3)SL; ISA ; 4 pax @ 200 lbs each; NBAA IFR reserves; 200 nm alternate; baseline aircraft (4)NBAA IFR reserves; 200 nm alternate; 4 pax @ 200 lbs each; baseline aircraft (5) From SL; @ MTOW; ISA (6)Max cruise speed; FL430; ISA; 4 pax @ 200lbs each; half fuel tank; baseline aircraft (7)Baseline aircraft http://www.eturbonews.com/49044/embraers-legacy-500-executive-jet-awarded- brazilian-certification Back to Top Cathay Pacific says has 90 aircraft on order at cost of $27 billion (Reuters) - Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Wednesday that as of June 30, it has 90 aircraft on order for delivery by 2024 at a catalogue price of HK$210 billion ($27 billion) as it rolls out new long-haul services. In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange earlier on Wednesday, Cathay said January- June net profit jumped nearly 15-fold to HK$347 million ($45 million) from just HK$24 million a year ago, when earnings were squeezed hard by high fuel prices and weak cargo demand. That was well above a mean estimate of HK$153 million from three varied forecasts by analysts polled by Reuters. http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/13/us-cathay-pacific-results-aircraft- idINKBN0GD0MB20140813 Back to Top Wanted: B-737 Freighter for Lease Contact: curt@curt-lewis.com or (817)845-3983 Back to Top Back to Top Upcoming Events: 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 ISASI 2014 - Annual Seminar October 13-16, 2014 Adelaide, Australia www.isasi.org IASS 2014 Abu Dhabi, UAE November 11-13, 2014 http://flightsafety.org/meeting/iass-2014 ERAU UAS FUNDAMENTALS COURSE December 9 - 11, 2014 ERAU Daytona Beach Campus, FL www.daytonabeach.erau.edu/uas Curt Lewis