Flight Safety Information November 13, 2014 - No. 231 In This Issue Bristow's Bill Chiles receives Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award Pilot of crashed spaceship was unaware co-pilot unlocked brake FAA easing restrictions on older pilots Indonesia will raise aviation safety standards U2 Star Bono's Mid-Air Scare: Door Falls Off Learjet From 15,000 Feet Using 3-D printing to make jet engines PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA AIRCON3 - Pre-Conference Workshop Airbus A350 Jetliner Approved by FAA. UAE GCAA FLIGHT OPERATIONS INSPECTORS COURSE. Upcoming Events Bristow's Bill Chiles receives Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award Bristow Group, Inc. CEO, Emeritus William ("Bill") E. Chiles received the prestigious Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award yesterday at the Flight Safety Foundation's 67th annual International Air Safety Summit (IASS) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Chiles (right) was praised for his leadership to establish industry wide safety protocols across the helicopter offshore transportation industry. "Bill's vision to incorporate safety initiatives into all systems and processes changed everyday practices throughout our global organisation and promoted a laser-focused culture of safety with our innovative Target Zero program, unifying our company around our core value of safety," said Jonathan Baliff, president and chief executive officer, Bristow Group, Inc. "His passion for safety is renowned in the industry. "Under Bill's leadership, five of the world's largest offshore helicopter operators recently formed HeliOffshore, the first global offshore helicopter industry association, with the goal of improving flight safety and technical competence across the world. Bill will serve as the organization's first chairman. We are proud of his accomplishments and are grateful that we will continue to benefit from his passion for safety and dedication to our industry and clients," added Baliff. "I am honoured to receive such distinguished recognition from my peers," said Chiles. "It is our responsibility to return every single passenger safely home, every single time. We will continue to improve the safety record for the offshore flying community as we collaborate to share best practices with one another," he said. Believing that safety is everyone's responsibility, Bristow developed Target Zero to create a culture of safety at every level of the company. The program's goals are founded on the beliefs that accidents are preventable, injuries to employees and others are avoidable and harm to the environment is intolerable. Target Zero encourages all employees to proactively practice safety and take action to mitigate risks. Bristow's Target Zero culture of safety has been recognized by numerous organisations around the world and remains a core value of the company. http://www.arabianaerospace.aero/ ************ About the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation and Award On April 14, 1945, after visiting family in Pittsburgh, Mrs. Laura Taber Barbour was aboard a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3 when it crashed in to the rugged terrain of Cheat Mountain near Morgantown, West Virginia. All passengers and crew were killed. In 1956, her husband, Dr. Clifford E. Barbour and son, Cliff, established the Award in her honor. For nearly 60 years, this long distinguished award has recognized those responsible for crowning achievements in aviation safety worldwide. The Award was established through early association with the Flight Safety Foundation and from its founding has enjoyed a rich history of Award Board members, nominees and Award recipients. In 2013, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation was formed from members of the Award Board, the aviation community and the Barbour family. As the foundation plans to broaden the scope of its intent, with great purpose, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award will continue to spotlight those champions who pioneer breakthroughs in flight safety. For more information on the foundation, the award, and past winners, visit http://LTBAward.org Back to Top Pilot of crashed spaceship was unaware co-pilot unlocked brake Wreckage lies near the site where a Virgin Galactic space tourism rocket, SpaceShipTwo, exploded and crashed in Mojave, Calif. LOS ANGELES - The pilot of the Virgin Galactic spaceship that tore apart over the Mojave Desert didn't know his co-pilot had prematurely unlocked its brakes, though protocol for the test flight required the co-pilot to announce the step, federal investigators said Wednesday. Pilot Peter Siebold told the National Transportation Safety Board that he was not aware co- pilot Mike Alsbury had pulled a brake-unlocking lever before the rocket designed one day to fly tourists to the edge of space was done accelerating. Seconds later, SpaceShipTwo began to disintegrate over Southern California. Protocol for the flight was to announce the unlocking, an agency spokesman said. It is not clear if Siebold didn't hear Alsbury, or doesn't remember an interaction - or the co- pilot never indicated he was taking the action. The safety board plans to analyze flight audio next week, spokesman Eric Weiss said. Simply unlocking the spacecraft's brakes shouldn't have applied them, but investigators have theorized that happened anyway and the resulting stress on the spacecraft may have contributed to its destruction. Virgin Galactic and said it could not comment on the investigation and referred questions to the NTSB. Siebold has not spoken publicly. Pilots and co-pilots typically agree in advance before making important decisions, said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former space shuttle astronaut who now consults on commercial space flight. One method is a "challenge and response" system in which one voices an intended action and the other confirms it before the action is taken. Lopez-Alegria said he did not know whether the unlocking of SpaceShipTwo's brakes was considered critical enough to require agreement, but "you would never take that action on your own." He noted that in the cockpit of a commercial airliner, the pilot and co-pilot call out and confirm an action as routine as raising the wheels after takeoff. The Oct. 31 crash about 120 miles north of downtown Los Angeles killed Alsbury, injured Siebold and cast a shadow over the immediate future of space tourism. It could take a year for the NTSB to determine the cause, though Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said last week the company wants to resume test flights as early as next summer with a replacement craft. The eventual goal is to launch spaceships carrying six passengers from a spaceport in New Mexico. For their $250,000 ticket, passengers would get a fleeting feeling of weightlessness and a spectacular view of Earth from about 62 miles up. Pilot Siebold was hospitalized after the crash, but when he spoke to investigators Friday he had been discharged. He told them that he was flung from the vehicle when it disintegrated. He said he unbuckled from his seat at some point during his fall that began miles above Earth, and his parachute deployed automatically. Investigators have not revealed the exact altitude of the breakup, but previous SpaceShipTwo test flights peaked at about 10 miles, much lower than the height expected for commercial flights. While the full investigation could take up to a year to complete, NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher Hart identified the vehicle's unique "feather" braking system as one focus. The craft is designed to shift its shape as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. The twin tails, or feathers, tilt upright to create drag as the vehicle plummets to Earth - a more extreme version of how airplane wing flaps help slow jets on descent. Co-pilot Alsbury could be seen on inflight video unlocking the system before the vehicle had reached Mach 1.0, Hart has said. The feathers aren't supposed to be unlocked until the craft reaches Mach 1.4, or more than 1,000 mph. At that point, it would have reached an altitude where the thinner air would not have provided so much violent resistance. Even after Alsbury unlocked them, the feathers were not supposed to move. For that to happen, the crew would pull a second lever. The crew didn't take the second step, but the system engaged anyway. Two or three seconds later, the craft began to break apart. The NTSB has said the feathers could have deployed because of aerodynamic forces on the craft. The agency said Wednesday that it is looking at those forces and reviewing safety documentation and the feather system's design. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20141112-pilot-of-crashed-spaceship-was- unaware-co-pilot-unlocked-brake.ece Back to Top FAA easing restrictions on older pilots The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is loosening the age restrictions for older pilots, the agency said Wednesday. Pilots over 60 will no longer be required to fly side-by-side with a younger pilot on international flights to compensate for various physical limitations and health problems they may face after that age. Starting Thursday, those pilots will be allowed to fly internationally as long as they have a second pilot to back them up, regardless of the other pilot's age, the agency noted in the Federal Register. This will ease what's known as the pilot pairing requirements for older pilots. "Instead, all pilots serving on airplanes in international commercial air transport operations with more than one pilot may serve beyond 60 years of age without being paired with a (younger) pilot," the agency writes. "Without the pairing requirement, all pilots on multi-pilot crews serving in international air transport commercial operations may continue to serve as long as they have not reached 65 years of age," it adds. The international rules only apply to pilots flying overseas, not domestically. The changes go into effect on Nov. 13. http://thehill.com/regulation/223862-faa-easing-restrictions-on-older-pilots Back to Top Indonesia will raise aviation safety standards Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government, through the transportation ministry, will raise its aviation safety standards from category II to category I based on the guidelines set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). "Safety must be guaranteed, and therefore, the implementation of safety programs will be tightened. Maintaining safety is important for our business. It is better that one does not fly rather than never land," Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan noted in his speech during the opening of the general meeting of the members of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) 2014 here on Thursday. Jonan remarked that efforts to improve the safety standards had been started gradually. In addition, he noted that the determination of flight safety regulations not only applied to the airlines but also on the airports. "There are a lot of things that should be repaired, and the stakeholders should also be involved," Jonan affirmed. Improving the safety standards was also a major expectation of INACA from the government as it could help to lower the safety risk and aircraft insurance cost. Moreover, INACA Chairman Arif Wibowo stated that the improvement of safety standards should be conducted by the government, considering the competition at the regional and global levels that necessitated the implementation of international standards. He pointed out that Indonesia was the only country in the ASEAN region that ranked the lowest in terms of aviation safety. "In the ASEAN, only Indonesia and the Philippines had gone up from category two to one," he stated. In Asia, the safety standards of India declined from category one to category two. Arif urged the government to improve its infrastructure, supervision, and the implementation of on-field regulations. "This is to ensure that there were no presence of dangerous goods, animals, and kites at the airport. It requires the efforts of all stakeholders such as the operator and regulator," he added. http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/96521/indonesia-will-raise-aviation-safety-standards Back to Top U2 Star Bono's Mid-Air Scare: Door Falls Off Learjet From 15,000 Feet U2 singer Bono had a mid-air scare on Wednesday when the rear door of his private jet plummeted at least 15,000 feet to the ground. The rock star and four friends were aboard the Learjet 60 traveling from Dublin to Berlin when the mishap occurred over Germany, authorities said. The plane landed safely and the two pilots only found out on the ground that the aircraft had lost its door and two suitcases from the luggage compartment. They told investigators that they noticed a rumble similar to turbulence during a right-hand turn on approach, but that they felt no major change in how the plane was flying. Because the luggage compartment at the back of the plane is not connected to the pressurized cabin, there was no loss of pressure when the door detached. The jet did not suffer any structural damage. The door has not been found. "The aircraft and its rear door are painted black, so the search in the wooded area will be difficult," said Germout Freitag, a spokesman for the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation. U2 is in Berlin to receive a Bambi entertainment award. After he landed on Wednesday, Bono met with a German lawmaker. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u2-star-bonos-mid-air-scare-door-falls-learjet-15- n247526 Back to Top Using 3-D printing to make jet engines Alcoa's embrace of additive manufacturing allows it to turn ideas into reality faster. If you've spent any amount of time in an aircraft about to take off-gazing out the window at the tarmac, thinking about the cold beverage you'll have at altitude-you've probably spent at least a passing moment wondering how exactly manufacturers make sure the iron birds don't break. The answer is materials science, of course. But that's not the whole story. There's a great deal of testing that goes into airplane parts to be sure they can handle the temperatures and stresses of aviation. Alcoa would know. The metals producer, more than 125 years old, makes parts for gas turbines, the engines that plane manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus install to give planes the power to get you to your next meeting. The problem? All that testing takes time. Between tooling, development, and casting, it used to take Alcoa upwards of a year to manufacture one of the nickel-alloy parts that go into an engine, where it must withstand temperatures of up to 2,000?F. Then the company caught wind of something called additive manufacturing-better known as 3-D printing. Alcoa started toying with the technology in the early 1990s. But it wasn't until the past few years that the company began using it to create the dies that shape engine parts. With additive manufacturing, Alcoa has managed to cut in half the time required to develop the process and manufacture the part. Better still, it managed to cut the cost of the process by about 25%. "We're really at the beginning of what I would call a second Industrial Revolution," says Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa's CEO. "You go from idea to product in no time. It's almost like production at your fingertips." In the past, Alcoa built a die using a process called subtractive machining. It's similar to sculpture: Start with a material-in this case, steel-then whittle it down into the shape you need. Ten to 30 weeks later, the company ended up with a custom die that it would then use to cast the needed engine part. Today Alcoa pairs computer-aided design, or CAD, with 3-D printing to construct the die from a computer file, layer by layer. A process that once took half a year could be completed in two to eight weeks, allowing the company to dramatically increase its output. The time savings are being put to good use, says Boyd Mueller, vice president of technology in Alcoa's power and propulsion unit. Alcoa can handle more parts orders-for commercial aircraft, business jets, regional jets, even helicopters-and ramp up to meet them faster. "Without these technologies, we couldn't plan all these different engine programs," he says. "We couldn't do this level of work. There is absolutely a digital convergence." http://fortune.com/2014/11/13/3-d-printing-jet-engines-alcoa/ Back to Top Back to Top Pre-Conference Workshop: Thursday, January 15th: Investigations in support of Safety Management Systems (SMS): The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines SMS as "A systematic approach to managing safety, including the necessary organizational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures." Most Civil Aviation Authorities support the implementation of SMS in aviation training organizations and service providers. Many also include the provisions for a Safety Manager within those safety programs. This workshop will investigate the attributes of a supportive Safety Culture along with the competencies and skill-sets required of the Safety Manager to appropriately collect, analyze and take actions on safety information. The outcomes of this workshop will be assembled and distributed to participants in order for their consideration for inclusion into existing and future aviation programs and curricula. Workshop Leaders: Stewart Schreckengast, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Aviation Department, University of South Australia & Douglas Drury, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Aviation Department, University of South Australia are hosting. Free conference add on- but space is limited. Sponsored by the Robertson Safety Institute Registration Back to Top Airbus A350 Jetliner Approved by FAA Approval Clears Way for Delivery to U.S. Airlines; Jet to Compete With Boeing's 787 Dreamliners and 777s An A350 jetliner landed following a test flight in September. Airbus Group NV said Wednesday it has received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration for its new A350 jetliner, allowing the European manufacturer to deliver the new long-range aircraft to U.S. airlines. The European Aviation Safety Agency in September approved the jetliner, which seats around 300 passengers and is designed to compete with Boeing Co. 's larger 787 Dreamliners and its 777 jets. American Airlines Group Inc., through its US Airways unit, ordered 22 of the A350-900 models. United Continental Holdings Inc. has purchased 35 of a larger A350 model that won't be completed until 2017.. As of the end of October, Airbus has won 750 orders from 39 customers. Its first delivery to launch operator Qatar Airways is expected before year's end. http://online.wsj.com/articles/airbus-a350-jetliner-approved-by-faa-1415822592 Back to Top UAE GCAA FLIGHT OPERATIONS INSPECTORS COURSE To start on Sunday the 16th of November The General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates added another milestone to its list of achievements in 2014 when they announced to offer their very own Flight Operations Inspector course to the Civil Aviation Authorities of the region. This course is designed to equip Flight Operations Inspecting staff and delegates from other aviation regulatory and Operational organizations with the necessary knowledge and background in order to perform routine surveillance activities in accordance with the ICAO DOC # 8335. Under the guidance of Captain Mohammed Al Saadi, Director Flight Operations of the GCAA, a holistic course was designed in-house to provide knowledge and guidance required to understand the process for being compliant with the GCAA requirements in respect to the Air Transport (AT) Operations through lectures, practical exercises, workshops etc. Mr. Ismaeil Mohammed Al Blooshi, Assistant Director General of Aviation Safety Affairs confirmed that this year the GCAA has offered the course to Civil Aviation Authorities in the region and looks forward to their participation which will encourage sharing of experiences, challenges and bringing forth further opportunities of collaboration and maintain similar safety standard throughout the region. He commended the leadership of Captain Al Saadi and the hard work of each and every SME who contributed towards the development of the course, whilst extending his appreciation to Dr. Captain Andreas Mateou for coordinating the entire programme. He said and I quote "given the success of the previous courses and based on the outcome of this course, the GCAA may extend its invitation to other international CAAs in the near future". www.gcaa.gov.ae Back to Top Upcoming Events: IASS 2014 Abu Dhabi, UAE November 11-13, 2014 http://flightsafety.org/meeting/iass-2014 ERAU SMS Seminars Daytona Beach, FL Nov. 17-18 & 19-21, 2014 www.erau.edu/sms ICAEA-ANAC-CIPE Aviation English Workshop. Buenos Aires, Argentina. International Civil Aviation English Association Workshop, hosted by Argentina ANAC and CIPE. "Skills and competencies needed in aviation communications: The Latin American Challenge." Open to anyone interested in aviation English. Nov. 20-21, 2014. www.icaea.aero 2014 Global FOD Prevention Conference Birds, Bolts, Budgets - Tracking the Dangers of Foreign Objects and What We Can Do About It Reagan National Airport 2 December 2014 www.stopfod.com ERAU UAS FUNDAMENTALS COURSE December 9 - 11, 2014 ERAU Daytona Beach Campus, FL www.daytonabeach.erau.edu/uas Event: "The Future of Regulation of SMS and QA" Symposium. Keynote: Mr. Martin Eley, Director General Transport Canada. Location: Coronado Resort Hotel @ Disney World, Orlando Florida. Date: Jan 4-6, 2015 info: http://www.dtiatlanta.com/symposium.html A3IR CON 2015 January 16-17, 2015 Phoenix, AZ http://commons.erau.edu/aircon/2015/ Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA March 10-11, 2015 www.acsf.aero/symposium FAA Helicopter Safety Effort three-day safety forum April 21-23, 2015 Hurst, Texas eugene.trainor@faa.gov www.faahelisafety.org IS-BAO Workshop Information and Registration 12 - 13 Nov. 2014 Omaha, Nebraska USA 18 - 19 Nov. 2014 Houston, TX USA 2 - 3 Dec. 2014 Orlando, FL USA 6 - 7 Dec. 2014 Dubai, UAE 13 - 14 Jan. 2015 Baltimore, MD USA https://www.regonline.com/CalendarNET/EventCalendar.aspx?EventID=1592658&view=Month Curt Lewis