Flight Safety Information December 3, 2014 - No. 245 In This Issue Bahamas plane crash: One dead and ten other passengers hospitalised Lufthansa Pilots Renew Strike RCMP pilots routinely broke aviation rules, new report says Lockheed Develops Portable F-35 Trainer Australia to implement air safety review recommendations The airport of the future Jetstar promotes Georgina Sutton as its first female chief pilot PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA AIRCON3 - Pre-Conference Workshop THE AVIATION INVESTIGATION BUREAU OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA TO SPONSOR A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COURSE GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Pilot Health Survey Upcoming Events Bahamas plane crash: One dead and ten other passengers hospitalised A 77-year-old man US has died and 10 others, including a child, have been hospitalised after a small plane carrying 11 people crashed near the Bahamas on Tuesday. The Ferguson Air plane was serving as a charter for Bahamas-based Southern Air, when it left the island of Eleuthera today. The aircraft was preparing to land on New Providence when it crashed, Superintendent Paul Rolle said. Police said the pilot of the Navajo Chieftian plane had alerted officials that he was experiencing problems, and then tried to steer the plane close to shallow water. But the craft lost power some 550 feet (170 metres) from the coast and crashed. Police have not yet identified the man who died or his where he was from. The other passengers were hospitalised, but their conditions were not immediately known. Divers from a nearby aquatic sports business helped rescue the survivors, authorities said. The 10 survivors, including one child, were rescued by a team from the nearby Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures and taken by ambulance to Doctors Hospital in the capital, Nassau, according to Bahamas newspaper The Tribune. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bahamas-plane-crash-one-dead-and-ten-other- passengers-hospitalised-9899216.html Back to Top Lufthansa Pilots Renew Strike FRANKFURT-German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG 's pilots will stage another strike on Thursday, only two days after a previous strike ended. The pilots' union announced late Tuesday that pilots will strike Thursday between 0200 GMT and 2259 GMT, or 0300 and 2359 local time. The strike will affect the airline's long-haul and cargo flights. It won't affect short- and medium-haul flights and its Germanwings unit, the union said. Lufthansa and its pilots are at odds over a push by the carrier to raise the early retirement age and objections to its low-cost plans, which the airline's supervisory board will discuss at a meeting Wednesday. The carrier's pilots went on strike this week at its passenger unit, grounding short-haul flights on Monday and short-haul and long-haul flights on Tuesday. The union said it has extended the strike because recent negotiations have shown that views still differ substantially regarding the early retirement plans, despite repeated strikes this year. The announced walkout marks the 10th this year. Lufthansa called on the union return to the negotiating table to resolve the issues, said a spokesman. The airline criticized the union for announcing another strike even before the previous action ended. Lufthansa will immediately take measures to prepare an emergency flight schedule, the spokesman said. The strike earlier this week caused the cancellation of some 1,350 flights and affected around 150,000 passengers. http://online.wsj.com/articles/lufthansa-pilots-renew-strike-1417589028 Back to Top RCMP pilots routinely broke aviation rules, new report says RCMP pilots routinely doctored flight records in order to fly overloaded aircraft, the federal integrity commissioner says. That meant the national police force routinely broke the Canadian Aviation Regulations while operating its fleet of about 40 aircraft, many of which are used for work in remote northern areas. Commissioner Mario Dion said in the report released on Tuesday that he could not establish whether the RCMP flights posed a danger to the life, health or safety of anyone because the true weight of the flights is not known. The reason it was not known was because the records were replete with bogus entries. In his report, Dion says that the rule-breaking took place on "several occasions in 2012." Dion says he did not refer the falsified flight manifests to legal authorities because Transport Canada is aware of the issue - and, besides, he says the RCMP of all people should be expected to respect the law. The routine rule-breaking came to light after allegations were made by a whistleblower. The investigation began in November 2013. The report remains under a legal challenge from the federal government, which wanted to quash the findings before they could be made public. Sometimes, the weight entry logs were over the allowed limit. Other times, the records were highly suspicious. On one occasion, the total weight of five passengers, including two pilots, was listed as 880 lbs, even though two of them were described as "heavy men," who might have had a combined weight of 550 lbs. That meant the other three passengers weighed just an average of 110 lbs each, if the Mounties entered correct data. On another occasion, the fuel weight was listed at 1,900 lbs, which was described in the report as "very low" for a 3.4-hour flight. On other flights, the total weight is listed as exactly what is allowed by regulations, or just slightly under the allowed weight. The report also notes odd things about listed baggage weight. On one June 2012 flight, the total weight for baggage was listed at 50 lbs throughout. This was the same weight for every stage of the flight, whether it carried seven or two passengers. On that flight, the aircraft was still 137 lbs over the maximum capacity. Dion's report dismissed several other serious allegations from a whistleblower for lack of evidence. These allegations, including that RCMP planes were flown without valid airworthiness certificates and that pilots with lapsed credentials were scheduled to fly - could not be substantiated on the balance of probabilities. The RCMP stated that it is addressing "the spirit and the intent" of the recommendations "through its ongoing engagement with Transport Canada." The RCMP statement included an indignant reaction to the report's comments regarding "making false entries," saying this suggests "a deliberate deception of malfeasance on the part of RCMP personnel." "While there were data irregularities and incorrect .. . . entries on the part of the RCMP pilots the RCMP does not believe that pilots made these entries through deceptive intent," the police statement says. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/02/rcmp_doctored_flight_logs_flew_overloaded_ planes_says_integrity_commissioner.html Back to Top Lockheed Develops Portable F-35 Trainer ORLANDO, FLA. - The F-35 joint strike fighter is a highly advanced, stealthy fighter that requires significant amounts of training to master. If program officials have their way, it will also be used by US forces and international allies around the globe. If that international dream becomes reality, keeping current on training becomes a problem. After all, there are only a few major training centers scheduled for the plane, and bringing pilots back from the field costs time and money. Enter Lockheed Martin's new Deployable Mission Rehearsal Trainer (DMRT), which the company says will help keep pilots current as well as provide high-fidelity mission planning. The DMRT is a simple concept: two simulators in what is essentially a shipping container. A second container is attached to provide HVAC and power for the system. The system can also link with a second DMRT, giving four pilots a chance to train together. Mike Luntz, Lockheed's director for F-35 training systems, said his team is focused on getting the DMRT ready for use on a carrier, but envisions it will also be used in the field. Which isn't to say the DMRT will replace the high-end simulator used at training bases such as Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The system inside the DMRT comes with a smaller visual display, about the size of a large whiteboard instead of a full dome. The cockpit is also static. However, the system uses the same software as the more robust trainer. "The idea is it could go on an aircraft carrier or be forward deployed in an austere environment," Luntz said. "So instead of pilots having to continuously fly the jets to stay current while on the ship or out in the field, they can just hop inside the DMRT and keep their pilot hours current." Currently, the company is under contract for two systems. The first DMRT is undergoing tests at Edwards Air Force Base with pilots from the UK, which is purchasing the F-35B jump-jet variant of the fighter. Luntz said the Australian military, which plans to buy 100 F-35A conventional models, is also looking into the system. The DMRT can also be used for mission planning purposes. If an air strike in Iraq is being plotted, four pilots could climb into their linked DMRT and simulate the attack with high-fidelity, all in the field. The "pretty novel concept," as Luntz called it, could eventually spread to other Lockheed Martin products. "If the demand was there," he said, "that is something that would be possible." http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141201/DEFREG02/312010012/Lockheed-Develops-Portable-F- 35-Trainer Back to Top Australia to implement air safety review recommendations Australia's government will move to implement almost all of the recommendations made in a recent review of air safety, with the aim of improving the country's already strong safety record. The Aviation Safety Regulation Review, released in June, was led by former Qantas and Airservices executive David Forsyth, and also had inputs from international experts Don Spruston and Roger Whitefield. Delivering the government's response to the Aviation Safety Regulation Review, infrastructure minister Warren Truss told Parliament that the country maintains an "advanced regulatory system" for aviation. "However given the speed with which the global and domestic aviation industry is changing, we need to look for continuous improvement in our aviation safety regulatory system. We need to update our system to reflect the growing diversity of our aviation industry." The report made 37 recommendations, largely directed at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) but also involves the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence. Canberra says it has agreed to, or will look further into, 36 of the recommendations. Most of these recommendations call for greater interaction between CASA and the industry, as well as strengthening the ATSB's aviation investigation ability. Truss says the newly appointed CASA board will soon receive a Statement of Expectations, which will be targeted at implementing the recommendations. "Consistent with the Government's broader agenda in deregulation, the Government also expects CASA to continue to look for ways to reduce regulatory costs on the industry without compromising safety," he adds. He also called on the industry to work together with the government and the aviation safety agencies to further strengthen its safety systems. Truss also noted that, consistent with the report's recommendations and earlier election commitments, he will soon announce the appointment of a new ATSB Commissioner "with a specific background in aviation." He will also recommend that the ATSB reopen its investigation into the 2009 ditching of a Pel-Air IAI Westwind business jet near Norfolk Island. A recent review of that investigation by the Canadian Transport Safety Bureau found that the ATSB made some errors, however the organisation as an overall continues to use best practices. The one suggestion that was rejected, is for the ATSB's safety education function to be re-assigned to CASA. The government argues that the education role is part of the complementary system that operates between the two authorities. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/australia-to-implement-air-safety-review-recommendations- 406678/ Back to Top The airport of the future The airport of the future will be less like a sprawling bus depot and more like a large, sustainable park. The number of passengers and aircraft are set to double by 2033, according to Jack Plunkett, CEO of Plunkett Research, a firm specializing in the travel industry. To adapt to the growing crowds, airports are changing, and a select few are prioritizing sustainability as part of the process. "You could sum up the future of airports in one simple phrase, and that is: Much bigger, and much more efficient," said Plunkett. Right now a new airport is being built in Mexico City, which is slated for completion by 2020 and will make traveling better for passengers and the environment. The airport is expected to service 50 million people a year and the new design is all about energy efficiency. Gates will be within walking distance, and the roof is being built to incorporate solar technology. There will also be an on-site energy plant that will collect, treat and recycle rainwater. Other areas of the world are also getting in on the sustainability game, and bringing travel into the 21st century. "The Chinese have been staying well ahead of the curve," Plunkett said. "With the Olympics in Beijing and then Shanghai World Expo, they dramatically set the bar for airport development." He pointed to Shanghai's maglev train, which uses magnetic levitation technology to take passengers from the outskirts of the city to the airport at a speed of about 250 miles per hour. Foster + Partners, the design firm behind Mexico City's new airport, contributed to Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3. The dragon-like design focused on efficiency, sustainability and natural light. Skylights were built into the soaring roof to maximize morning sun, connections between terminals take two minutes in a train that travels at 80 miles per hour, and the heating and cooling system was built to minimize energy consumption. There's also London's Terminal 2, which is the world's first BREEAM-certified airport (the U.K. equivalent of a LEED certification). It was awarded the distinction for its sustainable design and operation, which includes a reduction of CO2 emissions, water efficiency and lighting control system to keep energy use down. The terminal is aiming to be recycling or composting 70% of its waste by 2020. Some airports in America are also keeping a focus on sustainability. The Chicago Department of Aviation, for example, is in its second season of employing a herd of goats, sheep, llamas and burros to graze on the nearly 8,000 acres of property at the O'Hare International Airport. Seen as an alternative to toxic herbicides, the herd is part of the airport's sustainable vegetation management initiative. And Denver international Airport just added another solar array (like a huge solar panel), which it says will offset greenhouse gas emissions each year and can generate enough electricity to power about 500 homes. The airport is thinking on the small-scale too, and installed water bottle filling stations so passengers can hydrate without generating waste. In that first year, the stations filled the equivalent of 600,000 half-liter plastic bottles, helping to reduce waste into the future. http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/01/news/economy/future-airports/ Back to Top Jetstar promotes Georgina Sutton as its first female chief pilot Captain Georgina Sutton has been appointed as Jetstar's chief pilot for Australia and New Zealand, breaking the last barrier for female pilots at major Australian airlines. She will be one of very few women in the world to have held the top pilot job at a major airline globally, joining the ranks of Captain Davina Pratt, the chief pilot at Irish airline Aer Lingus. Ms Sutton, who will replace Captain Mark Rindfleish from February 2015, was already the highest-ever ranked female pilot in Australian aviation before being appointed to the Jetstar job. Her appointment comes before a vote by Jetstar pilots on whether to approve the latest enterprise bargaining agreement, including an 18-month pay freeze, closes on Thursday. Jetstar has separate chief pilots for its Asian offshoots, but Ms Sutton will oversee the largest fleet, with around 900 pilots reporting to her. Jetstar Group's global chief executive, Jayne Hrdlicka, is also one of the few women to have run a large airline. Earlier this year, Qantas appointed Ms Sutton as the fleet captain for the Boeing 767, overseeing about 180 pilots. But those aircraft will all be retired by the end of December. Ms Sutton this year led a crew of four female pilots on the last flight of one of Qantas's 767s to a desert plane graveyard in California which was broadcast by Nine Network's 60 Minutes in September. Jetstar Australia and New Zealand chief executive David Hall said Ms Sutton had won the role in competition with a number of high-calibre internal and external candidates. "Georgina has demonstrated strengths in leadership, technical expertise, operations and shares our strong focus on safety," Mr Hall said. Mr Rindfleish plans to return to full-time flying after six years as chief pilot. Thirty-five years after Ansett hired Deborah Lawrie as the first female pilot for a major Australian airline, female pilots remain a relatively rare breed in Australia and globally at commercial airlines. At Australia's major airlines, the percentage of female pilots ranges from 4.5 per cent to 9.3 per cent. Ms Sutton was hired by Qantas in May 1989 to become a Sydney-based second officer on the Boeing 747. Ms Sutton last month attended the Australian and International Pilots Association annual dinner which celebrates retiring pilots. Every one of the pilots that had retired from the airline was male. In February, Ms Sutton said she hadn't found the male-dominated atmosphere particularly tough when she became a Qantas pilot because she had previously spent five years on the South Australian Police Force. "I think I'd had exposure to a broad range of demographics and working in a fairly non-traditional role, so I was well prepared for that," she told Fairfax Media at the time. Ms Sutton has spoken at a number of school career nights and her old Scout flying club to encourage women to consider aviation as a career. She also has served as a mentor for several women within Qantas. One of her career highlights was flying Queen Elizabeth from London to Singapore on a Qantas 747. http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/jetstar-promotes-georgina-sutton-as-its-first-female-chief- pilot-20141203-11zd47.html 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 THE AVIATION INVESTIGATION BUREAU OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA TO SPONSOR A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COURSE FOR INVESTIGATORS From 14 to 18 December 2014, the Aviation Investigation Bureau of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will sponsor a course titled "Safety Management Systems (SMS) for investigators". This course will be attended by its investigators, safety analysts and aircraft accident prevention specialists as well as other aviation safety professionals from within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The course is part of an ongoing strategy in continual employee development in aviation safety practices, which includes a focus on approaches to safety utilizing proactive and predictive methods rather than traditional reactive methods. Captain Ibrahim S Al Koshy, the Director General of the Aviation Investigation Bureau of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stated that: "SMS is defined as a systematic approach to managing safety including the necessary organizational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures. Throughout aviation: world airlines, regulators, operators, airports, maintenance providers and air traffic control are all working toward implementing SMS. This course is designed to provide our investigators and aviation professionals with the knowledge and skill to approach an investigation with the understanding of the SMS components". The list of invitees will include the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Royal Saudi Air Force, Saudi Arabian Airlines, NAS, and senior management personnel from the major airports within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Dear fellow pilots: By way of introduction, my name is Adrian Aliyuddin and I am currently pursuing my Masters of Science in Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and as part of my final assignment I need to conduct a research paper. I have chosen the topic of the interaction between airline pilots and ground- based operational control personnel from the airline, commonly known by several different titles such as, Operations Controller, Flight Dispatchers, Network Controllers or Duty Controllers. These personnel have the capability of sending messages to aircraft in flight and having pilots react to them. The topic of interest is the influence these ground-based personnel have on the decision-making of the pilots. In order to gather the data on this topic, I have set up a short survey in order to solicit feedback from the target audience. The survey should not take much more than 10 minutes to complete and only requires the participant to answer a number of questions in the survey. None of the survey questions are framed in a manner that could identify the participant and the data from this survey will be kept confidentially. There is also no obligation for you to complete this survey. The target audience is airline pilots who work in organizations that have the capability for messages from their ground-based personnel to reach the aircraft while in flight. If you meet the criteria of the target audience, you can access the survey using this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6CTH5WN I would like to thank you in advance for taking the time out to fill up this survey. Back to Top Pilot Health Survey Harvard School of Public Health/Department of Environmental Health Survey: Pilots are exposed to a multitude of occupational health hazards, including fatigue, respiratory symptoms, radiation exposure, and much more, on a daily basis. Noise exposure has been associated with increased fatigue, cardiovascular effects, adverse cognitive functioning, increased stress, and hearing loss. Crewmembers could have significant exposure during flights, leading to an increase in these effects and health issues. The impact of environmental noise, such as aircraft noise, where exposures are sustained over the entire flight has not been studied for airline pilots. Harvard School of Public Health has conducted a large survey of over 4000 flight attendants, and found higher rates of fatigue, headaches, and cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, compared to the general population, which may be due to exposure to noise and other environmental factors on the aircraft. Occupational noise in the aircraft is not regulated. As a result, exposure monitoring is rare and pilots are not aware of the increased fatigue and additional health issues related to noise exposure, especially over a given duration. This also includes exposure from preflight to all phases of flight. As such, airline pilots represent a potential high risk exposure group with respect to occupational noise during flight. U.S. airline pilots are also an aging population, with the mandatory retirement age now being increased from 60 years old to 65 years old. Age is a risk factor for hearing loss, as well as fatigue and other chronic conditions that are associated to noise exposure and age. Longer flight and duty times, also increase the fatigue and also additional chronic conditions associated with noise exposure. This survey would be the first conducted for airline pilots, and would evaluate noise health related effects, such as fatigue and additional chronic conditions. It would also be used to compare pilots against flight attendants and a greater male population versus female population, of flight attendants. The results of this survey would be of value in advancing the level of understanding of the impact of noise exposures in airline pilots, especially fatigue and the effects. The flight attendant survey was conducted in conjunction with the Association of Flight Attendants, the FAA sponsored National Air Transportation Center for Excellence in the Intermodal Transport Environment (RITE) and the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute. The Harvard School of Public Health sponsored the survey and analyzed the data. The questionnaires include detailed inquires relating to the crewmember's personal characteristics, work history, and health status. The potential association of noise exposure with fatigue and hearing loss, could have significant implications for the safety of air travel and crewmembers. Please find the website for the flight attendant survey: www.FAhealth.org. A similar website would be created and administered by Harvard for the pilot group. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. This survey would be administered electronically, at no cost , by Harvard School of Public Health. The data would be analyzed and each response is anonymous and the airline would also be de-identified for Harvard data. This important data can be used to address the issue of fatigue and the working environment. Key points: -This would be the first group of airline pilots participating in this Harvard survey and/or data collection - This survey and data collection can also be offered to other industry pilot groups. -This data will be of exceptional use to the pilot group. -You would be at the forefront of this industry research and could also lead to new developments . -There is no cost and workload is minimal (sending an email with survey/follow up communications). -Please contact Deborah Donnelly-McLay (UPS pilot/Harvard Faculty Research Assistant) for more information at ddonnelly@ipapilot.org or 561-537-0046 Back to Top Upcoming Events: 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 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