Flight Safety Information March 20, 2015 - No. 053 In This Issue Dutch Investigators to Return to MH17 Crash Site 'Sloppy and careless' Air China staff blasted over 'unlocked' door as plane takes off FAA Gives Amazon 'Experimental Airworthiness Certificate' To Test Drones State Farm Gets FAA Approval to Test Drones FAA under fire for enforcing hobbyist UAS regulations FAA Starts Maintenance Training School Rule Update FAA Ineffective On Hazardous Materials Compliance United Airlines Pilots Respond To Jan. 9 Safety Bulletin FAA: 10,000 Aircraft in U.S. Now Have ADS-B Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental Receives FAA Approval for 330-Minute ETOPS DGCA takes action against pilots coming late (India) PROS 2015 TRAINING Superduperjumbo: Airbus Markets a Higher Seat Count on Its A380 Jet $15 flight to Europe? Too good to be true The world's longest non-stop flights, mapped Graduate Research Study/Survey Upcoming Events JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) Dutch Investigators to Return to MH17 Crash Site Team hopes to reach areas previously out of reach because of fighting Men walk past the wreckage of MH17, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane, at the site of the plane crash near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in Ukraine's Donetsk region. By ROBERT WALL LONDON-The Netherlands has dispatched a 12-person team of military, police and safety experts to the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down in eastern Ukraine last year to prepare the further repatriation of remains and other items. The team arrived in Ukraine today and is next expected to make its way to the crash zone, including an area that was inaccessible last year because of fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces, a spokesman for the Dutch government said. The group will make preparations for a return visit in April to gather clues into why the aircraft went down as well as retrieve also belongings of victims. The Boeing 777 was brought down on July 17 while flying at 33,000 feet from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing 298 passengers and crew aboard, including 193 Dutch citizens. Ukraine and the U.S. accuse rebels of shooting down the plane with an advanced antiaircraft missile, a charge Moscow denies. The Dutch Safety Board, which leads the crash probe, is expected to issue a final report in October. An interim report last year said the plane jetliner was brought down after being struck by "high-energy objects." Dutch prosecutors also are gathering evidence to support criminal charges. The Dutch team will that is due to remain in Ukraine until March 28 is posed to visit the area of Petropavlivka that couldn't be reached last year because of heavy fighting. The group will retrieve items from the crash that have since been collected locally to support the criminal and safety probes. The duration of the return mission in April and the size of the team will be completed once the group now in Ukraine has completed its assessment, the Dutch government spokesman said. Local weather and security conditions could impact the team's progress, the Dutch government said. It is working with Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe officials that have had a special monitoring mission in place for a year. http://www.wsj.com/articles/dutch-investigators-to-return-to-mh17-crash-site-1426848229 Back to Top 'Sloppy and careless' Air China staff blasted over 'unlocked' door as plane takes off SAFETY experts have blasted "sloppy and careless" Air China staff after images emerged appearing to show a plane's door not properly locked while in mid-air. The door appears to be unlocked Images of the Boeing 737-800 at Beijing Capital International Airport emerged online showing the Air China flight with the door not properly locked. Air safety expert Guang Yu said: "It is probably not dangerous because there are various safety measures in place but it shows an extremely sloppy and careless attitude on behalf of the cabin crew." In response to the criticism, a spokesman for Air China said airline crew had conducted a thorough investigation and found the lock was in the "normal" position before the flight took off. Meanwhile, the Chinese state news service quoted a Boeing specialist as saying a mechanical problem with the lock could have resulted in the external lock being out of position. The picture has caused a heated debate on the country's social media website Weibo, following several incidents involving Chinese passengers opening airplane doors shortly before take-off. The Boeing 737-800 at Beijing Capital International Airport Earlier this week, passenger Dong She was jailed for ten days after opening an airplane door. Mr She, 42, had claimed he had been holding the handrail tight when it unexpectedly moved, opening the door on the Urumqi Airlines flight from Xinjiang to Henan in China just as it was about to start off down the runway. Last month, Chinese tourists were booted from a Thai airways flight after re-enacting a scene from film Mortal Combat, while another passenger forced their plane to turn around after throwing steaming noodles at a stewardess. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/564898/Air-China-airplane-unlocked-door-take-off-flight Back to Top FAA Gives Amazon 'Experimental Airworthiness Certificate' To Test Drones LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) - Amazon may be one step closer to delivering packages by drone. On Thursday, the FAA issued an experimental airworthiness certificate to the company's unmanned aircraft design, which will be used for research, development and crew training. Under the certificate provisions, several rules must be followed, including operating flights at 400 feet or below in the daylight. The FAA said on its website that the certificate also requires pilots to obtain a private pilot's certificate, as well as medical certification. Amazon will also be required to give the FAA monthly data, such as the number of flights conducted. Amazon unveiled its future plan to deliver packages by drone in 2013. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/03/20/faa-gives-amazon-experimental-airworthiness-certificate-to-test-drones/ Back to Top State Farm Gets FAA Approval to Test Drones State Farm says it has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to test the use of drones. The Bloomington-based company is the first insurer in the U.S. to receive FAA permission to test unmanned aircraft systems for commercial use. State Farm said it plans to use the aircraft to "assess potential roof damage during the claims and respond to natural disasters." "The potential use of UAS provides us one more innovative tool to help State Farm customers recover from the unexpected as quickly and efficiently as possible," Wensley Herbert, Operations Vice President - Claims, said in a statement. The first flights will be tested in Bloomington and will evolve to testing in real-world scenarios, the company said. A spokeswoman for State Farm said the time frame is "fluid" but the company plans to begin testing after they pick which systems they will test and find pilots to man the devices. http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/State-Farm-Gets-FAA-Approval-to-Test-Drones-296762891.html#ixzz3UvfOpMLl Back to Top FAA under fire for enforcing hobbyist UAS regulations After being told by the FAA that his website violates the agency's regulations against commercial UAS operations, Steven Girard removed information about pricing for his services. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is being criticized for its attempts to enforce regulations limiting the use of small unmanned aerials systems (sUAS) to hobby or recreational purposes. "This is the FAA putting its nose into an area that traditionally it has no institutional experience with, which is the First Amendment," said Miami attorney Brant Hadaway who blogs on UAS issues at dronelaw.com and is with the Diaz Reus law firm. Jayson Hanes of Lutz, Florida, received a letter on March 9 from FAA safety inspector Michael Singleton advising him that the agency had received a complaint about the videos Hanes shoots with his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and posts on his YouTube channel. "After a review of your web site, it does appear that the complaint is valid," the letter stated. It goes on to cite regulations related to flying UAS for hobby and recreational purposes. "It is not-as has been characterized-a cease and desist letter," FAA spokesperson Les Dorr told UAS Magazine. "We really refer to them as education letters." On March 3, Maine resident Steven Girard received a voicemail message from Bobby Reed, manager for FAA Flight Standards District Office in Portland, Maine, which said Girard's website violated the agency's regulations against the commercial use of UAS. Reed advised Girard to "pull down the website" and suggested that there could be "serious implications" in the form of fines and penalties if he didn't. In Hanes' case, the FAA determined that because Hanes' videos are monetized-he can receive payment from YouTube for the advertisements that run with the videos he uploads-he is using his UAV for commercial purposes. "Our inspectors who handle unmanned aircraft systems have certain guidelines they have to adhere to, and asking someone to take down a video is not in the guidelines," Dorr said. "We are looking at what the best way to address this situation is, but we don't have anything final at the moment." In an interview with Fox 13, a Tampa Bay TV station, Hanes said: "I have never accepted a payment from Google, or YouTube in any shape or form for this. They maybe enabled it to collect page-views, but I'm not getting paid for it. This is not a commercial operation, I'm not selling anything. If anything, it's YouTube trying to recover costs for hosting the content and making it available on their platform." Although Google, which owns YouTube, would not comment specifically about Hanes' videos, a spokesperson emailed UAS Magazine links that inform YouTube users of how they can monetize their videos if they choose to do so and how they'll be paid. The problem, as Hadaway explained, is that there are currently no clearly defined regulations providing guidance on the difference between commercial and recreational use of UAS. "There's no hard and fast rule," he said. "There's no court opinion; there's no statute; there's no federal regulation that draws a bright line here that says this is where commercial activity ends and private recreational use begins." Girard said he started his website-xtremeaerialview.com-for fun initially and began selling scenic photos shot from his UAV. Later, he offered photos and videos for real estate listings, weddings and family events for a fee. Girard said he attempted to contact the FAA by phone and e-mail about his website, but never heard anything. However, since receiving the phone call from Reed, he's removed his price list from his website, which remains online. Based on advice he received, Girard also declined to attend a meeting scheduled with local FAA officials. Referring to a recent decision not to prosecute a person whose UAV crashed on the White House lawn, Girard said, "I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. It's not like I'm flying over the White House. I don't know why that guy doesn't get charged. It doesn't make any sense." Hadaway believes that with both Hanes and Girard, the FAA is making a legal stretch to characterize their UAS use as commercial operations. "The FAA's institutional experience is with regulating aircraft and pilots and all the support infrastructure that goes into that. So this is a very weird area for the FAA to get into," Hadaway said. "They're just not institutionally set up to deal with it." Dorr said the FAA will continue to study the best way to handle these situations. However, he explained that part of the problem is the misconception among some sUAS operators that there are no enforceable regulations that pertain them. "Obviously, that is incorrect," he said. "If you're flying for hobby or recreational purposes, you don't need specific FAA approval. But you do have to fly according to the law, the law being section 336 of the FAA authorization-a special rule for model aircraft," Dorr explained. http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/1025/faa-under-fire-for-enforcing-hobbyist-uas-regulations Back to Top FAA Starts Maintenance Training School Rule Update The long-needed revamping of FAA's Part 147, the rules governing aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) schools, is underway, Steve Douglas, manager of the agency's Aircraft Maintenance Division, confirmed. Updating the standards, which have been largely untouched since 1970, is now "a priority" within the agency's Fight Standards group and drafting of the proposed rule has started, Douglas said at the Aeronautical Repair Station Association's annual conference. Part 147 lays out the minimum curriculum for AMT schools, covering issues such as how many instructional hours must be spent in specific areas. Douglas said one change in the new rule will be moving the curriculum requirements into Operations Specifications, where they can be changed quickly, as opposed to leaving them in the regulation itself, which takes more effort to change. Out-dated curriculum requirements that have not kept up with technology are among the main complaints industry has about the current Part 147. http://aviationweek.com/awin-only/faa-starts-maintenance-training-school-rule-update Back to Top FAA Ineffective On Hazardous Materials Compliance The Federal Aviation Administration lacks the skills to ensure that US air carriers comply with rules governing the safe transport of hazardous materials including lithium batteries, a government watchdog said. A report released by the US Transportation Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the FAA lacks the training and guidance necessary to enforce Bush- era regulations that allow carriers to disclose hazardous material violations voluntarily, without incurring civil penalties. The OIG report surfaced a week after Boeing said that high-density packages of lithium batteries, such as those used in cell phones and laptops, should not be carried on passenger planes because they pose fire risks. In 65 percent of hazardous material cases, OIG investigators found that the FAA did not obtain sufficient evidence to ensure that carriers fixed reported problems. The agency also has not sought to identify safety risks or trends involving hazardous materials and lacks the clarity to determine how carriers should meet the requirements. "FAA does not have an adequate framework to carry out the (regulations) effectively," the 20-page report concluded. The inspector general's office said FAA officials agreed with nearly all of its recommendations. In a two-page FAA memo included with the report, the agency also said it has recently implemented strong internal controls to oversee compliance. "This is a significant enhancement in the level of oversight and addresses many of the findings of this audit," the memo said. From 1991 to 2014, the OIG report said that lithium batteries were involved in over 70 aircraft incidents that involved extreme heat, smoke, fire or explosion in air cargo and passenger baggage. In 2010, a United Parcel Service Boeing 747-400 aircraft caught fire and crashed in Dubai, killing both pilots. The final accident report said the cause may have been improperly declared lithium batteries and other combustible materials, according to OIG investigators. http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1426636642.html Back to Top United Airlines Pilots Respond To Jan. 9 Safety Bulletin United Airlines pilots have asked management to overhaul training programs to place a greater emphasis on communication and ensure crews follow standard operating procedures more closely. In memos obtained by Aviation Daily, Capt. Jay Heppner, chairman of United's master executive council, responded to a Jan. 9 flight bulletin highlighting four recent failures by pilots-two involving close proximity to terrain, one in which an aircraft landed in Los Angeles below minimum fuel standards, and one in which an aircraft was in an "undesired state" at departure. "The common thread with all of these is that they are preventable," Howard Attarian, senior vice president for flight operations and Mike Quiello, vice president for safety, warned pilots on Jan. 9 in the sternly-worded bulletin. Heppner and other members of the executive council met with management on Jan. 28 to discuss the bulletin and "reiterate our long-standing safety concerns that we believe are directly attributable to the company's actions or inactions." During that meeting, the union gave United a two-page list of concerns on matters including training, flight planning, the captain's authority, operating procedures and crew resource management. But Heppner told pilots in a March 12 note that United had not acted on any suggestions. In an earlier note, sent on March 3, union leaders told pilots they were concerned that "aggressive cost cutting" in all departments, including training, was being implemented at the same time pilots were dealing with "substantial changes in the way we do our jobs." Due to the merger, Heppner noted that United and Continental pilots were having to learn new "processes, procedures and culture," making it a poor time to cut budgets. "We call on [management] to collaboratively fix our training programs, returning them to their previous high standards," Heppner said. In the March 12 follow-up, Heppner noted that the aircraft refusal process remains muddled, with chief pilots, maintenance and zone control all giving opinions. "While we have made progress in this area at many bases, too many chief pilots or their representatives still insist on inserting themselves in the process," he said. Still, Heppner also had stern words for pilots, reminding them on March 3 to be vigilant, particularly when recently upgraded captains fly with new first officers. "Captains must bring their first officers into the flight planning process, and continue to advise and mentor them in the techniques, methods, and day-to-day activities in accordance with company policy and procedures," Heppner said. He also asked first officers to be "engaged" in the flight planning process and "advocate" their opinions. "We remain committed to collaborative and effective joint efforts with our union leadership as our safety standards and programs evolve," United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said in an email. http://aviationweek.com/awin-only/united-airlines-pilots-respond-jan-9-safety-bulletin Back to Top FAA: 10,000 Aircraft in U.S. Now Have ADS-B Rule-compliant ADS-B equipment is now installed aboard 10,000 aircraft flying in the U.S., the FAA announced yesterday at the Equip 2020 working group meeting. Since ADS-B is the linchpin of the FAA's NextGen program, the agency established the working group in October to encourage ADS-B equipage and address challenges. "This significant milestone shows that thousands of U.S. aircraft are already experiencing the many benefits that ADS-B equipage offers, including enhanced surveillance, especially at lower altitudes, better situational awareness and free in-cockpit weather and traffic," said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. "With more than a dozen products on the market and more on the way, the cost of equipment has dropped and operators have a choice of cost-effective solutions that meet the FAA's mandate. "ADS-B will be particularly important for general aviation operators as the FAA fully integrates unmanned aerial systems [UAS] into the National Airspace System, introducing thousands of UAS into a crowded airspace," Bunce added. "By choosing to equip now, operators are investing in their safety; they are also ensuring they meet the 2020 deadline before installation lines grow long." The FAA estimates that 100,000 to 160,000 general aviation aircraft will need to be equipped with ADS-B OUT before the Jan. 1, 2020 mandate. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2015-03-19/faa-10000-aircraft-us-now-have-ads-b Back to Top Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental Receives FAA Approval for 330-Minute ETOPS Complies with the most stringent regulatory standards for Extended Operations EVERETT, Wash., March 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) has received 330-minute Extended Operations (ETOPS) approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. It is the first time a four-engine airplane has received this type of design approval. With this approval, required for four-engine passenger airplanes built after Feb. 2015 to fly beyond 180 minutes from an en-route alternate airport, the 747-8's design is approved to conduct 330-minute ETOPS missions. These missions allow operators to fly long-distances more directly on virtually any worldwide city pair routing. Although ETOPS has been a requirement for twin-engine airplanes since the 1980s, the regulations have recently been applied to the design of passenger airplanes with more than two engines. "Our customers will benefit from this additional level of reliability inherent to ETOPS design approvals while still leveraging the vast network of routes ideal to the 747-8 capabilities, including 330-minute ETOPS routes," said Bruce Dickinson, vice president and general manager, 747 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The 747-8 already offers fuel savings from an improved aerodynamic design. Flying long-distance routes directly helps our customers fly even more efficiently - saving fuel and emitting less carbon dioxide." With 83 airplanes in service with 11 customers, 747-8s have logged more than 619,000 flight hours and more than 101,000 flight cycles. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-747-8-intercontinental-receives-faa-approval-for-330-minute-etops-300052074.html Back to Top DGCA takes action against pilots coming late (India) India's aviation safety regulator has begun cracking the whip on pilots reporting late on duty even by few minutes citing suspected lapse of pre-flight cockpit checks. According to the officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), about 60 pilots across domestic airlines were given show cause notices following surprise checks conducted over the past two weeks. While officials refused to divulge airline-wise breakup of the crackdown sources said that two full service domestic carriers accounted for most of the offenders. "We have increased the number of spot checks to eliminate pilots' laxity over pre-flight cockpit checks," said a senior DGCA official requesting anonymity. One such show cause notice that HT accessed was issued on March 13 to an Air India (AI) pilot for turning up late by just a minute. The AI spokesperson did not respond to HT's calls and a query sent via email on the show cause notice. According to sources in DGCA, the punitive actions on the pilots could be in preparation or the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety audit scheduled later this year. The global policy maker on air safety would be reviewing the country's air safety administration. This audit will be crucial as India had ended up in a category of 13 countries with the most dismal air safety monitoring records following its previous audit in 2012. Industry insiders suspect that the DGCA's curtailed tolerance on safety lapses could have something to do with the United Nations-appointed aviation watchdog's safety audit later this year. http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/dgca-takes-action-against-pilots-coming-late/article1-1328435.aspx Back to Top Back to Top Superduperjumbo: Airbus Markets a Higher Seat Count on Its A380 Jet Airbus Group NV has upped the advertised average seat count on its flagship plane in a bid to convince airlines the double-decker jetliner is a money maker. Until recently promoted as a plane carrying on average 525 passengers, Airbus now markets the plane as seating 544 passengers. More seats mean lower unit costs, a key measure for airlines when they decide what jets to buy. Airbus has been struggling to sell the A380, which first flew almost a decade ago and entered service with Singapore Airlines SINGY -0.63% in 2007. The company has booked only 317 orders for the jet, with about half already delivered. Some airlines, such as Deutsche Lufthansa AGDLAKY +1.87% and Air France-KLM SAAFLYY - 0.74%, have reduced purchase plans, and Virgin Atlantic Airways has said it doesn't expect to take the six A380 jets on order. Airbus Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm said in December that absent further deals, the company at the end of the decade may have to face the decision to cease building a plane that cost $15 billion to develop. Airbus only this year expects to start delivering A380s that no longer lose money. Fabrice Bregier, who heads Airbus's commercial-jetliner unit, insists the company will win more orders for the plane, which can accommodate up to 853 passengers in a single-class arrangement. To help sway buyers, Airbus has worked on optimizing the inside of the plane so airlines can make more money with the jet. Airbus now advertises the A380-which has a price tag of $428 million, though buyers typically get discounts-with a four-class cabin, adding premium-economy seating. Those seats promise higher returns than standard economy and have been gaining popularity among carriers. "Airlines can gain a revenue boost approximately equivalent to a 50% saving in fuel burn through applying this market-matched cabin segmentation and the latest cabin innovations," Airbus says. The Toulouse, France-based plane maker also is offering an 11-abreast economy-class configuration to enable airlines to pack in more passengers. The 13 airlines now operating the double-decker plane have them configured with fewer than 544 seats. Many have opted for cabins with fewer than 500 seats as they bet on making money by luring high-paying passengers with premium seating and luxury items, such as suites at Etihad Airways and on-board showers at Emirates Airline. That reality prompted Airbus to drop the then-advertised 555 average seat count several years ago. Now the plane maker is trying to woo a new group of customers that may not be able to fill as many first- and business-class seats. Emirates President Tim Clark-the biggest buyer of the plane, with 140 ordered-is urging Airbus to do much more, though, than just optimize the plane's interior. He wants the plane maker to fit new engines to the A380 to boost efficiency more than 10%. Mr. Clark said this month the airline would buy as many as 200 A380neo aircraft, as the upgraded model is referred to. Airbus says it is studying the business case for such a program. Airbus Chief ExecutiveTom Enders said in February that if putting new engines on the plane doesn't make business sense, "we would certainly continue with important improvements that pay off for our customers in the future." https://ui.constantcontact.com/rnavmap/emcf/email/create?copyUid=1120453505417 Back to Top $15 flight to Europe? Too good to be true Fly business class NY to London for 50% less Remember that offer of a $15 flight to Europe? Turns out it was too good to be true. In a stunning U-turn, Europe's biggest budget carrier Ryanair (RYAAY) said it will not be launching low-cost transatlantic flights. "In the light of recent press coverage, the Board of Ryanair Holdings wishes to clarify that it has not considered or approved any transatlantic project and does not intend to do so," the company said late Thursday. Contrast this with the position on Tuesday: "The board of Ryanair ... have approved the business plans for future growth, including transatlantic," it said in a statement emailed to CNN. "We would like to offer low cost flights between 12-14 European cities and 12-14 U.S. cities. The business plan is there but it's dependent on attaining viable long haul aircraft and we estimate that's 4 to 5 years away." Ryanair offered no explanation for the confusion and was not available for comment. CEO Michael O'Leary blamed a "miscommunication," according to the Financial Times. He was quoted as saying that nobody was available to retract the first statement Tuesday because it was St Patrick's day, and it wasn't until a quarterly board meeting Thursday that the issue arose. Ryanair had said tickets would have started at £10 ($15) each, although taxes and extras would have added hundreds of dollars to the cost of a round trip. Like other no-frills carriers, Ryanair drives profits by charging passengers for services not included in the ticket price. The Irish airline has long talked about pushing into the U.S. market, but it's not the first to spot the opportunity. Norwegian Air launched a low-cost service in May. Adding to the confusion, the Financial Times cited O'Leary as saying Ryanair still wanted to pursue a transatlantic strategy but that would involve a separate company. http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/20/news/companies/ryanair-transatlantic-flights-confusion/ Back to Top The world's longest non-stop flights, mapped Kvetching about your five-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles? Some passengers have it a lot worse, as the map below by Vizual Statistixs Seth Kadish shows. You could be flying from Sydney to Dallas, a 8,578 mile journey, or Johannesburg to Atlanta, 8,439 miles. Both of these flights take upwards of 15 hours, non-stop. Kadish has mapped the world's 20 longest non-stop flights, and some of them are brutal. The color key at the bottom of the map indicates how long the flights are, ranging from 7,500 miles in blue to 8,500 miles in yellow. Many of the longest flights involve traveling from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere or vice versa, as in the Sydney to Dallas or Johannesburg to Atlanta flights. Flights between North America and Dubai, Doha, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong or Mumbai also measure as some of the longest, as well as Dubai to São Paulo. (Pro-tip: The Earth is round, so the straightest path between many of these destinations is over the North Atlantic. On a flat map these flight paths look like big arcs, but on a globe they would be straight lines.) Kadish used a Robinson projection for the map; as a consequence, some flights that go over the Arctic Circle appear longer than they are. Kadish also did this visualization last March, so some of the commercial flight paths may have changed slightly since then. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/18/the-worlds-longest-non-stop-flights-mapped/ Back to Top Graduate Research Study/Survey You are receiving this message as a courtesy to Ms. Ulreen Jones, a PhD candidate at Florida Institute of Technology's doctoral program in Aviation Sciences in the College of Aeronautics. She is investigating the possible causal factors associated with runway incursions, specifically pilot deviations, and is seeking your assistance to complete an online questionnaire. Ms. Jones endeavors to understand why pilot deviations occur and how airfield design, marking, lighting, and signage may contribute to runway incursions. Please note that this organization does not necessarily support Ms. Jones' study and your participation is strictly voluntary. If you wish to participate, you may access the online survey via the following link: http://pdris.questionpro.com Back to Top Upcoming Events: Fundamentals of IS-BAH March 31, 2015 Houston, TX USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657518 IS-BAH Auditing April 1, 2015 Houston, TX USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657519 Fundamentals of IS-BAH June 15, 2015 St. Hubert, Quebec Canada https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659069 IS-BAH Auditing June 16, 2015 St. Hubert, Quebec Canada https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1659079 Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA March 10-11, 2015 www.acsf.aero/symposium ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar April 21-22, 2015. Washington D.C. http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101-seminar/index.html FAA Helicopter Safety Effort three-day safety forum April 21-23, 2015 Hurst, Texas eugene.trainor@faa.gov www.faahelisafety.org ERAU OSHA & Aviation Ground Safety Seminar Daytona Beach, FL Apr.13-17, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas ERAU Aviation Safety Program Management Seminar Daytona Beach, FL Apr.20-24, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas Fundamentals of IS-BAO April 23, 2015 PCAT Safety Smackdown, San Antonio TX USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657525 IS-BAO Auditing April 24, 2015 PCAT Safety Smackdown, San Antonio TX USA https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1657526 Safety Smackdown Partnership for Corporate Aviation Training San Antonio, TX April 20-22, 2015 http://www.p4cat.org/ WATS 2015 21-23 April Orlando, Florida, USA www.halldale.com/wats ERAU Aircraft Accident Investigation Seminar Daytona Beach, FL Apr. 27-May 1, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas GWBAA Safety Standdown April 30th NTSB Academy www.gwbaa.com ERAU Advanced Aircraft Accident Investigation Seminar Prescott Campus, AZ May 4-8, 2015 www.erau.edu/cmas IATA Cabin Operations Safety Conference May 5-7, 2015 Paris, France www.iata.org/cabin-safety-conference ERAU Aviation SMS Seminar Daytona Beach, FL May 12-14, 2015 www.erau.edu/sms Back to Top JOBS AVAILABLE: Manager E-Learning and Training Support Menzies Aviation www.menziesaviation.com AOD Safety Specialist Fedex Express https://www.appone.com/MainInfoReq.asp?R_ID=1013504 Safety Management System (SMS) Analyst Piedmont Airlines WWW.PIEDMONT-AIRLINES.COM/CAREERS Vice President Aviation Aerosafe Risk Management recruitment@aerosafe.com.au MID-LEVEL AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR/MISHAP INVESTIGATOR General Atomics Aeronautical Systems https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=25539&siteid=5313&AReq=4926BR&Codes=ICLC EXPERIENCED AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR/MISHAP INVESTIGATOR General Atomics Aeronautical Systems https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=25539&siteid=5313&AReq=4927BR&Codes=ICLC Manager Airport Operations Safety in Portland Oregon Alaska Airlines https://tam.alaskaair.com/psc/asjobs/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?Page=HRS_CE_JOB_DTL&Action=A&JobOpeningId=25161&SiteId=10&PostingSeq=1 ? Safety Risk Manager Air Astana http://www.aviationjobsearch.com/job/safety-risk-manager/3104396 Curt Lewis