Flight Safety Information October 16, 2015 - No. 206 In This Issue FAA to airlines: ban lithium batteries in checked bags Part Of Plane's Engine Falls Off In Mid-Air Call For Papers Reminder - CHC Safety and Quality Summit 2016 Etihad Airways becomes first Flight Safety Foundation benefactor member from Middle East UN body to audit air safety scenario (India) Pilot spots drone flying too close to Southwest jet at LAX PROS 2015 TRAINING The Little Gear That Could Reshape the Jet Engine Boeing's Longest 787 Jet Gets Boost in $8 Billion Eva Deal SAIC Awarded $70 Million FAA Office of Aviation Safety Contract JetBlue Launching Free In-Flight WiFi In 2016 GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST (1) GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST (2) Upcoming Events JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) FAA to airlines: ban lithium batteries in checked bags When it comes to recharging gadgets, sometimes your only option is spare pre-charged batteries. That's all fine and well, only now the FAA doesn't want you checking them into your checked baggage, citing concerns about security and safety. According to a new report, the FAA has advised airlines to ban lithium bags from checked luggage, something that will force passengers to put them in carry-ons instead. According to CNBC, the Federal Aviation Administration sent a safety warning to airlines that says lithium batteries - the type of batteries commonly used in all sorts of consumer devices - "present a risk of both igniting and fueling fires in aircraft cargo/baggage compartments." It doesn't appear there has been an outright ban on packing batteries into your checked luggage; rather, airlines are being strongly encouraged to prevent passengers from doing so, and to give passengers an extra warning about it when they arrived at check- in and ticket purchase. This doesn't mean you won't be able to travel with the batteries. According to the TSA website, all sorts of batteries are allowed in carry-on baggage, including lithium batteries. Whether airlines will proceed to ban the batteries in checked baggage isn't clear at this point, though it does seem likely. http://www.slashgear.com/faa-to-airlines-ban-lithium-batteries-in-checked-bags- 15409979/ Back to Top Part Of Plane's Engine Falls Off In Mid-Air The Boeing 747, with 426 passengers aboard, suffered the major loss seconds after take-off - and the engine fell in an urban area. Pilots have safety landed a Boeing 747 with 426 passengers on board after part of the plane's engine fell off two minutes into the flight. Pic: Tasnim News Agency Pilots have safety landed a Boeing 747 with 426 passengers on board after part of the plane's engine fell off two minutes into the flight. Pic: Tasnim News Agency An Iranian plane has made an emergency landing after part of its engine fell apart two minutes after take-off. The Boeing 747, which had 426 passengers on board, had just departed from Tehran's Mehrabad airport when "a piece of engine number three came off and hit the body of the plane". Iranian journalists have claimed the engine part fell into an urban area, but no one on the ground is thought to have been injured. Pilots of the Mahan Air plane decided to immediately return to the airport, and landed it safely just after 7.15am local time on Thursday morning. According to the private airline, the aircraft had undergone all necessary safety checks and inspections prior to departure. Affected passengers were being taken to their destination, the southern city of Bandar Abbas, on a different plane. Hundreds of casualties have been reported in Iran over recent years following a spate of air crashes. Mahan Air operates domestic and long-distance flights - some of which travel from Tehran to Italy, Germany, Greece and Turkey. http://news.sky.com/story/1570057/part-of-planes-engine-falls-off-in-mid-air Back to Top Call For Papers Reminder - CHC Safety and Quality Summit 2016 The time is running out to submit papers that will characterize the 2016 edition of the world's largest helicopter-safety conference, the CHC Safety & Quality Summit. The deadline for submissions is October 30th, 2015. The CHC Safety & Quality Summit is hosted by CHC Helicopter, the operating company of CHC Group Ltd. Industry and safety professionals interested in presenting at the CHC Safety & Quality Summit may now submit abstracts for the event. The 12th-annual summit will be held April 04-06, 2016 at the Westin Bayshore Resort in Vancouver. Last year's event drew more than 750 delegates from about 25 countries. The 2016 summit will explore topics relevant to the theme "Back to Basics: Prioritizing Safety in a Challenging Economy." Most sessions during the three-day conference will be for 90 minutes, though some subjects may span one-half of or an entire day. Attendance at individual sessions typically numbers 50 or more people. The submission form for papers is available at www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com Submissions should include proposed session titles, descriptions or outlines, objectives and audience benefits, presenter biographies, and contact details. Relevant topics may include: * Integrity and Management * Technology and Safety Methods of Training * Crisis Management * Organizational Leadership and Viability * Fatigue Risk Management * Human Factors * Risk Assessment and Hazard Management * Human Error Management * Flight Data Monitoring * HUMS * Organizational Causes of Accidents * Sustaining and Improving Industry Safety * Management System for Reducing Safety Risk and Business Risk * Safety Management Tools * Crew Resource Management * Practical Tools Please send all submissions to summit@chc.ca About CHC CHC Helicopter is a leader in enabling customers to go further, do more and come home safely, including oil and gas companies, government search-and-rescue agencies and organizations requiring helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul services through the Heli-One segment. The company has a fleet of more than 230 aircraft and operates in approximately 20 countries around the world. Contact Information: SUMMIT AND PAPER SUBMISSION Irina Sakgaev Safety & Quality Applications Specialist 1.604.232.7302 summit@chc.ca Back to Top Etihad Airways becomes first Flight Safety Foundation benefactor member from Middle East The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) announced today that Etihad Airways had become its first Benefactor member from the Middle East, which is the highest level of membership offered by the Foundation. In addition, Etihad Airways Vice President Corporate Safety and Quality, Captain Majed Al Marzouqi was appointed as a member of the FSF International Advisory Committee. FSF President and Chief Executive Officer Jon Beatty said: "This is an important and fast growing region for the aviation industry and Etihad Airways involvement with FSF as its first benefactor member from the region is notable," "After Etihad Airways hosted our very successful International Air Safety Summit (IASS) 2014 in Abu Dhabi, we are thrilled that they've continued that commitment to aviation safety and FSF." Based in Alexandria, Virginia, the FSF is an independent, non-profit organisation which focuses on research, publishing, educating and promoting aviation safety. The airline hosted the 67th IASS, which is the aviation's premier global safety event, bringing together aviation professionals from around the world to identify safety issues, devise approaches to reduce risk and implement initiatives to improve safety. Captain Majed Al Marzouqi said: "I am honoured to be a part of the FSF International Advisory committee which brings together the aviation industry through safety." The committee is chaired by Captain Bill Curtis from Air Canada and I look forward to working with him and looking at ways to innovate and provide ongoing safety solutions to the industry." The Flight Safety Foundation has a membership of more than 1000 individuals and corporations from all segments of the aviation industry. Currently, 24 of those members have opted to become Benefactor members and support FSF safety programs at the highest level. http://www.eturbonews.com/64864/etihad-airways-becomes-first-flight-safety- foundation-benefactor Back to Top UN body to audit air safety scenario (India) Expected to begin next month, with ministry and DGCA saying they're ready and have addressed earlier suggestions; however, a few areas might still come for a rap Aviation ministry braces for ICAO audit The Union civil aviation ministry is preparing for a safety audit scheduled next month by a United Nations' body in charge of the sector. It appears the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is likely to do the audit from November 30, till December 10. Union civil aviation secretary R N Choubey had a review meeting on Wednesday in this regard with officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI) and others. Sources said the ministry had taken positive steps in addressing the issues of airport licensing, accident investigation and search & rescue operations. However, it might face a problem on the issue of air traffic management. "Many requirements related to ICAO surveillance have not been fulfilled by the directorate of air traffic management," a senior government official said. This will be the second audit of India's aviation safety oversight this year. The American watchdog, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had done the first, restoring the country's safety rating (which it had earlier downgraded) in April. The ICAO audit will be more comprehensive than FAA's. It will look into parameters such as legislation, organisation, licensing, operation, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation and aerodromes. "We are confident of performing well. We have taken several steps to address the issues and are fully prepared," said another senior ministry official. The Union cabinet approved the creation of a post of Director General for the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) last Wednesday, a ministry official said. Presently headed by a senior DGCA official, it will function as an independent entity as required under the ICAO guidelines. The ministry has also been given a go-ahead to recruit 21 personnel at different levels in the AAIB. Another big issue was on search and rescue, sources said. The ministry has formed a search and rescue board, headed by the aviation secretary. DGCA would soon issue a search and rescue manual. The ministry is considering some changes to the rules such that airports owned and operated by the defence forces follow the ICAO norms. These are seven of these. At present, only airports managed by AAI have to comply with the rules, including the marking of runways, maintenance of these through friction testing, separation between runway and taxiway, and some others. The ministry has further decided that air traffic controllers would not need to get licensed. "ICAO norms say if the state heads the air traffic controllers, no licensing is required," said a source. To address personnel issues, the ministry recruited 40-50 officials in the aerodrome department, sources said. An ICAO downgrade will not have a direct impact on Indian airlines and the aviation regulator but could raise alarm bells among other countries' authorities. For instance, an ICAO audit of DGCA in December 2012, which put India in its list of 13 worst-performing nations, had prompted FAA to conduct its own assessment of India's compliance with global standards, under its International Aviation Safety Assessments programme. After finding several deficiencies, the FAA in January 2014 downgraded India's safety oversight to category-II, implying it did not meet the minimum ICAO standards. However, this April, FAA restored India to category-I. This will be the third time, after 2006 and 2012, that ICAO will audit India's aviation safety oversight. In its 2006 audit, the UN body had highlighted 70 findings and recommendations. Among these were lack of an organisational structure in DGCA, shortage of trained personnel and effective mechanisms for resolution of safety concerns for passengers. According to sources, DGCA was supposed to work on 11 key areas of aviation safety, mainly related to air navigation services (ANS). In the ICAO 2013 Safety Report, India was still below the global average in two areas, organisation and ANS. http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/un-body-to-audit-air-safety- scenario-115101400770_1.html Back to Top Pilot spots drone flying too close to Southwest jet at LAX A drone with a camera is used to shoot scenes for a television show in Santa Clarita in September. The L.A. City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday that criminalizes violating FAA drone regulations. A drone was spotted flying close to a Southwest Airlines plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, just hours after the L.A. City Council approved stiffer penalties for flying the devices. A pilot flying a Boeing 737 was preparing to land at the airport about 4:40 p.m. when he saw a drone to his left, about 1,500 feet in the air, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. Air traffic controllers immediately notified the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. The sighting came hours after the council unanimously voted to approve an ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to violate civilian drone regulations. The new law takes effect about 40 days after Mayor Eric Garcetti signs it. Flying a drone more than 500 feet above the ground, within five miles of an airport without permission or within 25 feet of another person is a violation punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and six months in jail. The city ordinance now mirrors FAA regulations for civilian drones. The city attorney's office charged a man last month with obstructing police after he flew a drone close to an LAPD helicopter. In August 2014, a Canadian jetliner spotted a personal drone about 10 miles east of LAX at 4,000 feet - an altitude outside Federal Aviation Administration guidelines for hobbyists with drones and within the airport's air space. That same month, employees on the LAPD's 10th floor said they saw a drone hovering outside their window. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pilot-spots-drone-lax-20151015- story.html Back to Top Back to Top The Little Gear That Could Reshape the Jet Engine A simple idea's almost 30-year, $10 billion journey to the aircraft mainstream. The new engine consumes 16 percent less fuel than the competition and produces 75 percent less noise on the ground. Photographer: Eva O'Leary for Bloomberg Businessweek Pratt & Whitney's new PurePower Geared Turbofan aircraft engines are impressive beasts. Scheduled to enter commercial service before the end of the year, they burn 16 percent less fuel than today's best jet engines, Pratt says. They pollute less. They have fewer parts, which increases reliability. And they create up to 75 percent less noise on the ground, enabling carriers to pay lower noise fees and travel over some residential areas that are no-fly zones for regular planes. Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Irkut, and Mitsubishi have certified the engines for use on their narrowbody craft. JetBlue, Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, Malaysia's Flymojo, and Japan Airlines are among the engine's 70 buyers in more than 30 countries. To people outside the aircraft business, what may be most remarkable about the engines is that they took almost 30 years to develop. That's about 15 times as long as the gestation period of an elephant and unimaginably longer than it takes to pop out a smartphone app. Could Pratt have gotten the hardware out faster? Probably. But industrial innovation on the scale of a commercial jet engine is inevitably and invariably a slog-one part inspiration to 99 parts perspiration. In Pratt's case, it required the cooperation of hundreds of engineers across the company, a $10 billion investment commitment from management, and, above all, the buy-in of aircraft makers and airlines, which had to be convinced that the engine would be both safe and durable. "It's the antithesis of a Silicon Valley innovation," says Alan Epstein, a retired MIT professor who is the company's vice president for technology and the environment. "The Silicon Valley guys seem to have the attention span of 3-year-olds." The PurePower GTF began to take shape in 1988, when Pratt staffers in East Hartford, Conn., including a 28-year-old engineer named Michael McCune, started developing a gizmo to slow the fan-the big rotating blades at the front of the engine that provide most of a jetliner's propulsion. For planes flying at typical speeds, a slow fan that moves large volumes of air at a moderate velocity is more efficient than a fast-spinning fan that accelerates a smaller volume of air. (The slow fan's also quieter.) The problem was that the fan was attached to the same shaft as two other parts of the jet engine, the low-pressure turbine and low-pressure compressor. Those parts would be more efficient if they ran faster, not slower. Sharing a shaft was a compromise that hurt each part's performance and left nobody happy. The solution McCune and his co-workers pursued was one that had already been used successfully on turboprop planes: a gearbox between the shaft and the fan that lets the fan run slower while the compressor and turbine run faster. The gearing approach hadn't been tried at the scale of a commercial jetliner because the conventional wisdom was that it would be too heavy and wear out too quickly. "We started studying all gearboxes in service" to determine what the obstacles really were, says McCune. The biggest challenge in scaling up was how to keep the gearbox, which is about 20 inches in diameter and weighs about 250 pounds, from being torn apart if there was a shock that wrenched the fan in one direction and the shaft in another. Adding steel for stiffness would make the engine too heavy. To put some give into the system, McCune's team attached the gearbox rigidly to the fan but somewhat loosely, with bendable metal baffles, to the compressor/turbine shaft and the engine case. Pratt engineers borrowed technology and ideas from other divisions of parent United Technologies: notes on gears from Sikorsky, which makes turbine-powered helicopters; bearing know-how from Pratt & Whitney Canada, which makes the geared PT6 engine for smaller turboprop aircraft; and simulations of how lubricants move through the gear from the United Technologies Research Center. It also got special parts from Timken, the 116-year-old bearing maker, and permission from NASA to use its wind tunnels in California and Ohio. At times, the extent of the operation had to be protected from bean-counting Pratt executives, says Epstein. "Sometimes we spent a lot. In other years we hid him [McCune] behind the curtain and slipped him some sandwiches so management wouldn't know what the investment was," he jokes. By 2008 the engine was ready for testing. Pratt engineers deliberately broke a prototype, letting a fan blade fly off to test whether the accident would destroy the gears. Afterward, Epstein says, "we took the gearbox apart, and it looked brand-new. You could even see the machining marks on the gears." "There were a lot of false starts there, but they knew they had a concept that would work," says Ernest Arvai, a partner in commercial aviation consultant AirInsight. "I'm amazed that they kept the research going as long as they did. I think they've got a winner there." Epstein gives much of the credit for the project to McCune, who has 66 patents to his name. "Mike has succeeded in what many people thought was an impossible challenge," he says. One consequence of the engine's decades-long development is that it's missed the window to be considered for inclusion on the latest generation of widebody jets, says George Ferguson, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. In the more important market for narrowbody jets, Ferguson says, the large fan makes the engine too big for Boeing's 737 Max, which has low wings. On the plus side, Pratt & Whitney has fought General Electric nearly to a draw on airlines' orders for engines for the Airbus A320neo family (46 percent vs. 54 percent, respectively, among orders in which an engine was chosen). And the PurePower GTF is the exclusive engine for the new narrowbodies from Bombardier, Embraer, and Mitsubishi. The jet engine market-share war plays out over decades. Speaking of the new engine, United Technologies Chief Executive Officer Gregory Hayes told analysts earlier this year: "Long-term, we like where we are." The bottom line: The GTF's almost 30-year incubation period cost Pratt some big customers, but the engine's efficiency has attracted others. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-15/pratt-s-purepower-gtf-jet-engine- innovation-took-almost-30-years Back to Top Boeing's Longest 787 Jet Gets Boost in $8 Billion Eva Deal When confirmed, a sale would boost backlog for 787-10 version Longest version of plane seen as crucial for program profit Boeing Co.'s stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner, whose sales have slowed since its 2013 unveiling, is getting a boost as Taiwan's Eva Airways Corp. adds the plane in a wide-body deal valued at more than $8 billion. Eva plans to take 24 of the 787-10 models and two 777-300ERs, Boeing said Thursday in announcing the carrier's intentions, which aren't yet a firm purchase. The airline settled on the Dreamliner after considering a competing Airbus Group SE model, the A350. The transaction underscores customers' interest in the -10, the longest and newest of three Dreamliner models, after the lull that followed the initial flurry of orders. Only three fresh orders have come in since 2013. Boeing's backlog of 146 jets for the -10 is only about 13 percent of the tally so far for the Dreamliner, the world's first jetliner built chiefly of composite materials. "There are people who had doubts," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with consultant Teal Group. "It's good to have an endorsement." Boeing is counting on the -10 to help reach profitability on the 787 program, whose commercial debut in 2011 ran more than three years late. The 787-10 retails for $306.1 million before the discounts that are customary in the industry, and Boeing should benefit from more efficient factory processes honed with the earlier versions. Concerns Ease The Eva deal also helps ease concerns that the twin-aisle jet market is saturated with new aircraft, Aboulafia said by phone. Boeing rose 2.4 percent to $137.39 at the close in New York. The shares tumbled a day earlier when Delta Air Lines Inc. Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said he sees a "bubble" for wide-body jetliners. Analysts called Wednesday's drop an overreaction. Eva, an offshoot of the Evergreen Line container-shipping company, announced five orders for 777 freighters at the Paris Air Show in June. The airline's fleet now includes 21 777-300ERs, the world's biggest twin-engine jet and a workhorse model on long-haul international routes. Production and inventory costs for the 787, Boeing's marquee jet, have ballooned to $27.7 billion as the planemaker speeds output to a record pace of 12 jets a month by 2016. Boeing has said it expects costs to level out with the rate increase and then fall sharply as factories shift to the higher margin -9 and -10 models from the first version, the -8. The first delivery of the 787-10 is targeted for 2018, with Air Lease Corp., United Airlines, Singapore Airlines and British Airways among the initial customers. The plane is designed to carry 330 travelers in a typical two-class configuration, and fly as far as 6,430 nautical miles (11,900 kilometers). http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-15/boeing-wins-eva-wide-body-deal- valued-at-over-8-billion Back to Top SAIC Awarded $70 Million FAA Office of Aviation Safety Contract Company to provide professional services support MCLEAN, Va., Oct 14, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Science Applications International Corp. SAIC, +1.04% was awarded a prime contract by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to continue to provide a variety of professional services support to the Office of Aviation Safety. The single-award, time and materials, and firm-fixed-price contract has a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options, and a total contract value of more than $70 million. Work will be performed primarily in Washington, D.C. The FAA Office of Aviation Safety is responsible for the certification, production approval, and continued airworthiness of aircraft; and certification of pilots, mechanics, and others in safety-related positions. Under the contract, SAIC will provide professional services, including program management and technical expertise in aviation, technical engineering, flight safety and safety management systems, federal rulemaking, aeronautical communications activities, aviation weather programs, and analytical and operations research. SAIC will help develop, review, and implement operational procedures and regulatory and safety policies for air traffic services for NextGen-enabled operational improvements in our nation's airspace. "We are honored to continue to provide the FAA with the expertise needed to support the enhancement of aviation safety, increasing national aerospace system capacity," said Bob Genter, SAIC senior vice president and general manager of the Federal Civilian Customer Group. "This work will directly support airlines, airports, general aviation users, and unmanned aerial system/vehicle users." About SAIC SAIC is a premier technology integrator providing full life cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. SAIC is Redefining Ingenuity through its deep customer and domain knowledge to enable the delivery of systems engineering and integration offerings for large, complex projects. SAIC's approximately 15,000 employees are driven by integrity and mission focus to serve customers in the U.S. federal government. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $4.4 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/saic-awarded-70-million-faa-office-of-aviation- safety-contract-2015-10-14 Back to Top JetBlue Launching Free In-Flight WiFi In 2016 JetBlue will be able to offer free WiFi service across its entire fleet by the fall of 2016. Low-cost airline carrier JetBlue is stepping up its efforts to provide its customers with free in-flight WiFi. The company announced that it has completed installation of Fly-Fi -- the name of its satellite-based service -- on its fleet of more than 150 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. In addition, JetBlue's first Fly-Fi-enabled E190 aircraft made its official inaugural flight this week. The airline anticipates it will complete the installation of Fly-Fi on all 60 of its E190s by fall 2016, at which point it will have finished the installation of Fly-Fi on the entire JetBlue fleet. Fly-Fi uses Ka-band satellite technology to offer a broadband Internet experience similar to something customers have at home, including the ability to stream video and use multiple devices at once. In an effort to improve the in-flight WiFi experience, JetBlue has also formed partnerships with a variety of media companies, including Amazon, MLB at Bat, and The Wall Street Journal. JetBlue and Amazon are also preparing to bring unlimited, on-demand entertainment to passengers with the upcoming launch of Amazon Video onboard, giving Amazon Prime members instant streaming access to tens of thousands of movies and television episodes in-flight, at no additional cost with their membership. "Soon every JetBlue customer will step onboard knowing their aircraft is equipped with free, fast Internet and entertainment, the same way they expect our friendly service and the most legroom in coach," Jamie Perry, vice president of brand and product development for JetBlue, wrote in an Oct. 14 statement. "Our Fly-Fi model has proven that there is a way to offer customers more without adding extra costs to their travel." Customers connected to Fly-Fi, which boasts speeds of up to 20 Mbps per device, can also access content on The Hub, which hosts a growing collection of entertainment, educational content, news, and video from Vox Media, PBS, National Geographic, and others. The company currently carries more than 32 million customers a year to 91 cities in the US, the Caribbean, and Latin America with an average of 875 daily flights. Offering WiFi on domestic flights is not unusual, but JetBlue's complimentary service and focus on faster speeds could go a long way to assuaging customer complaints of spotty connectivity and middling value for money. Virgin America's Gogo ATG-4 service also gets high marks, but there's more work to be done. A 2014 report from Honeywell Aerospace indicated that in-flight WiFi is becoming increasingly influential on passengers' buying choices, including flight selections. In some cases, they will even pay more for a specific flight because of its wireless options. Nearly one in four (22%) surveyed admitted they've paid more for a flight with WiFi, and nearly one in five (17%) have switched from their preferred airline because another carrier had better WiFi offerings. A more recent survey conducted by connected airline specialist SITA OnAir found that, while passengers want in-flight connectivity, very few expect to pay for it. More than 20 airlines around the world are providing free in-flight WiFi today. According to SITA OnAir's estimates, more than double will do so by 2020. http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/jetblue-launching-free-in- flight-wifi-in-2016/d/d-id/1322668 Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST (1) I am a Senior First Officer with British Airways (BA), based at London, Heathrow flying the B777. I have been with BA for 15 years and have been flying the 777 for 6 years. Before that I was flying the 747-400. Prior to BA I flew the 747-400 with Virgin Atlantic, B757s and B767s with UK charter airline 'Airtours' (now part of Thomas Cook) and my professional flying career started as a manufacturer's pilot - flying Jetstream turboprops for British Aerospace. Before flying commercially, I worked with British Aerospace within the Technical Sales discipline and was, in my leisure time, involved with general aviation as an flying instructor. I am completing a Master's degree (MSc) in Air Transport Management with City University London and the final piece of that jigsaw is a project/dissertation and I have chosen the subject of 'Ice Crystal Icing'. Rather than the complex aero/thermodynamic concepts involved, I am exploring the operational and training challenges that airline flight crews face with this phenomenon. This qualification is not being sponsored by my employer; I have undertaken to finance it myself - the rationale being that as I intend to retire from airline flying in 5 years from now that new aviation challenges may become available to me based on this contemporary qualification and my aviation background (that is the plan any way!) the survey link follows https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ice-crystal-icing Sincere thanks, Mike Skelhorn Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST (2) Dear Aviation Colleagues, My name is Tyler Spence, a PhD student at Purdue University working under the direction of Dr. Mary Johnson in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology. We are seeking survey responses for an FAA funded research project targeting ways to improve the General Aviation safety record through the development of a national flight information database that collects anonymous flight data, known as Aviation Safety Information and Sharing (ASIAS). We are developing ways to analyze flight data from data recorder systems that have flight data monitoring capabilities like the Garmin G1000, Avidyne Entegra, or Aspen Evolution 1000. We are seeking feedback from anyone that uses the GA system including (but not limited to) pilots, maintenance personnel, flight instructors, pilot examiners, aircraft owners (individual or fleet), flight data analysts, and administrators. The survey comprises of two main sections: 1) Opinions of flight data monitoring and the use of a national database that should take about 10 minutes to complete; and, 2) potential flight analysis graphs and figures that could be included in the application tool that should take about 30 minutes to complete. You are free to not answer any questions, and stop participation in the survey at any time. No personally identifiable information will be collected. All answers reported in analysis will only be in aggregate without any connection to you on any response you may provide. Thank you very much for your participation on this survey. Your responses are greatly appreciated and will hopefully help the aviation industry improve the GA safety record. If you have any questions at all regarding this survey or the information contained within, please feel free to contact the researchers directly at either spence5@purdue.edu or mejohnson@purdue.edu. ***Survey Link https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8nOzSNWYbDGqIsJ ***(copy directly into web browser if link does not work). Back to Top Upcoming Events: Fundamentals of IS-BAO November 2, 2015 Hong Kong, China https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1724162 IS-BAO Auditing November 3, 2015 Hong Kong, China https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1724176 BARS Auditor Training Washington DC? Tuesday-Thursday 5-7 April http://flightsafety.org/bars/auditor-training OSHA & Aviation Ground Safety Training Course (ERAU) Oct. 19-23, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/cmas Aviation Safety Program Management Training Course (ERAU) Oct. 26-30, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/cmas Aircraft Accident Investigation Training Course (ERAU) Nov. 2-6, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/cmas Air Cargo Safety and Security Symposium ALPA Washington, DC November 5, 2015 http://aircargoconference.alpa.org Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) Seminar (ERAU) Nov. 17-19, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/sms Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Seminar (ERAU) Dec. 8-10, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/uas New HFACS workshop Las Vegas December 15 & 16 www.hfacs.com 2016 DTI SMS/QA Symposium January 3, 4, & 5 2016 Disney World, FL 1-866-870-5490 www.dtiatlanta.com Back to Top JOBS AVAILABLE: Aerospace Tenure-Track Faculty Middle Tennessee State University http://mtsujobs.mtsu.edu/postings/2124 Aerospace (UAS), Tenure-Track Faculty Middle Tennessee State University http://mtsujobs.mtsu.edu/postings/2125 *IOSA FLT Auditors *Experienced Trainers in the area of Safety Management Systems *Quality Control Specialist *Manager Quality Assurance and Quality Control Aviation Quality Services GmbH www.aviation-quality-services.com Curt Lewis