Flight Safety Information November 19, 2015 - No. 232 In This Issue Aeroplane makes emergency landing in Bulgaria over bomb threat Pilots of Crashed Jet Were Warned of Tough Landing Condition FAA proposes $200,000 fine for Detroit-Wayne County Airport's lack of snow and ice removal Flight Makes Emergency Landing at O'Hare Airport; 2 Flight Attendants Injured Botswana's aviation safety faces fresh scrutiny 2 KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH AT SAN DIEGO COUNTY AIRPORT Customs and Border Protection triples the number of pilots patrolling Valley skies PROS 2015 TRAINING Billionaire's Supersonic Jet Advances With Factory Plans, Airbus All-Female Flight Crew a First for Ethiopia Airlines NBAA 2015 AGENDA Research Survey Upcoming Events JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) Aeroplane makes emergency landing in Bulgaria over bomb threat SOFIA - Nov 19 An aeroplane with 161 people aboard made an emergency landing in the Black Sea city of Burgas on Thursday, following a bomb threat while en route to Egypt from Poland's capital of Warsaw, Bulgarian authorities said. All passengers and crew were evacuated, but no explosives have been found aboard, a spokeswoman for the Burgas airport told Reuters, adding that the airport remained closed. "The plane landed in Burgas at 05.48 a.m. (0348 GMT) after a request for flight number LLP8015 travelling from Warsaw to Hurghada to make an emergency landing, due to a report of the presence of explosives on board," the press officer said. A passenger who alerted crew about a possible bomb admitted on questioning to having consumed alcohol, a police spokeswoman said. A spokesman for Polish national carrier LOT said the aircraft did not belong to the airline but was a charter, destined for the Egyptian city of Hurghada. http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/11/19/bulgaria-landing-burgas-idINL8N13E0K920151119 Back to Top Pilots of Crashed Jet Were Warned of Tough Landing Condition The pilots of a business jet that crashed into an Akron apartment building last week, killing all nine people on board, were warned that the weather had made landing conditions barely suitable, federal investigators said Wednesday. The jet crashed and exploded Nov. 10 less than 2 miles from Akron Fulton International Airport. No one on the ground was injured. The plane, flying from Dayton, was carrying two pilots plus seven people from a Boca Raton, Florida, real estate development company. A preliminary report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board said a flight instructor on another plane radioed the pilots after landing that his plane had broken out of the cloud deck at the minimum altitude allowed for landing at the airport. One of the pilots thanked the flight instructor for the update, the report said. Officials said last week that weather would be one of the key areas examined in determining what caused the crash. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor and expert on plane crash investigations at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, said weather was "the first thing" that caught his attention when he learned about the crash. The minimum altitude is the lowest point where a pilot can see the runway and is allowed to land, Brickhouse said. The pilots were using flight instruments to land the 10-passenger, twin-engine jet because clouds were hovering just 600 feet above the runway, according to the report. "Instrument flying is even more precise than visual flying because you have so many parameters you have to account for," Brickhouse said. NTSB investigators said last week that they had reviewed 30 minutes of conversations between the pilots from the cockpit voice recorder. The pilots discussed weather and the landing but made no distress calls before the crash, investigators said. The report said the pilots were in contact with air traffic controllers from a larger, nearby airport about their instrument approach at 10 miles out from Akron Fulton, which doesn't have a control tower. The jet crashed moments later. A chilling video recorded by a surveillance camera from a business near the crash site shows the jet flying at high speed over trees before hitting the apartment building and exploding. NTSB officials said the plane was intact before it crashed and was equipped with a ground proximity system, which is supposed to alert pilots when they're flying too low. The investigation into the cause of the crash will take months to complete, NTSB officials said. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pilots-crashed-jet-warned-tough-landing-condition- 35285754 Back to Top FAA proposes $200,000 fine for Detroit-Wayne County Airport's lack of snow and ice removal The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $200,000 civil penalty against Detroit's Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) for allegedly failing to maintain safe airfield conditions during a November 2014 storm. The FAA alleges that WCAA, which operates Detroit Metro-Wayne County International Airport (DTW), failed to follow its FAA-mandated Snow and Ice Control Plan (SICP) during the storm. As a result, it allegedly allowed various DTW airfield surfaces to become unsafe and failed to limit air carrier operations to portions of the airfield where they could safely occur. Among other things, the FAA alleges that WCAA failed to treat a taxiway and a deicing pad with deicer fluid. A Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 -800 slid off the untreated taxiway and onto the grass, and a cargo jet became stranded due to icy conditions after exiting a runway. Additionally, three commercial airliners became stranded on the de-icing pad for approximately three hours each due to icy pavement conditions, the FAA alleges. The FAA further alleges that WCAA failed to notify airlines of changing runway conditions; activate the DTW "snow desk" to coordinate snow removal operations; monitor snow removal operations and issue information about conditions affecting the runways, taxiways and ramp areas; conduct frequent runway inspections and friction tests; provide enough qualified personnel on the airfield to comply with the SICP; and issue a timely notice that a runway was closed. In January 2014, representatives from the FAA and WCAA met to discuss concerns about winter operations at DTW. Additionally, the FAA issued a warning letter to WCAA in May 2014 for failing to comply with their SICP during a February 2014 storm. WCAA has 30 days from receipt of the FAA's enforcement letter to respond to the agency. http://news.aviation-safety.net/2015/11/18/faa-proposes-200000-fine-for-detroit-wayne- county-airports-lack-of-snow-and-ice-removal/ Back to Top Flight Makes Emergency Landing at O'Hare Airport; 2 Flight Attendants Injured Two American Airlines flight attendants were injured during a flight from O'Hare International Airport, a spokesperson for the airline said. NBC 5's Natalie Martinez reports. (Published Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015) The plane took off at 7 p.m. and was headed to Manchester, England, but it had to return and make an emergency landing at 8 p.m. after encountering "serious turbulence," according to the spokesperson. A total of 77 people were aboard the plane. The Chicago Fire Department transported two females, a 51-year-old and a 47-year-old, to Presence Resurrection Medical Center in good condition. None of the passengers were harmed. The flight has been cancelled for Wednesday and passengers will be compensated for the flight, the spokesperson said. A passenger described what happened during the flight. "In about 15 to 20 minutes into the flight we have hit some significant turbulence and ended up dropping quite a bit and kind of turning and dropping again and fortunately all the passengers had their seatbelts on," passenger Tim Liu said. "The pilot announced that they had to turn the plane around and the emergency crew came to tend to the two injured flight attendants," Liu added. At least three other commercial aircrafts in the area just east of Chicago have reported turbulence, according to pilot reports. http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Flight-Makes-Emergency-Landing-at-OHare-Airport- Flight--351601761.html#ixzz3rvgOUUCh Back to Top Botswana's aviation safety faces fresh scrutiny MAUN: The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will next month make a decision on whether to lift the Significant Safety Concerns (SSC) slapped on Botswana aviation two years ago. If granted, the lifting of the concerns will simultaneously lead to the revocation of a suspension on licensing of new aircrafts in Botswana imposed by Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB). CAAB halted the licensing of new aircrafts as part of conformity to solving the security concerns identified by ICAO. ICAO's December visit will be a follow up on the last mission undertaken in 2013. Briefing the Aviation Pitso last week in Maun, CAAB manager for Aviation Safety Standards, Caswel Stephen said the last Botswana inspection by ICAO in April 2013 made two safety concerns in the areas of aircraft operations and airworthiness. In the area of aircraft operations, the ICAO visit revealed that major modifications and major aircraft repairs were carried out without the approval of CAAB. This was despite that CAAB airworthiness regulations of Botswana prescribe requirements for approval of modifications and repairs. However, Botswana through the CAAB has since developed procedures for airworthiness inspectors and recently issued industry guidelines pertaining to the approval of modifications and repairs. At the time of the last mission of 2013, Botswana had just promulgated new regulations, which were in the preliminary stages of implementation. These were the Civil Aviation (Air Operator Certification and Administration) Regulations, 2013 and the Civil Aviation (Airworthiness) Regulations, 2012 which were promulgated on March 8, 2013 and March 23, 2012, respectively. Stephen revealed that to resolve the concerns, ICAO recommended at the time that Botswana undertake a structured evaluation of all air operators that had been issued with an Air Operator Certificate. He said ICAO also demanded that Botswana do a comprehensive structured review and evaluation of all the major modifications and major repairs embodied on Botswana registered aircraft. He said CAAB thereafter consulted extensively with industry stakeholders to discuss the matter. He reiterated that while a lot of emphasis was put on SSC resolution, the authority sensitised the industry on the importance of ensuring continuing compliance with the new regulations in general. As a solution, CAAB recertified the licences of all the existing 12 commercial airlines in Botswana, which include Air Botswana, Flying Mission Services, Kalahari Flying Services, Major Blue Air, Kavango Air, Air Shakawe, Delta Air, Safari Air, Helicopter Horizons, Mack Air, Wilderness Air and Moremi Air. He further explained that the operators were granted new certificates and operations specifications on February 7, 2014, which were renewed in 2015 following audits by the CAAB. The process involved thorough review and approval of air operator's operational and maintenance related manuals for compliance with the new regulations. Again, Stephen revealed that all four aircraft maintenance organisations based in Botswana were also recertified in accordance with the Five Phase Certification Process prescribed by the Civil Aviation. These included Air Botswana Engineering, Flying Mission Services, Kalahari Air Services and Northern Air Maintenance. Stephen said CAAB reviewed records of all active aircraft in the Civil Aircraft Register to ascertain that all major modifications and repairs were authorised by the authority or the former Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). He explained that historical aircraft information was also reviewed. The authority worked closely with air operators to account for all major modifications and repairs embodied on air operator's fleet. Some of these were recertified following submission to CAAB by air operators of data substantiating conformity of repairs to regulatory requirements. He also explained that CAAB developed a database for major modifications and repairs data embodied in Botswana registered aircraft. "CAAB is confident that it will pass the next safety audit during the next ICVM scheduled for December 2015," said Stephen. http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=55802&dir=2015/november/18#sthash.9FzdH5IV.dpuf Back to Top 2 KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH AT SAN DIEGO COUNTY AIRPORT The scene at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, after a helicopter crashed and killed two people. CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A helicopter has crashed and caught fire at a San Diego County airport, killing two people on board. Fire officials say the aircraft went down shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at McClellan- Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. Authorities say there was a fire and both people on board were killed. Nobody on the ground was hurt and the fire was quickly doused. Video showed the helicopter spinning wildly in a circle on the ground before losing its tail section and tipping over in a cloud of flame and smoke. Witness Marco Hernandez tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that he saw the chopper tilting on the ground and the blades hit the pavement, striking sparks. The airport remains closed. http://abc7.com/news/2-killed-in-helicopter-crash-at-san-diego-county-airport/1090897/ ************* Date: 18-NOV-2015 Time: 16:22 Type: Eurocopter AS350 AStar Owner/operator: Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: McClellan-Palomar Airport (KCRQ), Carlsbad, CA - United States of America Phase: Unknown Nature: Unknown Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: The aircraft experienced an apparent ground resonance event or loss of tail rotor authority and rotated on its side at McClellan-Palomar Airport (KCRQ), Carlsbad, California. The helicopter sustained substantial damage due to the event and subsequent fire. The two occupants onboard the aircraft received fatal injuries. http://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=181456 Back to Top Customs and Border Protection triples the number of pilots patrolling Valley skies The McAllen Air and Marine Operations branch went from six to 19 pilots during the past two years. (CBS 4 News) U.S. Customs and Border Protection tripled the number of pilots patrolling Rio Grande Valley skies during the past two years. The McAllen Air and Marine Operations branch went from six to 19 pilots during the past two years, according to information provided by Customs and Border Protection. Local pilots operate 16 helicopters and work hand-in-hand with Border Patrol agents on the ground, intercepting drug shipments and people who illegally cross the Rio Grande. CBS 4 News reporter Ashly Custer recently rode along with a helicopter crew on patrol. "They look like they are just hanging out, so it's possible they are getting ready to cross when no one is watching," said Mario Sanchez, deputy director of the McAllen branch, referring to people standing on the riverbank. Smugglers typically move marijuana shipments through western Hidalgo County and Starr County, Sanchez said. Pilots provide information to Border Patrol agents on the ground, allowing them to find smugglers moving through the brush. "We can tell them if there's someone coming up on them," said McAllen branch Director William A. Durham. "We can tell them if someone has a weapon or if they don't have a weapon." Along with providing backup to Border Patrol agents, the McAllen branch also works to stop smugglers from moving narcotics and other illicit cargo by air. During 2015, the McAllen branch seized six airplanes that investigators believed were involved in illegal activity. http://valleycentral.com/news/local/customs-and-border-protection-triples-the-number-of- pilots-patrolling-valley-skies Back to Top Back to Top Billionaire's Supersonic Jet Advances With Factory Plans, Airbus Aerion, the supersonic-jet maker backed by Texas billionaire Robert Bass, plans to choose a manufacturing site during the first half of next year as it targets delivering the first faster- than-sound business aircraft in 2023. The timeline unveiled Monday fleshes out how Aerion and partner Airbus Group SE intend to build a civilian plane capable of trans-sonic travel, a niche left vacant since the retirement of the Concorde in 2003. The team has made preliminary designs for a carbon-fiber wing structure, fuselage, landing gear and a fuel system, among other components. Supersonic business jet Source: Aerion Corp. "We see clear and achievable technical solutions to the design of a supersonic jet, and a realistic road map for helping Aerion proceed toward construction and flight," Airbus Senior Vice President Ken McKenzie said in a statement. Airbus will provide major components and Aerion will do the final assembly, the companies said in the statement released at the National Business Aviation Association trade show in Las Vegas. For the production site, Aerion needs a 100-acre (40-hectare) area near a U.S. airport with a runway at least 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) long, The plan is to break ground on the factory in 2018. Aerion is targeting the first flight of the AS2 for 2021. The project began in 2002 and was put on hold by the 2008-09 financial crisis. The collaboration with Airbus announced last year increases Aerion's chances of building a private jet that can break the sound barrier. The AS2 is intended to fly efficiently at lower speeds over land because of flight restrictions related to sonic booms. Over oceans, the aircraft can accelerate to Mach 1.5, which is 1.5 times the speed of sound. At sea level, sound travels at about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) per hour. While military jets have had supersonic capabilities for decades, the economics are daunting for civilian operations. High ticket prices helped do in the Concorde after 27 years of service, which slurped twice as much fuel as a Boeing Co. jumbo jet while carrying only one-fourth as many passengers. In the years since Air France and British Airways parked their Concordes, would-be supersonic jet developers have turned to business aircraft in hopes of putting newer technology in a smaller airframe to attract wealthy buyers and globe-trotting chief executive officers. Aerion has begun to choose suppliers and plans to pick an engine maker during the first half of next year, CEO Doug Nichols said in the statement. The cabin will be developed by Inairvation, a venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and F. List GmbH. "We will proceed with an engine that allows us to meet our performance goals with the minimum changes required," Nichols said. "Solutions are in sight with today's engine technology." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-16/billionaire-s-supersonic-jet-advances- with-factory-plans-airbus Back to Top All-Female Flight Crew a First for Ethiopia Airlines Ethiopian Airlines pilots Amsale Gualu and Selam Tesfaye. ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian Airlines is dispatching its first-ever flight operated by an all-female crew. The flight was scheduled to depart for Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday night. The airline says it wants to promote women's empowerment and encourage more African girls to pursue aviation careers. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said attracting more women to aviation jobs is one of the reasons for hosting the female flight, together with empowering women. "It's going to be very inspiring for all the women all over the world, aviation women and particularly the African woman. Because, as you know, here in the continent of Africa, we are lagging behind in women empowerment. So this is going to inspire all the school girls in Africa that they have a very bright future in the 21st century," Gebremariam said. The flight is being handled by women in every aspect - from planning, to aircraft maintenance, and from the pilots to air traffic controllers. Even upon arrival in Bangkok, all customs and immigration officers will be female. Ethiopian Airlines says about one third of its employees are women. But the number is smaller when it comes to positions such as pilots and technicians. Ethiopian Airlines female crew members Twenty-two-year-old Haymanot Endale is a cabin maintenance technician and has been working at Ethiopian Airlines for two years. She said even though there are many girls working as flight attendants, as a technician she mostly works with men. "I think that outside of the Ethiopian Airlines, girls think that the work is very difficult, so they did not enter [come work for] this company. But we enter and we see that it is very easy," Endale said. Many Ethiopian women known for their success in business and politics attended the event, including Ethiopia's first lady Roman Tesfaye. Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's most profitable airline. http://www.voanews.com/content/ethiopian-airlines-first-all-female-crew/3064016.html Back to Top NBAA 2015 AGENDA Exhibit HoursExhibit Halls and Indoor Static Display of Aircraft Thursday, November 19 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Static Display of Aircraft at Henderson Executive Airport Thursday, November 19 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. In addition to exhibits at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Henderson Executive Airport (HND), the NBAA 2015 Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA2015) will host a variety of significant events for the business aviation industry. * Program Schedule NBAA2015 will feature special events and dozens of education sessions covering topics of interest to all attendees, from those considering the use of an airplane to support their business needs, to those who have long used an airplane to help their business succeed. Review the full program schedule. https://www.nbaa.org/events/bace/2015/agenda/ Back to Top Research Survey Dear Aviation Colleagues, ***Survey Link https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8nOzSNWYbDGqIsJ ***(copy directly into web browser if link does not work).*** My name is Tyler Spence. I am a PhD student at Purdue University working with Dr. Mary Johnson in the Purdue School of Aviation and Transportation Technology. In the survey that follows, we are seeking input on flight data analysis that may be derived from aircraft with flight data monitoring capabilities like the Garmin G1000, Avidyne Entegra, or Aspen Evolution 1000. We are seeking your input on how we can use metrics, methods, and prototype graphs to improve safety from GA pilots' perspectives. This effort is a part of an FAA-sponsored research project that is exploring ways to improve General Aviation safety performance using flight data. More specifically, our goal is to develop innovative techniques to analyze and present flight data in ways that are useful and meaningful to GA pilots and operators. We are seeking feedback from anyone who uses the GA system including pilots, maintenance personnel, flight instructors, pilot examiners, aircraft owners (individual or fleet), flight data analysts, and administrators. The survey comprises two main sections: 1) Opinions of flight data monitoring and the use of a national database. This part of the survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. 2) Potential flight analysis graphs and figures that could be included in the application tool. This part of the survey 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 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. Back to Top Upcoming Events: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Seminar (ERAU) Dec. 8-10, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/uas Gulf Flight Safety Council(GFSC) - Safety Summit December 9-10, 2016 Dubai, UAE www.gfsc.aero 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 6th European Business Aviation Safety Conference 2016 February 23-24, 2016 Frankfurt, Germany www.ebascon.eu 2016 Air Charter Safety Symposium | Safety: A Small Investment for a Rich Future March 8-9, 2016 | NTSB Training Center | Ashburn, VA http://www.acsf.aero/events/acsf-symposium/ CHC Safety & Quality Summit | Back to Basics: Prioritizing Safety in a Challenging Economy April 4-6, 2016 Vancouver, BC www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com BARS Auditor Training Washington, DC Tuesday-Thursday 5-7 April http://flightsafety.org/bars/auditor-training Back to Top JOBS AVAILABLE: Auditors Needed Wyvern Consulting, Ltd James.nicoletti@wyvernltd.com Faculty Position in UAS ERAU - Prescott Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Prescott, Arizona, is now accepting applications for a tenure-track faculty position in support of our new B.S. degree in Unmanned Aircraft Systems. We will begin reviewing application materials on December 1, 2015, and the position will begin in the summer of 2016. ERAU is the world's leader in aviation and aerospace education. The University is an independent, non- profit, culturally diverse institution providing quality education and research in aviation, aerospace, engineering and related fields. The City of Prescott is nestled at an elevation of 5,200' in the central mountains of Arizona and is surrounded by granite mountains and ponderosa pine forests. Prescott's citizens enjoy a mild climate with four distinct seasons and a variety of outdoor activities. As the first territorial capitol of Arizona, Prescott has a rich history and a strong sense of community. The detailed job description and application instructions are available at the following link: Please forward this information to any potential qualified candidates. Sincerely, Curtis N. James, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology Dept. Chair, Applied Aviation Sciences Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Bldg. 74, Room 233 3700 Willow Creek Road Prescott, AZ 86301-3720 Office: (928) 777-6655 Email: Curtis.James@erau.edu Curt Lewis