Flight Safety Information December 8, 2015 - No. 245 In This Issue Indonesia's Aviation Safety Can't Keep Pace With Its Rapid Growth NTSB Releases Video Highlighting Importance of Procedural Compliance for Commercial Pilots Air France Flight Diverted To Montreal After Anonymous Threat UK CAA Unveils Performance-Based Regulation Maturity Assessment Tool. AirBridge Cargo clears safety audit Houses decorated with laser lights cause problems for airline pilots PROS 2015 TRAINING Rolls-Royce Offers Engine for Turkish-Made Fighter Jet Tauro Electro, the Ultimate Ultra-Light Electric Airplane Research Survey Upcoming Events JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) Indonesia's Aviation Safety Can't Keep Pace With Its Rapid Growth The tail of Air Asia flight 8501. Rapid growth, a skills shortage, and a geographically challenging environment are already a challenge. But when you add in a focus on very low fares, it's a recipe for trouble. - Jason Clampet A faulty component, a poor maintenance regime, bad weather, a critical mistake, a communication failure, 162 people dead. The loss of AirAsia Flight 8501 on a stormy December morning a year ago, from an airline that previously had an excellent safety record, came as a shock, even in a country with one of the world's worst aviation records. This was a relatively new plane, captained by a pilot with a decade of experience in the air force and more than 9,000 hours flying commercial jets. Yet interviews with pilots, air traffic controllers, flight trainers and regulators show that the combination of mistakes and failures that doomed those on board show why Indonesia still has more than three times the global average rate of fatal air crashes. In the past few years, Indonesia has redoubled efforts to improve that record, but the challenges are enormous. The country has a shortage of skilled pilots, ground crew and air traffic controllers. Equipment and planes are often outdated or not working. Many of its 296 airports are under par or have runways that are too short. And the terrain of 17,000 islands, dotted with volcanoes, makes for some of the most treacherous flying conditions in the world. When a fatal crash does occur - and the country averages more than one a year - the blame often falls on the pilots, after investigators painstakingly try to recreate the last moments of the flight from debris and the flight recorders. "The way the plane is being flown by the pilot and operational problems are the dominant cause of accidents," said Soerjanto Tjahjono, who took over in August as head of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee. He cites inadequate training and issues of discipline and poor cockpit cooperation. Communication Failure A failure of communication was one factor on the AirAsia Bhd. flight, which took off from Surabaya, the nation's second- largest city, on Dec. 28 last year. The Indonesian pilot and French co-pilot ended up counteracting each other at the controls after their attempts to fix a faulty rudder system caused the auto-pilot to disengage, according to the final crash investigators' report, published on Dec. 1. The plane rose steeply, stalled and plummeted into the ocean. For Ignasius Jonan, who had been appointed transport minister just two months before the crash, the disaster was an horrific reminder of the need to improve the nation's aviation record. "When I was assigned to this job almost 13 months ago, one thing I learned is that the airline industry in Indonesia should improve safety a lot," Jonan said in a speech on Nov. 13 in Bali to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. He said the government will allocate around $1 billion next year to improve safety for land, sea and air transport, the largest sum since independence. Still, that money has to cover a chain of islands that would stretch from London to New York, including 4,600 kilometers of rail lines, 300 ports and half a million kilometers of roads. Over Capacity Much of the network, including the airports, has suffered from underinvestment and is operating at as much as three times over capacity. Jonan said the government plans to extend and improve existing runways and terminals and build another 15 airports by 2018 so that domestic airlines can upgrade some flights to jets, instead of the smaller turboprop planes that have a higher accident rate. Even with the new runways, Indonesia is playing catch-up. Economic growth at an average 5.8 percent clip over the past decade has enabled millions of Indonesians to take to the skies and prompted airlines to add more flights to the beaches of Bali and booming cities like Bandung and Makassar. Annual passenger numbers have almost trebled in the past seven years, to 87 million in 2014. Yet many of the country's runways have no instrument landing system, according to Wisnu Darjono, operations director at AirNav Indonesia, the state-affiliated air traffic control organization. That makes it harder for pilots to land in bad weather. Jonan said the transport ministry is trying to modernize its system with help from U.K. and U.S. companies and agencies, with the aim of having 100 airports with ILS by 2018. Modern Equipment More modern planes and better navigation equipment have helped cut global crash rates, including in Indonesia. In the nine-year period ending 1998, the nation's fatal accident rate was 7.81 per million flights, 5.5 times worse than the world average. It's dropped to 1.96 per million flights, still 3.4 times higher than the global mean. Still, the number of flights in the country has increased, so the number of fatal crashes hasn't changed very much. Indonesia had 13 fatal plane crashes in the past 10 years, compared with 14 in the previous decade, according to data from Flightglobal. "We are seeing some improvement in reducing the accident rate but the pace of that improvement has not matched what has been achieved elsewhere in the region," said Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. "People underestimate the sheer size of the Indonesia aviation market and how rapidly it's grown." Watching over the nation's 10,000 daily flights are 1,400 air-traffic-control staff monitoring an airspace almost the size of Europe. There are 17,000 air traffic controllers in Europe, partly because of the number of countries. Singapore Airspace One part of its airspace Indonesia doesn't control is the area used by planes as they typically line up for approach to Changi airport in neighboring Singapore. Indonesia allocated control of that space to Singapore in 1946 because it didn't have the capability to manage the flights at the time. Now it wants it back. President Joko Widodo has ordered that within four years, the country must control all its airspace. "Our facilities are almost equal with Singapore, we are ready to control that area," said Darjono at AirNav. "Safety is much, much better than before." Changi handles almost 1,000 takeoffs and landings a day, including the world's largest airliner, Airbus Group SE's A380. Darjono said Indonesia is spending 1.8 trillion rupiah ($130 million) this year to upgrade facilities and is hiring 300 more air traffic controllers. Jakarta Airport The heart of the nation's air traffic is Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport, the ninth-busiest in the world, ahead of Changi and Amsterdam, and serving a metropolis of nearly 30 million people. In the control tower, built in 1984, dozens of men and women monitor screens showing planes across the country as they guide aircraft in to land at the airport's two runways. Above them, a sign in English says: "Don't find your limits by an accident." Like many airports in the country, Soekarno-Hatta is struggling to cope with Asia's boom in air travel. Its designed annual capacity is 22 million passengers. Last year, it handled more than 60 million. "The workload is increasing, the hazard is increasing," said Darjono. "We need a third runway." Plans for that third runway have been in discussion for at least five years and construction is now slated to start in 2016. Maintenance Problems Even with the improvement in control equipment and staff, problems in the maintenance of Indonesia's often aging aircraft have been a common source of trouble in accidents. In the canteen of the flight health center in Jakarta, where pilots have six-monthly checkups, F. Novara recalls a turboprop flight he piloted in 2011 with 74 passengers, where one of his engines caught fire after takeoff because of a leaking fuel nozzle. "We had fuel, we had air and we had heat - boom!' he said, drinking milky sweet coffee and smoking after passing his medical. "All I could do was pray the passengers would be safe." The plane landed safely, and an investigation by the engine manufacturer showed there was a kink in the fuel pipe, a fault Novara says the maintenance crew should have spotted. Maintenance records for the doomed AirAsia flight showed 23 reported problems with the rudder system on the aircraft in the year leading up to the accident, increasing in frequency in the final three months. The fault, related to a crack in the solder on a circuit board, occurred four times during the fatal flight, according to the investigators' report. 'Inadequate Data' The report said the maintenance regime "resulted in inadequate data to identify and analyse the defects" and was "a missed opportunity to identify and rectify" the problem. In an effort to improve safety, the transport minister has been clamping down on pilots and airlines, revoking route approvals and handing out suspensions for violators. Most recently, the ministry banned Batik Air from flying to Yogyakarta from Jakarta after one of its planes overshot Yogyakarta's runway on Nov. 6. Batik Air didn't respond to e- mails requesting comment on the incident. The clampdown has angered some pilots, who say the measures, which include threatening to punish them for hard landings or go-arounds, are likely to make safety worse, not better. "There is no such thing anywhere else in the world," said Captain Bambang Adisurya, a pilot for national airline PT Garuda Indonesia, and a member of the Indonesia Pilots Association. "The fear is now that if something happens pilots won't report it. If the industry is not regulated well, then things will stay as they are. It seems like there is an accident every month." Other pilots say the enforcement of regulations is long overdue. Need Time "You can't play around anymore, things are strict," said Ongky Soetadi, a helicopter pilot who used to fly planes in Indonesia. He said previous practices by some pilots included getting a "jockey" to take medical exams for you, and flying longer hours than they should. "But we need time because we were left behind." No matter how well the regulations are enforced, the industry is struggling to keep up with demand for qualified and experienced staff. The aviation boom in Asia means that there are thousands of airports and carriers trying to find pilots, air traffic controllers and maintenance staff from the same limited global pool of talent. A pilot in charge of training at one of the biggest carriers in the region said that out of every 100 new pilots from flight school, only about 10 would be good enough to meet the airline's standards. Schools falsify times for solo hours to speed up certification, so the new fliers don't have enough experience or confidence in handling different situations, he said, asking for him and his airline not to be named because of company confidentiality. He said that the lack of confidence or experience reinforced cultural constraints that discourage junior officers from questioning or criticizing decisions of the senior pilot, which jeopardized safety. 'Like Gods' "At flight school the instructors are treated like Gods, and this continues afterwards," said Soetadi, the helicopter pilot. "When he or she is senior, they get the same treatment. It's the Eastern culture." Poor cockpit resource management - pilots' communication, leadership, and decision making - was identified by government crash investigators as a factor in the 2013 crash of a Lion Air jet into the sea off Bali and the 2011 crash of a CASA 212-200 aircraft operated by Nusantara Buana Air on Sumatra. It also contributed to the AirAsia disaster. The pilots didn't discuss the risks of disengaging the auto-pilot and, once it was done, the senior officer gave a series of ambiguous commands, such as "pull down," resulting in both pilots trying to control the plane with their flight control columns, according to the investigation. "The captain pulled while the co-pilot pushed, so the recovery wasn't effective," head investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said. Stall Recovery Neither pilot had received training on how to recover from a stall on the Airbus A320, since it's not required according to the Flight Crew Training Manual, and isn't mandated by Indonesia's civilian aviation regulator, the investigators said. "It is true that the pilots failed to control the plane properly once the AP disengaged, but they should not have ever been in the situation where that was necessary," said Mike Exner, a pilot and satellite engineer based in Boulder, Colorado. In an e-mail response to questions about the faulty circuit board, Airbus said it had noted the details in the final report. "The contributing factors need to be considered together to enable all parties concerned to take actions to ensure that such a tragedy does not reoccur," the company said. AirAsia said it has improved training, especially for the circumstances the pilots faced before the crash, and implemented a real-time monitoring system that transmits data about aircraft performance during flights. It also hired former FAA regulators and global testing company Bureau Veritas Group to make recommendations on improving safety. With thunderstorms ahead, the pilots radioed air traffic control, asking to alter the flight path and climb to 38,000 feet, according to an initial report from investigators in January. Four minutes later, a controller cleared them to climb to 34,000 feet. About two minutes after that, he lost contact with the plane. Satellite images showed the storm clouds reached as high as 44,000 feet. The final crash report says weather wasn't a factor, but pilots who fly regularly in Indonesia say they frequently face tough conditions, especially for the smaller aircraft that serve remote airports. Land of Thunderstorms The region has one of the highest incidences of thunderstorms and lightning strikes in the world. (The city of Bogor had a record 322 days of thunderstorms in one year in 1988.) Add to that, volcanic eruptions, which throw plumes of ash into the air that can get sucked into jet engines, causing them to fail. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights in and out of Bali after nearby Mount Rinjani erupted in October and November this year. Then there are man-made hazards from the burning of thousands of acres of rainforest for agriculture, creating a cloud of smoke that covered large parts of Southeast Asia this year and delayed or canceled dozens of flights. Novara, who's been flying commercial planes for 23 years and sometimes delivers new planes to Indonesia from Boeing's factory, says the weather is one of the differences between flying in Europe and Indonesia. "There the equipment is great, clouds stop at 10,000 feet. Here they reach 36,000 feet." Extreme weather occurrences in the country are becoming more common, according to local meteorologists. Earlier this year in the province of Papua, hailstones fell continuously for three days in tropical Lanny Jaya regency, as temperatures dropped to minus 2 degrees Celsius, killing 11 people, according to a report in the Jakarta Post. Highest Peak Papua, more than anywhere, shows the challenges pilots face in Indonesia. The Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea is an intimidating mix of remote jungles and soaring mountains. The land rises from coastal mangrove swamps to a range with the highest island peak in the world, Puncak Jaya, and the site of one of the world's last tropical glaciers. "There are dozens of airports in Papua with steep inclines," said Matt Dearden, a British commercial pilot who has been working in Indonesia for six years. Some can be as much as 30 degrees and conditions aren't suited to new pilots with little experience, he said. "There are no go-around options on many of them - once you are committed on the approach, you must land," said Dearden, whose 9-seater craft often ferries sick or injured passengers, tribesmen with bows and arrows or officials carrying cash. "Some operators cut corners when it comes to training, which in a place as unforgiving as Papua compromises safety," he said. "Papua is not a place for pilots straight out of flight school as some of these accidents demonstrate." When a PT Trigana Air Service twin-propeller plane disappeared in Papua in August, it took two days before rescuers found and reached the crash site in the jungle, to report that all 54 people on board had died. Trigana didn't respond to requests for comment on the incident. While there's little the government and airlines can do about the weather, the industry will need billions of dollars of investment to keep up with demand from residents and tourists. "Indonesia still has some way to go before it reaches a state where the culture of safety is paramount," said Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based aviation research firm Endau Analytics. "There are issues that remain undealt with because money, effort and energy have not been fully utilized." http://skift.com/2015/12/07/indonesias-aviation-safety-cant-keep-pace-with-its-rapid-growth/ Back to Top NTSB Releases Video Highlighting Importance of Procedural Compliance for Commercial Pilots December 3, 2015 WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board today released a nine-minute video that highlights the crucial role that procedural compliance plays in commercial aviation safety. "Aviation flight operating procedures are developed and refined to provide repeatable steps for safely flying a plane in order to minimize the risk of an accident," said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart. "So it's disheartening when we learn from our investigations that the very procedures that are designed to ensure safety were deviated from, leading to a preventable accident." The video, which is primarily targeted at pilots, uses findings from seven commercial airplane accidents to show how deviations from standard operating procedures can initiate a chain of events that may lead to devastating consequences. The accidents referenced include the 2013 crashes of Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco and UPS flight 1354 in Birmingham, Alabama. "We hope that this short video will be used by airlines, regulators, pilots and aviation safety professionals to reinforce just how critical procedural compliance is to flight safety," Hart said. "All play a role in ensuring aviation safety-not just pilots." Strengthening procedural compliance is on the NTSB's Most Wanted List: http://go.usa.gov/cZuwe The video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/M4NL4m5cnhs RELATED MATERIAL Safety Compass blog on this video by NTSB Member Earl F. Weener: https://safetycompass.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/procedural-compliance-taking-the-problem-to- industry/ The executive summaries with links to the full reports for the accidents referenced in the video are available below: UPS 1354 in Birmingham, Ala., on August 14, 2013: http://go.usa.gov/cB3be Video summary of report: https://youtu.be/Dsr8C9fsYjo Asiana 214 in San Francisco on July 6, 2013: http://go.usa.gov/cB3jx Fresh Air Convair 440 in San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 15, 2012: http://go.usa.gov/cB3YY Colgan Air 3207 in Clarence Center, N.Y., on Feb 12, 2009: http://go.usa.gov/cB3Dz PSA Airlines 2495 in Charleston, W.Va., on Jan. 19, 2010: http://go.usa.gov/cB3BY Empire Airlines 8284 in Lubbock, Tex., on Jan. 27, 2009: http://go.usa.gov/cB3Wd East Coast Jets 81 in Owatonna, Minn., on July 31, 2008: http://go.usa.gov/cB3jV Video Safety Alerts on general aviation and helicopter operations that were previously released are available at http://go.usa.gov/cB3Bw www.ntsb.gov Back to Top Air France Flight Diverted To Montreal After Anonymous Threat The airline said the crew of Flight 83 decided to divert "as a precautionary measure." PARIS (AP) - An Air France flight from San Francisco to Paris was diverted to Montreal after an unspecified anonymous threat, and the passengers have landed and disembarked safely, an airline official said Tuesday. At least 15 fire trucks and police cars met the plane, and Canadian authorities were verifying the aircraft, passengers and baggage. Air France said an investigation will be carried out into the origin of the threat, and promised to send passengers safely to their destinations. Spokeswoman Ulli Gendrot said all passengers were off the plane within a few hours of landing. The airline said in a statement Tuesday morning that the crew of Flight 83 decided to divert "as a precautionary measure" and landed just before midnight Montreal time. Air France officials would not elaborate on the nature of the threat. Airlines around the world face sporadic threats and occasionally divert planes as a result. Tensions are unusually high in France, in a state of emergency since Islamic extremist suicide bombings and shootings in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people, the deadliest attacks on French soil in decades. Passenger Gilles Raymond of San Francisco said after about five hours in the air the pilot made an announcement that they needed to land in Montreal because of technical reasons. He said once the plane had landed, the pilot said authorities would have to do a thorough security check of the plane and passengers and that everyone would have to disembark. "Everyone is pretty relaxed," Raymond said while still inside. "There was no panic, no stress. Everyone is waiting in their seats. Some people are sleeping, and some are checking their phones or eating ice cream that the flight attendants gave them." He said passengers spent at least an hour on board the plane during verifications. "They told us they will check every passenger and that we may spend the night here," Raymond said. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/air-france-flight-diverted_5666b079e4b072e9d1c76dc6 Back to Top UK CAA Unveils Performance-Based Regulation Maturity Assessment Tool The UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) has launched a first-of-its-kind, Performance-Based Regulation (PBR) Maturity Assessment, designed to help Aviation Regulators establish their readiness to adopt a performance-based approach. Available through CAA International (CAAi), a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK CAA, the Maturity Assessment involves a two-week, on-site "health-check" of a National Aviation Authority. Conducted by specially trained UK CAA Assessors, the assessment focuses on 16-core regulatory areas via a series of interviews, focus groups and surveys with Regulatory personnel at all seniority levels. UK CAA Analysts review the results and prepare a high-level report, highlighting strengths and areas that require further attention to support a performance-based approach. These areas could include what the UK CAA refers to as "essential elements" - items that must be resolved before PBR transformation can commence. John Clark, Safety Programme Manager for the UK CAA said, "Regulators looking to adopt PBR almost always start by asking "Where do I begin?". Regulators need a baseline to work from and nextstep priorities. The UK CAA Maturity Assessment allows Regulators to establish this in a matter of weeks - something that without guidance, took the UK almost two years to achieve". Since the transition to PBR in the UK, the CAA and Industry have seen safety information proactively used to promote an open and challenging risk-based discussion between the Regulator and the Regulated. A performance-based approach has allowed the UK CAA to make more informed decisions on how the aviation industry is managing risk. The adoption of PBR in the UK involved many transformational changes across the UK CAA involving people, processes, systems, industry, engagement and cultural mindsets. Regulators will benefit from establishing their PBR readiness as early as possible and by utilising the UK CAA's experiences and lessons learnt, will be able to plan an effective PBR transformation programme. The UK CAA advocates that all Regulators can start adopting PBR principles, regardless of their maturity, industry size or level of Effective Implementation with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). Inevitably every Regulator will face unique opportunities and challenges. The UK CAA recognises there is no "right" or "wrong" way to implement PBR but hopes by sharing its experiences, know-how and lesson learnt, the UK can help fellow aviation Regulators commence their journey to PBR and ultimately, benefit from the safety and efficiency improvements seen from PBR in the UK. For more information, please visit www.caainternational.com/pbr or email Javier.ColleDeLaTorre@caainternational.com Media Contact: Stuart Coates stuart.coates@caainternational.com Back to Top AirBridge Cargo clears safety audit Russian all-cargo carrier, AirBridgeCargo, passed IATA's audit for compliance with its operational safety standards, renewing the carrier's certification for two more years. The five-day inspection process includes flight performance, operating control, maintenance and ground handling, aviation security, and quality management. The audit was conducted by a French company accredited by IATA. During the inspection, ABC's compliance with more than 800 standards under IOSA (IATA's operational safety audit) was checked and the final results sent to IATA for evaluation. http://aircargoworld.com/airbridge-cargo-clears-safety-audit/ Back to Top Houses decorated with laser lights cause problems for airline pilots DALLAS, TX - Laser lights are starting to gain popularity when decorating homes for Christmas. They're a lot less work than stringing up traditional lights; however they do pose some dangers. Jeff Paul reports. They're supposed to make decorating for the holidays easier. No ladders, no nails, and no hammers. But investigators with the FAA said, some of these new laser Christmas light displays are proving dangerous to pilots. "It's something that most people don't think about when they're putting up some kind of display or anything like that," said retired pilot Danny Kelly. "They don't realize that they might be causing a problem." Retired pilot David Kelly said he isn't surprised to hear what happened to an American Airlines crew last night. The FAA says their Boeing 737 was struck by a laser while flying at 13,000 feet. A Dallas police helicopter traced the beam back to a home about 22 miles east of DFW Airport. "The intent is what's important," said Kelly. "Obviously these people did not intend for this to happen. If they had been told by the FAA to shut it off and they don't, then that might border on being violating a criminal law otherwise no it's not." Kelly says folks who buy laser light displays need to make sure they're pointed at the house and not the sky. And for those who are buying into this emerging holiday technology and are lighting up their homes without care... "I'd tell them to stop immediately because first of all they're endangering people's lives and second, they're endangering people's health and third, they themselves could end up in criminal prosecution," said Kelly. http://www.klewtv.com/news/local/Decorating-your-house-with-laser-lights-cause-problems-for-airline- pilots-360799201.html Back to Top Back to Top Rolls-Royce Offers Engine for Turkish-Made Fighter Jet ANKARA, Turkey - Rolls-Royce is offering its EJ200 engine to power the first Turkish-made fighter jet, Turkish officials said. Procurement sources said the Ankara government and Rolls Royce may be coming near to a deal depending on what the company's solution will entail in terms of production, know-how and export licenses. Under a program dubbed the TFX ,Turkey wants to design, develop and produce its own fighter jet. Political and procurement officials are aiming for 2023 for its first test flights, the year when Turkey will be celebrating the republic's centennial, although most observers view that target with skepticism. In October, Rolls-Royce signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkey's state scientific research institute to open an "advanced manufacturing technology center in" Turkey. The move came shortly after Turkey's procurement authorities met in Britain with Rolls-Royce officials to discuss an engine they want to power the TFX. Under the MOU, Rolls-Royce will work with the TUBITAK research council and related Turkish ministries: science, energy, transport and defense. Rolls-Royce invests about £1.2 billion in research and development annually. It operates in more than 50 countries and applies for some 600 patents on new technologies every year. Eurojet Turbo GmbH is a major partner of Rolls-Royce together with MTU, ITP & Avio for offering the EJ200 as a potential engine for the TFX programme. Rolls-Royce said the technology of EJ200 makes it smaller and simpler in layout than current engines of a similar thrust class, while giving it lower fuel consumption and an unprecedented power-to-weight ratio. The first series production Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft were flown in February 2003. The Typhoon flew operational missions over Libya as part of Operation Ellamy, totaling 6,000 engine hours without a reject. Rolls-Royce has so far delivered more than 1,100 EJ2000 engines. It has a thrust range from 13,500 lbf dry to 20,000 lbf with reheat. http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/strike/2015/12/06/rolls-royce-offers-engine-for- turkish-made-fighter-jet/76890154/ Back to Top Tauro Electro, the Ultimate Ultra-Light Electric Airplane Taurus Electro, a small ultra-light electric airplane developed by a Slovenian company, gives the polluting aviation sector a green makeover. Back in 2007, a small Slovenian start-up called, Pipistrel, set a challenge and took on the task to make a difference. Their aim was to cut at least a little bit of that annual 13% of CO2 emissions pumped in the atmosphere by the aviation sector. The approach was to develop a small, light airplane, which is 100% electric and very easy to operate. Now, not even a decade later, the guys behind Pipistrel, are celebrating a huge victory. Their airplane- Taurus Electro, is selling like hot bread, while the company is a leader on the global market for energy- efficient aviation travel. The founder and CEO of Pipistrel, Ivo Boscarol, is even on the list of the most influential Europeans for 2015. Every year, they get an order of roughly 20 Taurus Electro's, which are made in the company's own factory in the small Slovenian town of Ajdovscina. So, where is the secret (you might ask?). Well, it is the eco-friendliness, the simplicity of the design, the light materials, the easy operation and maintenance, and of course- the huge dedication and perseverance of the inventors. Now, some more details. Taurus Electro is a two-seater, light weight, full electric airplane, which is extremely easy to operate and cheap to maintain. It has two buttons, one is "on" and one "off". When it reaches an altitude of 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), the engine retracts and the plane becomes a sailplane. The maintenance cost is about 70 cents per hour, which makes it about ten times cheaper to maintain that its rivals. This is also what justifies the seemingly high price of the machine- 110,000-euro ($120,770). The electric airplane is equipped with a very light, and fire-resistant Li-ion battery. The energy storage system of the plane is revolutionary, especially because it is both efficient and light-weight, as described by Jure Tomaciz, an engineer at Pipistrel. Of course, the guys behind the incredible machine are far away from being finished. After the huge success of the two-seater Taurus Electro, the aim is to concur the four-seater business. The first prototype, Taurus G4, was given NASA's prestigious Green Flight award in 2011, worth $1.35 million. It was able to fly the incredible 650km (400 miles) in two hours, at an average speed of 172 kilometers per hour. Commenting on this incredible achievement, Pipistrel's CEO could only say that his engineers were able to achieve something that rich car industry has been trying to do for years. As he points out, no electric car can take four passengers on a 600 kilometers e-drive at a speed of 200 km/h. Fact! http://www.greenoptimistic.com/tauro-electro-electric-airplane/#.VmbVKnarSUk 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: 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: Deputy Director of Flight Operations & Technical Services Helicopter Association International https://www.rotor.org/AboutHAI/Employment.aspx Position Available: Airline Safety Manager - Investigation (Engineering) Cathay Pacific https://career10.successfactors.com/career?_s.crb=Q%252ffWkAOt5SsrsXlBnG3GK%252bmGYsU%253d Auditors Needed Wyvern Consulting, Ltd James.nicoletti@wyvernltd.com Curt Lewis