Flight Safety Information December 30, 2015 - No. 261 In This Issue PROS 2015 TRAINING Plane lands on taxiway instead of runway at Sea-Tac Airport Saudi Arabia Says Bahraini Pilot Survives F-16 Jet Crash Arizona-bound jet makes emergency landing Pilot killed in Alaska crash wasn't authorized to fly plane Helicopter Industry Slow to Make Safety Changes BSF Aircraft Crashes Near Delhi Airport, Kills All 10 People On Board (India) FAA shuts down dozens of drone clubs near Washington, DC FAA Moves Comment Period for AMT School Regulation Change to February 1 Estonia's National Airline Is Officially Bankrupt Your driver's license might not get you through airport security DARPA, Northrop Move to Develop VTOL Aircraft Hoverboard safety jitters fester on land, and in the air AirAsia latest to ban hoverboards from aircraft Skilled Aircraft Technicians and Pilots in Short Supply (North Carolina) Why Is Amazon Building Its Own Freight Airplane Fleet? NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab Releases New El Niņo Image Congress Pushes NASA To Build Deep Space Habitat For Mars Mission By 2018 Upcoming Events Jobs Available Plane lands on taxiway instead of runway at Sea-Tac Airport An Alaska Airlines plane mistakenly landed on the taxiway instead of a runway a week- and-a-half ago. SEATTLE -- Both the FAA and Alaska Airlines have launched investigations after a plane accidentally landed on a taxiway instead of a runway at Sea-Tac International Airport earlier this month. While nobody was hurt in the incident at Sea-Tac, had another plane been parked on the taxiway, the results could have been catastrophic. A few minutes before landing at about 8:30 a.m. on December 19th, the air traffic control tower offered up runway 16 Center to Alaska Flight 27. The flight was originally scheduled to land on 16 Right. The crew accepted, but minutes later, the pilot mistakenly landed on the taxiway in-between the runways. At first glance to those who are not seasoned pilots, it doesn't look too different from the runways at Sea-Tac, but safety experts say for decades the airport has worked to educate pilots to avoid this strip when they land. "This is not a new problem at Sea-Tac. There have been cases going back to the 1990s of aircraft inadvertently landing on what's called 'taxiway tango,'" said aviation safety expert Dr. Todd Curtis. Curtis says the landing instructions for Sea-Tac warn pilots about the potential for confusion on taxiways. "So although this was a dangerous condition, a condition that should be avoided, it's something that can be learned from," said Curtis. Sea-Tac officials say the last time it happened was in 2004, before the addition of the third runway. They say the markings and size of the taxiway are different than those of the actual runways, which include distinct markings. "Even though it doesn't rise to the extent of a full NTSB investigation, this is something that will be investigated and investigated thoroughly," said Curtis. It's unlikely any of the passengers on board that flight even realized what had occurred, but the FAA is investigating. Alaska Airlines officials say this is not the first time this pilot has landed at Sea-Tac Airport, and they're trying to figure out why a mistake was made. Curtis says he doesn't believe there is a problem with the layout at Sea-Tac Airport. Depending on the results of the investigation, the FAA could order Sea-Tac Airport to make changes if they think it's necessary. http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/aerospace/2015/12/29/plane-lands-taxiway- instead-runway-sea-tac-airport/78024684/ Back to Top Saudi Arabia Says Bahraini Pilot Survives F-16 Jet Crash A Bahraini pilot flying for a Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen survived a jet crash on Wednesday along the kingdom's southern border, hours before the coalition said its forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward the same area. The state-run Saudi Press Agency carried a statement from the kingdom's military saying the Bahraini pilot's F-16 crashed in Jizan province due to technical failure. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have been bombing the rebels, known as Houthis, since late March. The campaign began after the rebels overran the capital and other major cities, forcing the internationally-backed government into temporary exile. The United Nations says the civil war in the Arab world's poorest country has killed more than 5,800 people since then. Bahrain announced Tuesday that three of its soldiers were killed and others wounded along Saudi Arabia's southern border, without elaborating. Cross-border fire from the conflict has killed soldiers and civilians there in the past. Also Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency carried a coalition statement saying the kingdom's Air Force had intercepted a missile fired toward Jizan. The coalition statement said the missile was fired from Yemen and that coalition forces responded by destroying the launch pad. It was at least the third time in the past two weeks that Saudi forces intercepted missiles targeting the kingdom's territory. Soviet-era missiles known as Scuds have been fired by Houthi rebels and their supporters throughout the current offensive. Scud strikes in Saudi Arabia have been fatal in the past. On Feb. 25, 1991, an Iraqi-fired Scud hit a U.S. base in eastern Saudi Arabia, killing 28 American soldiers. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saudi-arabia-bahraini-pilot-survives-16- jet-crash-36004089 ****************** Date: 30-DEC-2015 Time: Type: Lockheed Martin F-16C Owner/operator: Bahrain Air Force Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Jizan province - Saudi Arabia Phase: Combat Nature: Military Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: Aircraft crashed due to a reported technical failure. Pilot safe. http://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=182951 Back to Top Arizona-bound jet makes emergency landing BOISE, Idaho - A passenger jet traveling from Canada to Arizona landed in Boise on Tuesday afternoon due to a medical emergency with a passenger. Boise Airport spokesman Sean Briggs says the WestJet aircraft traveling from Calgary to Phoenix landed in Boise at about noon. He says the passenger experiencing the medical emergency was transported to a local hospital. Briggs says another passenger traveling with the person with the medical emergency also got off the plane. Briggs says the aircraft refueled and departed after being on the ground for less than an hour. Briggs didn't know how many passengers were aboard the plane. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/12/29/arizona-bound-jet- makes-emergency-landing/78040904/ Back to Top Pilot killed in Alaska crash wasn't authorized to fly plane ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The pilot of a small plane that smashed into a building in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday was not authorized to fly the aircraft used in volunteer search-and-rescue missions, authorities said. Doug Demarest, 42, of Anchorage, died when the Cessna 172 clipped an office building and slammed into a commercial building, according to the FBI, which is helping investigate the crash. The plane belongs to the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force that is made up of volunteers who help with search and rescue, disaster relief and homeland security across the country, according to a statement from the national group. Demarest joined the patrol in 2010. No one on the ground was hurt and there was no indication anyone else was aboard the plane, FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier said. Neither agency would release additional details about Demarest or how he acquired the plane. The early morning crash happened before most businesses opened for the day in the heart of downtown, an area surrounded by offices, hotels and restaurants. The first building hit houses a law firm, Dorsey & Whitney, where the pilot's wife, Katherine Demarest, is employed as an attorney, said Bryn Vaaler, an attorney and chief marketing officer based at the firm's Minneapolis headquarters. Vaaler said he didn't have any information about the Demarests' marital status. He also didn't know if anyone was in the firm's sixth-floor offices at the time of the crash. Kent Haina, a 747 captain for UPS, said he was taking out his garbage when he saw the plane go down at a shallow angle and disappear behind a building. He then heard a loud thud and saw a plume of black smoke. Haina said the wind was howling at the time. "(The engine) didn't sound like it was in trouble, but the weather was pretty windy," he said. "I said to myself, 'It's not good weather to be flying in.'" Clint Johnson, Alaska region chief for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the crash happened amid blustery winds but that the agency is not ruling out anything as a cause. The NTSB looks at pilot error, mechanical problems and weather in its investigations. The plane came in over the shoreline toward downtown and clipped the corner of the office building, where some state employees work. Then it crashed into the lower side of an adjacent multistory commercial building, setting it on fire. Crews responded quickly and had the blaze under control, fire officials said. The FBI said neither building has structural damage. Vince Maiorano was working as a line cook at Snow City Cafe across the street when he heard the plane strike a transformer. He and a co-worker ran up to the plane to see if anyone was inside, but they didn't see anybody and were driven back by large flames that overtook the aircraft. "We heard a loud whoosh noise when the transformer went out, and that's when the power went out on the whole block," Maiorano said. The commercial building appeared to be unoccupied at the time of the crash, Don Tallman of the Anchorage Fire Department. Authorities cordoned off an area around the building, closing several roads. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker was among those checking out the scene Tuesday. Because one of the buildings houses state workers, Walker said he wanted to "find out what's going on." The Federal Aviation Administration, NTSB and FBI are investigating. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/12/30/alaska-plane-crash- anchorage/78064770/ Back to Top Helicopter Industry Slow to Make Safety Changes Despite accidents, many leaders, until recently, seemed largely immune to recommendations for improvements Firefighters battle a blaze after a St. Anthony's Flight for Life helicopter crashed in Frisco, Colo., in July. By ANDY PASZTOR For more than three decades, federal air-safety watchdogs have documented a pattern of fatalities and grisly injuries caused by fires from what otherwise would have been relatively minor crashes of commercial helicopters. With a few exceptions, however, industry leaders until recently seemed largely immune to the criticism and accompanying recommendations for change. Between 1980 and this summer, the National Transportation Safety Board called on regulators at least three separate times to require advanced crash-resistant fuel systems on all commercial choppers. But the five-member board has no enforcement authority and only can urge safety improvements. The bureaucratic tussle played out as the military was moving to reduce fire hazards. The Army, particularly, relied on fuel bladders, crash-resistant hoses and other technology- much of it spurred by fiery helicopter crashes stretching back to the Vietnam War era-to slash the frequency of post-accident fires in its operations. The number of fire fatalities in Army choppers has dropped by more than 75% in the last three decades. The FAA finally took action in the mid-1990s regarding commercial fleets, but essentially grandfathered in most helicopter models without requiring new production craft to comply with the tougher mandates. It wasn't until last month that the agency took its first official step in what is expected to be a complex and lengthy rule-making process to establish a common fuel-system safety standard for all types of non-military rotorcraft and operators. Highlighting the industry's earlier resistance to voluntary safety initiatives, the FAA's November document said only 10% of the U.S. commercial fleet had complied with overall occupant-protection principles dating back to 1979. Now, industry leaders are moving to install more fire-resistant fuel systems before the FAA issues mandatory rules. Two weeks before the FAA announced its regulatory plans, a pair of Colorado Congressmen sent a joint letter to FAA chief Michael Huerta arguing that swift action was essential to halt "manufacturing of brand new helicopters with antiquated, dangerous fuel systems." Democratic Reps. Jared Polis and Ed Perlmutter were responding to the much- publicized crash of an Airbus AS350 operated by Air Methods Corp. in Frisco, Colo. The pilot died and two nurses were severely injured in the post-crash fire. For Air Methods, which had been considering voluntary fuel-system upgrades before the accident, the urgency to act increased dramatically, according to Mike Allen, president of the company's domestic air medical services. Discussions with suppliers continued "much more adamantly," he said in a recent interview. The Dec. 15 fatal crash in Arizona also involved one of the company's helicopters. Air Evac Lifeteam, another major air-ambulance operator serving 15 states, has agreed to voluntary retrofit safer fuel systems on its existing fleet. But testing and installing the fixes can take more time than outsiders expect. "It's a very significant investment not only in equipment, but in time" aircraft are out of service, said Christopher Eastlee, president of the Air Medical Operators Association. Recently, federal regulators have been considering imposing tighter safeguards for potential birds smashing into helicopter windshields. Still, some industry veterans are skeptical about the cost-benefit trade-offs associated with making all users and their helicopters-particularly the least-expensive models-comply with the highest standards. "You can't sell an aircraft for $1 million and still put on every feature" envisioned by proponents of such a strategy, according to David Bjellos, a helicopter pilot who runs a corporate flight department and is an industry liaison to the FAA on some drone-related issues. http://www.wsj.com/articles/helicopter-industry-slow-to-make-safety-changes- 1451415427 Back to Top BSF Aircraft Crashes Near Delhi Airport, Kills All 10 People On Board (India) Why were they given such an old plane? "Its engine had been sent to Canada few months ago for a complete overhaul", he added. There were two pilots and eight technicians, all men, on board. According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft burst into flames just outside the IGI airport shortly after take- off. The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. This was among the many questions that Union home minister Rajnath Singh had to face on Wednesday from the families of the 10 personnel killed in a BSF aircraft crash in Delhi. Delhi Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung also visited the accident spot. A BSF air plane crashed in Dwarka, neighbor of New Delhi today at around 09:50 AM IST. "As I said, this aircraft has been flying very well...it had been flying three to four days in a week and there was absolutely no problem. Had the plane crashed at the station, there would have been many more casualties", he said. Initial investigations suggested the aircraft overshot the runway while taking off, which could have caused some damage that forced the plane to turn back. So, there was no excess load. About 300 personnel from Delhi Police and 200 from the CISF were manning the area and the site of the accident during the day, an official said. "I am extremely sad to say that all 10 people including the pilot have died", Sharma told reporters. It had completed 20 years and it had got a long life. The intake in the air wing is already less, the official said, considering the specialised nature of the job and difficulty in getting talented personnel and officers from other forces and the Indian Air Force. "It was completely airworthy. There were some labourers working on the ground where the plane fell", he said. The twin-engine plane was on its way to Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand from Delhi's global airport when the incident happened. The chiefs of BSF and SSB, DK Pathak and BD Sharma, have also rushed to the site. http://waltonian.com/2015/12/bsf-aircraft-crashes-near-delhi-airport-kills-all-10-people/ Back to Top FAA shuts down dozens of drone clubs near Washington, DC The Federal Aviation Administration last week asked drone and model aircraft clubs operating within 30 miles of Washington, DC's airport to cease flying due to national security and airspace issues, according to a report by Motherboard. While the FAA extended its DC no-fly zone radius bsck in september, it just issued a letter to the Academy of Model Aircraft (AMA) asking the organization to shut down 14 flying sites used by its accredited drone clubs. As many as 36 total clubs have been affected by the FAA's rules, and some of the flying sites are wide open fields located outside DC in nearby Maryland and Virginia. It's no surprise the FAA is imposing strict drone restrictions in and around the nation's capital, but club members say the extended no-fly zone is overly prohibitive given many of the flying sites have met general drone safety guidelines for years. DC Drone User Club president Christopher Vo told Motherboard his organization, one of the largest in the country, will be forced to move events and flying activities indoors until the AMA and FAA settle the dispute. Others have indefinitely halted operations. THE FAA EXTENDED ITS NO-FLY ZONE RADIUS FROM 15 TO 30 MILES "We have every reason to believe that this is a temporary situation," the AMA clarified in an email to members. An agreement with the FAA may reopen the flying sites as soon as January, the AMA added, but until then it expects local authorities to enforce the ban. The situation is yet another regulatory battle between the growing number of drone enthusiasts and the FAA, which has struggled to keep pace with the drone boom that's filling the skies with low-cost aircraft. The FAA announced earlier this month that drone owners must register their device with a name and home address by February 19th, 2016 or face civil penalties up to $27,500 and criminal penalties up to $250,000 and three years in prison. http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/29/10685526/faa-ban-drone-clubs-washington-dc Back to Top FAA Moves Comment Period for AMT School Regulation Change to February 1 by Matt Thurber The FAA has extended the comment period for a proposed change to Part 147 regulations governing the curriculum and operations of FAA-certified aviation maintenance technician (AMT) schools. The new comment period closes Feb. 1, 2016 (see Docket No. FAA-2015- 3901 at regulations.gov). The changes would "modernize and reorganize the required curriculum subjects in the appendices of the current regulations," according to the FAA. "They would also remove the course content items currently located in the appendices and require that they be placed in each school's operations specifications so they could more easily be amended when necessary." Comments posted thus far are both positive and negative. One commenter suggested that the FAA "set a minimum standard and let the industry build from there." An AMT school faculty member wrote: "The suggestion to remove specific content out of Part 147 is ill advised. It is also entirely at disingenuous, at best, to purport that the reason to do this is because the current situation prevents updates to this content. The facts are there have not been many attempts to change this content, and where it has been attempted, the attempts were successful. What you are proposing will lead to curriculum divergence across the country in ways that are costly and are likely to lead to increased confusion and frustration in fulfilling the critical role played by aviation maintenance schools and colleges." An instructor at a college AMT program is "pleased [that] changes are proposed. I would like to see training going closer to what Canada and Australia are doing. I have been an A&P mechanic since 1979 and traveled to many countries where my A&P was not valid. Our training is lighter and it needs to match more closely to the world's view of aviation maintenance." This commenter is also concerned that the new rules propose a change in instructor qualification, which could mean AMT certification is not required to be an instructor, as is currently the case, "so you are cutting A&Ps out of jobs." Another concern he outlined is that an FAA inspector could force a school to change the course content in the school's operations specifications (OpSpec). "With the proposed changes it sounds as if our FAA inspector could come in and decide we needed to concentrate on lavatory systems and mandate that Ops change without a [rulemaking]. It could leave our school with an undue economic impact without any notice just because one inspector favors one area of training over another." http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2015-12-29/faa-moves-comment- period-amt-school-regulation-change-february-1 Back to Top Estonia's National Airline Is Officially Bankrupt Estonian Airlines Estonian Air flight attendants revealing the now-shuttered airline's in-flight Wi-Fi system. Estonian Airlines While the bankruptcy is clearly a dodge to avoid paying the EU fines, it's a sign that the competition rules in Europe are off kilter. An Estonian court has formally declared the Baltic nation's state-owned airline bankrupt after it ceased operations last month following a European Union order to repay millions in state aid. The Harju County Court said Tuesday that the bankruptcy proceedings for Estonian Air are to be carried out immediately, with the first meeting of creditors scheduled on Jan. 15. The EU's executive Commission said on Nov. 7 that Estonia had breached EU rules by injecting capital into the ailing carrier for years. The Commission obliged the airline to pay back 85 million euros plus interest to the Estonian taxpayers. The Estonian government earlier this year established a new airline, Nordic Aviation Group. It started operations immediately after the EU's decision. http://skift.com/2015/12/29/estonias-national-airline-is-officially-bankrupt/ Back to Top Your driver's license might not get you through airport security As if getting through an airport wasn't stressful enough, the Transportation Security Administration could soon reject a pretty common form of ID for most Americans - the driver's license. Driver's licenses from some states might not be enough to get through a security checkpoint at an airport because of the 10-year-old REAL ID Act. That act was designed to increase security standards for identification following the 9/11 attacks. States initially had until the end of 2009 to comply with those standards, but the federal government kept pushing the deadline back. Currently, 27 states are exempt from those standards until certain times in 2016. But if you live in Minnesota, bad news: Your state is noncompliant. New Mexico and Washington are also among the states that could see their licenses rejected at airports. So, what exactly does this mean for travelers? If you have a passport, you're in the clear. You can use that to get through security. If you don't have a passport, you can still use your driver's license, but you may have to deal with extra security measures. "They may have to go through an extra measure of security that might be another line, or possibly being questioned at the airport," said David Druker, spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State. If you don't have your driver's license or any other REAL ID-compliant form of ID, you might still be able to get on your flight, but not before having to fill out a form and answer a few questions, which might be worse than a surprise pat-down. If you live in a state that's noncompliant with the DHS standards, don't get too worked up. The agency's website says it "will ensure that the traveling public has ample notice (at least 120 days) before any changes are made that might affect their travel planning." http://www.aol.com/article/2015/12/29/your-drivers-license-might-not-get-you-through- airport-security/21289434/ Back to Top DARPA, Northrop Move to Develop VTOL Aircraft Unmanned tailsitter aircraft could prove a prototype for ship-based use. WASHINGTON - The Convair XFY-1 Pogo of the 1950s is one of those famous aviation "funnies" - a weird, experimental aircraft intended to take off and land vertically. The "tailsitter" aircraft might have been the prototype for a new class of fighter that could take off and land from almost any ship with a flat deck. While there were many technical hurdles, there was one problem that never quite found a solution - while a pilot could strap in and take off straight up, his ability to make a vertical, over-the-shoulder landing was a whole lot harder. The project was dropped in 1956. But the advent of unmanned aerial vehicles means only the machine, not the pilot, has to look backwards to land, and a new project is in development to field an aircraft that could fly from warships with a small flight deck. Known as TERN, for Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node, the project is a joint program between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Navy's Office of Naval Research. Northrop Grumman was recently chosen to build a full- scale demonstrator system of the medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial system (UAS). "The design we have in mind for the TERN demonstrator could greatly increase the effectiveness of any host ship by augmenting awareness, reach and connectivity," Dan Prat, DARPA program manager, said in a Dec. 28 press release. "We continue to make progress toward our goal to develop breakthrough technologies that would enable persistent ISR and strike capabilities almost anywhere in the world at a fraction of current deployment costs, time and effort," he added. Northrop beat out AeroVironment for the Phase 3 portion of the TERN program and was awarded a $93 million contract on Dec. 24. Northrop reportedly will also contribute $39 million to the effort. The Northrop TERN model, first shown on Dec. 11, is a flying-wing tailsitter design with a four-point landing wheel configuration, powered by twin, counter-rotating propellers on its nose. The aircraft will take off and land vertically, transitioning to horizontal flight to carry out its mission. DARPA, in its Dec. 28 release, acknowledged the TERN demonstrator will "bear some resemblance" to the XFY-1 Pogo. "Moving to an unmanned platform, refocusing the mission and incorporating modern precision relative navigation and other technologies removes many of the challenges the XFY-1 and other prior efforts faced in developing aircraft based from small ships," Patt said in the DARPA release. The system produced under the Phase 3 effort, DARPA said, will be able "to use forward- deployed small ships as mobile launch and recovery sites. Initial ground-based testing, if successful, would lead to an at-sea demonstration of takeoff, transition to and from horizontal flight, and landing -- all from a test platform with a deck size similar to that of a destroyer or other small surface-combat vessel." DARPA and the Navy, under a June 2014 memorandum of agreement, are sharing responsibility for the development and testing of the TERN demonstrator system. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, DARPA added, has also expressed interest in the program. http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/2015/12/29/darpa-onr-northrop-tern- pogo-vtol/78034916/ Back to Top Hoverboard safety jitters fester on land, and in the air Air travelers who may have gotten hoverboards for Christmas must now jump over the hurdle of transporting their prized gift on an airplane. Hoverboards, the season's "it" gift and one of the most popular leisure contraptions to come around since the Rollerblade, has been caught in a thicket of safety concerns. Several domestic airlines have moved to ban them from flights, and now a handful of international companies have done the same. Oddly enough, travelers may find they can get actually get their boards through TSA airport checkpoints - just not on planes. A notice issued by the International Air Transport Association listed close to 60 airlines worldwide with hoverboard bans in place as of Dec. 16. Sorry, but you can't bring that with you Fears about the device stem primarily from their potentially combustible batteries, but a growing number of observers say that the unreliability of poorly made knockoffs and counterfeit batteries have heightened concerns. For those reasons, Alaska Air, United Airlines, Delta and American began banning hoverboards this month from carry-on and checked baggage. "Most of the issue is [with] the lithium batteries that are used to power them," said aviation security expert Jeff Price. "Some manufacturers aren't accurately reporting the power of the batteries, and airlines generally dislike lithium batteries anyway as they have a tendency to overheat and catch fire." Read MoreMore airlines ban hoverboards due to fire riskAhead of the end-of-year travel rush - when some travelers may be attempting to make their way back home with newly gifted hoverboards, United spokesman Charles Hobart said the airline was actively "working with customers if they need additional time to find alternate shipping methods for their hoverboards." Likewise, Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said the carrier was advising fliers to take care of shipping a hoverboard before they arrive at the airport. "We offer our sympathies for those who might find themselves with an inconvenience after opening their holiday loot,'" he said. Several international airlines, including British Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand, have newly implemented hoverboard bans in place. "We did a review independently of other airlines and came to the assessment that actually there is a risk with hoverboards and it not a risk we're prepared to carry," said ANZ CEO Christopher Luxon. Federal regulations, meanwhile, make for a confusing playing field. A TSA representative told CNBC that the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines bear the responsibility for enforcing hoverboard bans because "this is a safety, not a security, issue." Amazon.com recently yanked some hoverboards from its offerings and recommended that consumers throw unsafe ones away. Hoverboard makers have defended the safety of their products, yet at least some are sympathetic to the airlines' position. "I wouldn't feel safe having my kids on a plane without knowing the devices were safe either," said John Soibatian, president of IO Hawk, one of the major hoverboard manufacturers. Soibatian told CNBC his company's personal mobility devices are reliable and rigorously tested, and that cheaper, off-brand products are causing the problems. "If someone's kid wants one of these, you see ours for $1,800, you see a knockoff for $300 and it's the knockoffs being put together by people who have no business in this industry that are exploding or catching fire," said Soibatian. "We're working with Customs and Border Control to make sure fake products don't make it to the market and with a little bit of education I think some of these airlines will change their policies," he said. Ground shipment limited as well At the same time, ground delivery may not be much help, either. Travelers who try to ship hoverboards, balance wheels and other devices powered by lithium batteries via United Parcel Service or the U.S. Postal Service may encounter barriers as well. Out of "an abundance of caution and in line with major retailers and the airline industry," the Postal Service issued a statement limiting the shipment options for motorized balance boards. USPS alerted customers that it "will ship hoverboards using only Standard Post/Parcel Select. This product travels on ground transportation, due to the potential safety hazards of lithium batteries." Earlier this week, UPS issued a reminder notice to customers noting that "the boards are made with a medium-sized lithium battery that when shipped via an air service become federally regulated. Due to these regulations, only shippers with an active UPS Hazardous Materials Contract may send hoverboards using an air service." A few airports are also barring travelers from using hoverboards. Tampa International, Charleston International and Minneapolis-St. Paul International are among a growing number of airports reminding passengers to leave their hoverboards at home. Miami International Airport bans the use of hoverboards inside the airport, under a rule that also prohibits people from riding or driving a unicycle, a go-cart, roller skates, Rollerblades, or a skateboard at the airport. Perhaps that why a few days before Christmas, MIA already had a few hoverboards in its lost and found division. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/24/hoverboard-safety-jitters-fester-on-land-and-in-the- air.html Back to Top AirAsia latest to ban hoverboards from aircraft PETALING JAYA: AirAsia has banned all lithium battery-powered transportation devices on board its flights effective immediately. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the company said that all lithium battery-powered personal transportation devices would not be allowed on board planes as check-in or hand-carry baggage on all AirAsia and AirAsia X flights effective Dec 30. Items that are banned include hoverboards, Segways, mini-Segways, electronic scooters, solowheels, airwheels, balance wheels and similar equipment. However AirAsia also said that battery-operated wheelchairs or mobility devices might be allowed on board planes under certain circumstances, subject to removal of the battery by guests. They added that the maximum weight allowed for wheelchairs and mobility devices was 85kg. Meanwhile, guests travelling with battery-operated items are being encouraged to refer to AirAsia's guideline available online. AirAsia's decision follows similar restrictions imposed on "self-balancing electric scooters" by many other airlines this month such as Malaysia Airlines and Malindo Air, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary, Tiger Airways, British Airways, Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Delta, American and United Airline flights. http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/12/30/airasia-latest-to-ban-hoverboards- from-aircraft/ Back to Top Skilled Aircraft Technicians and Pilots in Short Supply (North Carolina) Aviation Hiring in the Triad GREENSBORO, NC - Jobs in the field of aviation are ready for the taking, but the industry is facing a hiring challenge. "The hiring challenge kind of kicked off- really the beginning of it was after 9-11," said Nicholas Yale, the Director of Aviation for Guilford Technical Community College. "A lot of airlines were laying off people. Basically, people were getting out of the industry and finding different jobs." A number of schools and locations for people to receive training and education saw a drop in enrollment. New FAA guidelines and an increase in training hours lead to a shortage of first-time pilots. Meanwhile, veteran pilots and maintenance technicians are set to retire in droves. Yale said, "After that big downturn in the economy, a lot of people's 401-K shrunk quite a bit. So, they had to stay longer than what they wanted to. A lot of people planned on retiring 10 years ago but they couldn't." Many aviation companies will see 40 to 50 percent of their current employees retire in the next five to eight years, according to Yale. An increase in the demand for flights combined with a decrease in interested students has led to an overall drop in employees ready to hire - yet the industry is boasting an abundance of jobs. JSfirm.com, an online aviation only job board, reported a job surplus in 2015, with 92 percent of aviation companies hiring and 78 percent projecting growth. "There's more work out there than there are people to do the jobs," said Yale. The firm also reported skilled maintenance technicians remain the most in-demand, as companies are reporting a lack of experienced candidates. The key word- skilled. Yale said, "Because in this field, you can't just step out of high school and into the job. You have to have the skill set and you also have to be licensed and certified." Kip Blakely, Haeco's Vice President of Customer and Government Relations said, "There's just not as many people that are being trained for those types of career paths." Maintenance technicians is not the only in-demand position. Yale said the industry is faced with a pilot shortage. "(Companies) are parking planes because there just aren't enough people to fly them." Blakely added, "Many of our employees have come from the military, local colleges or retired airline pilots. But, we've been at war for so long, there's not as many military people that are coming out and there's not as many folks in the airline industry doing maintenance anymore because all of that work is contracted out." Blakely and Yale, were ready to recruit at the 2015 Haeco Job Fair. Haeco, one of the world's largest aircraft engineering and maintenance groups, partners with Triad high schools and GTCC to offer part-time jobs, internships and on the job training to students in aviation programs. "To start training people in their high school years and then go to GTCC and finish up that aviation career training," said Blakely. GTCC has seen a spike in enrollment for maintenance and flight programs. "And right now we're filling up most of our programs. In the maintenance program we fill it up, literally, to overflowing in each one of the sections we open up," Yale said. A representative with HondaJet told WFMY News 2, they have job positions available, but they industry needs to get better at recruiting. Meanwhile, JetBlue is experimenting with a new way to hire pilots in response to a nationwide shortage. The program, called Gateway 7, will accept 24 people with little to no aviation experience and train them to be co-pilots in four years. http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/2015/12/29/skilled-aircraft-technicians-and- pilots-short-supply/78052348/ Back to Top Why Is Amazon Building Its Own Freight Airplane Fleet? The company has number of unique shipping tools at its disposal. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has slowly built up an impressive shipping network that gives it a major advantage of over its pure-digital and physical retail competitors. That edge starts with the company's network of distribution warehouses. These facilities, which cover the entire United States, not only use a mix of humans and sophisticated robots to fulfill orders, but they also use proprietary predictive software to literally prepare customers' orders before they're placed. The online leader hasn't stopped there. If it had, then the large retail chains might be able to compete using their combination of improving shipping efficiency and physical locations. But Amazon has gone well beyond simply being efficient. It has also developed out-of-the-box shipping solutions. This approach includes its unique deal with the United States Postal Service that allows it to offer two-day shipping seven days a week, including Sundays, in many markets. Amazon has also built out its own last-mile trucking service in select cities. This service lets the company offer two-hour delivery, same-day grocery delivery, and an overall capacity that the rest of the retail world can't begin to approach. It's about problem solving, working within the system when it can, and creating its own solutions when needed. Using a little bit of everything has let Amazon earn a well- deserved reputation for having reliable, nearly perfect, two-day-or-even better shipping. Now the company is looking to boost its delivery network even further. It appears to be making moves to start its own air-freight business. What is Amazon doing? The retail leader looks to be preparing to begin shipping its own air freight, according to a report in The Seattle Times. Amazon, the paper reports, is negotiating leases on 20 Boeing (NYSE:BA) 767 jets, which would be used to ship packages around the country. The move would lessen the company's reliance on third-party delivery companies, which have caused shipping problems for the company in previous years. "Amazon is pretty fed up with the third-party carriers being a bottleneck to their growth," Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Colin Sebastian told the paper. Why would Amazon do this? It's possible the company is simply looking to gain leverage over its third-party shipping partners. UPS has struggled to meet the online retailer's heavy holiday demand in many of the past years, with 2013 being the "nadir," according to USA Today, when shipping issues meant some packages didn't arrive in time for Christmas. By creating its own fleet -- even a small one -- Amazon will have a legitimate "or else" threat for its partners. This leverage could force UPS and the USPS to grow capacity and build in more fail-safes to keep their large-volume customers happy. That's likely a piece of the equation, but it's also very clear that Amazon understands that shipping is its competitive advantage over other retailers. Both of those major chains have vastly improved their websites, but neither offers consistent two-day shipping at anywhere near the level Amazon does. If Amazon has its own planes, it can use them strategically to lessen the load on its partner network during busy seasons. That, along with all of the other shipping efficiencies Amazon has built into its system, will allow it to reliably offer the fastest shipping of any large-scale retailer. That advantage, and the stunning consistency with which Amazon maintains two-day shipping, are the company's equalizer in competing with companies that have physical stores. An air freight network is simply another arrow in the Amazon quiver, but it could prove to be an important one that keeps it steps ahead of everyone else in the retail space. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/29/why-is-amazon-building-its-own- freight-airplane-fl.aspx Back to Top NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab Releases New El Niņo Image NASA/JPL-Caltech The latest satellite image of Pacific sea surface heights from Jason-2 (left) differs slightly from one 18 years ago from Topex/Poseidon (right). In Dec. 1997, sea surface height was more intense and peaked in November. This year the area of high sea levels is less intense but considerably broader. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the strong El Niņo in the Pacific Ocean shows no sign of weakening. The Pasadena lab said Tuesday that a Dec. 27 image of ocean warming produced by data from its Jason-2 satellite is strikingly similar to one from December 1997 during a previous large El Niņo event. The spacecraft measures sea surface heights, which indicate a thick layer of warm water when they are higher than normal. The latest image and the 1997 image both show unusually high sea surface heights along the equator in the central and eastern Pacific. El Niņos are linked to dramatic alteration of weather around the world. The current El Niņo's effects in the U.S. are expected to appear in early 2016. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/NASAs-Jet-Propulsion-Lab-Releases-New-El- Nino-Image-363776421.html#ixzz3voDmtRin Back to Top Congress Pushes NASA To Build Deep Space Habitat For Mars Mission By 2018 The agency has received $55 million for the project. This image, courtesy of NASA, shows an artist concept of Mars and a spacecraft. Mars, here we come. NASA celebrated news of an unexpected windfall earlier this month when after years of penny-pinching, Congress announced it would increase the space agency's budget by $1.3 billion in 2016. Now it's emerged that a chunk of that money has been earmarked to help bolster the agency's plans for a Martian mission. As Popular Science noted, Congress directed NASA to use $55 million of its $19.3 billion budget to begin building a deep space habitat that will house astronauts during future exploratory missions to the red planet. Congress gave the agency until 2018 to develop a decent prototype model of the "habitation module." NASA must also produce a report on the status of the program in 180 days. NASA said it hopes to launch a crewed mission to Mars by the 2030s, and to begin cislunar (between Earth and the moon) testing of a workable habitat by the 2020s. As SpaceNews noted, the agency has already started working with companies like Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing and Orbital ATK to study habitat designs. The new funding and directive from Congress, however, "could force NASA to speed up" these plans. NASA's habitation module may "shape deep space travel for dozens of decades," wrote Yahoo! Tech. For now, though, very little is known about the habitat, including its requirements and how it will be built. "It's much too early for that," Sam Scimemi, International Space Station director at NASA Headquarters, told SpaceNews. "As soon as I put a picture up there, somebody is going to assume what the configuration is." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nasa-deep-space-habitat- mars_56836f72e4b014efe0d99912 Back to Top Upcoming Events: 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 Curt Lewis