Flight Safety Information December 31, 2015 - No. 262 In This Issue PROS 2015 TRAINING A 'flight from hell': Passengers sent to hospital after turbulence diverts Air Canada flight Rat on a plane! Air India flight to London returns after rodent sighting Aircraft tail scrape investigated (U.K.) Easyjet A319 Lands on Wrong Runway (Pisa, Italy) Cross-strait aviation safety pact takes effect Three years on, Saudi's new airlines still grounded Airbus delays delivery of first A320neo aircraft Lockheed Martin To Build 32 Super Hercules Aircraft For US Air Force; Contract Worth $1B Upcoming Events Jobs Available A 'flight from hell': Passengers sent to hospital after turbulence diverts Air Canada flight Connie Gelber watched as a woman sitting in front of her was violently thrown out of her seat and tossed into the aisle, hours into what was scheduled to be a 14-hour flight from Shanghai to Toronto. A terrified Gelber heard cries and saw phones, purses and anything that wasn't anchored down hit the ceiling when rough turbulence shook the Boeing 777 and injured nearly two dozen passengers as the plane flew over Alaska. "It was the flight from hell," Gelber said. "It was frightening. Honestly, we didn't know if we were going to live or die." Gelber was one of 332 passengers on the flight bound for Toronto that made an emergency landing in Calgary around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday due to extreme turbulence. When authorities got word the plane was diverted to Calgary, a mass casualty protocol was enacted. Paramedics from outside of Calgary were enlisted at the same time that fire trucks, police cruisers and 15 ambulances rushed to the airport to greet the plane. Paramedics pushed at least 10 stretchers carrying injured patients wrapped in blankets through the busy departure level of the airport to ambulances that lined the second-level concourse late Wednesday afternoon. EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux said emergency responders assessed 25 passengers from the aircraft and ambulances transported 21 people - including three children - to hospitals across the city with a variety of injuries. "Approximately seven of the patients, all adults, did sustain possible neck and back injuries, but at this time (all injuries) are believed to be non life-threatening," he said, noting none of the injured were crew members. On Wednesday evening, Air Canada said some of the hurt passengers had already been released from hospital. An injured passengers with their head covered is transported by Calgary EMS crews after the Shanghai to The passengers who weren't taken to hospital were eventually booked onto other flights. Rui Jhao, who suffered minor injuries, caught an 8 p.m. flight to Toronto. He waited in line to check in with large red scrapes above and below his left eye - a visual record of what he experienced during the memorable flight from China. "I hit the wall and got damaged," Jhao said. Speaking at South Health Campus, where his 11-year-old daughter Grace was being treated, Chang Wang said the girl received bruises to her head and was suffering back pain after she was thrown into the next row of seats during the journey. "There was terrible turbulence ... some vibration and then suddenly a huge drop," Wang said. "Things were flying through the air everywhere." While there was an on-board announcement of heavy weather prior to the incident and a reminder to buckle up, Wang said he understands that his daughter, who was seated with others elsewhere in the cabin, was sleeping and did not hear the warning. The girl was among several patients being assessed and treated at South Health Campus for their injuries Wednesday evening. A member of the Air Canada special assistance team was at the hospital to assist passengers and their families. Several passengers praised the 19 crew members' professionalism throughout the incident. They warned passengers in advance, said Toronto resident Gord Murray. "The pilot said, 'this is going to be a very turbulent area,' " he noted. Murray said that when the rough turbulence was over, medical professionals who were on the flight jumped in to help the injured passengers. "We're all happy to be back on the ground safe and sound," he said after departing the plane in Calgary. In a statement released Wednesday evening, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer at Air Canada acknowledged the experience was "very unsettling" for many aboard the aircraft. "Safety is always our first priority and so any incident involving the safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost concern," said Klaus Goersch. Several passengers recalled hearing cries and watching people who weren't wearing seatbelts get thrust out of their seats when the plane began to shake. "Some guys just flew," said Liu Pinzhou. "It was crazy." Yi Re, one of the first passengers to exit the plane, said passengers didn't know if the aircraft would survive the turbulence. (The plane was) moving sideways, up and down ... very violently," he said. Like many on the flight, passenger Linea He said the experience was something she never wants to repeat. "I was scared, really scared," she said. "It was like suddenly the plane was going down." Patients are transported to hospital from the Calgary International Airport in Calgary on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015. "They will see if they can gather enough evidence to understand what happened," said Julie Leroux, spokeswoman with the investigative agency. http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/aircraft-passengers-flying-into-calgary-airport-with-injuries- from-turbulence Back to Top Rat on a plane! Air India flight to London returns after rodent sighting Airline sources said the Dreamliner aircraft which left Mumbai at 7am was in the Tehran airspace when the crew had a 'fleeting glance' of a rodent in the pantry. (HT File Photo) Nearly halfway into its journey to London on Wednesday morning, an Air India flight carrying around 240 passengers from Mumbai had to return after a cabin crew member spotted a rat on board. Airline sources said the Dreamliner aircraft which left Mumbai at 7am was in the Tehran airspace when the crew had a 'fleeting glance' of a rodent in the pantry. According to safety rules laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the pilot got in touch with the Mumbai air traffic control (ATC) tower and decided to turn back. The flight arrived in the city around 12.50 pm, ATC officials said. After passengers got off the flight, the aircraft was taken to a remote parking bay for an inspection and a fumigation exercise was prescribed by the safety regulator, airport officials said. An AI spokesperson confirmed the flight returned to the city as a "preventive measure" but the presence of a rodent on board was being investigated. The passengers were given another aircraft for the journey to London. "AI 131 Mumbai to London returned to Mumbai today due to suspected rat sighting. Though the presence of the rodent was not confirmed but keeping passenger safety in mind, the aircraft was brought back. Air India gives utmost importance to safety. Our engineering team is investigating the incident. A standby aircraft was made available to fly the passengers to London. The aircraft with the suspected rodent will be fumigated as per procedure in such cases of rodent sighting," said the airline spokesperson. On July 30, a Milan-bound AI flight returned to the Delhi airport two hours after it took off, owing to the suspected presence of a rat on board. Air safety experts, however, questioned the pilots' decision to fly all the way back to Mumbai. "The DGCA has a 'no-go' rule on rodents sighted on board which means that the cockpit crew should land at the nearest airport to offload passengers," said a former member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC), a government-appointed independent air safety panel formed after the Air India Express crash at Mangalore in 2010. Airline sources added that at least two meals were served on board during the six-hour flight. "The breakfast was served soon after take-off. And lunch was served after the flight turned back. Assuming the flight was diverted citing safety concerns of food contamination, it would not serve the purpose," said a senior AI cabin crew requesting anonymity. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/rat-on-a-plane-air-india-flight-to-london-returns-to-mumbai-after- rodent-sighting/story-uW6o9r3XqgTV4B2F5np02O.html Back to Top Aircraft tail scrape investigated (U.K.) AAIB probes incident at Ronaldsway The Air Accident Investigation Branch is investigating after an incident at Ronaldsway airport earlier this month. A Stobart ATR-72 plane on a Flybe flight from Manchester scraped its tail as it came into land with 70 people aboard. The plane suffered minor damage and was grounded for 13 hours before resuming service. The incident, rated serious, happened on Tuesday, December 22 and is now being probed by the UK's air safety body. http://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/aircraft-tail-scrape-investigated/ Back to Top Easyjet A319 Lands on Wrong Runway (Pisa, Italy) Date: 30-DEC-2015 Time: 11:11 Type: Airbus A319-111 Owner/operator: easyJet Registration: G-EZBY C/n / msn: 3176 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: None Location: Pisa Airport (PSA/LIRP) - Italy Phase: Landing Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Manchester International Airport (MAN/EGCC) Destination airport: Pisa-Galileo Galilei Airport (PSA/LIRP) Narrative: Easyjet flight U21847 from Manchester, U.K. to Pisa, Italy, landed on the wrong runway at Pisa Airport. The flight was cleared to land on runway 04L but landed on runway 04R instead, according to the Italian ANSV. A Notam published on December 23, 2015 stated that runway 04R/22L was available as taxiway only and that 04L/22R was available as runway in use: http://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=182972 Back to Top Cross-strait aviation safety pact takes effect Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) An aviation agreement that was signed between Taiwan and China in August took effect Thursday, with the aim of fostering bilateral cooperation on flight safety, according to Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). The agreement also seeks to improve the punctuality of Taiwan-China flights, especially as the weekly number has increased to 890 since Oct. 1, the SEF said. Under the pact, which was signed Aug. 25 in China's Fuzhou City, aviation authorities will be better able to monitor flight operations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait by means of a smoother contact mechanism, the SEF said. Closer cooperation between the two sides in the area of aviation may help prevent accidents and safeguard passengers, according to the SEF, which inked the agreement with its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201512310025.aspx Back to Top Three years on, Saudi's new airlines still grounded No-one is really surprised that the two new carriers have once again missed their proposed launch dates for the year. It was back in December 2012 that GACA, the civil aviation authority of Saudi Arabia, awarded two new domestic licenses in an effort to shake up the kingdom's under-performing airline market. Qatar Airways and Bahrain's Gulf Air were named as the winning bidders, although the latter quickly distanced itself from the process. Qatar Airways created a new brand for its Saudi offshoot, Al-Maha Airways, while the Gulf Air licence evolved into SaudiGulf Airlines under the auspices of Al Qahtani Group. GACA's promise that flights would get under way in 2013, however, proved hollow. Al-Maha and SaudiGulf subsequently committed to launching services in 2014. That also did not happen. With 2015 now drawing to a close, no-one is really surprised that the two carriers have once again missed their proposed launch dates for the year. The glacial pace of progress must be infuriating for SaudiGulf president Samer Majali, an illustrious airline executive who earned his stripes heading up Gulf Air and Royal Jordanian Airlines. But if his patience is wearing thin after three years of bureaucracy, he masks it brilliantly. "The reason it's taken so long is because ... SaudiGulf took the decision to introduce brand new aeroplanes in a very, very high specification," Majali tells Al Arabiya News, refusing to criticise GACA for what most observers consider to be deliberate stonewalling by the regulator. He insists that ordering brand new aircraft - as opposed to deploying second-hand planes - delayed the airline's launch by about 18 months, citing the kingdom's comprehensive auditing processes. That does not explain why successive launch dates were announced and later scrapped, of course, but it concords with GACA's own assessment that "technical reasons" are behind the latest delays. New year, new resolve So what now? Will SaudiGulf finally get off the ground in 2016, bringing much-needed competition to a market that has stagnated under the dominance of flag-carrier Saudia? Yes, Majali says. Probably. "We expect that we will get the [operating] licence ... early in the new year, and then we'll do some soft operations in the first quarter," he confirms, before qualifying the projection. "Then, hopefully, the idea is to start our full schedule before the second quarter. "This is the plan, but it's a plan because obviously it's subject to the authorities doing whatever is necessary for them to do." Stopping short of announcing a firm launch date is probably wise given the recent run of false-starts. But SaudiGulf can at least point to clear signs of progress. The airline took delivery of its first Airbus A320 in November, allowing it to begin route-proving flights and emergency evacuation exercises in what Majali describes as the "final stage" of the licencing process. "We don't know how long that will take," he admits. "Things might come up." Assuming that SaudiGulf does get off the ground in 2016, the airline will initially deploy four A320s from its eastern base of Dammam for services to Jeddah and Riyadh. One international route will also be launched in the early stages, with Majali identifying Dubai as the most likely candidate. Further domestic routes will be added when 16 Bombardier CS300s begin arriving in 2017. Free-market pricing Asked about the domestic fare cap that GACA enforces to keep ticket prices low - but which incumbent carriers Saudia and Flynas have blamed for their financial losses - Majali says it would be "logical" to begin dismantling the regulatory mechanism as the kingdom transitions to open-market competition. "There are multiple airlines now on the Saudi Arabian playing field, so the fare cap no longer makes sense," he argues, while acknowledging that any changes must be gradual. GACA took tentative steps towards reforming the fare cap in 2014, when it allowed domestic carriers to lift ticket prices within ten days of departure. By charging passengers extra for last-minute bookings, airlines can influence customer behaviour and improve the robustness of revenue-management projections. This dynamic approach to pricing is considered the norm in other aviation markets. Before nit-picking about the regulatory landscape, however, both SaudiGulf and Al-Maha must first secure clearance to launch operations. It would be in everyone's best interests if GACA ensures that 2016 is the year that both carriers finally take to the skies. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/aviation-and-transport/2015/12/30/Three-years-on-Saudi-s-new- airlines-still-grounded-.html Back to Top Airbus delays delivery of first A320neo aircraft Airbus has pushed back the delivery of its first A320neo aircraft to the start of 2016, it said on Wednesday, missing a goal to hand over the revamped version of the jet to its initial customer by the end of 2015. The A320neo, seen as a profit driver for Airbus and its suppliers in coming years, won safety approval in late November, and Airbus said it was working with its development partners to bring the plane into operation. "All three partners continue working with all efforts and full focus towards bringing the fuel-efficient A320neo into service within the next weeks," Airbus said in a statement, adding that the problem lay with documentation for the delivery, but without giving any further details. German carrier Lufthansa became the first airline due to take delivery of the A320neo passenger jet earlier this month, after Qatar Airways voiced uncertainty over the performance of its Pratt & Whitney engines. Lufthansa said it had agreed with Airbus to delay the delivery to the start of 2016 due to "technical complexities". "Discussions are continuing such that when we deliver the plane, it is truly operational in the Lufthansa fleet," an Airbus spokesman said, adding Airbus hoped to deliver the plane in the first two weeks of January. Engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies, said it was working closely with Airbus and Lufthansa to resolve "documentation items" with its Geared Turbofan engine, which is powering a new generation of jetliners, including Bombardier's CSeries as well as the A320neo. Boeing's rival 737 MAX uses an engine produced by CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric Co and Safran. Earlier this month, UTC Chief Executive Gregory Hayes said that uneven cooling of the engine after flight required a special restart procedure under some circumstances. Hayes said software and hardware fixes were in the works and would likely be implemented by February. On Wednesday, Pratt & Whitney spokeswoman Sara Banda said the company had plans to incorporate "software refinements and minor hardware modifications" in production engines starting in the second quarter of 2016. http://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/airbus-delays-delivery-of-first-a320neo-aircraft Back to Top Lockheed Martin To Build 32 Super Hercules Aircraft For US Air Force; Contract Worth $1B C-130J Super Hercules A U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft takes part in a flying display during the 49th Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport near Paris June 24, 2011. The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract worth $1 billion to Lockheed Martin Corp. for its Super Hercules military airlift aircraft, the U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday. The announcement comes amid a legal battle between the defense contractor and the Pentagon over a separate deal. "Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Georgia, has been awarded a $1,060,940,036... contract for C-130J [Super Hercules aircraft] multi-year production aircraft," the defense department said, in a statement. Lockheed is expected to build 32 new Super Hercules aircraft and supply it to the army by April 2020, the statement added. Last Monday, the Pentagon had announced that Lockheed won a contract worth $1.17 billion to buy titanium and other materials to manufacture the eleventh batch of F-35 fighter jets. The defense department also said that the company had met its 2015 goal of delivering 45 F-35 jets to the U.S. government and allies. Lockheed is currently involved in a legal battle with the Pentagon over its decision to award a$6.75 billion contract to Oshkosh Corp. to produce 17,000 new Humvee trucks to replace an aging fleet of combat vehicles made by Lockheed Martin. Following the lawsuit, Lockheed also filed a temporary injunction against Oshkosh's manufacturing of the trucks. http://www.ibtimes.com/lockheed-martin-build-32-super-hercules-aircraft-us-air-force-contract-worth-1b- 2245311 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