Flight Safety Information January 20, 2016 - No. 014 In This Issue PROS 2016 TRAINING British Airways Plane Smashes Into Jet Bridge At Miami Int'l Singapore Airlines Introduces Unlimited Data Roaming In-Flight, for a Fee Airlines aren't learning enough from near misses SeaPort Airlines halts service to California locations, including Bob Hope Airport TSA finds 'pen gun' at Orlando International Airport. FAA Proposes Stage 5 Noise Standards for New Aircraft FAA Proposes Stage 5 Noise Standards for New Aircraft.. Training rule blamed for pilot shortage Professional Pilot EFB Usage CALL FOR PAPERS Military Aviation Safety Workshop Graduate Research Surveys. Graduate Research Survey British Airways Plane Smashes Into Jet Bridge At Miami Int'l MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A British Airways jumbo jet smashed into a jet bridge at Miami International Airport Tuesday night. The accident happened at Terminal E. It's unclear if anyone on the plane was hurt or if the incident has caused any delays. One of the engines from the British Airways jumbo jet smashed into a jet bridge. (Source: MIA Employee) CBS4 made calls to the airport and British Airways, but they haven't responded. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/01/19/british-airways-plane-smashes-into-jet-bridge-at-miami-intl/ Back to Top Singapore Airlines Introduces Unlimited Data Roaming In-Flight, for a Fee Promotional image of First Class on Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines Scott Alvis of Amadeus sat down with Skift CEO and Founder Rafat Ali to talk about the future of technology in the travel industry. While mobile connectivity in the U.S. has strong detractors, concerned over passenger calls in-flight, the service is broadly used around the world and passengers mostly use the service for texting and data applications. - Marisa Garcia In conjunction with Singapores' mobile provider M1 Limited and SITA's Mobile OnAir, Singapore Airlines will introduce unlimited in-flight mobile data roaming on its flights. M1's customers will have inflight data roaming charges capped at $17.50 per day (S$25). "With this new in-flight data roaming service, travellers can stay in touch with their loved ones, answer important e-mail or simply get the latest social media updates," said Mr P. Subramaniam, Chief Marketing Officer, M1. SITA's Mobile OnAir service offers global coverage which passengers can use to call, text or for mobile data applications in-flight. On average, 37% of the airline's customers connect to the onboard mobile network. A total of 19 million passengers took advantage of the service in 2015 and 65% of passengers who connected to SITAOnAir's mobile network, used the service for data applications. "We want to make it very simple and offer transparent prices for passengers to use their phones during flights," said François Rodriguez, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer of SITA OnAir. "Our partnerships with mobile phone operators across the world allow us to provide airlines and their passengers with the very best deals. The resulting lower prices and clear costs encourage people to use the service." Interested in more stories like these? Sign up for the Skift Daily Newsletter, you will be lot smarter about the future of travel, we guarantee it! The aviation technology company has found that 83% of passengers are likely to fly with smartphones, and that 60% of those who do will want to use their smartphones to text and/or check email. Singapore Airlines was among the first airlines in the world offering in-flight connectivity options, introducing SITA OnAir service in 2012. Connectivity is now available throughout the airline's B777-300ER and A380 long-haul fleet. Singapore Airlines has also selected SITA OnAir to install high-speed broadband onboard Wi-Fi on its long- range fleet using Inmarsat's GX Aviation satellite network. http://skift.com/2016/01/19/singapore-airlines-introduces-unlimited-data-roaming-in-flight-for-a-fee/ Back to Top Airlines aren't learning enough from near misses Near misses with less obvious signs of risk getting ignored WHEN IT COMES TO FLIGHT SAFETY, US AIRLINES ARE PRETTY GOOD AT LEARNING FROM ACCIDENTS. BUT NEW RESEARCH SHOWS AIRLINES SHOULD BE LEARNING MORE FROM ACCIDENTS THAT NEVER HAPPEN. When it comes to flight safety, U.S. airlines are pretty good at learning from accidents. But new research shows airlines should be learning more from accidents that never happen. A new study led by BYU organizational behavior professor Peter Madsen finds that airlines are flying past an opportunity to increase safety by ignoring too many "near misses." "Studies show pilots or crew members make at least one potentially hazardous error on 68 percent of commercial airline flights, but very few of these errors lead to an accident," Madsen said. "Airlines need to institute policies that encourage learning from these seemingly innocuous near misses." To be clear, Madsen is not talking about the near misses you see on the news. He and researchers from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business poured over the safety data of 64 U.S. commercial airlines from 1990 to 2007 to determine where less obvious near-miss incidents were being ignored. As expected, their study (published in Risk Analysis) found airlines improve their safety performance in response to their own accidents and accidents experienced by other airlines. However, airlines only learn from near misses when there are obvious signs of risk. Specifically, airlines pay attention to near misses that have led to accidents in the past (fire on the plane, ice build-up on wings), but don't look closely at near misses that have yet to cause an accident (airplane rolling on the runway when it should be stopped). "We're not saying airlines aren't doing a good job--they are paying attention to near misses more than any other industry in the world," Madsen said. "That said, near misses that are considered benign might be slipping through the cracks." Examples of "benign" near misses identified by researchers: Incapacitation of a flight crew member Software or mechanical problems with cockpit displays Poor handling of aircraft while decelerating on the runway after touch down Traffic congestion on the taxiway during aircraft taxiing Nuisance warnings and false alarms. The researchers suggest airlines can improve in two ways: Continue successful data-collection efforts, but expand which near misses are reported. Remain vigilant toward deviations from normal and uncover root causes of the deviations. Madsen said one way airline personnel can improve on the second point is by focusing on events the industry once considered unacceptable but now occur so often that they've come to be accepted as normal. "It can be hard to learn from near misses because we're wired to ignore them," Madsen said. "But the difference between a near miss and a larger failure may only be good fortune." ### Funding for the study came in part from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/byu-aal011916.php Back to Top SeaPort Airlines halts service to California locations, including Bob Hope Airport SeaPort halts service to California locations SeaPort Airlines, which operates nine-passenger Cessna Caravan aircraft, started offering service from Burbank to Imperial in early 2013, followed by flights to San Diego International Airport in October 2014. It began service to Visalia Municipal Airport last February. (Courtesy of SeaPort Airlines) SeaPort Airlines, a Portland, Ore.-based carrier with routes in eight U.S. states and Baja, Calif., in Mexico, announced Friday that it would discontinue all scheduled service to destinations in California and Mexico by the end of that day, and to destinations in Kansas and Missouri by the end of the day this past Saturday. The cancellations impact service at nine destinations, including Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, and airfields in four other California cities - Sacramento, Visalia, San Diego and Imperial. Customers will be issued a full refund for unused tickets. "The company was forced to take this action because of the impact on SeaPort's business and operations following the effects of the shortage of airline pilots in the United States," according to the announcement. The airline also halted service in San Felipe in Baja, Calif., and in Salina and Great Bend in Kansas as well as in Kansas City, Mo. Meanwhile, service in Oregon, Washington, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas will be unaffected, according to the announcement. Denis Carvill, Bob Hope Airport's deputy executive director for engineering, maintenance, operations and airline relations, notified Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority members of the service cancellation during a meeting of the authority board Tuesday. "We all know that there's a shortage of pilots out there," Carvill said, adding that the situation has led larger carriers "to suck those pilots up the pilot scale." A U.S. Government Accountability Office report in February 2014 found "mixed evidence regarding the extent of a shortage of airline pilots," though it said regional airlines had reported difficulty finding enough qualified entry-level pilots during the prior year. Larger carriers, which hire from the ranks of experienced pilots, did not report similar concerns, according to the report. The report also stated that pilot schools reported fewer new students seeking training due to "concerns over the high costs of education and low entry-level pay at regional airlines." Airport Authority President Frank Quintero, one of Glendale's commissioners, said he had attended an industry panel on the issue. "It's almost impossible to pay off your student debt," he said. SeaPort started offering service from Burbank to Imperial in early 2013, followed by flights to San Diego International Airport in October 2014. It began service to Visalia Municipal Airport last February. The regional carrier, which relies on federal subsidies to provide air service connecting rural airports to nearby hubs, operates nine-passenger Cessna Caravan aircraft and needs to maintain certain passenger traffic volumes to meet federally enforced per-passenger subsidy caps. http://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-seaport-airlines-halts-service-to-california- locations-including-bob-hope-airport-20160119-story.html Back to Top TSA finds 'pen gun' at Orlando International Airport ORLANDO, Fla. -The Transportation Security Administration used social media to show off an unusual gun recently confiscated from a traveler at Orlando International Airport. It's a pen gun designed to fire a .22 caliber round. The weapon was confiscated by the TSA. A TSA spokesman said it was discovered at an airport security checkpoint Dec. 30 in an unidentified passenger's carry-on bag. "The item was surrendered," a TSA spokesman told WESH 2 News. The passenger was allowed to continue travel. Sources tell WESH 2 News the device discovered was more of a family heirloom than a weapon. An OIA spokeswoman said not only was it unloaded, it was also physically inoperable. The owner was not arrested, however, the TSA has the ability to issue a civil penalty of up to $11,000 to individuals who bring a dangerous or prohibited item to the checkpoint, like guns or explosives. http://www.wesh.com/news/tsa-finds-pen-gun-at-orlando-international-airport/37518444 Back to Top FAA Proposes Stage 5 Noise Standards for New Aircraft The FAA is paving the way for new Stage 5 noise requirements that would align U.S. and international standards. It released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) late last week that would require companies submitting an application after Dec. 31, 2017, for a new aircraft weighing at least a 121,254 pounds mtow to meet Stage 5 requirements. Applicants for new aircraft weighing less than 121,254 pounds mtow must meet the Stage 5 standard after Dec. 31, 2020. The NPRM would harmonize U.S. requirements with the new Stage 5 noise standard that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) published in March 2014. But the FAA stressed that the NPRM is intended only for new aircraft and "should not be interpreted as signaling the start of an action aimed at phasing out the existing noise standards that apply to the production or operation of current models. There are no operational restrictions nor production cut-offs on the use of Stage 3 or Stage 4 airplanes in the U.S." Following in step with ICAO, the FAA provided an extended timeline for smaller aircraft at the requests of manufacturers, which said they needed more time to develop the technology required to meet Stage 5. "Recently, there have been technological advances in the lower weight classes such as the geared turbofan engine and the development of quieter control surfaces," the FAA said. "Given these recent technological advances in lighter airplanes, the FAA expects all manufacturers to be able to meet the new standards by the Dec. 31, 2020 date." The FAA, however, requested comments on whether the time frame would be sufficient since "this expectation is crucial" to the agency's minimal cost determination. With advances in technologies, the agency determined that the proposal would have "minimal, if any, cost." The FAA noted that several large aircraft currently in production already meet the Stage 5 noise limits, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. "For many of the new airplane programs announced prior to...2013, analysis shows that such airplanes will be able to meet the proposed Stage 5 standard without any additional cost," the agency said. The FAA is accepting comments on the proposal through April 13 at www.regulations.gov (Docket Number FAA-2015-3782). http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2016-01-19/faa-proposes-stage-5-noise-standards- new-aircraft Back to Top Zenith, Zenair buy SAM Aircraft Zenith Aircraft and Zenair have purchased SAM Aircraft. Zenith Aircraft and Zenair announced Jan. 18 that the businesses had purchased SAM Aircraft, maker of the experimental SAM LS. The U.S.-based Zenith Aircraft and Canadian-based Zenair are owned by aircraft designer Chris Heintz's sons. SAM Aircraft Founder Thierry Zibi had initially announced that his Canadian company was for sale in August 2014 and then again in October 2015. In 2015, he announced the sale price of $100,000 for the entire company, including the only fully tested SAM LS prototype, valued at $120,000. According to the announcement, Zenith and Zenair are considering three configurations for the aircraft: a light sport aircraft, an experimental kit, and a sport aerobatic model that could be offered as an LSA or experimental aircraft. In addition, the companies are looking at different wing spans, tailwheel and nosewheel options, and enclosed or open-cockpit designs. "The advanced engineering used in developing the SAM is impressive, including extensive use of 3D modeling," said Zenair's Matt Heintz. "With us bringing this aircraft to market, the new SAM Aircraft design will benefit from our 40 years of experience manufacturing aircraft kits." Zenith offers the STOL CH701, CH750, and CH650 series kit-built aircraft, while Zenair offers the CH701, CH750, CH801, CH601, CH650B, CH640, and CH2000. AOPA flew the SAM LS in 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas, where Zibi showed off the aircraft designed to look like a miniature warbird at AOPA Aviation Summit. Zibi told AOPA in 2014, when he first announced that the company was for sale, that he enjoyed designing aircraft more than running a manufacturing company. http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2016/January/19/Zenith-and-Zenair-buy-SAM-Aircraft Back to Top Pilots union says problem is low wages Training rule blamed for pilot shortage Jacksonville University students Jason Closky, left, and Bill Luce, right, receive a simulator lesson from their professor, Chad Kendall. Photo Credit: Jacksonville University School of Aviation In 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407, operating under the banner of Continental Connection, crashed into a house on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 aboard and one person on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board would eventually conclude that the crash had resulted from the errors of the plane's two pilots, who did not respond properly to cockpit warnings that the aircraft was about to stall. The Colgan crash led to a reexamination of training requirements for pilots at regional airlines, resulting in a rule mandated by Congress and the FAA in 2013 requiring that U.S. commercial pilots hold an Air Transport Pilot certificate, requiring 1,500 hours of flight experience. Previously, they had to hold just a commercial certificate, requiring 250 hours of flight time. Now, as regional airlines and the small airports they serve find themselves increasingly hampered by a pilot shortage, the airlines broadly agree that the 1,500-hour rule is one cause of the problem. The rule, both they and airport representatives say, needs to be modified in order to make entry-level recruitment more manageable. But the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA), the world's largest pilots union, disagrees, asserting that the rule makes commercial air service safer. The real cause of the problems that regional airlines are experiencing, the union says, is not a shortage of pilots but rather the low pay they are offering. Central to the debate are the rule itself and the indisputable fact that regional airlines and airports, for whatever the reason, are struggling. Among the major regional airline players, SkyWest and Republic Airways, both of which fly routes under contract with American, Delta and United, reduced capacity in 2015 by 6.1% and 11%, respectively, company reports show. In October, citing pilot shortages, Seaport Airlines stopped flying from Memphis to Tupelo, Miss., and Muscle Shoals, Ala., even though they were under contract with the federal government and receiving subsidies as part of the Essential Air Service program, which was designed to maintain the access of small towns to the aviation network. Meanwhile, since the second quarter of 2013, 29 small airports in the continental U.S. have lost commercial service, according to the trade group American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). In a recent financial report, Great Lakes Airlines said that post-Colgan regulations, including stricter mandates on pilot rest and the 1,500-hour rule, had "created an industrywide shortage of qualified pilots, negatively affecting our level of operations and financial performance." But not everyone believes that the 1,500-hour rule is having that much impact on pilot recruitment. For one thing, the rule includes exceptions. Military pilots can become commercial co-pilots with 750 hours of flight time, and graduates of qualified bachelor-degree aviation programs are eligible after 1,000 hours. Significantly, both Ken Byrnes, chair of the flight department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Chad Kendall, an assistant aeronautics professor at Florida's Jacksonville University, said that regional airlines have often required minimums of well above 250 flight hours by their own choosing. Kendall, for example, said he was required to have 1,000 hours of flight time before gaining entry into the business in 2006. "The airlines would change the requirements based upon the market," Byrnes said. Under the existing requirements, new co-pilots must have logged 50 hours of cockpit time in multiengine aircraft, but the remainder can be attained on single-engine craft such as the tiny Cessna Skyhawk. In order to obtain the Air Transport Pilot certificate, pilots also must complete certificate course work and testing, including 10 hours in a simulator, Byrnes said. He said it's too early to determine if the stricter training requirements have increased safety in the U.S. skies, though he pointed to the 2012 Pilot Source Study, conducted ahead of the 2013 implementation of the new requirements, which showed inconclusive results on whether pilots who had logged more than 1,500 hours performed better in regional airline pilot training than those who had 500 to 1,500 hours. What the study did show is that pilots with four-year aviation degrees perform better than those who don't have them. Both Kendall and Byrne are emphatic that the quality of one's training is far more important than the quantity when it comes to preparing pilots for commercial service. There is one thing about the 1,500-hour rule that ALPA, regional airlines like Great Lakes and the American Association of Airport Executives agree on: The economics of it don't work. Aspiring pilots often spend $150,000 to $200,000 on training and flight hours, said ALPA Resource Coordinator Paul Ryder. Despite agreeing on that, the various entities disagree on the solution. ALPA blames the airlines for low entry-level pay and says that there are more than enough certified U.S. pilots to go around. Under a deal that Republic reached with it pilots' union in October, new pilots will get $40 per flight hour. But that's industry-leading, and according to the online forum Airline Pilot Central, Republic, like other regionals, only guarantees 75 hours of flight time per month, meaning its pilots could earn less than $36,000 per year. As of September, ALPA estimated that first-year pay at SkyWest affiliate ExpressJet, as well as regionals Mesa and Atlantic Southeast, at less than $21,000. Ryder said one thing that has increased recruitment difficulties at regional airlines is the wide availability of information on their pay rates on the Internet. "The regional carriers run a business, and their business plans have to be predicated on sound economics," he said. Even so, the Regional Airlines Association (RAA) and the AAAE say that tweaks to the 1,500-hour rule would help with recruitment. The RAA is careful to note that it is not asking Congress to change the 1,500- hour rule. What it does want is for the FAA to approve an alternative airline-based training path, which, like college programs, would provide a lower flight-hour requirement. The program would "provide better experience for pilots through gold-standard training programs, presenting considerable improvement in safety over the current system," RAA President Faye Malarkey Black said. http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Training-rule-blamed-for-pilot-deficit Back to Top Professional Pilot EFB Usage Survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TYWYKKJ Attention colleagues, my name is Tyler Babb and I am an assistant professor with the Middle Tennessee State University Aerospace Department. I am conducting research on the use of EFBs in the United States professional pilot industry. Active commercial pilots in the United States (except for flight instructors) are encouraged to participate, even if they do not currently use EFBs. Apologies to current MTSU students, this data is intended to be gathered by alumni. The survey is fairly short and should not take more than 15 minutes to complete. Your name will not be collected, but your company name (operator) will be collected. The company name will in no way be linked to any other data on the survey. Collection of the names of the operators is necessary to ensure a sufficient data sample from the industry. Electronic Flight Bags have become a common tool for pilots. These devices provide charts, weather data, performance data, and other pertinent flight-related information. As collegeiate aviation educators, our faculty and students could benefit from surveying the current usage of EFBs in the industry. This survey aims to collect data on the following: * the prevalence of EFBs in the professional pilot industry * trends in EFB usage * common devices and software * potential drawbacks and/or limitations With this data, aviation students around the country could see the current status of EFB usage. This research could better prepare them to enter the industry. Thank you for your participation in this survey. This information will empower students and educators alike to better prepare our future pilots for a flying career. Back to Top CALL FOR PAPERS Military Aviation Safety Workshop "Sharing Safety Lessons to Preserve Military Readiness" April 19 - 21, 2016 Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Hosted by the Rocky Mountain Regional Chapter of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) Representatives of military forces, associated contractors, educators, and researchers of all nationalities are invited to participate in a three-day ISASI Military Aviation Safety Workshop. The workshop will include presentations of selected technical papers on military aviation safety topics along with tutorials targeting unique military aspects of aviation safety such as ejection system investigations and Unmanned Aerial System investigations. Presentations are solicited related to safety management, human factors, proactive detection of hazards, accident prevention, and safety culture, in addition to more traditional accident investigation case studies. The 2016 MASW is open to all interested participants and will be particularly valuable for military air safety investigators, manufacturers of military aircraft and equipment, support contractors engaged in military operations, safety program managers and safety educators. If you are interested in presenting a paper at the 2016 Military Air Safety Workshop, please submit a summary abstract (150 - 300 words) to MilitaryAirSafety@gmail.com before February 8, 2016. Back to Top Graduate Research Surveys Barbara Schaffner is - since 11 years - a ground-facilities inspector at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, Switzerland. As an expert in Ground Handling she is taking part in the ISAGO GOC. She co-chaired the ECAST Ground Safety Work Group and participated in the development and promotion of the RRM Syllabus (Ramp Resource Management). She is currently writing her Msc Thesis in Aviation Safety Management at City University, London. For her thesis "An Effective and Efficient Oversight of the Non-Commercial Complex Domain" - she would greatly appreciate your support by taking part in this Survey. Please note that "Survey 1 - NCC_NAA" (see below) is for National Aviation Authorities experts and "Survey 2 - NCC_Operation" (see below) is for all operational-specialists in the NCC domain (aircraft owners, flight crews, management-companies of NCC Aircraft). Thank you for your support! Survey 1 - NCC_NAA https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/Survey_NCC_NAA Survey 2 - NCC_Operation https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/Survey_NCC_Operation Back to Top Graduate Research Survey I am currently pursuing a career in Aviation Safety. I will be completing a MSc. in Aviation Safety with this final research project. The scope of the research is: 'Evaluating the perception of stress among air traffic controllers in the United Arab Emirates as a safety risk to operational performance'. I am interested in the views of ATC operators from around the world to help establish a baseline for the research and gain further insight into the ramifications of stress in this sector on a global scale. The link to the survey is as follows: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/InternationalATCStress I look forward to the feedback. Kind Regards, Gary Peck MSc Aviation Safety Emirates Aviation University Curt Lewis