Flight Safety Information May 19, 2016 - No. 098 In This Issue EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo missing with 66 on board Two Ukrainian pilots injured, one dies in cargo plane crash in Afghanistan B-52 bomber crashes on Guam Indonesian Carriers Face Penalties After Airport Mistakes German air authority let radical Islamist work at Berlin airports, ignored warning Aviation Institute of Maintenance Launches Free Online "Human Factors" Safety Course China to Boost Development of General Aviation Industry GE Aviation enters experimental, kit-built market The FAA Flight Standards Service is pleased to announce the Asia-Pacific Flight Standards Meeting Zodiac Arresting Systems Offers RCAM Training Call for Nominations For 2016 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo missing with 66 on board An EgyptAir flight carrying 66 passengers and crew on a flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean, Egypt's national airline said. Officials said they believed the jet went down in the sea. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said a search was underway for the missing Airbus A320 and it was too early to rule out any explanation, including terrorism. Officials with the airline and the Egyptian civil aviation department told Reuters they believed the jet had crashed into the Mediterranean between Greece and Egypt. Greece's civil aviation chief said calls from Greek air traffic controllers to the jet went unanswered just before it left the country's airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards. The search in the Mediterranean has turned up nothing as yet. "Absolutely nothing has been found so far," a senior Greek coastguard official told Reuters. It remained unclear whether the disappearance was due to technical failure or any other reason such as sabotage by ultra-hardline Islamists, who have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years. The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers - with one child and two infants among them - and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. "The theory that the plane crashed and fell is now confirmed after the preliminary search and after it did not arrive at any of the nearby airports," said a senior aviation source, who declined to be identified. Asked if he could rule out that terrorists were behind the incident, Prime Minister Ismail said: "We cannot exclude anything at this time or confirm anything. All the search operations must be concluded so we can know the cause." "Search operations are ongoing at this time for the airplane in the area where it is believed to have lost contact," he told reporters at Cairo airport. The pilot had clocked up 6,275 hours of flying experience, including 2,101 hours on the A320, while the first officer had 2,766 hours, the airline said. Greek air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot as the jet flew over the island of Kea, in what was thought to be the last broadcast from the aircraft, and no problems were reported. But just ahead of the handover to Cairo airspace, calls to the plane went unanswered, before it dropped off radars shortly after exiting Greek airspace, Kostas Litzerakis, the head of Greece's civil aviation department, told Reuters. "During the transfer procedure to Cairo airspace, about seven miles before the aircraft entered the Cairo airspace, Greek controllers tried to contact the pilot but he was not responding," he said. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will chair a national security council meeting on Thursday morning, a statement from his office said. It did not say if the meeting would discuss the plane. At one point EgyptAir said the plane sent an emergency signal, possibly from a beacon attached to the plane, at 04:26 a.m., two hours after it disappeared from radar screens. However, Civil Aviation minister Sherif Fathi said later that further checks found that no SOS from the plane was received. In water crashes, an underwater beacon attached to the aircraft's flight recorders starts to emit a signal or ping. This helps search and rescue teams to locate the crash and find the boxes. "NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING" At Cairo airport, authorities ushered families of the passengers and crew into a closed-off waiting area. However, two women and a man, who said they were related to a crew member, were seen leaving the VIP hall where families were being kept. Asked for details, the man said: "We don't know anything, they don't know anything. No one knows anything." Ayman Nassar, from the family of one of the passengers, also walked out of the passenger hall with his daughter and wife in a distressed state. "They told us the plane had disappeared, and that they're still searching for it and not to believe any rumors," he said. A mother of flight attendant rushed out of the hall in tears. She said the last time her daughter called her was Wednesday night. "They haven't told us anything," she said. EgyptAir said on its Twitter account that Flight MS804 had departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST). It disappeared at 02:30 a.m. at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 meters) in Egyptian air space, about 280 km (165 miles) from the Egyptian coast before it was due to land at 03:15 a.m.. In Paris, a police source said investigators were now interviewing officers who were on duty at Roissy airport on Wednesday evening to find out whether they heard or saw anything suspicious. "We are in the early stage here," the source said. Airbus said the missing A320 was delivered to EgyptAir in November 2003 and had operated about 48,000 flight hours. Greece said it had deployed aircraft and a frigate to the area to help with the search. A Greek defense ministry source said authorities were also investigating an account from the captain of a merchant ship who reported a 'flame in the sky' about 130 nautical miles south of the island of Karpathos. FRANCE, EGYPT TO COOPERATE The weather was clear at the time the plane disappeared, according to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic network. "Our daily weather assessment does not indicate any issues in that area at that time," it said. Speed and altitude data from aviation website FlightRadar24.com indicated the plane was cruising at the time it disappeared. French President Francois Hollande's office said the French leader had just spoken to his Egyptian counterpart and that both sides would cooperate closely. Under U.N. aviation rules, Egypt will automatically lead an investigation into the accident assisted by countries including France, if it is confirmed that an Airbus jet was involved. "We are in close contact with the Egyptian authorities, both civil and military," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told French radio. "At this stage, no theory can be ruled out regarding the causes of the disappearance." With its ancient archeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is a popular destination for Western tourists. But the industry was badly hit following the downing of a Russian jet last year, an Islamist insurgency and a string of bomb attacks in the country. An Airbus A321 operated by Russia's Metrojet crashed in the Sinai on Oct. 31, 2015, killing all 224 people on board. Russia and Western governments have said the plane was probably brought down by a bomb, and the Islamic State militant group said it had smuggled an explosive device on board. The crash called into question Egypt's campaign to eradicate Islamist militancy and has damaged its tourism industry, a cornerstone of the economy. Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on Egyptian soldiers and police since Sisi, as army chief, toppled freely elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. In March, an EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt. He was arrested after giving himself up. In the same month, Islamic State suicide bombers hit Brussels airport and a metro train in the worst such attacks in Belgian history, killing 32 people. Investigators believed they were carried out by the same cell that was behind November's gun and bomb attacks in Paris which claimed the lives of 130 people. EgyptAir has a fleet of 57 Airbus and Boeing jets, including 15 of the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, according to airfleets.com. The last fatal incident involving an EgyptAir aircraft was in May 2002, when a Boeing 737 crashed into a hill while on approach to Tunis-Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egyptair-airplane-idUSKCN0YA08W *************** Status: Preliminary Date: Thursday 19 May 2016 Time: 02:29 Type: Airbus A320-232 Operator: EgyptAir Registration: SU-GCC C/n / msn: 2088 First flight: 2003-07-25 (12 years 10 months) Engines: 2 IAE V2527-A5 Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 10 Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 56 Total: Fatalities: / Occupants: 66 Airplane damage: Missing Airplane fate: Presumed damaged beyond repair Location: 200 km (125 mls) N of Egyptian coast ( Mediterranean Sea) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG), France Destination airport: Cairo International Airport (CAI/HECA), Egypt Flightnumber: MS804 Narrative: EgyptAir flight MS804 is reported missing over the Mediterranean Sea during a flight from Paris, France to Cairo, Egypt. The aircraft, an Airbus A320, departed Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, at 23:21 hours local time on May 18. Scheduled departure time was 22:45 hours. Last contact with the flight was at FL370, about 02:29 hours. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 suggests the aircraft had just entered the Cairo FIR via the KUMBI waypoint and was about 10 miles inside Egyptian airspace when contact was lost. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160519-0 Back to Top Two Ukrainian pilots injured, one dies in cargo plane crash in Afghanistan The two Ukrainian crew members survived and one died when the AN-12 cargo aircraft crashed in Afghanistan, BBC Ukraine reported citing the Azerbaijani news agency APA. "They [two pilots] are in critical [health] condition," a statement said. Aircraft AN-12 operated by the Azerbaijani airline Silk Way crashed after takeoff from the airport Dwyer in Afghanistan on Wednesday. There were nine people On board. This information was also confirmed by Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Yevhen Ihnatovsky in his comments to the media. He said the Foreign Ministry expects detailed information about the incident from the Embassy of Ukraine in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. http://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-accidents_and_emergencies/2019749-two-ukrainian-pilots-injured-one- dies-in-cargo-plane-crash-in-afghanistan.html **************** Status: Preliminary Date: Wednesday 18 May 2016 Time: ca 19:00 Type: Antonov 12BK Operator: Silk Way Airlines Registration: registration unknown C/n / msn: First flight: Crew: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 9 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 9 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: Dwyer Airport (DWR) ( Afghanistan) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Dwyer Airport (DWR/OADY), Afghanistan Destination airport: Mary Airport (MYP/UTAM), Turkmenistan Narrative: An Azerbaijani cargo plane with nine crew members on board has crashed in Afghanistan, according to the Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation Administration. The crew members consisted of an Uzbek captain, three citizens of Ukraine and five Azerbaijani nationals. Russian aviation sources report that 4K-AZ25 was the aircraft involved in the accident. Three AN-12's are known to be operated by Silk Way. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160518-0 Back to Top B-52 bomber crashes on Guam Anderson air force base says seven crew members were unhurt when aircraft from Pacific bomb squadron came down on flight line moments after takeoff A B-52 bomber has crashed on the Pacific island of Guam, according to the US air force. A B-52H Stratofortress bomber has been destroyed in a fiery crash shortly after takeoff at a US air force base in Guam. All seven crew members survived and got away safely from the wreckage, military officials said. The plane crashed around 8.30am on Wednesday "on the flight line" at Andersen air force base, which adjoins the village of Yigo in the US territory, the base said in a statement. Photographs posted by local media showed the fiery aftermath in which the aircraft appeared to have been completely burnt out. The crew members were from the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron and had been taking off on a routine training mission when the plane crashed, the military said. The cause was under investigation. The air force said the bomber had been deployed to the US territory from Minot, North Dakota, as part of the military's continuous bomber presence in the Pacific. The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range heavy bomber that for more than 40 years has been "the backbone of the manned strategic bomber force in the United States", according to the air force's website. The Air Force has been rotating B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers through Guam since 2004 to boost the US security presence in the Asia-Pacific region. A B-52 crashed off Guam in 2008, killing all six crew members on board. That plane had been flying around the island as part of Guam Liberation Day celebrations, marking the day when the US military arrived to retake control of the island from Japan during the second world war. The B-52 had been scheduled to conduct a flyover in a parade. Guam is a US territory 3,700 miles south-west of Hawaii. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/19/b-52-bomber-crashes-on-guam **************** Date: 18-MAY-2016 Time: 08:30 Type: Boeing B-52 Statofortress Owner/operator: US Air Force Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Andersen Air Force Base (PGUA), Yigo - Guam Phase: Take off Nature: Military Departure airport: Andersen AFB (UAM/PGUA) Destination airport: Andersen AFB (UAM/PGUA) Narrative: The aircraft impacted airport terrain and a post impact fire ensued during an aborted takeoff attempt at Andersen Air Force Base (PGUA), Yigo. The airplane Was apparently destroyed and there were no reported injuries among the seven crew members onboard. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=187413 Back to Top Indonesian Carriers Face Penalties After Airport Mistakes Investigation is under way into mishandling of passengers Indonesia's Transportation Ministry said it would suspend ground-based passenger-handling operations at Jakarta's main airport for Lion Air, and in Bali for Indonesia Air Asia. ENLARGE JAKARTA, Indonesia-Two of Indonesia's largest air carriers face suspension of ground-handling operations at two major airports after delivering international passengers to domestic terminals, compromising immigration controls. Indonesia's Transportation Ministry said Wednesday that it would suspend ground-based passenger- handling operations at Jakarta's main airport for Lion Air, the nation's largest budget carrier, and in Bali for Indonesia Air Asia, the Indonesian affiliate of one of Asia's largest budget airlines. The ministry said that the suspensions will begin next week to give the carriers time to seek new, third- party operators for ground operations. Both airlines said Thursday that their flights were operating as scheduled. Lion Air director Edward Sirait said "we have a Plan B" for ground handling once the suspension begins. Indonesia Air Asia didn't immediately respond to requests to comment about its plans. An investigation is under way into the mishandling of passengers, enabling passengers to briefly miss immigration checks. On May 10, a Lion Air flight from Singapore landed in Jakarta but delivered passengers to the domestic terminal. On Monday, an Indonesia Air Asia flight from Singapore delivered passengers to the domestic terminal in the tourist haven of Bali. The suspensions are the latest setback to hit budget carriers in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian country of 250 million people where air travel has risen quickly in recent years and outpaced development of regulations and airport infrastructure. Earlier this month, Lion Air pilots briefly went on strike over late pay, causing delays for thousands of passengers. Last year, the airline stranded thousands more when it delayed flights for several days. http://www.wsj.com/articles/indonesian-carriers-face-penalties-after-airport-mistakes-1463632855 Back to Top German air authority let radical Islamist work at Berlin airports, ignored warning - report A Turkish-born airport cleaner known to the authorities as a hardline Islamist had an access to major German airports' most sensitive security areas almost a year after Berlin authorities briefed an airport safety watchdog of his ties to radical beliefs, a report has revealed. The employee, identified in a new report by Germany's Morgenpost on Wednesday as "Recep Ü," was eventually sacked in October 2015 after four years of working for the German airport operator FBB, which runs Berlin's Tegel and Schönefeld airports. However, his dismissal was triggered not by concerns over a possible terrorist threat but by a separate incident involving a security breach. He had been apprehended by airport security officers while attempting to smuggle a knuckle-duster into the security area of Schönefeld airport, the newspaper reported. Read more © Osman OrsalISIS covers fighters' hefty bills in Turkish hospitals, leaked phone taps reveal Following the incident, the cleaner's pass to the security areas was immediately revoked by the FBB and an investigation was opened into the incident, which resulted in a fine for breaching German weapons legislation. In addition, Recep Ü has since been banned by the FBB from entering the premises of all Berlin airports, Berliner Zeitung reported. However, prior to the past week, FBB was unaware that German security service and police had known about strong ties of the 26-year-old man to Islamic fundamentalism. This was known since 2013 after an oral tip about him being an active Salafist was given to the police, according to the paper. Police say they passed information on the man's Islamist ties to the General Aviation Safety Authority for Berlin and Brandenburg in late 2014, but no action was taken, as the agency apparently didn't hand over the data to any airport operator. 6:55 AM 5/19/2016» Berlin authorities told the outlet that the man, then 24 years of age, was an active member of a Salafist movement in Berlin, kept in touch with other suspected extremists and engaged in various Islam- promoting activities, such as distributing copies of the Koran. On his FB page, he reportedly shared videos by Islamic preachers Pierre Vogel and Sven Lau. The latter is currently under investigation for obtaining night-vision equipment and sending it to a jihadist group affiliated with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists fighting in Syria. The cleaner, some of whose duties were to clean aircraft cabins after landing, was required to meet stringent security requirements imposed by the German air security laws. He successfully completed a background security check in 2011 and received a permit to work in airport security zones. Following the revelations about lack of security at Berlin's key airports, opposition politicians have called on the authorities to investigate security loopholes. "It should be known that there are violent followers among Salafists, and it should be known that terrorists are searching for most critical areas to attack, for example, airports," Hakan Tas, spokesman for the Germany's Left Party said, adding that her party would initiate a parliamentary debate aimed at determining who was to blame for the oversight. Germany's domestic security agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said that it "of course submitted all findings to the respective authorities," Morgenpost reported. https://www.rt.com/news/343524-german-airports-radical-islamist/ Back to Top Aviation Institute of Maintenance Launches Free Online "Human Factors" Safety Course VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (May 12, 2016) - On May 2, 2016, the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) launched a free online course in aviation safety for aviation professionals, students, and enthusiasts around the globe. Understanding that 80% of all aviation-related incidents and injury occur because of human error, oversight, fatigue, and other human-related factors, AIM intends to combat such incidents by offering widespread instruction and guidance on minimizing risk. The school encourages students, professionals, and volunteers to enroll in this free continuing education course by visiting www.Aviation.edu. In addition to the free Human Factors course, AIM has also made available an advanced online professional certification course entitled, "Minimizing the Risk of Incident and Injury due to Human Factors." This certification course provides an in-depth understanding of the twelve most common human- related risk factors for aviation incidents, known as the "dirty dozen." This course draws from the material in the introductory curriculum and allows the trainee to apply their knowledge and experience to numerous scenario-based situations in order to become more aware of accidents, why they happen, and how to avoid them. The instructor-led certification process carries a cost of $49 and awards graduates a certification from Aviation Institute of Maintenance. Dr. Joel English, Vice President of Operations at AIM and author of Plugged In: Succeeding as an Online Learner, states that both the free introductory course and the full certification course are examples of innovative technologies and strong online teaching methods. "Our certification course doesn't have the anonymous feel of a 'MOOC,' where the trainee wades through streams of information with no interaction. It's situation based, there's interaction with the instructor, and the assessments draw directly from the scenarios that the video lectures discuss." The courses feature high definition video instruction, interaction with others in the course, and examples from authentic experiences that help the aviation professional think critically about safety in the workplace. English states, "AIM has always dedicated our instruction to awareness of the possibility for accidents or injury, and we found no reason to keep this innovative coursework to ourselves, when professionals around the industry could benefit." About Aviation Institute of Maintenance Aviation Institute of Maintenance is the United States' largest family of aviation maintenance schools, with headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va. Students learn the skills necessary to become successful in one of the world's fastest growing industries, aviation maintenance and the free Human Factors course and certification are examples of the school's passion and commitment to the aviation industry. AIM graduates are trained to meet the increasing global demands of commercial, cargo, corporate and private aviation employers. AIM's campuses are located in the following major metro areas: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Mo., Oakland, Calif., Orlando, Fla., and Virginia Beach, Va. Learn more at:www.Aviation.edu. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12206959/aviation-institute-of-maintenance-launches-free- online-human-factors-safety-course Back to Top This hypersonic jet engine just passed a crucial test in the Australian desert London to New York in 35 minutes just got more real. Air travel sucks. It's too long, it's uncomfortable, everything's covered in germs, and why are those windows round anyway? How long have I been sitting here? Why does my seat smell like gin and tonic? If there's one thing flight experts around the world are interested in, it's making our jaunts around the world faster, with this concept jet aiming to get you from London to New York in 30 minutes, and this one in a cool 11 minutes flat. But a concept is just a concept, and there's no guarantee that it will ever get made. That's why a joint US-Australian military research project called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) is so exciting - its technology is well and truly out of the concept stage, and is now being trialled at the world's largest land-based testing range in Woomera, South Australia. With the help of aerospace giant Boeing and German space agency DLR, the HIFiRE team plans to complete 10 separate tests with their new engine between 2009 and 2018, in the hopes that it might one day power a hypersonic jet. Right now, they're testing a scramjet engine attached to a rocket booster - which isn't something any of us are going to be flying to get to our next holiday destination - but with each successful trial, the technology will be whittled down to something that can actually be but into a passenger plane. Tests will also be carried out at Norway's Andoya Rocket Range. According to the Australian defence department, the most recent test was successfully completed yesterday, when the engine was able to reach an altitude of 278 km (172 miles) at a target speed of Mach 7.5 - that's seven times the speed of sound. "That's far faster than the 'supersonic' Concorde aircraft ever achieved, and passes the threshold for 'hypersonic travel' instead - defined as travel at more than five times the speed of sound," Duncan Geere reports for Tech Radar. "At that speed, you could reach anywhere on the planet in a couple of hours." Geere adds that the current speed record for a manned, powered aircraft is Mach 6.72, and was set way back in the 1960s by the US X-15 experimental aircraft, so it's about time we made some progress in the field. But the record remains intact for now, seeing as this HIFiRE test was unmanned. As well as making sure the engine could get the rocket that high that fast, the HIFiRE team also checked to make sure heat on the outside of the vehicle didn't cause a meltdown during hypersonic flight. With everything going smoothly, the next test has been scheduled for 2017, when the team will try to separate the scramjet engine from the rocket booster and get it to fly on its own, one of the team, hypersonics expert Michael Smart from the University of Queensland, told the AFP. "It's an exciting time... we want to be able to fly with a hypersonic engine at Mach 7," said Smart. "The practical application of that is you could fly long distances over the Earth very, very quickly but also that it's very useful as an alternative to a rocket for putting satellites into space." The team estimates that its engine could get you from London to New York in 35 minutes, and London to Sydney in 2 hours. "It is a game-changing technology... and could revolutionise global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space," Australia's chief scientist Alex Zelinsky said in a statement yesterday. So what's a scramjet engine anyway? In the simplest terms, a scramjet engine is supersonic combustion engine that combusts a liquid fuel made with oxygen sucked in from the atmosphere. This makes it way lighter and hence faster than regular aircraft that carry a ready-made supply of liquid oxygen for fuel. "But in order to work properly and compress the incoming oxygen without the need for moving parts, scramjets need to be travelling faster than the speed of sound, at around Mach 4," Fiona MacDonald explained for us last year. And, as that 1960s speed record for manned flight says loud and clear - we're not so good at getting passenger planes to hypersonic, or even supersonic, speeds. That's what makes HIFiRE project so exciting, though - the combined might of the US and Australian military, plus commercial giants Boeing and DLR aren't so interested in unachievable moonshots, so if anyone's going to get us flying at unimaginable speeds around the world, it's these guys. We can't wait to see the results of next year's tests. http://www.sciencealert.com/this-hypersonic-jet-engine-just-passed-a-crucial-test-in-the-australian- desert Back to Top You can now put a sunroof in your private jet If you've got $53 million to spare If you don't manage to get a window seat when flying, you often forget the brilliance of air travel. After all, you may be cramped, tired, irritable, and cramped, but you're still hurtling through the air at 600 mph in a metal tube tens of thousands of feet above the surface of the Earth. You're still flying. But if anything can remind you of this fact, it's putting a goddamn sunroof in your plane - that is, if you're rich enough. This is the idea behind Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer's "Airship Kyoto" design, a concept that the company first unveiled last year and that it now says it's ready to take orders for. Customers purchasing one of Embraer's $53 million Lineage 1000E private jets can ask for wraparound glass windows in the front section of the plane, giving passengers unparalleled views as well as access to natural light. Just imagine cruising at night in one of these planes, staring out the window at the clouds below and the stars above. The Airship Kyoto concept at dusk. (Image credit: Embraer) Speaking to Wired, Embraer's vice president of interior design, Jay Beever, says the company is ready to deliver the spectacular windows to any customers who want them. "I've always believed that we should be able to execute the customer's dreams and passions in an airplane," Beever told Wired. "Customers are usually being told 'no' because of certification restrictions in airplanes." The windows are reportedly quite easy to install, requiring only that Embraer cut some extra holes in the plane's fuselage. The windows are extra weight and therefore affect fuel efficiency, but that's not a primary concern for the super-rich. And as long as they're in front of the wings, says Beever, they don't affect the plane's structural integrity. "There's a lot of stress and load on the wing during flight that extends through the fuselage and all the way back to the tail," he told Wired. Embraer first unveiled its new Lineage 1000E private jet design last year, teaming up with superyacht designer Patrick Knowles to finalize the concept. The jet includes some 800 square feet of living space spread across five separate areas, and includes a master suite with a queen-sized bed and a two-person, walk-in shower. Clients can also customize the interior to their heart's content, choosing between fabrics, fittings, and different internal layouts. And is there anything that Embraer can't put in their jets? "I've been asked to add a fireplace to the main cabin," Beever told Architectural Digest last year. "Obviously that brought about more red tape and safety concerns than imaginable. It was a simple no can do." Now if only they could open up one of those new windows, they could surely stick a stove pipe out of it. http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/18/11699612/private-jet-sunroof-windows-braer Back to Top The FAA Flight Standards Service is pleased to announce the Asia-Pacific Flight Standards Meeting is scheduled for July 19-21, 2016 at the Westin City Center Hotel in Washington, D.C. The intent of this meeting is to bring together stakeholders from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to promote collaboration, identify areas of mutual concern, and share best practices in the interest of aviation safety. We anticipate attendees from regulatory authorities across the region as well as the aviation industry. The meeting agenda will include various topics of interest to the flight standards community; such as maintenance repair organization oversight, implementation of modern flight technologies, safety enhancements, regulatory challenges of general aviation, worldwide standardization of flight standards inspector training, and unmanned aircraft systems. The agenda will be posted on the registration website (provided below) and sent with the formal invitation letter through email in the next couple of weeks. We are officially opening the registration for the meeting. This year's meeting registration fee is $300 USD, which includes the cost of your attendance as well as daily lunch service, and AM and PM breaks. To complete your registration, make hotel reservations, or learn more about the meeting, please visit https://www.regonline.com/2016-AsiaPacificFlightStandardsMeeting. The deadline for hotel room reservation is Saturday, June 18, 2016 and the deadline for meeting registration is Wednesday, June 29, 2016. Elizabeth Thomas Caribbean Regional Coordinator International Programs and Policy Division Flight Standards Service (202) 267-0374 Back to Top Call for Nominations For 2016 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation and Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) are now accepting nominations for the 2016 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award, honoring a leader in aviation safety. The award will be presented during the 69th Annual International Air Safety Summit, taking place Nov. 14-16 in Dubai, UAE. Presented since 1956, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award recognizes notable achievement in the field of civil or military aviation safety in method, design, invention, study or other improvement. The award's recipient is selected for a "significant individual or group effort contributing to improving aviation safety, with emphasis on original contributions," and a "significant individual or group effort performed above and beyond normal responsibilities." Mechanics, engineers and others outside of top administrative or research positions should be especially considered. The contribution need not be recent, especially if the nominee has not received adequate recognition. Nominations that were not selected as past winners of the Award can be submitted one additional time for consideration. Please note that self-nominations will not be considered. The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award's story dates back 70 years. On April 14, 1945, after visiting family in Pittsburgh, Laura Taber Barbour was aboard a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3 when it crashed into the rugged terrain of Cheat Mountain near Morgantown, West Virginia. All passengers and crew were killed. In the years following, her husband, Dr. Clifford E. Barbour and son, Clifford E. Barbour, Jr., established the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award in her honor. The Award Board, composed of leaders in the field of aviation, meets in June of each year to conduct a final review of nominees and selection of the current year's recipient. Please help us honor this year's most deserving recipient. Nominations, including a 1-2-page narrative, can be submitted via the Laura Taber Barbour Foundation website at http://ltbaward.org/the- award/nomination-form/ or the Flight Safety Foundation website at http://flightsafety.org/aviation- awards/laura-taber-barbour-air-safety-award. Nominations will be accepted until June 1, 2016. For more information, including a complete history of Award recipients, see www.ltbaward.com. ABOUT THE LAURA TABER BARBOUR AIR SAFETY AWARD: The Award was established in 1956 through early association with the Flight Safety Foundation and from its founding has enjoyed a rich history of Award Board members, nominees and Award recipients. In 2013, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation was formed from members of the Award Board, the aviation community and the Barbour family. As the foundation plans to broaden the scope of its intent, with great purpose, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award will continue to spotlight those champions who pioneer breakthroughs in flight safety. Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST: I am a Masters student at City University London and write my dissertation about Aircraft Engine Selection Process. Would you kindly take 10 minutes of your time to help me with a survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Engine_selection_process Curt Lewis