Flight Safety Information May 27, 2016 - No. 104 In This Issue Korean Air Lines Evacuates Plane At Haneda Airport In Tokyo For Engine Fire Hunt for EgyptAir Black Boxes Boosted by French Navy Search Ship Egypt detects signal from missing jet MS804 Mystery Endures Navy investigating cause of training mission jet crash Boeing enhances air safety with upgraded display for pilots IATA Working To Free Airline Funds Stuck In Nigeria Airbus files revolutionary patent for 3D printing an aircraft's exterior in its entirety GLOBAL OFFSHORE HELICOPTER INDUSTRY TO COLLABORATE ON 'ROOT AND BRANCH' REVIEW OF SAFETY ACROSS THE SYSTEM Community college partnership helps train new pilots GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY REQUEST Korean Air Lines Evacuates Plane At Haneda Airport In Tokyo For Engine Fire The incident prompted authorities to temporarily close down Japan's busiest aviation hub. TOKYO (Reuters) - Korean Air Lines evacuated 319 passengers and crew from an aircraft preparing to take off from Japan's Haneda Airport in Tokyo after smoke came from its left engine. The incident prompted authorities to temporarily close down Japan's busiest aviation hub. Images broadcast by NHK showed the Boeing 777 on a runway being sprayed with foam by fire trucks, with four of its emergency slides deployed. The aircraft, which was due to fly to Seoul in South Korea, is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. No injuries were reported, although around 30 passengers said they felt unwell, the state-owned broadcaster said. Haneda Airport, located on Tokyo Bay, handles around 550 flights a day with around 75 million passengers passing through the hub last year, making it one of the world's busiest airport. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/korean-air-engine-fire_us_5747e858e4b03ede44146ca1 Back to Top Hunt for EgyptAir Black Boxes Boosted by French Navy Search Ship Laplace leaves Corsica for crash zone in eastern Mediterranean Flight recorders vital to probe may lose power within weeks The French Navy has sent one of its most advanced survey vessels to lead the search for the submerged wreckage of the EgyptAir jet destroyed over the eastern Mediterranean last week. The Laplace has left Porto Vecchio in Corsica and will arrive at the likely crash site over the weekend, deploying specialist technology to pick up telltale "pings" from the Airbus Group SE A320's black-box flight recorders in waters thought to be more than 3,000 meters (9,850 feet) deep. Regarded as key to determining what brought down Flight MS804 while en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board, the data and voice recorders -- actually colored orange -- are detectable only from within a few miles, and are likely to run out of power in about three weeks. Discussions are underway on drafting in a second ship equipped with robot-exploration and lifting equipment for the eventual retrieval of the recorders, France's air-accident investigator said Friday. Two officials from the BEA, involved because Airbus is based in Toulouse, will travel on the Laplace. Underwater Probes The ship, named after celebrated French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace, will carry three Detector 6000 underwater listening systems supplied by the Alseamar unit of Paris-based search specialist Alcen, a veteran of air-crash searches that also works with defense and oil-industry clients. The probes, shaped like torpedoes and dragged beneath the ship, have an "extremely long detection range," according to Alseamar, being able to detect pings from black boxes 5 kilometers (3 miles) away. Egypt said Thursday the deployment of more specialist gear would "help speed up" the search effort. Among previous projects, Alseamar worked on the recovery of the black boxes from a Flash Airlines Boeing Co. 737 that crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh in 2004, killing all 148 passengers and crew. Last year's loss of an Airbus A321 operated by Russia's Metrojet, apparently blown up over Sinai by a terrorist bomb, killing 224, posed relatively fewer challenges, with the flight recorders easily found in the desert landscape. Too Deep The Egyptian-led investigation team will still need to narrow down the location of the MS804 wreck to bring the French technology to bear. Previous attempts to find the jet using a submarine were hampered by the lack of a well-defined search area and the depth of the water where it seems to have come down. Experts remain unclear about what destroyed the Airbus. While human remains so far recovered indicate a catastrophic incident such as a bomb, bodies can also be ripped apart when an aircraft disintegrates following a structural failure, or hits the ground or sea at high velocity. A string of error messages sent automatically minutes before the A320 plunged into the sea indicated that smoke had been detected beneath the cockpit and in a lavatory, and that windows next to the co-pilot's seat may have been broken, together with unspecified issues with flight computers. While those readings might be explained in terms of a bomb blast, they could equally have resulted from a fire and associated electrical failure. Commander Benjamin Chauvet, a spokesman for the French navy, told reporters at a briefing in Paris Thursday that the search zone remains too wide to quickly home in on the black boxes. Waters in the area are also particularly polluted, forcing searchers to sift through unrelated debris, he said. Signals from the A320's emergency locater transmitter may have identified an area with a 5-kilometer radius, the state-owned Ahram Gate website said, citing Ayman Al Moqadem, Egypt's air-accident investigation chief. An aircraft ELF emits a radio signal -- separate to the flight recorder pings -- detectable by satellite in the event of a crash, though the beacon wouldn't normally function underwater. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-26/egypt-hires-french-marine-search-specialist-to- find-crashed-jet Back to Top Egypt detects signal from missing jet Egyptian investigators said yesterday that they had detected a signal from the missing EgyptAir Flight 804. If confirmed it could mark a decisive step forward in the international hunt for the jet, which disappeared over the Mediterranean last Thursday with 66 people on board. The "pings" come from an emergency location transmitter attached to the main body of the aircraft which emits a distress signal via satellite in the event of a violent collision or a crash into the water. The devices are used to help in search and rescue efforts. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/egypt-detects-signal-from-missing-jet-whzcmtsrk Back to Top MS804 Mystery Endures An international team of searchers using air, surface and autonomous submarine equipment has not yet been able to locate the main wreckage field nor the flight data and cockpit voice recorders for EgyptAir Flight 804 (MS804), the AirbusA320-200 that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on May 19 on a flight from Paris to Cairo. The hope is that the recorders will shed light on what caused the aircraft to abruptly stop sending surveillance data from a quiescent cruise flight at 37,000 ft., and minutes later, crash into the ocean approximately 200 mi. north of Egypt's coastline. Shortly before the data transmissions cut off at 2:27 a.m. Cairo time, the aircraft issued seven cryptic, autonomous messages through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS). The messages, confirmed by Airbus and others, indicate window heat anomalies in the cockpit, smoke in a lavatory, avionics bay smoke, and several flight-control computer faults, but do not give clues as to the underlying issues on the aircraft. Smoke alerts are based on optical detectors. Rockwell Collins says the messages were routed through its air-to-ground data link communications service and sent to EgyptAir. "With the limited data available, the analysis of these messages does not allow us to establish the sequence of events that would explain the loss of flight MS804," Airbus cautioned in an Accident Information Transmission sent to all Airbus operators on May 21. "Pending more data becoming available (in particular, flight data recorders and aircraft parts), Airbus has no specific recommendations to raise at this stage of the investigation." Egypt, which is heading up the probe, reported on May 24 that 18 "groups of wreckage" had been sent to criminal research laboratories in Cairo, in part for DNA testing. To date, published images of wreckage include only life vests, small fragments of aircraft parts and some passenger belongings. Initial concerns around the industry focused on a bomb or terrorist action, coming on the heels of the Oct. 31, suspected bombing of a Metrojet Airbus A321 climbing out of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and headed for St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the investigation continues, Russia had earlier stated that a bomb was to blame for the inflight breakup. Terrorists also claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to bring down a Daallo Airlines A321 over Somalia in February. In that incident, a passenger suspected of having a laptop computer bomb detonated the device in a window seat near the wing, blowing a hole in the aircraft and ejecting the suspect. The aircraft landed safely. Along with ACARS, Egyptian investigators are also accessing the Egyptair aircraft and crew documents as well as the aircraft maintenance and analysis information for the A320, which was built in 2003. Over the three days prior to the accident, the aircraft had made stops at several different airports, including Tunis, Tunisia; Asmara, Eritrea; Brussels, and Alexandria, Egypt. The Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee says MS804's captain had 6,275 flight hours of experience, with 2,101 hr. in the A320, and the first officer had 2,766 hr. While much of the investigation will hinge on the recorders, it is not clear whether the problem that incapacitated the surveillance system would have also cut data to the recorders. As such, the crash will likely reignite discussions concerning contingency mode tracking, data recorder streaming capabilities and other emergency actions and systems that could generate more information on the state of an aircraft in distress. Standards and practices recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) after the disappearance of MH370 in March 2013 are focused on determining aircraft position every 15 min. for normal operations (applicable in 2018), and every 1 min. in cases of abnormal or distressed conditions (applicable in 2021), even if the aircraft's power is lost. Recorder streaming services are seen as a longer- term initiative, however. A mandate by the United Nations that takes effect next summer could help pave the way for some airlines to jump ahead much sooner. According to Mark Thompson, president and CEO of Thompson Aerospace, anyone who leases an aircraft that will fly U.N. missions after that time will have to provide enhanced tracking that includes reports of position, altitude, speed and other data every 3 min. during normal operations, with a distress mode that outputs the data every 1 min., based either on rapid ascent or descent or the pilots pressing an "alert button." Along with position reports, the system must also allow for text and email messaging between the crew and ground during an emergency. Thompson has a low-cost tracking system that meets the U.N. requirements, but also a more comprehensive solution that for contingency modes can stream flight data and, perhaps more importantly, cockpit voice recorder information to the cloud for secure retrieval by the airlines. "We envision when going into abnormal mode or distress mode you start sending cockpit audio into the cloud all the time," says Thompson. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Navy investigating cause of training mission jet crash Navy aviators involved in a crash exit a coast guard helicopter at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. RALEIGH, N.C. Four Navy aviators ejected from two fighter jets "at a high rate of speed" after their aircraft got into trouble in the air and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the North Carolina coast, one of the rescuers said. The F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, based in Virginia Beach, crashed Thursday around 10:40 a.m. off the coast of Cape Hatteras, following an "in-flight mishap" that happened during a training exercise, said Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. Walker did not have any further details. The four crew members suffered only minor injuries. "In my opinion, the guys got pretty lucky," Derick Ansley, an aviation survival technician with the Coast Guard who helped rescue two of the aviators, told WTKR-TV. "Everything happened exactly the way it should have in that situation and somebody was looking over their shoulder when it was happening. For people to walk away from that is a pretty amazing thing," he said. Claude Morrissey, another Coast Guard rescuer, told WTKR the aviators ejected from the jet "at a high rate of speed." Ansley said some wreckage from one of the jets was still on the surface of the water when they got to the men. Two of the aviators were rescued by the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Tammy, and the other two survivors were hoisted out of the water by a Coast Guard helicopter, the Coast Guard said in a statement. A second Coast Guard helicopter picked up the aviators from the fishing vessel and all four survivors were taken to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital. Videos taken by WAVY-TV show two aviators getting on stretchers as they exited the helicopter and were taken into the hospital. The other two walked into the hospital on their own, the videos show. "We're happy to have brought everyone home safely today," Lt. Cmdr. Krystyn Pecora, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard, told reporters. A safety investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the accident, Navy spokesman Ensign Mark Rockwellpate said. The F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft that operates in tactical squadrons at stations around the world and from 10 aircraft carriers, the Navy says on its website. The Super Hornet, the newest model, has a longer range, aerial refueling capability and improved survivability and lethality, according to the website. Each of the planes costs at least $57 million, the Navy says. The jets that crashed Thursday are not currently assigned to an aircraft carrier, Walker said. The crew is part of Strike Fighter Squadron 211, based in Virginia Beach. Earlier Thursday, the Coast Guard had said the two aircraft collided in the air before crashing. Navy officials said they are still conducting their investigation and do not know whether the planes collided. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article80250252.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Boeing enhances air safety with upgraded display for pilots SEATTLE - A heads-up display, or HUD, is a piece of glass that can be flipped down in front of a pilot's eyes, but behind an airplane's windshield or wind-screen. On it, are all of the instruments that normally a pilot would have to look down to see. The HUD displays data such as airspeed, compass direction, altitude and a lot more. These days, HUDs are even making it into cars, allowing a driver to see speed without having to divert his or her eyes from the road. Now Boeing is upgrading its HUD displays with new software that can allow a pilot to fly in extremely low visibility. On landing, the pilot will see a display showing an extended line of lights leading him or her to the runway. Where the real lights run 1,000 feet in front of the runway, now pilots can see that represented 20 miles from the airport. When landing, there is now an outline of the runway itself, and a sort of synthetic billboard is displayed to show how many thousands of feet of runway are left. All this is to make sure the pilot can avoid running off the end of the runway or has enough runway on takeoff, particularly at an airport she or he may not be familiar with. Pilots call it "situational awareness." The more a pilot knows where he or she is in space, the safer they can be. More and more data is expected to be incorporated into the heads-up display in the future, including displays that show the ground and terrain, such as hills and mountains near the runway. The displays will be used along with equipment on airport grounds, such as lighted stop lines to prevent a plane from rolling from a taxiway onto an active runway. http://www.king5.com/tech/science/aerospace/boeing-enhances-air-safety-with-upgraded-display-for- pilots/216240419 Back to Top IATA Working To Free Airline Funds Stuck In Nigeria LOS ANGELES-At the end of March, the world's airlines had roughly $575 million trapped in Nigeria that they could not repatriate, according to IATA. But the trade group is "optimistic a solution can be found," a spokeswoman said. United Airlines announced May 25 it would stop flying between Houston and Lagos, Nigeria, at the end of June. In part, this was a typical commercial decision. The route was dependent on United's oil-industry corporate customers, who are not spending as much money on travel as in previous years. Even in better times, the route was not lucrative; United told employees the route has been "underperforming financially for several years." United also said it was forced to cut the route because of "significant," currency issues. Since fall 2015, United has not been able to repatriate revenues sold in Nigerian naira, spokesman Jonathan Guerin said. "We had to essentially suspend these sales, which makes the route unsustainable, as about half of the revenue generated by the route comes from Nigeria point of sale," he added. In an email, IATA spokeswoman Katherine Kaczynska said Nigeria's foreign-exchange reserves "have been depleted by the global fall in commodity prices, resulting in a scarcity of U.S. dollars." She said the Central Bank of Nigeria has been unable to service foreign-exchange demand, and noted the issue is facing industries besides aviation. "The inability of airlines to access [foreign exchange] in Africa's largest economy, if not solved, will affect air-transport services to, from and within Nigeria, and undermine the country's position as West Africa's aviation hub," Kaczynska said. IATA said it is working with the Nigerian government, and some money has been released to airlines. But IATA said a "significant backlog" remains. Kaczynska said outgoing IATA Director General Tony Tyler recently met Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria to discuss the matter. According to IATA, Osinbajo asked stakeholders "to agree [on] a realistic and achievable payment schedule to settle the backlog of blocked funds." www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Airbus files revolutionary patent for 3D printing an aircraft's exterior in its entirety Building an Airbus A350 plane Aeroplane manufacturer Airbus has filed a patent for a new 3D printing process that could massively speed up how aircraft components are manufactured French aerospace firm Airbus has filed a patent for a revolutionary new 3D printing process that would make it possible to print out an entire aircraft's exteriors in one go from multiple metals - a feat that is definitely not possible today. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a new technology that enables industries to manufacture materials much faster than the traditional injection moulding technique traditionally used. Today, 3D printing is being used more and more in healthcare and to rapidly prototype designs in manufacturing, and there is a great interest in using 3D printed components to speed up production of aircraft and space rockets. The 3D printing process described by Airbus in the patent filing involves using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) - a 3D printing technology whereby a laser is used as a power source to sinter tiny powdered particles of materials like plastic, ceramic, glass or metal in order to bind it together to form a solid structure. The patent describes sintering multiple metal materials together onto a shell-like structure, which then bends to form the shape of the aircraft componentUnited States Patent and Trademark Office The process starts with a shell-like structure that is used as a base. A powder - either silicone, iron, copper, manganese, chromium, tin, vanadium, titanium, bismuth, gallium, lead, aluminium or zirconium - is placed on the structure and a laser beam is used to heat the structure and the powder together. Once the shell-like structural component cools, the internal stress generated by the component causes it to bend to match the original structure, and then the process is repeated multiple times to add more materials on top. Airbus explains that there will be different shell-like structures designed for different parents of the aeroplane - whether it's the aircraft's outer skin, or a part of an aircraft door, or the floor panel belonging to the aircraft's cargo hold. So essentially, the patent doesn't mean that Airbus has suddenly figured out how to press a button and then 3D print out an entire aeroplane - that would be impossible. But at the moment, each component that aerospace engineers want to create has to be painstakingly modelled in 3D on a computer, printed and then stress-tested to make sure that it is as strong as parts that are manufactured the traditional way. The Airbus method described in essence finds a way to make fast mass production possible, if it works, and it would still be faster than traditional processes. Other aerospace companies are already experimenting with 3D printing - Boeing is using 3D printing to create fuel nozzles, sensors and fan turbine blades for its high tech Boeing 777x line of huge passenger airliners, while Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA) is testing plastic 3D printed parts on its Atlas V rockets. However, a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) cautions engineers to be wary of 3D printing metal. Researchers analysed 3D printed titanium parts with deep X rays and found that there are significant flaws when titanium metal powders are sintered together as gas can become trapped in the resulting liquid layer, creating porous bubbles within the final solidified metal part. "Like any other metal, titanium has a certain amount of fatigue resistance until it cracks or breaks. The more porosity in the printed metal, the more its resistance to fatigue is decreased," said Anthony Rollett, professor of materials science and engineering at CMU and co-author of the study. "Porosity was present in every piece. To us it was a surprise that it was always there. Our next step might be to ask if there is a better way to process the powder before printing." http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/airbus-files-revolutionary-patent-3d-printing-aircrafts-exterior-its-entirety- 1562187 Back to Top GLOBAL OFFSHORE HELICOPTER INDUSTRY TO COLLABORATE ON 'ROOT AND BRANCH' REVIEW OF SAFETY ACROSS THE SYSTEM * 180 leaders participate in HeliOffshore's second annual conference. * Industry will complete a collaborative review of offshore fleet to enhance reliability and resilience in the system. * Industry to accelerate implementation of enhanced terrain warning systems by end 2017 to increase warning time for pilots. Prague, Czech Republic - HeliOffshore Chief Executive Officer Gretchen Haskins, in closing remarks yesterday, described how recent helicopter tragedies had strengthened the industry's resolve to enhance the safety of offshore helicopter operations. "We owe it to those who lost loved ones in Norway - and in other accidents - to do everything to continue our collaboration and deliver safety breakthroughs," said Mrs. Haskins. "Our aim is that no lives are lost due to offshore helicopter transport. Agreements at this conference - and work already underway to share information and expertise across the industry - will help to achieve that," said Mrs. Haskins. Bill Chiles, Chairman of the HeliOffshore Board, described the commitment of HeliOffshore members to do yet more to ensure safe operations, worldwide. "Members have adopted a plan to undertake a fundamental review that will enhance the reliability and resilience of the offshore fleet and the systems that support it - both human and machine," said Mr. Chiles. The review will be done in partnership with aircraft manufacturers, offshore operators, the oil and gas industry, regulators, and organisations in the supply chain to the offshore helicopter industry. At the conference, delegates also agreed to accelerate implementation of enhanced terrain awareness and warning systems (HTAWS) in the offshore fleet by the end of 2017. HTAWS provide visual and aural advisories to help keep aircraft safely separated from hazardous terrain. "With time-bound commitments, made across the industry, we will make a difference to safety at the frontline and protect the lives of the crews and offshore workers who travel by helicopter every day," said Mrs. Haskins. According to Mrs. Haskins, increasing information sharing is a priority area for HeliOffshore. "We are focused on improving the reliability and resilience of systems, increasing operational effectiveness, and ensuring that the right safety enablers are in place," she said. "Those enablers include sharing safety expertise industry-wide, so that all of those who work within and rely on offshore flight are benefiting from our best knowledge." Such global collaboration has led to two helicopter manufacturers publishing flight-crew operations manuals, HeliOffshore creating a best practice for health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS), and an eye-tracking research programme to enhance performance of crews in the cockpit. Despite the slowdown in demand for offshore helicopter services, both membership within HeliOffshore and attendance at its conference are up. The organisation launched with five founding members in October 2014 and today has 88 members participating in collaboration to enhance safety. About HeliOffshore HeliOffshore is dedicated to constantly improving offshore helicopter safety around the world. HeliOffshore was founded by five leading helicopter services operators, and membership is open to any enterprise with a stake in offshore flight - and a determination to make it ever safer. HeliOffshore will develop, share and apply best practices; create and use advanced technology; and advocate for harmonized global flight standards. www.helioffshore.org Back to Top Air New Zealand trialing robots to check for aircraft damage Invert Robotics climbing robots can detect damage to an aircraft fuselage not immediately apparent visually. Air New Zealand is trialling tiny robots fitted with cameras to inspect aircraft for damage. The technology is created by Christchurch robotics company Invert Robotics and was originally designed for use in the dairy industry to detect damage inside milk tanks The remote controlled robots have the ability to climb walls and stream high resolution footage in real time. Air New Zealand is trialling robots to inspect the top of aircraft for damage following incidents such as lightning strike. Air New Zealand chief operations officer Bruce Parton said the airline first started exploring the use of robotics after recognising the shape of a milk tank closely resembled an aircraft fuselage. "Currently to inspect the top of the fuselage, as we do following incidents such as lightning strikes, engineers need to work at heights of up to eight metres," Parton said. "Using technology that can identify defects not immediately visible to the human eye and do so from the ground has the potential to make aircraft maintenance safer and more reliable." Exploring robotic technology supports the airline's innovation strategy. Invert Robotics chief executive James Robertson said it was hugely exciting to be collaborating with Air NZ. "While initially designed as a dairy solution our patented robot has proven versatile lending itself well to aircraft deployment," Robertson said. He hoped the technology would be rolled out across the global aviation industry. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/80475237/air-new-zealand-trialing-robots-to-check-for- aircraft-damage Back to Top Community college partnership helps train new pilots Plane used in pilot training program (Photo: Virginia Western Community College) Roanoke, VA (WSET) - Aviation experts say making six figures after just a few years on the job could be a reality. That's because airlines are desperate for pilots. A new pilot training partnership between Virginia Western Community College and Star Flight Training hopes to capitalize on that. Prospective students learned toured the facility Thursday to learn about the new program, and some even got to see the planes in action. Classes start July 26 and registration is underway right now. To see the schedule and enroll in ground school, visit: https://virginiawestern.augusoft.net/ and search for "Ground School" or class ID 820. For questions about the class, contact Dan Semones, Virginia Western Workforce Solutions Coordinator at 540-857-6476 or dsemones@virginiawestern.edu. http://wset.com/news/local/community-college-partnership-helps-train-new-pilots 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