Flight Safety Information June 7, 2016 - No. 111 In This Issue Solomon Airlines suspends operations Paris airport forgets to screen passengers Fire next to plane causes flight delay at Sea-Tac Airport FAA BETS ON MORE ADS-B INSTALLS WITH $500 REBATE In the future, Air Force pilots could control planes with their minds Two Mass. men say they have found long-lost 'black boxes' in Bolivia Airbus looks to fit more passengers on to the A380 2016 FAA Asia-Pacific Flight Standards Meeting July 19-21 PhD Research Request Solomon Airlines suspends operations Solomons - Solomon Airlines (IE, Honiara) has suspended all operations until further notice. The suspension applies to all domestic and international flights as well as airport ground-handling staff. Airline Chief Executive Officer Ron Sum Sum told local media outlets that the Solomonian government's inability to pay what he termed "millions of dollars" worth of debts had severely hampered operations resulting in the grounding. The Permanent Secretary in the Solomonian Ministry of Communication and Aviation, Moses Virivolomo, said government had engaged the carrier in the hopes of having it resume flights as early as tomorrow. Solomon Airlines operates one A320-200, four DHC-6-300s, and one Dash 8-100 (still at Cairns awaiting final payment for MRO checks undertaken earlier this year) on regular flights throughout the archipelago as well as to Fiji, Vanuatu, and Australia. http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/46879-solomon-airlines-suspends-operations Back to Top Paris airport forgets to screen passengers 17 passengers of the Air Canada flight from Paris to Toronto did not go through the required preboard security screening at the airport of Charles de Gaulle, CBC.ca reported Monday, 6 June, referring to Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Air Canada. All of these passengers were changing planes in Paris, and did not leave the secure zone. All the same, they should have been have yet another preboard security screening, as it is required by Transport Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Luggage of these people was examined once more, though, Fitzpatrick noted. Crew learnt about this incident mid-flight. As a result, all the passengers were rescreened on the tarmac at Toronto airport. 325 passengers and 12 crew members were on board. The incident contradicts with statement of the French Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidal, who claimed that security at the French airports is at the highest level after the terror acts. http://www.pravdareport.com/news/world/europe/07-06-2016/134641-paris-0/ Back to Top Fire next to plane causes flight delay at Sea-Tac Airport A piece of equipment used to jump-start airplane engines caught fire Monday morning, causing a flight delay. No one was injured in the fire, and the plane was not damaged. A piece of airplane-service equipment caught fire Monday morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, causing one flight to be delayed by almost four hours. Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper said an air-starter - used to jump-start airplane engines - caught fire around 8:30 a.m. at gate D7. No one was injured in the fire. Cooper said the air-starter was pulled away from the plane and terminal by the ground crew, and the fire was quickly put out by the Port of Seattle Fire Department. The affected flight, American Airlines Flight 143, was rescheduled to depart at 12:18 p.m., Cooper said. Cooper said no other airport operations were disrupted by the fire. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/fire-next-to-plane-causes-flight-delay-at-sea- tac-airport/ Back to Top FAA BETS ON MORE ADS-B INSTALLS WITH $500 REBATE The FAA is betting that $500 will spur more aircraft owners to equip with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out technology in the next year. Following months of encouragement from AOPA and others in the industry, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta placed such a bet on June 6 during in a meeting at the Wichita Aero Club in Kansas. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announces a $500 rebate program for the first 20,000 aircraft owners who equip with ADS-B Out this fall. Photo by Mike Fizer. "Equipage rates are not where we'd like to see them," the administrator said during the meeting. In an effort to increase the number of owners who equip prior to the Jan. 1, 2020, deadline, the agency is offering $500 for the first 20,000 owners of single-engine piston aircraft when the program launches sometime this fall. "Get off the sidelines and take advantage of all the benefits ADS-B has to offer," he said. Frequently asked questions Who is eligible? Owners of single-engine, fixed-wing piston aircraft who install ADS-B Out equipment after the program becomes effective this fall. Is there a limit to the rebate? The FAA is offering a single $500 payment to each owner of an eligible aircraft. The rebates are limited to the first 20,000 owners who are eligible, or for a year from the program launch, whichever comes first. How do I apply for a rebate? The Aircraft Electronics Association will administer the program with a dedicated website that will launch sometime this fall. Once the install is complete, the aircraft has to be flown and proper operation of the system has to be verified. More details are available on the FAA's website. Although some benefits are still being finalized, Huerta said he expects the program to launch this fall, at which point only those who have not yet installed ADS-B can take advantage. The Aircraft Electronics Association will administer the rebates, which can be redeemed after a successful compliance check following the installation. So long as the equipment meets the mandate, the owner will be eligible, regardless of the ADS-B manufacturer. In explaining why the agency decided not to make the rebate retroactive, the administrator thanked pilots who have already equipped, and said the focus is on incentivizing all pilots to meet the mandate. "Not equipping will leave aircraft grounded on January 1, 2020," he said. Huerta said that to fully meet the mandate, the fleet needs to be equipping at a rate of roughly 23,000 to 25,000 aircraft a year. Derks said we're seeing less than half that right now, and that shop availability is there to handle a full rate. AOPA President Mark Baker said that cost has been a significant factor for many owners who would like to equip, and that this rebate could go a long way to helping ease that burden. "We hope the general aviation community will take full advantage of this opportunity," he said. GAMA President Pete Bunce said that although ADS-B In provides great benefits, it's important to meet the mandate and install Out capability so your aircraft can be seen by everyone. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/june/07/faa-bets-on-more-ads-b- installs Back to Top In the future, Air Force pilots could control planes with their minds Test person Niklas Thiel poses with an electroencephalography (EEG) cap which measures brain activity, at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) in Garching near Munich September 9, 2014. Darpa Releases (Freaky And) Awesome Video Of Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Limbs That 'Feel' Fighter pilots already have a close connection to the planes they are flying. Now that connection may get even deeper due to the work of a group of Australian researchers and doctors. For the past four years, a team of neurologists and engineers from the University of Melbourne, along with surgeons at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, have been developing an advanced brain/machine interface that is long lasting and easy to implant. Eventually, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funded the project, hopes to bring this mind-control technology to the cockpit, allowing pilots to fly by the thoughts in their minds as well as by the seat of their pants. The centerpiece of the Australian mind control system is a small biocompatible electrode called a stenode. The stenode is flexible enough to pass through the blood vessels and is operable once it reaches its destination. The electrode can measure electrical activity from the motor cortex, the part of the brain responsible for controlling movements. This electrical activity is recorded and shared with a computer system that interprets the movements. These interpretations are then used to control external machinery. In early trials, the team has successfully implanted the device into free-roaming sheep and have collected up to 190 days' worth of brain activity. F-35 helmetREUTERS/Gary Cameron Could advanced helmets like the one in the F-35 eventually be replaced with electrodes? Looking beyond ruminants, Lead researcher Dr. Tom Oxley envisions a future where this brain control interface could be used to interact with smartphones, robots, and more in the next 30 years. Recognizing the benefits of this technology, DARPA wants to use the brain control system to increase the efficiency of fighter pilots. "The military appear interested in the potential for jet fighters to control their planes with direct thought control, rather than using their arms. The reaction time you'd shave off would be milliseconds," said Oxley to Ibtimes. DARPA also plans to use the stenode to rehabilitate injured soldiers by allowing them to control a bionic exoskeleton. http://www.businessinsider.com/in-the-future-air-force-pilots-could-control-planes-with- their-minds-2016-6 Back to Top Two Mass. men say they have found long-lost 'black boxes' in Bolivia Searching for the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder of Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 in Bolivia were (from left) Jose Lazo, Peter Frick-Wright, Robert Rauch, Dan Futrell, and Isaac Stoner. For two Massachusetts men, what began as a fascination with missing planes and their data recorders a year ago ended with a trip to Bolivia, a potentially ground-breaking discovery, and a flash of Internet fame. About a year ago, while he researched the vanished 2014 Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, Somerville resident Dan Futrell learned something. Since 1965, crash investigators have failed to recover flight data and cockpit voice recorders - often referred to as "black boxes" - from almost 20 crashed aircraft, including both planes that crashed into the New York City's Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. But it was another flight that caught Futrell's eye: Eastern Air Lines Flight 980, which took off from Paraguay for Miami in 1985 but crashed on Mount Illimani in western Bolivia. Crash investigators have long suspected that the plane's debris landed in a spot that was nearly inaccessible. Challenge accepted, Futrell said in his blog. "How is it that there is a place on this Earth that we can't reach?" Futrell wrote in amazement. 1985 coverage of Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 The wreck of an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 jet was spotted imbedded in the side of Illimani Mountain, 20 hours after it was reported missing. Throughout the following year, he and a friend, Isaac Stoner of Cambridge, decided they would travel to the South American mountain and find the recorders. "Cheers to living a life of adventure," Futrell wrote before leaving for Bolivia. Futrell wrote in the blog throughout his on-the-ground preparation and during the trip up the mountain. "What would it take to hike up Mount Illimani and find a black box that might be buried under feet of snow and ice?" Futrell asked. "Could we travel to La Paz, push ourselves on an otherwise grueling hike, and do something that's otherwise productive to the world at large, even if marginally so?" Due to an agreement with Outside magazine, which sent a reporter on the trip, the two men said they could not comment for this story. However, based on the information shared in their blog posts and on social media, it's clear Futrell and Stoner believe they have accomplished their ultimate goal, after months of training and weeks of hiking in Bolivia. "We found what we believe to be the flight recorders," Futrell said in his latest blog post. If verified, it would be an impressive accomplishment. During their final ascent up the mountain to the presumed site of the crash, the men had to climb for 15 hours to reach greater than 20,000 feet above sea level in a region plagued by yellow fever, Futrell's blog states. They were accompanied by a Bolivian cook and a German mountain guide. In photos shared online, Futrell and Stoner posted images of their finds: mangled rolls of tape, a piece of a wing frame, and an apparent piece of the two recorders. One photo shows "CKPT VO RCDR" written on electrical wires, which they say confirms that the devices they found were data recorders. "There is more work to do, but we're happy to say we've done what we came to do: located and recovered the recorders of Flight 980," Futrell wrote on Friday. "We still hope that this trip might provide some answers." In a statement provided Sunday to the Globe, Stoner said the group has reached out to authorities to "determine what, if any, information they can get from the metal casings of the recorders" and "determine if any information can be pulled from the tape that we found." Either way, both men say the trip to Bolivia accomplished its goals. Outside of this aerospace treasure hunt, Futrell recently wrote that the men also scaled the mountain to "live a life of adventure, to challenge ourselves physically and mentally, and to come back with a story." In that sense, mission accomplished. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/06/05/two-massachusetts-men-say-they- have-found-long-lost-black-boxes-bolivia/KEDOi2YEOnsMSYfTK7alGO/story.html Back to Top Airbus looks to fit more passengers on to the A380 A British Airways Airbus A380 arrives on the southern runway at Heathrow Airport in London. The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is offering to reconfigure its economy cabin layout to squeeze in more passengers. Tweaks to the superjumbo design would create an 11th seat to some rows, with 5 people instead of 4 sat in the middle section. Airbus says the design will mean economy, or coach, can be split in to three different pricing sections. "Airbus' ability to offer efficient choice for Premium Economy and Economy extends also to A380, with new options at nine-abreast and 11-abreast respectively," said the planemaker in a statement. Airbus says even within an 11 seat row, each passenger should manage to keep an 18 inch width seat. A new A380 seating configuration will create a middle seat in the middle row Courtesy: Airbus Further options are being looked at to increase the seating capacity of the A380 including reducing the stairs and removing some sidewall stowage on the upper deck. Airbus said any refreshed layout would be for an airline to determine rather than for Airbus to impose. According one media report, the European consortium forecasts a revamped A380 layout would generate an additional US$23 million in annual revenue for an airline flying the superjumbo. Waning interest The planemaker may slow output to an assembly rate of the A380 to 1.7 aircraft a month from 2017, according to a Reuters report published in April. Part of the original attraction of the huge plane, which can seat over 800 passengers, was its cost-per-seat mile (CASM). But the firm has been struggling to maintain interest in the superjumbo as smaller, twin- engine planes are now able to cope with longer-haul flights. This has meant the CASM advantage of the A380 has eroded. Emirates is by far the largest operator of the A380 and has called on Airbus to do a better job of marketing the plane to rivals. And UBS aviation analyst Charles Armitage told CNBC in November that the days of the A380 could be numbered. "We believe that Airbus needs to make a decision soon - either re-establish the cost per seat advantage of the A380 (probably through a neo version, perhaps with a small stretch), or risk closing the line," he said. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/07/airbus-looks-to-fit-more-passengers-on-to-the- a380.html?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7C Back to Top The deadline is fast approaching to reserve your hotel room for the 2016 FAA Asia-Pacific Flight Standards Meeting July 19-21 at the Westin City Center Hotel in Washington, DC. A special discounted rate of $174/night (exclusive of taxes) has been reserved for conference participants. This rate includes daily breakfast for one person. Click here to reserve your room now! To receive this special rate, you must reserve your room by June 18(subject to availability). Still haven't registered to attend the conference? Please visit the conference website to get the latest information and to register: www.regonline.com/2016- AsiaPacificFlightStandardsMeeting. The deadline to register for the conference is Wednesday, June 29. Questions? Email us at ConferenceSupport@sidemgroup.com. Back to Top PhD Research Request Fellow Helicopter Crewmember, This is a request for you to participate in a research study for my doctoral degree, the purpose of which is to study the relationship between safety management systems, incidents and accidents, and company performance for small helicopter companies with less than 5 aircraft and in the last 10 years. This research is in conjunction with safety efforts by the US Helicopter Safety Team and the Helicopter Association International. To participate, you must be between age 21 to 60 (federal/university requirement), had some type of aircrew experience with a small civil helicopter organization (less than 5 aircraft) and in the United States in last 10 years. Current helicopter student pilots can participate. Please follow the link below and fill but if you start, please finish the survey. It will only take about 12 minutes to complete. The survey does not include any identifiable data about the crewmember, places of employment, or OEM. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5VPCZZ5 Thank you for your participation! Principal Investigator Scott Burgess Doctoral student at Northcentral University S.Burgess4793@email.ncu.edu Curt Lewis