Flight Safety Information August 5, 2016 - No. 153 In This Issue Cargo Plane Overshoots Runway at Italy's Bergamo Airport...MILAN BWI: Southwest flight delayed 4 hours after aircraft experienced 'failure of nose gear' Makalu Air aircraft makes force landing in Simikot (Nepal) Pilot of vanished Malaysian flight had deviant route on simulator, transport minister says SeaPort Airlines fined for operating uninspected planes Accident: Emirates B773 at Dubai on Aug 3rd 2016, touched down during go- around without gear FAA Safety Alert Focuses on Takeoff Excursions Cracked windshield sends flight back to Charlotte airport Gulf Air Flight Lands Safely in Manila After Engine Failure FAA To Transition To ICAO IFR Flight Plan Form Gogo says its 2Ku's 100 Mbps is airline Holy Grail, higher speeds not crucial Singapore forms bureau to investigate air, marine accidents OP-ED: 'One China' or Air Safety? American Airlines to shut down pilot training facility in Phoenix Airbus closes on rival Boeing in jet order race Air Force Reaches Deal through Wright-Patterson to Test Scorpion Jet What Makes Russia's New Tu-160M2 Blackjack Supersonic Bomber Special First Amazon Prime airplane debuts in Seattle after secret night flight North Korea's Air Koryo is named world's worst airline yet again Sierra Nevada ramps up for Dream Chaser production, critical NASA testing ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland...17 to 20 October, 2016 (ISASI) DFW Regional Chapter (DFRC) Summer Meeting, September 8, 2016 Graduate Research Survey Request Cargo Plane Overshoots Runway at Italy's Bergamo Airport MILAN - A DHL cargo plane skidded off a runway at Bergamo's Orio al Serio airport overnight, its nose busting through a perimeter fence and onto a provincial highway. Officials said no one was injured. The low-cost airline and cargo hub near Milan was closed for about 2 ½ hours early Friday, creating delays during the busy summer travel period. Some flights were rerouted to Milan's Malpensa airport. Television images showed the plane's nose partially blocking a roadway flanked by emergency vehicles. Italian aviation officials said the Boeing 737 400 overshot the runway on landing from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport just after 4 a.m. The pilot and first officer were both uninjured. The cause was under investigation. The Bergamo airport is Italy's third-busiest, with over 10 million passengers last year. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/05/world/europe/ap-eu-italy-cargo- plane.html?_r=0 ***************** Status: Date: Friday 5 August 2016 Time: 04:07 Type: Boeing 737-476 (SF) Operator: ASL Airlines Hungary Registration: HA-FAX C/n / msn: 24437/2162 First flight: 1991-10-30 (24 years 10 months) Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-3C1 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Bergamo-Orio Al Serio Airport (BGY) ( Italy) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG), France Destination airport: Bergamo-Orio Al Serio Airport (BGY/LIME), Italy Flightnumber: QY7332 Narrative: An ASL Airlines Hungary Boeing 737-400 cargo plane, operating flight QY7332 on behalf of DHL, suffered a runway excursion accident after landing at Bergamo-Orio Al Serio Airport (BGY), Italy. The aircraft departed Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France at 02:54 hours local time with destination Bergamo. About 04:07 hours the flight landed on runway 28 at Bergamo- Orio Al Serio Airport but failed to stop on the runway. It continued until coming to rest at the side of a highway. The runway length starting at the runway 28 threshold is 9209 ft (2807m). Failing to stop at the end of the runway, the aircraft travelled 300 m across two roads, a parking lot and a highway lane before coming to rest with the nose across another highway lane. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160805-0 Back to Top BWI: Southwest flight delayed 4 hours after aircraft experienced 'failure of nose gear' WASHINGTON (ABC7) - A Southwest airplane experienced technical difficulties Thursday evening at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), delaying the flight around four hours, according to BWI. Officials say the aircraft "experienced a failure of a nose gear just after pushing back from the departure gate." The 126 passengers, headed to Atlanta, were transferred to another aircraft. There were no reported injuries during the incident and there was no overall impact on airline operations. Southwest Airlines issued ABC7 the following statement around 10:30 p.m. Thursday: "Statement regarding Southwest Flight #149 BWI-ATL Southwest Airlines reported an aircraft departing Baltimore/Washington (BWI) this evening experienced a failure of a nose gear just after pushing back from the departure gate. No reports of injuries among the 126 passengers and five crew. The passengers are being accommodated on another aircraft for their flight to Atlanta. The approximate delay from the original departure is four hours. The aircraft will be inspected by our technical operations team. There is no other impact to flights to and from BWI." http://wjla.com/news/local/southwest-flight-delayed-4-hours-after-aircraft-experienced- failure-of-nose-gear Back to Top Makalu Air aircraft makes force landing in Simikot (Nepal) Aug 4, 2016- A single-engine aircraft belonging to Makalu Air made a force landing at a river in Simikot on Thursday afternoon, after encountering engine failure. No casualty has been reported. The Cessna Caravan that took off for Surkhet from Simikot reported engine failure on the sky at 3:45pm and made a force-landing after nine minutes at Karnali River of Rauterana in the district, said Devendra KC, spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). "There were no passengers on board the aircraft," he added. Captain Sange Lama and co-pilot Prashant Shah, who sustained minor injuries due to force landing, have been airlifted to Simikot by a helicopter. The plane with call sign 9N-AKC has now been swept away downstream and crossed Kharpunath Temple in the area, locals said. Captain Lama said that after encountering some technical glitches, they tried flying back. But the attempt failed and resulted in crash-landing of the aircraft in the river. The plane was carrying cargo after government issued order to halt passenger charter flights by single-engine planes in early March. http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-08-04/makalu-air-twin-otter-makes- force-landing-in-simikot.html ***************** Date: Thursday 4 August 2016 Time: ca 16:00 Type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan Operator: Makalu Air Registration: 9N-AKC C/n / msn: 208B-0554 First flight: 1996 Engines: 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: near Simikot ( Nepal) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Surkhet Airport (SKH/VNSK), Nepal Destination airport: Simikot Airport (IMK/VNST), Nepal Narrative: A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan operating on a flight from Surkhet to Simikot, Nepal, force landed in the Karnali River following a loss of engine power. Both crew members swam ashore. The aircraft is said to have been swept away by currents. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160804-0 Back to Top Pilot of vanished Malaysian flight had deviant route on simulator, transport minister says The transport minister appeared to be responding to a report published last month in New York magazine. The pilot of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that mysteriously vanished more than two years ago had used his personal flight simulator to practice a path over the remote southern Indian Ocean, where the aircraft is believed to have crashed, the country's transport minister said Thursday. The remarks by the minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, represented the first time the Malaysian government had acknowledged that the flight simulator belonging to the pilot of Flight 370, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, contained such a path, leading far from any route his airline flew. The minister did not say when the pilot might have practiced that route, and he emphasized that it was one of many found on the simulator, which the pilot kept at his home. The minister also said it would be premature to draw any conclusions from the disclosure. Nonetheless, it added to telltale indications that the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200 jet carrying 239 passengers and crew members, might have been deliberately crashed into the sea by Zaharie after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8, 2014. "Yes, there is simulation showing it flew to many parts of the world," the minister was quoted by Malaysia's Bernama News Agency as saying at a monthly Transport Ministry briefing. The remote southern Indian Ocean route was "one of many," he said. The minister appeared to be responding to a report published July 22 by New York magazine, which said it had obtained a confidential document from a Malaysian police investigation showing that Zaharie had practiced the route on his simulator less than a month before Flight 370 disappeared "under uncannily similar circumstances." The magazine called the revelation, which was not in the Malaysia government's public report on the Flight 370 investigation, the strongest evidence yet that the pilot had "made off with the plane in a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide." Flight 370's deviation from its planned route, taking the aircraft thousands of miles off course, remains a mystery of modern civil aviation. One of the working theories is that the plane flew for hours on autopilot with its crew dead or incapacitated and then crashed when its fuel ran out. Technical signals sent by the plane suggested it might have wound up in a 46,000- square-mile area of the southern Indian Ocean, but aircraft and ships have scoured the area without turning up a sign of the aircraft. Last month, the three countries leading the search - Australia, China and Malaysia - said they would suspend the operation, but would revive it if "credible new information" emerged about the plane's whereabouts. A small amount of debris believed to be from the plane has been found thousands of miles to the west. The most significant pieces appeared to be a wing part known as a flaperon - discovered last year on Réunion, an island near Madagascar that is part of France - and another wing segment found more recently near the coast of Tanzania. A prominent crash investigator caused a stir last weekend by asserting that the flaperon appeared to have been placed in an extended position when it hit the water, and that it had to have been done deliberately. The assertion by the investigator, Larry Vance, who led an inquiry into the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 in the Atlantic Ocean, has not been confirmed by officials in charge of the Flight 370 inquiry. "Somebody was flying the airplane at the end of its flight," Vance said in an interview on Australia's "60 Minutes" program. "Somebody was flying the airplane into the water. There is no other alternate theory that you can follow." http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/pilot-of-vanished-malaysian-flight-had- deviant-route-on-simulator-transport-minister-says/ Back to Top SeaPort Airlines fined for operating uninspected planes PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Portland-based SeaPort Airlines is facing federal fines for operating three planes without having them inspected. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2aCieEO) that the Federal Aviation Administration proposed the $500,000 penalty because it claims the airline flew planes that weren't cleared to fly. The inspections are intended to prevent failures that could cause an engine to lose power. President Tim Sieber says the employee responsible for the incident has been terminated and that changes have been made to the entire maintenance division. He says the mishap is not representative of the company today. SeaPort, which primarily operates out of its Portland and Memphis hubs, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. Sieber says the fine would have no impact on the company's plan to emerge from bankruptcy later this year. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/5/seaport-airlines-fined-for-operating- uninspected-p/ Back to Top Accident: Emirates B773 at Dubai on Aug 3rd 2016, touched down during go- around without gear, aircraft on fire An Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration A6-EMW performing flight EK-521 from Thiruvananthapuram (India) to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) with 282 passengers and 18 crew, was on final approach to Dubai's runway 12L at 12:41L (08:41Z) but attempted to go around from low height. The aircraft however did not climb, but after retracting the gear touched down on the runway and burst into flames. All occupants evacuated via slides, 13 passengers received minor injuries, 10 were taken to hospitals, 3 treated at the airport. The aircraft burned down completely. A firefighter attending to the aircraft lost his life. The airline reported: "Emirates can confirm that an incident happened at Dubai International Airport on 3rd August 2016 at about 12.45pm local time." United Arab Emirates Government confirmed an Emirates aircraft arriving from India suffered a crash landing at Dubai Airport, all passengers have been evacuated, there are no reports of injuries. United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) reported a firefighter attending to the fire, while saving lives, lost his own life. The director of the GCAA said: "I salute his ultimate sacrifice that kept many from harm's way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family." Emirates Airlines' chairman reported 13 passengers received minor injuries during the incident and were treated by medical teams. On Aug 4th 2016 the airline reported that both captain and first officer had accumulated more than 7000 flying hours. The aircraft involved in the "operational incident" was equipped with Trent 800 engines and had been delivered to the airline in March 2003. A passenger in the aft cabin reported, that the approach was normal, there had been no announcements or indications of anything abnormal. Then there was a heavy impact, oxygen masks came down, the aircraft skidded shaking violently and immediately filling with smoke and came to a stop. All doors were opened, it appeared however not all of them were used for evacuation. After sliding down the chute the passenger began to run, about 100 meters from the aircraft an explosion was heard (editorial note: watch video "The aircraft erupting into flames", the right wing caught fire and including right hand engine separated from the aircraft). Another passenger reported that the captain made an announcement they would land at Dubai and the weather was fine, nothing appeared to be amiss. Suddenly the aircraft hit the ground tail/belly first, at the same time the right hand engine caught fire, and the aircraft skidded to a halt, smoke filled the cabin, only at this time the passengers realised the seriousness of the situation. The accident came entirely out of the blue. According to ATC recordings the aircraft performed a normal approach and landing, there was no priority or emergency declared. Upon contacting tower tower advised the crew to plan to vacate the runway at taxiway M9 (editorial note: which several listeners including the editor originally understood as a reminder for the crew to lower the gear) and cleared the aircraft to land. Another approach reported on tower frequency. About 2 minutes after EK-521 reported on tower, the crew reported going around, tower instructed the aircraft to climb to 4000 feet, the crew acknowledged climbing to 4000 feet, a few seconds later tower instructs the next arrival to go around and alerts emergency services. The position of the aircraft is described near the end of the runway. Related NOTAM: A1156/16 - AD CLSD. 03 AUG 11:20 2016 UNTIL 03 AUG 14:00 2016. CREATED: 03 AUG 11:18 2016 A1155/16 - AD CLSD. 03 AUG 10:00 2016 UNTIL 03 AUG 12:00 2016. CREATED: 03 AUG 10:07 2016 Metars: OMDB 030900Z 11021KT 3000 BLDU NSC 49/07 Q0993 WS ALL RWY TEMPO 35015KT 1500 OMDB 030800Z 14012KT 100V180 6000 NSC 48/09 Q0994 WS ALL RWY TEMPO 35015KT 4000 DU OMDB 030749Z 14012KT 110V180 6000 NSC 47/09 Q0994 WS ALL RWY TEMPO 35015KT 4000DU OMDB 030700Z 06007KT 360V100 8000 NSC 44/10 Q0995 NOSIG OMDB 030600Z 06005KT 350V100 8000 NSC 42/12 Q0995 NOSIG http://avherald.com/h?article=49c12302&opt=0 Back to Top FAA Safety Alert Focuses on Takeoff Excursions Though rarer than landing accidents, the agency says the number of takeoff excursions is "unacceptably high." Landing excursions outnumber takeoff excursions by a four-to-one margin. Although landing excursions outnumber takeoff excursions by a margin of four-to-one, the FAA believes not enough attention is being paid by pilots to the dangers of the latter type of incident. Aiming to change that, the agency issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) that encourages the use of standard operating procedures to ensure accurate takeoff performance data is used to reduce the risk of runway excursions during takeoff. That makes proper takeoff planning, including accurate weight and balance calculations, well prior to departure a must. The process should involve communication and coordination among pilots and, for professional crews, load planners, ground operations, dispatch and customer service personnel. The FAA thinks technology can help reduce takeoff excursions, such as by using "software flags" in flight planning apps. These flags could alert all air carrier personnel involved in the dispatch of aircraft, for example, to a possible error in data entry. The SAFO is a good reminder to single pilots flying for business or pleasure that it is never acceptable to skip weight and balance and takeoff performance calculations during flight planning. http://www.flyingmag.com/faa-safety-alert-focuses-on-takeoff-excursions Back to Top Cracked windshield sends flight back to Charlotte airport A flight from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., had to land at the Charlotte airport shortly after takeoff when the flight crew reported a cracked windshield on the plane. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, American Airlines Flight 1938 had to return to Charlotte Douglas International Airport Thursday afternoon for a cracked windshield. The flight was scheduled to fly to Washington Dulles International Airport. According to American Airlines, there were 110 people on board the plane at the time. An airline spokeswoman said one layer of the co-pilot's windshield shattered while the plane was gaining altitude on takeoff. She said nothing collided with the plane, it was just the pressure from the takeoff. This type of incident is not unheard of, according to the airline. Medical personnel met the pilots when the plane landed as a precaution, and the airline said neither was injured. The pilots were then released and taken to a hotel. The passengers continued on a new plane with new pilots. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article93821502.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Gulf Air Flight Lands Safely in Manila After Engine Failure MANILA, Philippines - A Gulf Air flight carrying 219 people to Bahrain landed safely in the Philippine capital Friday after turning back because of a heat-damaged engine, officials said. The Airbus 330-200 ignited a grass fire at the edge of the runway as it took off and smoke was seen inside the cabin after the plane was airborne, said Ma. Fe Malte, an airport traffic management officer. Gulf Air on Twitter said the flight "suffered from an engine failure" right after takeoff from Manila at 1:05 p.m. It said the plane landed safely "and all passengers disembarked the aircraft." It said engineers were examining the aircraft now. Flight 155 had 207 passengers and 12 crew members, and no injuries were reported, Malte said. Floramina Munzon, a passenger who was seated near the left wing, said she heard something like an explosion after the plane lifted from the ground. As the twin-engine jet landed safely, the airport's rescue team and firetrucks rushed to the plane. It dumped fuel before landing, but there were no flames and no need to use fire retardant, Malte said. She said the left engine was damaged by the intense heat. The airline canceled the flight and booked accommodation for affected passengers, the airport media office said. Gulf Air is Bahrain's state airline. In May, a flight on the same route diverted to Mumbai after encountering turbulence that injured some onboard. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/05/world/asia/ap-as-philippines-gulf-air.html Back to Top FAA To Transition To ICAO IFR Flight Plan Form On Oct. 1, FAA will make the transition from its traditional domestic IFR flight plan (Form 7233-1) to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) IFR flight plan (Form 7233-4) for domestic flight plan filing. The agency says the change is intended to "simplify the flight planning process and align U.S. flight plans within ICAO standards." The switchover will provide for inclusion of a wake turbulence category, equipment suffix to account for RVSM, navigation capabilities such as RNP level, and ADS-B status, survival gear on board and emergency radios. There is guidance on filing an ICAO flight plan at www.faa.gov/go/flightservice. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Gogo says its 2Ku's 100 Mbps is airline Holy Grail, higher speeds not crucial Gogo's 2Ku satellite broadband service to commercial aircraft will provide more than 100 megabits per second per aircraft in 2017. Gogo said higher speeds are not crucial to airline customers. "We've taken the issue off the table," Gogo CEO Michael J. Small said. Credit: Gogo PARIS - In-flight broadband provider Gogo Inc. on Aug. 4 said early results from its 2Ku satellite broadband service suggest it is outperforming expectations and will pay for itself within two or three years of installation on a commercial jet. Gogo Chief Executive Michael J. Small said 2Ku's ability to provide more than 100 megabits per second to a commercial aircraft by 2017 "has taken the [bandwidth] issue off the table," and that higher throughput will not be a key driver of airline connectivity decisions. In a conference call with investors and a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gogo did not address whether it could extrapolate future 2Ku performance, with hundreds of planes drawing on limited satellite bandwidth around airports, from the early service reports coming in now. As of June 30, 10 commercial jets had been fitted with 2Ku systems, on planes operated by Aeromexico, Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Chicago-based Gogo said that figure should rise to 75-100 planes by the end of 2016, and to 350-450 aircraft by the end of 2017. The company's backlog of commercial jets awaiting 2Ku installations stood at more than 1,200 from IAG, Delta and American Airlines, as of June 30. Bond issue adds $200 million for 2Ku installations Gogo in June completed a $525 million bond issue that will provide more than $200 million in cash to be invested in 2Ku installations. Purchasing 2Ku hardware from Gogo's suppliers and installing the hardware on planes is consuming an increasing percentage of Gogo's cash - $47.6 million in capital spending in the three months ending June 30, up 27 percent from the same period a year ago. "We see a revenue lift every time we bring more bandwidth to the plane," Small said in an conference call with investors. Reviewing the limited data on per-plane 2Ku revenue for the three months ending June 30, he said "we achieved a two- to three-year gross-margin payback on our 2Ku installs." Some airlines purchase Gogo hardware, others lease it. It is devoting substantial cash resources to the effort and rushing to put large-fleet airlines under contract and install 2Ku on planes - not only to begin generating revenue, but also to cut off growth avenues to competitors Inmarsat, Panasonic Avionics, Global Eagle Entertainment and ViaSat. The company in June closed a $525 million bond issue that will provide it with more than $200 million in cash to invest in the 2Ku installation program, which Gogo said should allow Gogo to complete 750 2Ku installations per year. Small said Gogo secured 2Ku supplemental type certificates (STCs) from regulators for six additional commercial aircraft frames in the three months ending June 30, with 15 more expected by the end of the year and 15 more in 2017. That will mean 2Ku will have been approved for installation on virtually all the commercial narrow- and wide-body commercial aircraft. Chicago-based Gogo, whose air-to-ground airline connectivity service is reaching saturation and is limited to the North American landmass, is using 2Ku to provide more bandwidth to its continental North American customers and as its ticket to the trans- oceanic and global market. It will take at least several months of in-flight service to assess 2Ku's success in attracting more in-cabin users and keeping users on-line longer. But Gogo Chief Executive Michael J. Small said 2Ku is already surpassing expectations of performance, with more to come. In a conference call with investors, Small said a software upgrade to 2Ku recently "more than doubled throughput to the seats, without touching the plane." By late 2017, he said, 2Ku will provide more than 100 megabits per second to an aircraft. Is 100 Mbps per plane sufficient? Satellite fleet operator SES of Luxembourg, one of Gogo's principal satellite-bandwidth providers, has indications are that some airlines already want delivery rates of more than 200 megabits per second. Gogo customer American Airlines is weighing whether to select ViaSat's promised higher- throughput service for 400 aircraft. That contract has not been decided. Gogo has said it is confident of its chances with American Airlines based on 2Ku performance. Small said 100 megabits per plane is the key performance indicator of importance for airlines. "I don't think we're seeing that a lot," Small of bid requests stipulating at least 200 megabits per second. "I can't say it hasn't shown up somewhere. But with our clear visibility to go north of 100 megabits per second per plane, we've taken the issue off the table. You can talk about higher numbers. I don't think it's going to matter to anybody for any practical purpose. We've hit the bogey that is going to matter." As of June 30, Gogo had made satellite bandwidth and teleport commitments totaling $214.2 million between July 2016 and the end of 2020: $21.7 million for the last six months of 2016, $44.7 million in 2017, $41.2 million in 2018, $46.6 million in 2019 and $60.1 million in 2020. It has $341.4 million in satellite and teleport contract obligations after 2020, the company said an SEC filing. http://spacenews.com/gogo-says-100-mbps-is-airlines-holy-grail-higher-speeds-less- important/#sthash.6uwL0ZoG.dpuf Back to Top Singapore forms bureau to investigate air, marine accidents The bureau will be independent of and separate from any judicial or regulatory proceedings Singapore has formed a new bureau to conduct investigations into air and marine accidents since August, said a Ministry of Transport (MOT) statement on Friday. The new Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) was restructured from the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Xinhua news agency reported. It will be independent of and separate from any judicial or regulatory proceedings, and make recommendations to enhance the safety of air and sea transport, the statement said. "Indeed, the sole objective of TSIB's investigations is the prevention of further accidents and incidents; they are not for the purposes of apportioning blame or liability. Countries such as Australia, Japan, Britain and the US have similar setups," the ministry said. Since its formation in 2002, the AAIB has conducted and participated in investigations of various air accidents and incidents, and has contributed to improving the safety of air travel in Singapore. TSIB, which will continue and build on the work of the AAIB, will take over from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) the role of conducting independent safety investigations into marine accidents and incidents, and make recommendations to enhance the safety of sea transport. MPA, in the meantime, will continue to investigate marine accidents and incidents for compliance with its regulations for ships operating within Singapore waters and ships under the Singapore flag. http://www.business-standard.com/article/international/singapore-forms-bureau-to- investigate-air-marine-accidents-116080500254_1.html Back to Top OP-ED: 'One China' or Air Safety? J. Michael Cole is chief editor of The News Lens International, a senior non-resident fellow with the University of Nottingham's China Policy Institute and an associate researcher with the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC). Why you need to know Taiwan's allies, formal and tacit, must come forward as they did with the WHA and support Taiwan's effort to participate at ICAO, no matter how Beijing reacts. Once again this week Beijing has demonstrated it would rather play politics than be a responsible stakeholder, this time by threatening to derail Taiwan's efforts to participate at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) triennial assembly later this year because Taipei has refused to acknowledge the "one China" principle. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs applied earlier this year for Taiwan to be allowed to participate in the assembly, which will be held at ICAO's headquarters in Montreal from Sept. 27-Oct. 7. Due to its status, Taiwan is not a recognized member of ICAO. Several countries have lobbied on Taiwan's behalf for it to be given at least observer status. Every year, the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) handles 1.5 million flights that carry 58 million passengers. But Beijing doesn't seem to care about the safety of those 58 million passengers, many of whom are not Taiwanese or Chinese citizens. Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (???) told reporters this week that arrangements for Taiwan's participation should be made under the ambit of cross-Strait talks and with respect to the "one China" principle and the "political basis" of the so-called 1992 consensus. Ma blamed the Tsai Ing-wen (???) administration for refusing to acknowledge the "1992 consensus," which compelled Beijing to suspend some, but not all, of the cross- Strait dialogue mechanisms. Since Tsai's election on Jan. 16, many analysts have worried that China could attempt to shoot down Taiwan's attempt to participate at various international organizations, including ICAO and Interpol. Despite signs of interference by Beijing, Taiwan made a successful bid to participate at the World Health Assembly in Geneva earlier this year, thanks in part to intervention by Western allies, including the U.S., Canada, France and the U.K. On Aug. 1, 2015, Fang Liu (??) of China began a three-year term as ICAO Secretary General. Prior to joining ICAO, where she served in a number of positions before becoming head of the organization, Liu, an air safety expert, was at the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC). A number of Taiwanese analysts have expressed fears that Fang's appointment could increase China's ability to influence ICAO's decisions regarding Taiwan's participation, including the CO2 Emission Reduction Action Plan under which Taiwan could be treated as a province of China, with a potentially disastrous effect on Taiwan's airline industry. The notion that regional and international air safety should be held hostage by China's political shenanigans and insistence on symbols that have no traction among Taiwan's 23 million people is something that the international community needs to seriously think about. This isn't just about air safety but also disease control, global warming, human trafficking, nuclear proliferation and many other issues that threaten not just Taiwan, not just China, but the entire planet. It's about time the international community started treating Taiwan as a full, sovereign member of the community of nations to ensure it can both benefit from, and contribute to, the many mechanisms that contribute to our safety and well-being. The idea that Taiwan should seek "permission" from China, a country that has shown every inclination to ignore international law when doing so serves its objectives, is preposterous. Taiwan's allies, formal and tacit, must come forward as they did with the WHA and support Taiwan's effort to participate at ICAO. Beijing can continue to insist on the stillborn "one China" all it wants, but such politics should never come at the expense of global safety. As long as Taiwan meets certain standards and shows itself willing to be a responsible participant in international forums, it should be allowed to join, regardless of Beijing's childish fits. http://international.thenewslens.com/article/45940 Back to Top American Airlines to shut down pilot training facility in Phoenix American Airlines plans to shut down its pilot training operations in Phoenix in 2017, the Fort Worth-based carrier said on Thursday. Those flight training operations will move to Fort Worth and Charlotte where American already has pilot training facilities. "Moving to two training centers will help remove duplications in training that currently exist and provide a more consistent training experience for pilots," said Kimball Stone, American's vice president of flight, in a memo sent to pilots. "It will also give crews better support from a more centralized team of Flight Training Instructors/Evaluators and Managers." The closure of the Phoenix facility will affect about 30 flight crew training instructors and simulator engineers who will be offered similar positions in Fort Worth and Charlotte. American said instructor pilots in Phoenix will return to regular flying schedules later this year. The carrier expects to complete the training move by mid-2017. Currently, pilots who fly the Boeing 757 and Airbus A320 can complete training in Phoenix. http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/aviation/sky-talk- blog/article93794282.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Airbus closes on rival Boeing in jet order race An Airbus A350 is pictured at the ILA Berlin Air Show in Schoenefeld, south of Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2016. Airbus (AIR.PA) virtually closed the gap with Boeing in their intense battle for airliner orders in July after booking about half of the 197 firm sales unveiled at last month's Farnborough Airshow, according to the latest data from both companies. Amid a broad slowdown in purchases, the European planemaker said it had sold a total of 373 jets between January and July, or 323 after adjusting for cancellations. That compares with 383 airplane sales, or 333 after cancellations, by U.S. rival Boeing (BA.N). Combined orders at the world's dominant planemakers fell 17 percent from the same period last year, weighed by concerns over the economy and relatively low oil prices, which have taken the edge off demand for new fuel-saving models. Both planemakers are struggling to book new sales in a market that is seen as somewhat oversupplied with jets, especially larger wide-body models, industry experts said. The slowdown has raised some questions about whether the companies will maintain plans to boost output later this decade. Both have also faced a slew of order deferrals in recent weeks, while insisting the trend of postponements is stable. Two industry sources said Indonesia's Lion Air, one of the largest jet buyers with hundreds on order from Boeing and Airbus, is weighing the deferral of about 25 Airbus jets. Airbus declined comment and Lion Air was not available. Airbus was also hammering out details of an order for 100 more planes from Lion Air's regional rival AirAsia (AIRA.KL), announced in a shower of publicity at Farnborough. After a slow start to the year, Airbus had looked set to end the Farnborough Airshow with 380 net orders for the year to date including the AirAsia deal, which it described as a firm order. The deal did not make it into the new tally, however, and an Airbus spokesman said paperwork was being finalised. A person close to the talks said this only involved tying up loose ends. Latest Airbus data also suggested that another order secured at the height of an industry boom in 2012 had been trimmed back. Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet has canceled five of 40 A320neo jets it has on order, according to the monthly update. An airline spokeswoman said the change was part of an "operational swap," without giving further details. The cancellation emerged as Mexican consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level in two years amid a weak economy. DELIVERY WOES While Boeing remains ahead by a whisker in the race for new orders, it maintains a solid lead on deliveries which drive revenues, handing over 432 jets between January and July. Airbus delivered 339 jets between January and July, down 4 percent on the year, due in part to a shortage of Pratt & Whitney (UTX.N) engines for its newly revamped A320neo. It delivered just three of those jets in July, including two powered by Pratt & Whitney and the first to be delivered with alternative engines from CFM International (GE.N)(SAF.PA). So far this year it has delivered 11 A320neos and 15 of its widebody A350s, another model suffering delays due in part to problems with suppliers. It aims to deliver 50 A350s this year. Industry sources say that besides widely reported problems with cabin equipment such as toilets, the A350 has faced other glitches including quality problems with wing spoilers from Austrian parts maker FACC (FACC.VI). An Airbus spokesman said these problems had been resolved. FACC declined to comment. New Airbus data also incorporated the cancellation by Qatar Airways of the first of 50 A320neo-family jets it has ordered. The Gulf airline has criticized Airbus and Pratt & Whitney over A320neo delays and said in June it would exercise a clause to abandon the first jet, one of several parked in Qatar livery outside the French factory waiting for engines . Parent Airbus Group said last week that upgraded versions of the engines were now being delivered. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is in talks with Boeing for rival 737 MAX jets to diversify its fast-expanding fleet. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-boeing-idUSKCN10F1Z7 Back to Top Air Force Reaches Deal through Wright-Patterson to Test Scorpion Jet WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE -- The Air Force has reached a one-of-a-kind deal with aerospace maker Textron AirLand to test the airworthiness of a jet that could be sold overseas. Textron AirLand will reimburse the Air Force for the costs of the tests on the Scorpion, a light weight, low-cost surveillance and strike jet, according to company data. The Air Force said the deal was expected to be "the first of many such agreements" to partner with companies to evaluate airworthiness of military-like aircraft not in the Defense Department fleet. The Air Force has not committed to purchase the plane, but to test it in a first-of-its-kind arrangement. The Non-Military Department of Defense Military Aircraft office at Wright-Patterson and the manufacturer reached the terms though a cooperative research and development agreement. "We stand to gain valuable insight into the state of aviation development outside of products (currently) in development or use within the Defense Department," the Air Force said in a statement. According to company data, the two-seat, twin-tailed jet costs less than $20 million and $3,000 an hour to operate. The twin-turbofan plane has a reached an altitude of 45,000 feet and has a range of 2,400 nautical miles. Prior to the deal, the Air Force limited airworthiness tests to aircraft in its fleet or U.S. aircraft sold through a foreign military sales program, the statement said. "This knowledge will better position the Air Force to meet its own research and development needs and to capitalize on innovations in the commercial sector that may otherwise go unnoticed," the Air Force said. "Industry benefits by leveraging the Air Force's valuable expertise to receive an independent and expert assessment of their aircraft." The evaluation will help the company reduce design risk and "result in an official assessment that may be useful to prospective foreign customers," the statement added. Wichita, Kan.-based Textron AirLand would assemble the jet at a factory in Kansas, said aircraft spokeswoman Nikki Riemen. "We do not speculate on future sales, but we are engaged in serious discussions with potential buyers," she said in an email. The manufacturer says the Scorpion could be deployed for ground attack, maritime security, aerospace control alert and tactical jet training, among other uses. In June, the jet appeared as a static display at the Vectren Dayton Air Show. http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/04/air-force-reaches-deal-wright-patterson- test-scorpion-jet.html Back to Top What Makes Russia's New Tu-160M2 Blackjack Supersonic Bomber Special Russia's new Tupolev Tu-160M2 Blackjack supersonic strategic bomber is expected to make its first flight in late 2018 and enter into full-rate production by 2021. The Tu- 160M2 is a new upgraded variant of the late Soviet-era Blackjack, which was built in very small numbers before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. "The first Tu-160M2 is expected to take off by the end of 2018, followed by full-scale production in 2021," Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, commander of the Russian Air Force told the state-owned RIA Novosti news outlet. The new date reflects a slight shift from previous Russian government statements, which had indicated the new production Blackjack would fly in 2019 with production starting in 2023. Many analysts, expect that the new Blackjack will become the backbone of the Russian strategic bomber force of the future assuming Moscow can find the funding for the project in the current economic climate. The Tu-160M2-though it more or less retains the same airframe-is practically a new aircraft under the hood. The new bomber will feature completely new mission systems and possibly be powered by upgraded versions of the existing Kuznetsov NK-32 afterburning turbofan. The Russians plan to buy about fifty of the new Tu-160 variant, however it is not clear if the 16 original model Tu-160 airframes will be upgraded to the new standard. Moscow can make do with the upgraded Tu-160M2 for its strategic bomber force because unlike the United States Air Force, the Russian Air Force does not expect the massive aircraft to penetrate into enemy airspace to deliver its payload. Instead, the Tu-160-which is capable of speeds of over Mach 2.0-would dash into position to launch long-range standoff cruise missiles. As such, stealth is not considered to be particularly important. Indeed, one of the advantages of a highly visible strategic bomber is that it enables nuclear signaling. But the Tu-160M2 is not likely to replace the long-serving Tupolev Tu-95 Bear-the two bombers will likely operate side-by-side for decades to come. "Both platforms will have to coexist at the same time like the B-52H and B-1B," said Michael Kofman-a research scientist specializing in Russian military affairs at CNA Corporation. "They are not interchangeable, hence I do not subscribe to the theory that the Tu-160 can replace the Tu-95s in their various modifications." As such-like the B-52-the Tu-95 likely has many years of service left before it is eventually replaced. It will likely remain the primary Russian strategic bomber for at least two more decades. "I see no future in which the Tu-95s are phased out for another 20 years," Kofman said. "They are clearly being pylon modified for the new Kh-101/102 missile-which tells you they will have that mission for some time to come." For the Russian Air Force, the bomber's payload of cruise missiles is far more important than the bomber itself. The stealthy new Kh-101-which proved itself over Syria-and its Kh-102 nuclear-tipped variant are both designed to penetrate into heavily defended enemy airspace-allowing the bomber to strike from afar. Both missiles have ranges well in excess of 1800 miles and will comprise the primary armament for the Russian strategic bomber fleet. As for the Tupolev PAK-DA stealth bomber-it's not likely to materialize anytime soon. "Russians like to announce new programs because it's cheap to make aspirational announcements that may never be realized, especially in fiscally austere conditions," Kofman had earlier told The National Interest. Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for the National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar. http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/what-makes-russias-new-tu-160m2-blackjack- supersonic-bomber-17252 Back to Top First Amazon Prime airplane debuts in Seattle after secret night flight Amazon Prime cargo jet Amazon's first branded freighter jet sits inside a Boeing hangar. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) The first freighter jet to carry the Amazon brand is primed for its public debut in Seafair's sunny skies, after making a stealthy flight from New York to Seattle in the middle of the night. "It's hard for me not to be a little bit giddy, almost. This is the first time I've actually seen the plane in person," Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said at a press preview that took place behind closed hangar doors at the Boeing Co.'s Seattle Delivery Center on Thursday. The plane, emblazoned with "Amazon" on its belly, "Prime Air" on its sides and the Amazon smile logo on its tail, will fly over Lake Washington during the Boeing Seafair Air Show at around 1:15 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Until now, the big reveal was kept so hush-hush that Seafair organizers referred to the event only as a "Special Guest Flyover." The Boeing 767-300 jet is part of what will eventually become a fleet of 40 planes, transporting cargo between Amazon's distribution centers for delivery to customers. Clark said the planes will mesh with Amazon's network of 4,000 branded truck trailers, the Uber-like Amazon Flex delivery system, and the services provided by transportation partners such as UPS and FedEx. "We're doing this because of customers, and on behalf of customers," Clark said. Clark said Amazon's main objectives are to streamline existing delivery operations and increase shipping capacity. Although Clark didn't mention it, some Amazon customers have complained in the past about delays in deliveries during the holiday rush due to problems at UPS and FedEx. As Amazon becomes more familiar with the capabilities of its growing fleet, it may be able to offer enhanced delivery services, Clark said. "Once you have a capability, you have options to build new products and services off it," Clark told GeekWire. "So I think certainly once we have all 40 of these planes deployed, there's the opportunity to create new connections for customers. Inventory that might not have been available next day suddenly could be available next day for customers. But really, it's all about building core capacity for our Prime service for customers." He declined to go into the financial details behind the fleet's creation, except to say that "we're very comfortable in the economics of this program." Amazon One name The Boeing 767-300 jet is dubbed "Amazon One." (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) Ten planes have been flying Amazon cargo under the terms of a lease agreement with Ohio-based Air Transport Services Group, or ATSG. The plane making its debut this week is the first to be painted in Amazon's colors, however, and it's the first to be leased from and operated by New York-based Atlas Air. "It's a big part of Atlas' future, and it ultimately will become transformative for our company," Atlas Air President and CEO William Flynn told GeekWire. Atlas and ATSG's air operations have long experience flying planes for cargo delivery services such as DHL. The air carriers' agreements included provisions that allowed Amazon to buy stakes in each company. Over the next couple of years, Atlas Air will be phasing in 20 Boeing 767-300s to carry Amazon's freight, under the terms of a 10-year lease and a seven-year maintenance and operation contract. ATSG says its air services will eventually operate just as many planes for Amazon: 12 Boeing 767-200s that are covered by five-year leases, plus eight 767- 300s with seven-year leases. "We're proud to say we flew the first flight for them under this setup, and we're happy to fly many more," Joe Hete, ATSG's president and CEO, told GeekWire. Amazon's Dave Clark Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, shows off the company's first branded airplane. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) Hete smiled when it was pointed out that Atlas' jet had the name "Amazon One" painted beneath the cockpit windows. "This is Amazon 11, as far as we're concerned," he joked. The Boeing 767s are being modified for Amazon's use at Israel Aircraft Industries, based in Tel Aviv. The ATSG planes were given a generic paint job, but Atlas had its first plane painted to Amazon's specifications at Premier Aviation in Rome, N.Y. "I think it's a great-looking livery, don't you?" Flynn asked GeekWire. Each of the Amazon-branded planes will be registered with a prime number, serving as an "Easter egg" reference to Amazon Prime. Amazon One's tail registration number is N1997A - which includes a prime number that also denotes the year Amazon went public. Amazon One's tail Amazon's airplane features a "smile" logo on the tail, and a prime-number registration code that pays tribute to the year Amazon went public. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) To preserve the element of surprise, Amazon One took off from Griffiss International Airport in Rome well after dark on Tuesday, and flew through the night to reach Seattle's Boeing Field well before dawn on Wednesday. It was kept in the hangar at the Seattle Delivery Center in preparation for its coming-out party at Seafair. Clark said he was particularly proud to have the plane make its public debut in Amazon's hometown, during Seattle's most festive summer weekend. "To be able to be a part of that with our own aircraft is truly a special thing," he said. He said the hoopla over Amazon's newest airliner also impressed his two sons. "At least for this weekend, I get to be a very, very cool dad," Clark said. https://www.yahoo.com/news/first-amazon-prime-airplane-debuts-040123215.html Back to Top North Korea's Air Koryo is named world's worst airline yet again This airline named the world's worst for the fourth straight year This airline named the world's worst for the fourth straight year If an Air Koryo passenger ignores its no-photography rule, a flight attendant might take the camera and delete the pictures herself. Crumpling up a newspaper bearing the image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can earn travelers a stern lecture, or worse. Those are among many quirks that may help explain why North Korea's airline has earned a singular distinction: It's been ranked the world's worst airline for four straight years. Air Koryo is the only carrier to have been awarded just one star in rankings released recently by the UK-based SkyTrax consultancy agency. More than 180 airlines are included in the five-star ranking system, which is widely considered the global benchmark of airline standards. Some experts and frequent Air Koryo passengers disagree with the "world's worst" title. The airline is a definitely a unique ride, but fairly reliable, they say. The SkyTrax ratings are focused on service and not safety. "It's a bit of a giggle, actually. They are clearly not the world's worst airline," said Simon Cockerell, of the Koryo Group, a Beijing-based travel agency that specializes in North Korea. The agency has no relation to Air Koryo, though Cockerell and his tourists often fly on the airline. Cockerell said Air Koryo's weaknesses tend to be the kind of thing SkyTrax focuses on: cabin attendants tend not to speak foreign languages very well, there is no in-flight magazine, the meals aren't going to win any awards and, on older planes, condensation from the cooling systems tended to dampen seats and drip on passengers. "It's not Emirates," he said, referring to Dubai's Emirates Airlines, a four-star according to SkyTrax. "It's not quite the flying experience people are used to." In-flight entertainment is usually limited to the popular Moranbong Band girl group singing patriotic odes to the leader, or North Korean cartoons, shown on drop-down screens attached to the cabin ceilings. On the less than two-hour hop from Beijing, there is a meal of sorts. It resembles a hamburger. But Air Koryo isn't what it used to be. Its four-plane fleet of aircraft used on international flights is surprisingly new - acquired in 2008. Lax practices, like not announcing when the plane was about to land or skipping the safety demonstrations before takeoff, were fixed long ago. The new airport terminal, a vast improvement over the temporary, warehouse-like building used until recently, provides travelers with a business-class lounge. At the same time, being the flag-carrier of a nation shunned by much of the West cannot be good for an airline's image. Air Koryo's only regular international destinations are Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang in China and the Russian port of Vladivostok. "I'm not sure that I've ever seen or heard any references to Air Koryo being unsafe, only that its service is terrible," Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of the Ask The Pilot blog, said in an email to The Associated Press before the latest ratings came out. "Everything about North Korea is seen as a kind of running joke, so we should probably expect that its airline is seen this way too, right or wrong," he said, with the caveat that he has never actually flown on Air Koryo. "Some of the world's best and safest airlines are carriers the average American has never heard of." In fact, getting its passengers where they are going - in one piece - might be Air Koryo's strong point. The only known fatal accident it suffered was in 1983 when the airline was still named CAAK, according to Harro Ranter, founder and director of the Aviation Safety Network, a private, independent foundation that has compiled detailed descriptions of over 10,700 incidents, hijackings and accidents going back to the 1950s http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/04/north-koreas-air-koryo-is-named-worlds-worst-airline- yet-again.html Back to Top Sierra Nevada ramps up for Dream Chaser production, critical NASA testing The company building NASA's newest cargo-hauling spaceship is launching a big hiring spree as it prepares to send its Dream Chaser space plane off for a series of tests, culminating in its most rigorous test flight yet. Sierra Nevada Corp. Space Systems, based in Louisville, expects to truck a shrink- wrapped, self-flying test version of the Dream Chaser to Edwards Air Force Base in southern California in early September. The test-flight version of the Dream Chaser, a Sierra Nevada Corp. Space Systems space... more The "engineering test article" Dream Chaser will be tested by the company and NASA for weeks on the same air strip NASA used for the first flights of the space shuttle 39 years ago. Late this year or early 2017, a Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter will haul the Dream Chaser nearly 2.5 miles above the Edwards runway and drop it. If everything goes according to plan, Dream Chaser will fly on its own for 10 minutes and land after conducting a series of small maneuvers to test the spaceship's aerodynamics, handling, flight software and other features. The flight and tests leading up to it will be a critical stretch in Dream Chaser's development. But it's also momentous, said Mark Sirangelo, lead executive SNC Space Systems and the driving force behind creating Dream Chaser for the past 11 years. "We feel like we get to pick up the torch of the space shuttle program," Sirangelo said. "We get to be housed in [the] same building and use many of the same facilities. The flight will be on [the] exact same approach as the first shuttle landing. It feels special." While the tests are being done in and above California's Mojave desert, SNC Space Systems plans to start increasing its staffing in Louisville fivefold, to more than 500, in coming months. "We're ramping up, and we're hiring to build Dream Chaser for that first orbital flight and beyond," said Steve Lindsey, SNC Space System's program manager. Being in a state with a large space industry workforce and universities with strong engineering and aerospace programs will help fill most of its near-term jobs needs, though SNC will also draw from the many applicants it's attracting from outside Colorado, he said. "Having that huge talent pool here is really helpful to us, unbelievably so. But we're going to need to go beyond even that," Lindsey said. The company is also looking for additional manufacturing space to lease near its headquarters in the Colorado Tech Center industrial park to become the production home for Dream Chaser, Lindsey said. The Dream Chaser is designed to be a self-flying spacecraft capable of taking 5,000 kilograms, about 12,000 pounds, back and forth from the ISS. Dream Chaser will launch atop an Atlas V rocket, built by Centennial-based United Launch Alliance, and fly back on its own, capable of landing on virtually any runway that can handle commercial airliners. NASA selected the Dream Chaser in January to be one of the country's private-sector cargo spaceships under a multi-billion dollar program to resupply the International Space Station between 2019 and 2024 and to stoke commercial spacecraft development. Elon Musks' SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, and OrbitalATK, based in Dulles, Virginia, were also chosen. SpaceX and OrbitalATK handle ISS cargo deliveries now under NASA contracts awarded in 2008. Each of the three companies selected in January is guaranteed a minimum of six ISS cargo missions. The win was a lifeline for Dream Chaser. The cargo delivery contract will likely mean hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for SNC Space, though the exact amount will depend on what missions and how many each company flies. SNC Space Systems and NASA have already committed more than $300 million toward Dream Chaser development. Sirangelo wouldn't say exactly how much. His company lost out on contracts NASA awarded in 2014 for spaceships to ferry U.S. and international astronauts to the ISS. SpaceX and Boeing Co. won that work. Not being selected forced SNC to lay off about 90 workers. It started 2015 with 100 employees working on Dream Chaser in Louisville. Last month, the company finalized its NASA contract for the next round of ISS cargo missions. SNC Space Systems also reached a pair of Dream Chaser production milestones that trigger NASA to release funding to the company. In the next year to 18 months, depending on how fast it can hire, SNC expects its Dream Chaser staffing to swell past 500 in Louisville as it simultaneously works on the test flight vehicle and builds the first orbital Dream Chaser that will go on missions to the ISS, Lindsey said. An engineering staff of at least a dozen people will be based with the test article Dream Chaser at Edwards Air Force base this fall and, maybe, into early 2017. The exact number of people in California will grow, sometimes considerably, depending which of various tests Dream Chaser is doing. Meanwhile, an expanding roster of people will be building the orbital version of Dream Chaser that will go to the ISS. Unlike spaceships built to carry astronauts, that Dream Chaser won't be test-flown in orbit. Its first orbital flight will be an actual cargo delivery to the ISS, Lindsey said. An earlier Dream Chaser flew for a minute above Edwards Air Force Base nearly three years ago, testing for the its aerodynamics and its autonomous flight software. NASA deemed the test a successful validation of Dream Chaser's basic flight capability in the air, but its landing wasn't without incident. That Dream Chaser skidded off the runway and tumbled when one of its landing gear failed. The company has since switched to different landing gear. NASA will regain the ability to fly science experiments back directly to a runway for immediate off-loading once Dream Chaser starts flying to the ISS. That hasn't been possible since the 2011 retirement of the space shuttle fleet and NASA's reliance on space capsules parachuted back to remote landing sites or the sea. And because Dream Chaser uses non-toxic propellant for orbital navigation and return flight, cargo can be immediately recovered. "That's the piece we have that no one else has," Lindsey said. "Dream Chaser will allow the ISS to go back to fully being used for what it was designed for." http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2016/07/sierra-nevada-ramps-up- for-dream-chaser-production.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo Back to Top ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland 17 to 20 October, 2016 The International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) will hold their 47th annual seminar at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland, from the 17 to 20 October 2016. The seminar theme is: "Every link is important" Papers will address this theme in conjunction with other contemporary matters on aviation safety investigation, including recent case studies, new investigation methods and aviation safety trends or developments. Registration and details of the main seminar, tutorial and companion programmes are available at www.esasi.eu/isasi-2016. We look forward to seeing you in Iceland Back to Top RSVP by contacting Erin Carroll, DFRC President by September 1 Email: erin.carroll@wnco.com or Telephone: (214) 792-5089 Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Request I am Mohsen Berajeh, MSc student within an aircraft maintenance at the university of South Wales. I am conducting a research about outsourcing strategy in aircraft maintenance as a technique to improve safety, cost control and increase aircraft availability. However, part of my study contains a short survey questionnaire, this survey is just 10 questions and will not take more than 10 min. My study would look at the role of outsourcing in aircraft maintenance industry, where the maintenance market is heavily influencing the operating costs Therefore, the airlines implement the outsourcing as a successful approach for continuous improvement to face the world growing competition. Moreover, optimizing aircraft maintenance as a manner of strengthening their market share and confronting challenges in terms of a survival strategy. All operators, maintenance organisations, manufacturers, and owners are most welcome to participate in this questionnaire. Please click the link below to go to the survey. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CRNQGDZ Your participation in a questionnaire will be highly appreciated. Thank you for your time. Mohsen Berajeh 15002519@students.southwales.ac.uk Curt Lewis