Flight Safety Information August 23, 2016 - No. 165 In This Issue Boeing 737 Turn-Back - Smartphone Battery Fire/Smoke (Japan) Fatal Fixed-wing Genav Accident Rates Reach New Lows JAL, Changi Make Safety Changes ANALYSIS: The long journey to digital aircraft technical records Ethiopian to phase out 757 and 767s Flight Tracking Technology Is Ahead of Regulators, Says Panasonic Laser-Based Air Data Systems Come Of Age Federal Aviation Administration is loosening regulation on who can fly drones Cuba elected to council of International Civil Aviation Organistion Feds found record number of firearms in airplane carry-ons last week Holiday horror as police officer's GUN goes off inside airplane cabin Jet Airways to delay Dreamliner deliveries Russia Declares America's Stealth Fighters and Bombers to be 'Paper Fiction' Boeing develops new jet trainer program for U.S. Air Force Fighter pilots' graduation signals China's readiness to police the seas NASA Just Found a Lost Spacecraft PHOTO OF THE DAY GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (1) GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (2) GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (3) ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland...17 to 20 October, 2016 (ISASI) DFW Regional Chapter (DFRC) Summer Meeting, September 8, 2016 Boeing 737 Turn-Back - Smartphone Battery Fire/Smoke (Japan) Date: 22-AUG-2016 Time: 00:45 Type: Boeing 737-86N(WL) Owner/operator: Skymark Airlines Registration: JA73NT C/n / msn: 41264/4460 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: None Location: near New Chitose Airport (CTS/RJCC) - Japan Phase: Initial climb Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: New Chitose Airport (CTS/RJCC) Destination airport: Tokyo International Airport/Haneda (HND/RJTT) Narrative: A rechargeable battery of a smartphone in a carry-on baggage located under the seat of a male passenger of flight Skymark SKY/BC732 from New Chitose to Tokyo/Haneda, operated by a Boeing 737-86N, ignited and smoked just after take off at 00:19 JST. The fire was immediately extinguished by the cabin crew, however, two crew members suffered minor chemical burn on their right arm or left hand fingers. No injuries were reported among 170 passengers. The flight crew decided to turn back to New Chitose, and the airplane made a safe emergency landing at 00:45 JST. File Photo https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=189441 Back to Top Fatal Fixed-wing Genav Accident Rates Reach New Lows Non-commercial fixed-wing fatal accidents have reached new lows, a mark that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Air Safety Institute credits at least in part to a strong industry/government collaborative effort to boost general aviation safety. AOPA's ASI released the 25th Joseph T. Nall Report this month, finding that for the first time in the report's history, non-commercial fixed-wing fatal accidents fell below one per 100,000 flight hours. That rate occurred in 2013, which was the most recent complete set of accident data and findings that the ASI could track for the 25th edition of the Nall report. The report looks at NTSB findings, aviation activity surveys and other final data sets and provides analysis not only on accident rates but also on safety trends. Early data on fatal accidents in 2014 point to a slight uptick in the rate, but the number of accidents that year is among the three lowest on record and well below the most recent 10-year average. "There is good reason to be optimistic as general aviation moves forward," said ASI senior v-p George Perry. "I am encouraged by the achievements to date and the positive safety trends." Perry noted the numerous government/industry initiatives, pointing to the Part 23 rewrite, the updated FAA compliance philosophy and efforts to encourage installation of voluntary equipment. "I can't recall a time where industry, government and associations have been so well aligned to help improve general aviation safety," he said. In 2013 there were 1,185 general aviation accidents, 205 of them fatals that took 363 lives. Fatal accidents were down 4 percent overall from the year before. Fatalities from non-commercial fixed-wing aircraft accidents were down 15 percent in 2013, but other general aviation aircraft categories showed slight increases. Non-commercial fixed-wing flights accounted for about 73 percent of estimated general aviation accidents and 81 percent of all accidents and fatal accidents. In 2012, non- commercial fixed-wing flights represented 83 percent of all accidents and 88 percent of fatal accidents. Flight time logged by non-commercial aircraft fell 7 percent in 2013, but the number of accidents dropped an "unprecedented" 18 percent. "The improvement seems to have been across the board rather than concentrated in one or two specific hazards," according to the Nall report. "Nearly 75 percent were attributed to pilot-related causes and less than 15 percent to documented mechanical failures, almost exactly the same as the year before and the years preceding that." Landing accidents were the most common, while weather was cited in the largest number of fatal accidents, followed by low-altitude maneuvering. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-08-22/fatal-fixed-wing- genav-accident-rates-reach-new-lows Back to Top JAL, Changi Make Safety Changes WASHINGTON-Japan Airlines (JAL) and Singapore Changi Airport have modified procedures following the attempted takeoff of a JAL Boeing 767-300ER on a taxiway parallel to the correct takeoff runway at Changi early on the morning of July 12, 2015. Included are new taxi procedures, safety advisories and testing for JAL pilots, as well as recommendations for tower controllers and the designation of the incident area as a "hot spot." While the crew halted the takeoff relatively early after realizing the error -at roughly the same time that tower controllers ordered an abort-the Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore (AAIB) classified the incident as "serious." According to the recently-released final report, the pilots did not report the incident until air traffic control queried the airline 11 days later. The flight crew returned to Singapore for interviews, but the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder information had been overwritten. JAL was able to download pertinent data from the incident from a quick-access recorder. After pushback, the ground movement controller at Changi assigned a taxi route to Runway 20C. Rather than call out the specific route, which included multiple taxiways, the controller told the pilots to, "Taxi on the greens," to the holding point for Runway 20C. This was an approved procedure that three previous aircraft had used. "On the greens" is a reference to green taxiway centerline lights that the tower activates as a guidance system to lead aircraft to the runway. Although the incident took place at 2:25 a.m. local time as the crew prepared to depart for Tokyo Narita Airport, the AAIB does not mention fatigue as a possible factor. However, confusion between the pilots and the controllers about what time the aircraft needed to depart in order to cross an enroute waypoint-within a required 10-min. window- apparently played a role in the rushed departure. Controllers had asked the crew for the latest time they would need to depart; the crew answered with the earliest time they needed to leave. The tower then called for an expedited taxi, and issued a combined clearance to lineup on the runway and to takeoff ahead of an inbound aircraft. As a result, the tower cleared the pilots to takeoff earlier than they typically would. The AAIB noted that a takeoff clearance is "usually given" to an aircraft as it approaches the departure runway. "The rationale is that aircraft should be closely watched as [it] approach[es] this position, to ensure that the aircraft is taxiing to the correct runway before a takeoff clearance is issued," the AAIB said. With the first officer at the controls, the aircraft lined up on a parallel taxiway ahead of Runway 20C and applied takeoff thrust, crossing a row of red stop-bar lights designed to keep aircraft on the approved green taxiway route. As the aircraft accelerated, both the pilots and controllers noticed the error. Investigators determined the first officer "appeared to have fixated" on a mental picture of a taxi route that had not been assigned, leading to a confirmation bias despite numerous indications-including the red stop-bar lights-that he was off the assigned route. The AAIB faulted the crew for not asking for clarification during certain calls with controllers and for not communicating better with each other. The board faulted controllers for giving a combined lineup and takeoff clearance. "Issuing a lineup clearance first and then a takeoff clearance later will give [air traffic control] a chance to monitor the aircraft's movement to ensure that it is on the right route to the departure runway," the AAIB said. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top ANALYSIS: The long journey to digital aircraft technical records ReadyFlight.com ReadyFlight.com Most airlines and MROs still work with paper. So says Adrian Ryan, chief executive of UK aviation data firm Flydocs. And in the words of Sven Heitsch, head of strategy and technology at Lufthansa Technik - which in June confirmed it had taken a majority stake in Flydocs - the industry is still "far away" from handling aircraft technical records in electronic formats that can be easily processed by multiple stakeholders, be they operators, lessors, maintenance providers or regulators. When an aircraft changes ownership, it can be accompanied by several hundred boxes of paper files - including maintenance records - which are kept to document the equipment's history and compliance with regulations. Examining that data has made aircraft handovers a time-consuming process. Records may be be scanned for electronic storage and distribution. But this produces only a digital image of the document - the information cannot be easily updated, and will likely need manual inputting in order to transfer the documents' content into a wider IT infrastructure, such as an airline's inventory management system. Flydocs has developed software to enter records in an online database that provides different users with access and automatic data management functionalities. The company has concentrated, in particular, on end-of-lease deals, and Ryan highlights that the system can be used by international users to process such transactions entirely online. "The main priority of the platform is to take electronic or paper-based data and put it all online and automate the process of building compliance," he says. Ryan says the system can deliver "huge" savings, and adds that sharing a database among different stakeholders creates other benefits too: "We are bringing about not just a digital transformation. We are also part of a relationship-based transformation where the lessor and operator with the MRO can share one set of live data that everybody can see [and] use." Originally founded in 2007, Flydocs started developing the cloud-based application in 2010, with investment firm Growth Capital Partners as a shareholder. It was GCP's stake that LHT acquired this year. Ryan says that Flydocs will continue to operate as an independent business with own management. He expects that the company will be able to grow its business through access to LHT's maintenance customers and spur software development in areas it is not serving today. LHT, for its part, hopes that the acquisition of Flydocs will serve as a cornerstone in the development of a range of digital services for airlines and to improve MRO operations. "We have decided to set up a whole ecosystem... of digital solutions," says Heitsch. "The current service offering of Flydocs is focused on digital aircraft record keeping, compliance and transition services. [But] at the same time, we see much more potential in the area of technical publications and pre-maintenance documentation where we today use multiple sources of information." The aim is to centrally process information that comes from different sources, including manufacturers' manuals and service bulletins, directives from regulators, airlines' fleet records, and technical data being downloaded from aircraft. Especially since predictive maintenance capabilities are set to increase with the growth of available technical aircraft data, Heitsch foresees that maintenance scheduling and allocation of check tasks can be, at least partly, automated in future. "It will not be a completely automated decision-making in the beginning. But it will start with very smart recommendations based on aircraft data and aircraft history." But he is sure that capabilities will grow as "we are at the very beginning of the very process of digitising the aircraft industry". Heitsch likens the digitisation of aircraft services to the introduction of electronic tickets during the 1990s. While it was probably not clear to everyone at the beginning of that process how the introduction of e-tickets would facilitate further developments - such as direct sales to customers, without intermediaries - the airline industry needed to adopt common standards and processes to handle the new format. He argues that Flydocs' system could play such a role: "We see ourselves as the platform which will make the vision of... paperless flying [aircraft documentation] become a reality in the future." From a technological point of view, Heitsch believes the digital transition in the maintenance sector can happen quicker than the introduction of e-tickets as both computing capabilities and acceptance of such technology have significantly increased since the 1990s. But he expects that the long lifecycle of aircraft makes a quick, industry-wide adoption of digital documents unlikely: "There are many more stakeholders involved in the industry [than in e-ticketing] and the lifespan of an aircraft can be up to 30 years. So in the end there are also existing aircraft for which it may not make economic sense for the airline to transfer them in to the digital world." www.flightglobal.com Back to Top Ethiopian to phase out 757 and 767s Ethiopian Airlines its planning to phase out its fleet of Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Speaking at a press event in Addis Ababa on 15 August, managing director of international services Esayas Woldermariam Hailu disclosed that the flag carrier's single 757 would be phased out "in the next month". He says the airline's remaining five 767s will be removed from the fleet within the next six months. www.flightglobal.com Back to Top Flight Tracking Technology Is Ahead of Regulators, Says Panasonic Panasonic's proprietary Airmap display shows aircraft locations based on flight tracking through its satellite communications systems. [Photo: Panasonic Avionics] With the passing of nearly two-and-a-half years since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, investigators still know more about where the missing Boeing 777 is not than where it actually is. While a few pieces of the airliner have washed up, despite millions spent in the search effort, there are scant clues as to the final resting place of the aircraft, which vanished in March 2014. Regulators have since been working, albeit slowly, to ensure such a situation is not repeated, by enacting a series of proposed solutions for tracking flights. "I think the technology is ahead of where the regulations probably are," said Jeffrey Rex, director of engineering and business development at Panasonic Avionics, speaking at a product demonstration in Newark, N.J., on August 18. "The opportunity is there to know where your aircraft are and track your aircraft without waiting for the regulations to do something about it in most cases." In November 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) formally announced the adoption of commercial aircraft tracking Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), establishing that it is the commercial air operator's responsibility to track its aircraft throughout its area of operations, with a minimum tracking interval of 15 minutes per report. That information would be used to determine the aircraft's last known position for search-and-rescue operations, as well as to establish when an airline needs to report missing aircraft position information. This past March, two years after MH370's disappearance, ICAO adopted another amendment which includes SARPs relating to establishing the location of an aircraft in distress, by automatically initiating an increase in position information reporting to at least once per minute in abnormal flight situations. The measures pertain specifically to newly manufactured aircraft and are subject to acceptance and interpretation by each individual member state. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other member governing bodies have yet to issue official endorsements on the amendments. The SARPs became effective on July 11, meaning the deadline passed for more than 50 percent of member states to block the move. The measures will be applicable from Jan. 1, 2021, at which point states must have notified ICAO of any differences in their regulations and the ICAO standards. In June, Panasonic's avionics division announced it was offering flight tracking through its two existing global satellite communications (satcom) platforms, FlightLink and eXConnect, either of which would provide compliance with the ICAO advice in both normal and abnormal tracking situations. Together the two systems are installed on more than 1,500 commercial aircraft, any of which could be configured for flight tracking with just a simple software upgrade according to Rex. "There are a lot of systems that can be turned on in aircraft where you are just turning on an application and adding a small software upgrade, instead of waiting for a whole new system to come out," he noted. "That might take two or three years, and might comply with a standard that takes two or three years to develop, so stack that up and you probably get 95 percent of the end intent whatever that might be, just by putting out something you have today." Panasonic's narrowband, Iridium-based FlightLink system provides global cockpit voice and data communication and can also be tailored to stream other vital information such as fuel status, or aircraft health monitoring. The eXConnect broadband system operates on Panasonic's own Ku-band satellite network and provides 99.6 percent global air route coverage with the only gaps coming at the poles. Intended primarily for in flight entertainment, the system provides Internet connectivity, wireless content streaming from an onboard server to portable devices, live global TV and global cellphone functionality. Both systems work with Panasonic's proprietary Airmap display and are custom configurable with the ability to set preferred reporting intervals, and initiate abnormal tracking mode automatically and remotely from the cockpit or a ground monitoring station. Yet, while ICAO has published its advice, many airlines are delaying embracing flight tracking technology until they are mandated by their aviation authorities to do so. "Some of our customers have been really proactive in engaging in tracking and they've helped push us to make the product better actually," said Rex. "One of the hurdles is the fact that the baseline systems to do this are not on every airplane, and it takes a while to modify aircraft," he told AIN. "It's not only the standards, but also the ability to go touch all the aircraft and do the modifications. There's a huge backlog for some of the systems that have to be in place." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2016-08-22/flight-tracking- technology-ahead-regulators-says-panasonic Back to Top Laser-Based Air Data Systems Come Of Age Alternative technologies for air data gain popularity for next-gen aircraft A race is underway among manufacturers of laser-based air data systems to become the preferred providers of a new generation of air data sensors for commercial aircraft. In the U.S., the key competitors are Ann Arbor-based Michigan Aerospace; Ophir Corp. of Littleton, Colorado; and Manassas, Virginia-based Optical Air Data Systems (OADS). All three have flown their systems as prototypes, and are vying for the attention of major airframers to provide primary or backup air data-true airspeed, angle-of-attack, angle of sideslip and other information-for next-generation aircraft. The reasons for wanting to transition from pneumatic-based air data systems-pitot tubes, static ports and angle-of-attack vanes-to laser-based systems are many. All three devices are susceptible to blockage by icing (in some cases despite having resistive heating elements) or other mechanical faults, issues that in numerous cases have caused startle and confusion on the flight deck as multiple system failure messages and aural alerts. High-performance or fly-by-wire aircraft can also face penalties from the use of relatively inaccurate true airspeed measurements-the pitot tube and static system generate indicated airspeed, which must be corrected for a variety of factors, including actual air density and instrument errors-and the lag time of mechanical angle-of-attack vanes. BENEFITS OF LASER-BASED AIR SYSTEMS No moving parts Immune to icing dangers More reliable than traditional systems Better performance for fly-by-wire systems Increasingly realistic alternatives are laser-based systems that can provide real-time true airspeed, sideslip angle, angle-of-attack, density and temperature, all with a sensor that has no mechanically moving parts, safely tucked away behind a window or fairing. Boeing and Embraer have included Ophir's sensor system in the Embraer E170 EcoDemonstrator technology demonstration program, planned to fly in August and September. Airbus and Dassault experimented several years ago with a laser-based air data system built in part by Thales and several research institutes. While the specific measurement techniques of the three companies differ, the general focus is the same-shoot several laser beams into the surrounding air and collect the reflected light to determine the 3-D motion of the undisturbed air ahead of the aircraft, in part by determining the Doppler shift of the collected light. OADS founder and CEO Phil Rogers began experimenting with lasers while working for Lockheed Skunk Works in the 1980s. For stealth purposes, engineers wanted to find a way to measure airflow without sticking a probe into the flow. Rogers came up with the idea of using laser Doppler velocimetry and ultimately evaluated the idea on Lockheed's L- 1011 flight testbed. The system, however, was too large to be practical as laser technologies were not mature. But the telecommunications boom in the 1990s produced fiber-optic technologies that would pave the way. Rogers left Lockheed in 1987 and soon started his own laser company with his wife, also a Skunk Works engineer. The company perfected the ability to create compact air data systems in the early 2000s, leading to a commercial product line in 2008. Included were a wind direction system, in part for the wind turbine industry, and a hand-held wind detector first used by the BMW Oracle racing team in the 33rd America's Cup sailing competition. OADS later developed, for the U.S. Navy, a laser sensor for helicopters to use in degraded visual environments, the precursor to the company's fixed-wing air data system, called the WindSceptor. Representative mounting of Optical Air Data System's WindSceptor laser-based air data system is shown in the company's T-33 test aircraft. Credit: Optical Air Data Systems OADS transmits three laser beams in a conical pattern from the cylindrical shape sensor head that is connected by three fiber-optic cables to the electronics box (see photo). The beams have a maximum range of about 300 ft. (91 m), but are typically adjusted to sample the undisturbed air at 2-3 chord lengths ahead of the wing. The system captures reflected light from aerosols, primarily microscopic desert sand, volcanic ash and cosmic dust trapped in the atmosphere. While critics say aerosols are not available in high enough concentrations for air data measurements at high altitudes, Rogers says the design and testing of his system proves the opposite. "It is not a matter of, 'Are the aerosols at high altitude abundant enough?,' but rather about designing a sensor system sensitive enough to detect those that are there," Rogers explains. "There is an abundance of data collected by various agencies over the past several decades that allows us to design our system to detect the aerosol concentrations that do exist. We then designed in sufficient sensitivity to allow for significantly less signal levels than predicted." The company has not said on which platform it has tested the system, only that it has data for altitudes higher than 50,000 ft. Although OADS has not yet launched a certification program with the FAA, Rogers predicts the WindSceptor could be ready for market in about two years. Ophir uses a different measurement technique largely to avoid relying on aerosols alone. Its so-called "Rayleigh/Mie Lidar" technique collects the reflected laser light from both aerosols and gas molecules, using Doppler velocimetry to compute the 3-D motion of the air. "The aircraft's airspeed is found from the Doppler shift of the Rayleigh molecular scattering, augmented by the aerosol Mie scattering, and will, therefore, not fail if the air becomes free of aerosols," writes NASA about the technology in its Spinoff magazine. The agency funded the Ophir air data system work through a two-phase Small Business Innovation Research grant. The company is an established builder of laser radar systems, including the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber's pilot alert system, which determines if the stealthy aircraft is leaving a contrail. Michigan Aerospace's optical air data system mounted in a cabin window of what appears to be Honeywell's Boeing 757 flight test aircraft. Credit: Michigan Aerospace Like OADS's, the Ophir system includes an electronics box and an unpowered "transceiver" head mounted flush with the aircraft skin. Prior to the Boeing and Embraer E170 EcoDemonstrator win, Orphir says it demonstrated operations for more than 140 flight hours on commercial aircraft, covering speeds of 550 kt. at 47,000 ft. altitude in a range of environmental conditions, including inside clouds and in both high and very low aerosol conditions. The company's goal is to get the system placed on a next-generation commercial aircraft as the backup, or augmentation, for the conventional air data system. The Michigan Aerospace air data system, called AeroForecast, also has a flush-mounted laser transceiver. The company says it recently tested the system on several aircraft, including a Boeing 757-which from photos on its website appears to be Honeywell's Boeing 757 testbed-a Beechcraft King Air, a NASA P-3 Orion and Global Hawk. While using laser Doppler velocimetry on both aerosols and molecules as the reflection medium, the Michigan system uses a different method from Ophir to detect the Doppler shift. The jury is out on which of the technologies, if any, will prevail in the marketplace. While the nascent air laser data system providers acknowledge that the upfront cost will be higher than a traditional pneumatic air data system, they say the life-cycle cost will be lower, given the higher reliability of the laser. "It will be available at a price that could allow it to be ubiquitous on commercial aircraft," says OADS's Rogers. http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/laser-based-air-data-systems-come-age Back to Top Federal Aviation Administration is loosening regulation on who can fly drones TOPEKA, Kan (WIBW)--- Commercial usage of drones is set to take off. The Federal Aviation Administration announced it will allow companies to fly unmanned aircraft systems for profit, changing the way businesses operate. "Currently we are only selling to recreational users, people who use them for their own personal use and property," said Owner of Dee & Mee Hobbies, Rich Zeller. "This opens up the doors for businesses to do better and help their customers." The latest regulation change replaces the costly pilot license once needed to fly a drone with a book-based test, costing 150 dollars. However, drones still can not weigh more than 55 pounds, can only be flown from sun up to sun down, and must remain below 400 feet and within eyesight. "There is so much economic growth that is going to be made available in our state as this rule is proliferated," said K-DOT UAS Director, Bob Brock. "We are going to have people be safer in protecting their employees and provide services that haven't been made available today." However, concerns remain on who'll ensure guidelines are met and airspace remains safe. "I don't believe this creates safety issues so much as the lack of following the rules will create the safety issue," said Brock. The FAA expects the new rule will add $82 billion to the U.S. economy and generate more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years, changing the way we see drones. "Expect to see drones a lot more frequently in the sky hopefully being safely used and operated," said Zeller. The new rules take effect on August 29th. To find the nearest testing center and a study guide for the exam, you can go to the FAA website. http://www.wibw.com/content/news/Federal-Aviation-Administration-is-loosening- regulation-on-who-can-fly-drones-390986501.html Back to Top Cuba elected to council of International Civil Aviation Organistion HAVANA, Cub, (CMC) - Cuba has been elected to occupy a seat in the council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. At the recent meeting of the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC), Cuba was elected from eight countries in the region. LACA President Carlos Fernando Velasquez told journalists that support for Cuba stood out among the agreements reached at the 88th meeting of the executive committee of the organisation. Velasquez who is also director-general of Civil Aeronautics of Guatemala, highlighted Cuba's performance in the organisation in areas such as air transport and operational safety. He noted that the Spanish-speaking nation saw a growth of 18 per cent in air passenger traffic last year, and it is expected to reach about 25 to 30 per cent at the end of this year. The 39th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization is scheduled to be held in Montréal, Canada from September 27 to October 7. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Cuba-elected-to-council-of-International-Civil- Aviation-Organistion Back to Top Feds found record number of firearms in airplane carry-ons last week The Transportation Safety Administration found a record number of firearms last week in airline passengers' carry-on bags. A whopping 81 guns were found from Aug. 12-18, the TSA said in a blog post. The previous record, 78, was set the week before. Feds found record number of firearms in airplane carry-ons last week photo (Getty Images) Of those 81 firearms, "70 were loaded and 31 had a round chambered," the TSA said. No firearms were found at South Florida airports last week. However, the TSA the week before said it found two guns in passengers' carry-ons at Miami International Airport. Passengers found with firearms in their carry-ons could face a fine up to $11,000, a ticket and possibly jailtime. Travelers can transport firearms in checked bags, but the traveler first has to let the airline know they are checking a weapon, the TSA said. "Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions; that's for the law enforcement officer to decide," the TSA said. "In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items." http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/transportation/feds-found-record-number-of- firearms-in-airplane-c/nsKSw/ Back to Top Holiday horror as police officer's GUN goes off inside airplane cabin HOLIDAYMAKERS were left terrified after a gun discharged inside a flight from Ibiza. No-one was hurt when the gun went off on the plane The Vueling aircraft was about to leave the holiday hotspot for Madrid-Barajas Airport when the weapon went off, filling the cabin with the smell of gunpowder. No-one was hurt in the shocking incident at the weekend, which occurred when a policy officer's gun accidentally discharged as he handed it to the pilot. As part of flight protocol, officers are instructed to store firearms in the cockpit while in the air. However, during the handover on Flight VY3420 the gun went off inside his suitcase, startling passengers and flight crew. The terrifying incident occurred as the plane prepared to leave Ibiza airport Luckily the bullet missed the officer, flight crew and passengers and instead remained embedded within the suitcase. Engineers were rushed to the plane to ensure no damage was done, before the flight could finally leave. The flight eventually left Ibiza after engineers ensured the plane had not been damaged A Veiling spokesman described the incident as "minor" and "without further consequences for the passengers and crew". If the bullet had been shot out of the suitcase while the plane was in flight, however, the consequences could have been dangerous. AskCaptainLim.com, a website that poses questions to an experiences pilot, revealed: "Think of the aircraft cabin as if it is a balloon. The bigger the hole, the faster the air would leak out. "What is more worrying is a gun shot hitting the electrical cables. Even that is quite remote because such vital cables or lines are generally well protected and are securely located away from possible damage." http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/702981/gun-on-board-ibiza-airplane-flight-police- officer Back to Top Jet Airways to delay Dreamliner deliveries Deliveries unlikely to start in 2017, as previously thought Jet Airways has asked Boeing to delay the delivery of its 10 B787 Dreamliners, the Economic Times reports. The Mumbai-based carrier had been due to start receiving the new long-haul aircraft in 2017, but a senior Boeing official told the newspaper that it wishes to postpone the deliveries, as it expects other airlines to return their leased aircraft to Jet earlier than planned. "Jet Airways has informed us that it does not want to take delivery of the 10 787s as per schedule," Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president of sales for Asia Pacific was quoted saying. "The move follows its decision to re-take a similar number of 777s from Etihad and Turkish Airlines, which were given on lease by the airline earlier." Keskar added that, from Boeing's perspective, the postponement is "perfectly fine with us". Jet ordered the 10 Dreamliners in December 2006. It also has outstanding orders with Boeing for 75 B737 MAX aircraft. http://www.traveldailymedia.com/240216/jet-airways-to-delay-dreamliner-deliveries/ Back to Top Russia Declares America's Stealth Fighters and Bombers to be 'Paper Fiction' Why is the Kremlin investing billions of dollars (rubles) into the Sukhoi PAK-FA fifth- generation fighter and the PAK-DA stealth bomber if Moscow considers stealth technology to be useless? Recently, in response to a column I wrote, Russian media denounced stealth technology as useless-asserting that aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor or F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) would easily fall prey to advanced Russian-built air defenses. The column clearly struck a nerve with Russia's air defense experts. Indeed, former chief of staff of Russia's air defense forces, Col. Gen. Igor Maltsev, told Gazeta.ru that stealth technology was "paper fiction." Nonetheless, the Russians continue to spend billions of dollars developing stealth technology for the PAK-FA, PAK-DA and the Kh-101 and Kh-102 cruise missiles-the later of which is crucial for securing Moscow's strategic nuclear deterrence. But if stealth technology were 'paper fiction'-why would Moscow pour billions down the drain for no good reason? "Low observation is far short of invisibility, but if this element of fifth-generation aircraft technology is 'paper fiction,' then why is Russia building the PAK-FA, dreaming about the PAK-DA, and the same can be said of Chinese prototypes in development," said Michael Kofman, a research scientist at CNA Corporation specializing in Russian military affairs- who alongside myself-was shall we say, vigorously analyzed by Russian media. "Surely they are not simply competing with the JSF for who can spend the most money." The Russians suggested that they could use alternatives to high-frequency fire control bands (C, X and Ku) to launch a missile at an F-22 or F-35. Those alternatives include command guidance, infrared, optical and other options. Indeed, the Russians could attempt to do so-but while command guidance is fairly common-there are no operational long-range area air defense systems that feature infrared or optical guidance. Infrared and optical guidance are only effective at relatively short-ranges. The Russians would have to use low-frequency radar to guide a missile equipped with an infrared or optical sensor into range if such a such a system were to be developed. However, analysts and defense officials said that such a system could be overcome by changing tactics. Indeed, as I have written here in The National Interest and at Aviation Week & Space Technology, there are some Western experts such as Col. Michael Pietrucha who have theorized potential ways to engage stealth aircraft using VHF and UHF-based radars. However, as several U.S. Air Force experts on stealth technology and tactics have told me, while Pietrucha's idea might work theoretically, it would probably not work in practical terms. "Although I can't argue with the specifics-it's all basic physics-I think it is reaching to say that high-band stealth is 'for naught.' At the end of the day, almost all of the current shooters are targeted by our current stealth. Newer systems may be developed to hit gaps, but we still have a head start," one highly experienced U.S. Air Force stealth expert told me. "Plus, we never go alone. EW [electronic warfare] is another game, and there are systems tailored there as well. As for active missiles, good luck fitting a VHF antenna in a missile body." Thus, even if high-frequency stealth might not be as effective today as it was in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet collapse, Moscow probably has not developed an effective countermeasure to defeat the F-22 or F-35 just yet. Even if the Kremlin had found a way to defeat American low observable technology, it would be imprudent for Moscow to telegraph that message to its opponents in Washington. Moreover, it would be doubly irresponsible to squander billions of dollars on a fool's errand to develop a technology that one believes to be obsolete or "paper fiction" as the case may be-especially during a time of economic hardship. Thus, the very fact that Russia is investing in the PAK-FA and PAK-DA is ample evidence that stealth not only works but is also here to stay. Otherwise, why bother? http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russia-declares-americas-stealth-fighters- bombers-be-paper-17441 Back to Top Boeing develops new jet trainer program for U.S. Air Force, faces competition from Northrop Grumman Boeing has developed an advanced new pilot training jet program specifically for the U.S. Air Force. Now, all it needs to do is persuade Air Force Command to buy it. The aircraft maker's defense arm teased aircraft enthusiasts this week with a shadowy illustration of the new training jet, but only after rival Northrop Grumman's prototype jet was seen in a real life taxi in a Twitter photo taken by a test pilot. Dubbed the Boeing T-X program, it includes a sleek new military training jet, ground- based training and support, all designed to go seamlessly together. Boeing (NYSE: BA) gave a sneak peek tease about the new jet Monday and promised to unveil more details of the program in September. See it here. Boeing's web tease came after Northrop Grumman"s own trainer jet prototype was seen in a photo on Twitter. It posted by Atlanta pilot David Kern, who is an Air Force reservist. You can see the Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) test plane - which Northrop builds in partner with BAE Systems and L-3Communications Holdings Corp. - in the Twitter photo here. Boeing developed its T-X in partnership with the Saab Group. "Young teens will be among the first pilots to train on the T-X. We're excited to design a new airplane, as part of a complete training system, for their generation," Boeing noted in its web tease. "Boeing T-X is safe, agile and affordable so that the U.S. Air Force can continue to train generations of pilots for decades to come." If Boeing wins the contract, it could provide the company with a new revenue source as commercial airliner sales have slowed. But the contract could be years away from being let. Air Force Command has been developing plans to replace its aging T-38 jets since 2003, but has frequently postponed a procurement for the program amid budget constraints. In addition to Northrop Grumman, Boeing's offering may face rival planes pitched by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Korean Aerospace Industries, and Textron Airland. http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2016/08/boeing-develops-new-jet- trainer-program-for-u-s.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo Back to Top Fighter pilots' graduation signals China's readiness to police the seas Announcement highlights navy's ability to train carrier-based pilots China has stepped up preparation of its aircraft carrier's fighting force, with a new batch of carrier-based fighter pilots graduating this month. The People's Liberation Army has built up its largest carrier-based pilot team after more than three years of intensive training, the PLA Daily reported in a front-page article on Tuesday. A class of carrier-based jet fighter pilots graduated this month. Photo: SCMP Pictures The news comes on the back of a report in Jane's Defence Weekly last week that China's first home-built Type 001A aircraft carrier was now largely complete, with just an aircraft elevator, superstructure and some deck sections left to be finished. The images were from Airbus Defence and Space, a division of the Airbus Group, a European multinational aerospace and defence corporation. The article did not say how many carrier-based fighter jet pilots graduated but highlighted that they were all classmates of Zhang Chao, a 29-year old PLA pilot who died when his J- 15 fighter jet crashed during a simulated landing at an inland base in April. Fatal crash of Chinese J-15 carrier jet puts question mark over troubled programme The navy suspended all J-15 training flights for nearly two months after Zhang's death, which was reported by state media after the training resumed last month. The PLA Daily said the pilots all trained on China's Liaoning aircraft carrier for the most challenging night-time take-offs and landings. The pilots trained on take-offs and landing aboard the Liaoning aircraft carrier. Photo: SCMP Pictures The military mouthpiece's article - which comes after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled against Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea on July 12 - signals China's push to build up its aircraft carrier fighting group. South China Sea: 'provocative US action' could prompt faster Chinese http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2007910/fighter-pilots- graduation-signals-chinas-readiness Back to Top NASA Just Found a Lost Spacecraft Photo credit: NASA If movies about space have taught us anything, it's that no one can hear you scream. If you get lost in space, nobody's going to find you. Unless you're a spacecraft with a direct link to NASA. Then, there is hope for you yet. STEREO-B, from the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, went missing on October 1, 2014 after losing contact with the team back on Earth. However, on Sunday night, scientists were able to reestablish contact, after 22 months of searching, when the Deep Space Network (NASA's tool for tracking space missions) was able to lock on to the signal. In October 2006, STEREO-B and its partner STEREO-A embarked on a two-year-long mission to provide measurements of the sun's flow of energy to Earth. One was slightly inside Earth's orbit, and one was outside, allowing scientists to measure energy from multiple angles and eventually, the far side of the sun for the first time. The two spacecraft in relation to Earth. Photo credit: NASA However, the team ran into a problem. One of the spacecraft was about to drift to the opposite side of the sun from Earth, so there was going to be a three-month period during which communication would be impossible. Since the spacecraft were only designed to be in space for two years, this development was overlooked at the time of the launch. "The sun emits strongly in nearly every wavelength, making it the biggest source of noise in the sky," said Dan Ossing, mission operations manager for the STEREO mission."Most deep space missions only have to deal with sun interference for a day or so, but for each of the STEREO spacecraft, this period lasted nearly four months." Because the spacecraft was designed to reset after 72 hours without contact, the team decided to test it to make sure it could reestablish a signal with Earth durimg this reset period. The scientists figured it would turn itself back on. The team received a weak signal after the first reset, and that was the last time they heard from STEREO-B. Until this week, when the Deep Space Network established a link with STEREO-B's signal. In a report from December 2015, scientists hypothesized that the tests went awry because the sensor that tells the spacecraft how fast it's rotating failed, sending it spinning out of control. Meanwhile, the spacecraft's battery was powered by solar panels, which weren't able to get energy to power it up. Since communications were lost, scientists have been using the network to check for STEREO-B, spacing out three three-hour blocks each week to search for it. This was a tough task, considering scientists had no idea where the spacecraft was. But the newly located STEREO-B isn't out of danger just yet. The STEREO team will plan further recovery processes to ensure that the spacecraft is working properly. The team has already spent several hours testing its vitals before powering it down to save battery. It's a process that might take years. In 2019, the team will be able to use Hubble to see it and test its rate of spin. So I guess STEREO-B got its happily ever after, at least for now. It's still sad to think about it floating in space, spinning out of control, hoping its friends back on Earth will find it. Although that could just be us (definitely us). http://gizmodo.com/we-get-a-happy-ending-to-the-saga-of-nasas-lost-spacecr- 1785623536 Back to Top PHOTO OF THE DAY Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (1) Dear Colleagues, I am a university student completing my master degree at the University of South Wales in the UK and I'm conducting a research for my dissertation on aircraft maintenance cost reduction. I would appreciate it if you could complete my survey below: survey link http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/837F5/ Thank you, Ali khlifa Abushhiwa Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (2) Dear Colleagues, My name is Hamed Aljahwari, and I am a student from City University London. I would like to take few minutes of your time to answer the following questions. The survey is addressing helicopter Engineers and helicopter Operators in the Middle East. This survey is approved by the Ethics Committee of City University London and is only intended to support my research. Please follow the link below to complete the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/72GN8RM The impacts of operating helicopters in harsh environment Survey www.surveymonkey.com Thank you, Hamed Aljahwari Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (3) Manual Flying Skills Online Survey Dear fellow Aviators, I kindly ask you to take part in a short online survey concerning the topics of automation and manual flying skills. Besides flying Boeing 737s in Europe, I am enrolled in the MSc Air Safety Management part-time programme at City University London. At the moment, I am working on my thesis - topic: 'Manual Flying Skills - Airline Procedures and their Effect on Pilot Proficiency' - required for the award of the MSc degree next year. By means of this thesis, I intend to investigate the effects different policies or procedures regarding automation (and the resulting manual flying opportunities) can have on pilots' manual flying skills. Recent incidents and accidents involving manual flying deficiencies have brought this issue to wider attention, especially regarding loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) accidents. The survey displays a core element of my work as I would like to combine pilots' subjective views and experiences with current literature and scientific research. It addresses all pilots flying in a commercial environment world-wide and can be found at: https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/manualflyingskills It would be great if you could spare roughly 8-10 minutes of your valued time for this survey. Moreover, it would help me considerably if you could share the survey with friends flying around the world - in order to represent a wide range of different procedural environments in my research. Thank you very much in advance, highly appreciated! Moritz Hanusch Back to Top The International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) will hold their 47th annual seminar at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland, from October 17- 20, 2016 Up to date program details, links to the registration program and the hotel can be found at www.esasi.eu/isasi-2016 or www.isasi.org Dates to Remember Cut off date for the seminar rate at the hotel is September 10, 2016. Reservations made after that date will not be guaranteed the seminar rate. Cut off date for the early registration fee is September 25, 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 Curt Lewis