Flight Safety Information October 6, 2016 - No. 197 In This Issue Smoking Samsung cell phone to blame for evacuation of Southwest Airlines Israeli Combat Pilot Killed While Ejecting From Burning Jet FAA PROCESS CLARIFIED FOR PILOTS SEEKING ADS-B REBATES Cargo aircraft incident disrupts Belfast flights Qantas jet clips another aircraft FAA: Shift away from enforcement mindset enhances safety NASA Is Setting a Bunch of Fires in Space on Purpose GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Accident Investigation for Aviation Management Course - Cranfield University Smoking Samsung cell phone to blame for evacuation of Southwest Airlines plane at Louisville airport Plane evacuated for smoking phone LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A fire official says smoke that led to the evacuation of a plane at Louisville International Airport was caused by a Samsung device. An airport spokesperson told WAVE 3 that a Southwest Airlines flight, a Boeing 737, was departing from Louisville heading to Baltimore when the smoke was discovered at 9:20 a.m. Louisville Metro Arson Capt. Kevin Fletcher said the device overheated Wednesday morning and began to smoke, which led Southwest Airlines to evacuate the plane prior to departure. Brian Green of New Albany says he had returned his recall Note 7 for a new one just two weeks ago. But he says it was that replacement devie that began smoking in the cabin of the jet as it sat on the tarmac. "Just placed the phone in my pocket and within a few a few seconds I heard a pop, similar to like a Ziploc bag popping open, I looked around to see what was happening and I just had smoke pouring out of my clothes and my pocket," Green said. Airport authority spokeswoman Natalie Chaudoin said 75 passengers and crew were evacuated. She says no one was injured. Fletcher says there was minor damage to the plane's carpet where the device was dropped. U.S. safety regulators announced a formal recall last month of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after a spate of fires led to injuries and property damage. Samsung said in a statement that it's working with authorities to recover the device and confirm the cause. Passenger Misty Whitaker told WAVE 3 that the smoke came from a cell phone. "I was sitting at the front of the plane and I noticed a flight attendant coming quickly down the aisle saying ... there's smoke on the plane," she said. "Leave all of your bags on the plane and come forward in an orderly fashion ... They said it was a Samsung Galaxy. The last they told us while we were waiting was that the fire had burned through the carpet." No one was injured in the incident. Southwest issued a statement shortly before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in response to the incident: "Before Southwest Airlines Flight 994 departed from Louisville for Baltimore, a customer's electronic device, believed to be a Samsung, began emitting smoke. All customers and crew deplaned safely via the main cabin door. Customers will be accommodated on other Southwest flights to their final destinations. Safety is always our top priority at Southwest and we encourage our customers to comply with the FAA Pack Safe guidelines." http://www.wthr.com/article/75-passengers-evacuated-from-plane-at-louisville-airport- due-to-smoke Back to Top Israeli Combat Pilot Killed While Ejecting From Burning Jet An Israeli fighter pilot is killed in a tragic crash while ejecting from his burning jet at the Ramon air base. F-16 "Sufa" (Storm), the 119th Air Squadron An Israeli Air Force pilot died Wednesday afternoon during a failed attempt to land a Sufa (F-16i) fighter jet at the Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev. The pilot ejected from the burning aircraft, as did his navigator. The pilot was killed during the ejection from the aircraft. The navigator ejected safely, although he sustained minor wounds and was evacuated to a medical center for care. He is listed in good condition; his name also has not been released, in accordance with standard Israeli Air Force policy. The tragic incident occurred as the aircraft was returning from the afternoon's attack on Gaza in retaliation for rocket fire that targeted the Jewish town of Sderot in southern Israel earlier in the day. It is not clear what caused the aircraft to catch fire. The commander of the Air Force, Major-General Amir Eshel, has launched a top-ranking commission of inquiry into the disaster. http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/israeli-combat-pilot-killed-while- ejecting-from-burning-jet-at-ramon-air-base/2016/10/05/ Back to Top FAA PROCESS CLARIFIED FOR PILOTS SEEKING ADS-B REBATES More than 2,300 aircraft owners applied for a $500 rebate in the first two weeks of the FAA's program to encourage early installation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast Out (ADS-B Out) systems in their aircraft ahead of the Jan. 1, 2020, deadline. Lancaster Avionics technician Scott Kuhns installs a FreeFlight Systems UAT control head in a Cessna 172. The UAT will provide both ADS-B Out and In capabilities. Photo by Mike Collins. The volume of activity has highlighted the need to clarify some aspects of the program, especially to ensure that pilots conduct proper flight tests and carry out other steps in accordance with the rules, said Rune Duke, AOPA director of airspace and air traffic. The rebate program, a collaboration between the FAA and AOPA, the Aircraft Electronics Association, and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, is intended to motivate owners of less expensive general aviation aircraft to install ADS-B Out equipment ahead of the 2020 mandate to avoid potential bottlenecks at installation facilities. In the first two weeks since the rebate program website went live on Sept. 19, 2,360 rebates were reserved by program participants. Of those, 1,078 were booked on the first day; the first week's total was 2,040. The FAA plans to run the rebate program for a year or until 20,000 rebates have been claimed. Several elements of the program have been the source of misunderstandings, said some of the pilots who contacted AOPA's Pilot Information Center and the FAA. The Public ADS-B Performance Report (PAPR) that validates the required flight testing, Step 4 of the rebate process for an ADS-B Out installation, has been one such element. In some instances, pilots received a PAPR advising "no flight information available." In many of those cases, the pilot had requested the PAPR immediately after flying. Pilots should wait a minimum of one hour to request the PAPR, to ensure that the flight information is available within the database. Also derived from the PAPR request is a General Aviation Incentive Requirements Status (GAIRS) report, which provides a summary of three testing parameters: aircraft registration, airspace detection, and ADS-B rule compliance. If all are satisfactory, the GAIRS report will include an incentive code required to complete the rebate process. According to the advisory circular that provides recommended flight profiles and maneuvers to perform during the Step 4 Fly/Validate portion of the rebate process, "fly the aircraft at multiple altitudes throughout the flight within ADS-B coverage. There is no maximum or minimum altitude required for the flight test. During the flight, place the aircraft in various normal configurations such as takeoff, approach, landing, and cruise configuration if appropriate for the airframe. During the flight, perform at least two left and two right 360-degree turns." The advisory circular's Table 5 provides suggested parameters for the turns, which should be made at 1.4 VS to 1.8 VS and at 30 degrees of bank. Climbs and descents should be at least one minute in length. The profile also requires pilots to fly a north/south course that crosses a known waypoint, followed by an east/west course that crosses the same waypoint. Pilots' unfamiliarity with details of the flight test requirements-including location, what maneuvers to conduct, and the flight test's length-also resulted in some PAPR and GAIRS reports coming back with elements marked in red, indicating failure to meet the requirements of at least one of those testing parameters. For an ADS-B validation flight to meet the FAA rebate requirements, it must be made in airspace where ADS-B Out will be required-rule airspace-and not simply in airspace with ADS-B ground station coverage. To further clarify testing requirements, the FAA notes that flying and maneuvering for 30 minutes within ADS-B ground station coverage alone does not meet the intent of the recommended maneuvering. The intent of performing various maneuvers for the full 30 minutes within specified rule airspace is to evaluate the overall system performance after installation. The performance parameters identified in the 2020 ADS-B rule are defined to ensure that an aircraft meets all performance requirements in various phases of flight, not just level flight within ADS-B coverage. The additional maneuvering requirements are needed to ensure that the aircraft is providing the correct indications to the ground infrastructure during all applicable phases of flight, and if within ADS-B coverage during surface operations. For an ADS-B validation flight to meet the FAA rebate requirements, it must be made in airspace where ADS-B Out will be required-rule airspace depicted here. Additionally, some confusion and resultant failures occurred because some pilots did not perform the rebate validation flight maneuvers in ADS-B rule airspace. The ADS-B Controlled Airspace Map indicates the location of rule airspace and provides a graphic detailing the various controlled airspace designations. Note that ADS-B Class E airspace differs from the conventional Class E airspace. ADS-B Class E airspace begins at 10,000 feel msl unless specifically noted in particular geographical areas such as the Gulf of Mexico and the exceptions noted for the rebate program in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Some aircraft for which ADS-B rebates are being sought have shown up in the FAA database as ineligible after portable ADS-B equipment had been used aboard them. The program applies only to aircraft not previously equipped with rule-compliant ADS-B systems-but an aircraft that used a portable ADS-B unit is not disqualified, Duke said, adding, "The FAA will work with these pilots to validate that they had a portable unit, and will require additional steps prior to being able to reserve and post-installation to verify that compliant equipment has now been installed." A pilot who has had a portable unit will be required to send an email requesting to reserve a rebate, including an attached picture of the portable unit's serial number or proof of purchase, with the pilot's name and unit serial number clearly visible. The FAA Rebate Team will look at various flight tracking software to observe if the applicant has filed a fight plan within the system, both with ADS-B and without. It is recommended to have conducted at least one recent flight without the portable ADS-B unit in use. Upon verification the FAA Rebate Team will provide a response via email either indicating the system has been updated to allow the user to continue with the rebate or asking for additional clarification. If the applicant is permitted to reserve, prior to approving the rebate claim, the applicant will also need to provide an email with an invoice attached indicating the purchase of a permanently installed system which includes the applicant's name and make/model/part number of the unit installed. A few pilots have reported that they were unable to schedule their ADS-B Out installation within 90 days of reserving their rebate, as the FAA rebate site requires, because of avionics shops' workloads. One option for pilots facing that complication is to schedule the installation at another nearby installation shop, Duke said. Avionics manufacturers participating in an ADS-B panel at the Oct. 1 AOPA Fly-in in Prescott, Arizona, noted that pilots can indicate a reservation date at the system's maximum allowable 90 days out. If the installation takes place after that date, the only effect will be that the aircraft owner has less than 60 days left to fly and validate the installation. Pilots should keep track of the combined total time limit of 150 days, as exceeding it may require reapplying for a reservation. AOPA is monitoring the extent of avionics shop backlogs exceeding 90 days and requests that pilots who encounter it send AOPA an email. In August, AOPA reported on the FAA's new web interface with its ADS-B Performance Monitor that makes it easier and faster for pilots to validate their installations and receive a performance report. To date there have been 4,022 requests for the report. Pilots interested in learning more about post-installation issues should review the report. One way to head off headaches with a rebate application is for aircraft owners to make sure before getting started that their aircraft's record in the FAA's civil aircraft registry is correct. Check it here. Additional information about this step can be found in the rebate program rules. The ADS-B rebate is considered taxable income, according to the FAA. Pilots can have other questions answered via the FAA's rebate help email address. Note that the FAA had to respond to more than 600 emails in the first week of the rebate, but is responding promptly to pilots' questions. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/october/05/pilots-seeking-ads-b- rebates-some-steps-clarified Back to Top Cargo aircraft incident disrupts Belfast flights Operations at Belfast International Airport were disrupted Oct. 4 after a TNT Airways- branded Boeing 737-400 freighter was involved in a landing gear incident, blocking both of the airport's runways. According to Flightradar24, the 24-year old aircraft (registered OE-IAG, serial number 25168) is operated by ASL Airlines Belgium and was flying in TNT colors at the time of the incident. After operating a previous sector from Liege in Belgium to East Midlands, OE-IAG departed for Belfast at 0520 and landed at 0556. A Belfast International spokeswoman said the aircraft had issues with its undercarriage and came to a halt at the intersection of the two runways, which are laid out in a t-shape. Nobody was injured in the incident. The disabled aircraft halted all arrivals and departures from the airport. Flights resumed about 90 minutes later, using just one departing runway with a restricted length of 1,900m, with the stranded aircraft still in place at the runway junction. Five inbound and five outbound sectors-all domestic-were canceled. Flights were delayed throughout the day, but by 1730 local time operations were returning to normal, or with light delays. The spokeswoman told ATW the aircraft was expected to be removed at around 1800 local time. "The TNT aircraft is now being moved to stand 11 we should be back to full length runways within the hour after a wee bit of a cleanup," Belfast International managing director Graham Keddie said via Twitter. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch was on the scene and identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737-400 freighter, which had "encountered difficulties with its landing gear." "The flight data recorders have been recovered and are being brought back to our laboratory in Farnborough for analysis, while our investigation continues in Belfast," the AAIB said in a statement. http://atwonline.com/safety/cargo-aircraft-incident-disrupts-belfast-flights Back to Top Qantas jet clips another aircraft Date: 05-OCT-2016 Time: 16:30 Type: Boeing 717-200 Owner/operator: Qantas Registration: VH-NXN C/n / msn: 55095 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: Paraburdoo Airport (YPBO), Paraburdoo, WA - Australia Phase: Taxi Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: YPBO Destination airport: Narrative: The taxiing aircraft was involved in a collision with a stationary aircraft, registered VH- NHF. The left-hand horizontal stabiliser of VH-NXN collided with the left-hand horizontal stabiliser of VH-NHF. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=190515 Back to Top FAA: Shift away from enforcement mindset enhances safety FAA officials said the "compliance philosophy" adopted by the agency a year ago, which shifted FAA's emphasis away from punitive enforcement actions, has enabled it to aggregate and analyze key safety data voluntarily provided by airlines less concerned about being penalized. "There's widespread sharing of safety data and that's a good thing because that data can be analyzed," FAA Office of the Director of Flight Standards senior technical advisor Chris MacWhorter told the US Air Cargo Industry Affairs Summit in Washington DC. "Enforcement is a tool that we have to use, but it's only one tool that we use ... We want to make sure we have incentives in place [for airlines] to report safety information so we can aggregate it and share it ... We're going to reserve [enforcement action] for those things that are reckless and/or are criminal. Otherwise, we're going to look at the system and see what caused [a specific safety] issue." FAA Compliance and Enforcement Division manager Angel Collaku said the agency historically had a "very simple way of looking at" airlines' compliance with regulations. "There's a regulation, there's a violation, come down with the hammer," he said, describing FAA's old approach. But FAA is now looking at how "you nuance the issue of safety," he added, explaining, "We're seeking to work with the operators, recognizing that there are issues that shouldn't necessarily be dealt with by an enforcement action." "We recognize that people make honest mistakes and we recognize that systems are never perfect," MacWhorter said. "Enforcement is still there as a deterrent, but it is reserved for things that we just can't tolerate." In explaining the new approach when it was introduced by FAA last year, administrator Michael Huerta said the agency concluded that safety is best served when there is "an open and transparent exchange of information and data between the FAA and industry," adding, "We don't want operators who might inadvertently make a mistake to hide it because they have a fear of being punished. If there is a failing, whether human or mechanical, we need to know about it, to learn from it and make the changes necessary to prevent it from happening again ... That open and transparent exchange of information requires mutual cooperation and trust, which can be challenging to achieve in the traditional, enforcement-focused regulatory model." Huerta noted that the changed enforcement/compliance approach is connected to FAA requiring all US airlines to establish a safety management system, which uses data analysis to identify safety risks, by 2018. FedEx Corp. lead counsel-regulatory affairs Mark Hansen, also a speaker at the US Air Cargo Industry Affairs Summit, said FAA's new approach is changing the relationship between the agency and the airlines it regulates. "It involves a lot more conversation between the FAA and the regulated entity," he explained. "The inspectors are still out there, but they're learning a lot more about our business and how it operates and there is a constant dialogue going on ... Inspectors who know the business of the people they're inspecting make sounder decisions ... There is a lot more communication and that is really a good thing." If a "mechanic puts in the wrong fastener [on an aircraft], what we're doing now is peeling back the onion and figuring out what led to the mistake," Hansen said. "Was the manual clear enough? ... You're always asking, how did this happen and what can we do?" The "hitch" in the new approach is that carriers such as FedEx have to get used to FAA raising a safety issue, gleaned from data, even though the issue may not be tied to an existing regulation, Hansen said. FAA inspectors are now "interested in things that aren't necessarily regulatory, but things that may raise a safety issue," he explained. "It's in these gray areas that aren't really regulated where we'll have to do a bit of a kabuki dance for a while ... That relationship [between FAA and airlines] is going to have to be worked out because it's different than what we had." In fact, MacWhorter said, the vast majority of voluntary reports from airlines since the new approach took effect last October "are pointing to system flaws" not related to adherence to a regulation. "The huge success we've had with these reporting programs is getting information that is not of a regulatory nature but of a safety nature," he explained. "From an anecdotal perspective, we've gotten positive feedback from the industry [regarding the changed approach] ... I understand that enforcement has always been a deterrent. However, everyone wants a safe system, whether it's on our side or on the industry side. What's the best way to achieve that? Do we achieve it in an adversarial manner or do we achieve it collaborating? ... We can find problems before they lead to an incident [through] a professional, collaborative atmosphere." http://atwonline.com/safety/faa-shift-away-enforcement-mindset-enhances-safety Back to Top NASA Is Setting a Bunch of Fires in Space on Purpose NASA is setting space on fire - literally - with a series of burns designed to help scientists learn more about how flames behave in a micro-gravity environment. The experiment, called Saffire, could help better inform security on future missions. Image: The International Space Station orbits around Earth in 2010. The International Space Station orbits around Earth in 2010. NASA via AP file "No space agency has had the opportunity to study a spacecraft fire of anything larger than an index card in long-term low gravity," David Urban, principal investigator of the Saffire experiment, said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. Urban said the first Saffire experiment, which occurred in June, showed how the flames "spread in the direction of wind very steady and surprisingly slow." In that experiment, a cotton and fiberglass composite material measuring approximately 3-feet by 1-foot was lit by hot wire to create the controlled blaze. The fire, which occurred inside the belly of the spacecraft, burned for more than 20 minutes as sensors and cameras collected information about its behavior. Urban said fire is a "significant risk" to spacecraft, underscoring the importance of the Saffire investigation. NASA is set to conduct its second Saffire experiment following the unloading and undocking of Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, which is leaving next Thursday for a cargo run to the International Space Station. Saffire-II will study nine samples of different materials to better understand how their flammability differs between the environments of Earth and space. Cygnus is an ideal vessel for the tests since it burns up on re-entry to the Earth and can not be used again. It also serves as the garbage collect, allowing astronauts at the ISS to get rid of their trash. http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/nasa-setting-bunch-fires-space-purpose- n660561 Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Dear Airline colleagues, I would be very grateful if airline staff among you accept this invite to complete my short online survey on "exploring the influence of emotionally intelligent leadership on airline safety culture". https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EI-INTEL The survey is an element of my final project which explores how safety leadership who utilize or exhibit emotional intelligence leadership qualities can influence the organisations safety culture. Safety leadership in this context is taken as all management and supervisory staff who act as, or should act as safety leaders in their teams. I am researching to see if the leadership qualities of each individual safety leader can impact safety culture. Emotional intelligence markers are embedded in 10 of the survey questions. The survey contains an introduction and explanatory page, followed by 14 questions and should only take 8 to 10 minutes. If you would like to make any comments on the project, or have any questions, please contact me at Patrick.Morris.1@city.ac.uk. Thank you in advance and best regards. Pat Morris. MSc Student, City University of London. Back to Top Accident Investigation for Aviation Management Course 31 Oct - 11 Nov 2016 https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/Courses/Short/Transport-Systems/Accident- Investigation-for-Aviation-Management Curt Lewis