Flight Safety Information November 25, 2016 - No. 235 In This Issue Cathay Pacific plane makes emergency landing in Russia after fire warning Accident Involving Facebook Experimental Drone Under Investigation Planes clip wings on Vancouver airport tarmac leaving both unable to fly Lufthansa pilots extend strike until Saturday for long-haul flights Four-Engine Jumbo Era Nears End as Biggest Airbus A350 Takes Off Research Survey Cathay Pacific plane makes emergency landing in Russia after fire warning A Boeing 777-300ER, similar to the one pictured, made an emergency landing Wednesday in Russia en route from London to Hong Kong because of a possible engine fire in the cargo hold. Photo courtesy Boeing LONDON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A Cathay Pacific jet that departed London en route to Hong Kong made an emergency landing in northeastern Russia because of a possible fire Wednesday. Flight CX250 with 240 aboard landed at Novosibirsk International Airport on Wednesday morning after a signal indicated a fire in one of the cargo holds, the airline posted on Twitter. The warning light went on six hours in the flight. "At this time there is no evidence that there was a fire in the aft cargo hold of the Boeing 777-300ER," the airline said. "The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. The airline arranged for another plane to pick up the passengers in Russia and transport them to Hong Kong. They were staying at hotels near the airport, the airline said. The plane, with 212 passengers and a crew of 18, departed from London Heathrow at 2 a.m. Passenger Michael Ots described the situation to Sky News: "Basically everyone was asleep with nothing unusual. First thing we noticed was that the cabin crew were running around very frantically. Obviously everyone wakes up pretty fast when that happens! "The pilot announced we were making a 'precautionary landing due to a technical issue.'" He said they waited in the departure lounge for seven hours and went to hotels. "Obviously it's quite a diverting experience for everyone and mostly I think people are glad to be OK rather than annoyed at being inconvenienced," Ots said. Cathay Pacific, which is based in Hong Kong, flies to 175 locations in 44 countries with a fleet of 146 jets, according to its website. It was founded in 1946 by Australian Sydney H. de Kantzow and American Roy C. Farrell. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2016/11/23/Cathay-Pacific-plane-makes- emergency-landing-in-Russia-after-fire-warning/7911479917126/ Back to Top Accident Involving Facebook Experimental Drone Under Investigation NTSB investigating aircraft's structural failure on approach Company founder Zuckerberg called June test flight successful A U.S. safety agency is investigating an accident involving a massive experimental drone Facebook Inc. is developing to bring the internet to remote areas of the world. No one was hurt in the incident, which came during the unmanned aircraft's first test flight on June 28. It marks the latest hiccup in Facebook's plans to wirelessly connect the world, following an explosion earlier this year that destroyed one of its satellites and political resistance to the service in India. The high-altitude drone, which has a wingspan wider than a Boeing Co. 737 and is powered by four electric engines, suffered a "structural failure" as it was coming in for a landing, according to a previously undisclosed investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. "We were happy with the successful first test flight and were able to verify several performance models and components including aerodynamics, batteries, control systems and crew training, with no major unexpected results," the company said in an e-mailed statement. While there has been no previous mention of the NTSB investigation or details about the incident, the company did say the drone, called Aquila, had had a structural failure in a July 21 web post. 'Substantial' Damage The accident occurred at 7:43 a.m. local time near Yuma, Peter Knudson, an NTSB spokesman, said. The NTSB has classified the failure as an accident, meaning the damage was "substantial." There was no damage on the ground, Knudson said. The flying wing designed to eventually be solar powered so it can remain aloft for long stretches. The social-media company is seeking to boost the percent of people around the world who connect to the internet by leapfrogging ground-based infrastructure limitations. Company Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said he was "deeply disappointed" when a SpaceX rocket explosion Sept. 1 destroyed a Facebook satellite that would have helped spread internet access across Africa. The company has also had political hurdles. In India, for example, Zuckerberg was surprised when people rejected the company's offer of free web services that had Facebook at the center. Locals saw it as a poorly-disguised land grab of the Indian internet market, instead of a charitable project. Interest in Indonesia Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla spoke to Zuckerberg in recent days at the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru about using the Aquila drone to beam internet to remote parts of the country, the Jakarta Post reported. "If we make the right investments now, we can connect billions of people in the next decade and lead the way for our generation to do great things," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post from the summit on Saturday. Zuckerberg was so excited about the drone aircraft's first flight that he flew to the test facility in Arizona early on June 28, according to an account in The Verge. In a web post after the flight, he said it was so successful it was extended from 30 to 96 minutes. "We gathered lots of data about our models and the aircraft structure -- and after two years of development, it was emotional to see Aquila actually get off the ground," Zuckerberg wrote. The accident was the second involving an unmanned aircraft designed to fly for long periods as a less expensive alternative to satellites. An Alphabet Inc. drone known as the Solara 50 was destroyed May 1, 2015, at a desert landing strip in New Mexico after experiencing control problems as it flew in a thermal updraft, according to the NTSB. Carbon Fiber The aircraft are made with the latest carbon-fiber technology in an attempt to make them as light as possible so they can stay aloft with minimum power. Facebook's drone has a wingspan of 141 feet (43 meters) and weighs 900 pounds (408 kilograms). It has no traditional fuselage and is built almost entirely of thin, black wings. It flies slowly, using only the energy required to power three hair driers, according to Facebook. Aquila is designed to fly for months at a time, using solar energy to replenish batteries at altitudes above 60,000 feet (18,288 meters). It will be equipped with a laser communications system that can deliver data 10 times faster than current technologies, Facebook said in a promotional video. The NTSB hasn't yet released any of its preliminary findings on the extent of the damage or the potential causes of the failure. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-21/facebook-experimental-drone- accident-subject-of-safety-probe Back to Top Planes clip wings on Vancouver airport tarmac leaving both unable to fly United Airlines aircraft clipped wings with a WestJet plane Thursday morning, damaging both aircraft A United Airlines plane that was pulling into a gate at Vancouver International Airport this morning clipped the wing of a WestJet plane that was already parked. A United Airlines plane clipped wings with a WestJet aircraft Thursday morning on the tarmac at Vancouver International Airport, leaving both planes damaged and unable to fly. The incident happened while the United Airbus A319 was being towed into Gate 77 of the airport's international terminal. United spokesman Charlie Hobart said there were no customers on board the aircraft. He also said both planes were being towed at the time. But in a statement, WestJet spokeswoman Lauren Stewart maintained the Westjet aircraft was stationary during the collision. Crew members shaken Westjet also said there were no guests or crew on board its aircraft. A witness who was waiting to board the plane said crew members he spoke to were visibly shaken and described the incident as feeling like "a big earthquake." Emergency responders attended the scene but an airport spokesperson said there were no reports of injuries. Hobart said United didn't know how the collision happened. "Our aircraft was being towed from one gate to a different gate," he said. "They did come in contact with one another and authorities on the ground are still trying to determine how and why." Groundcrew guidance Hobart said that empty planes docking at a gate are subject to the same rules and groundcrew guidance as an aircraft full of passengers. "The groundcrews are all professionals," he said. "I can't speak for the folks in Vancouver, but in terms of this kind of incident happening, it doesn't happen very often." Hobart said a different United Airlines plane would take the place of the damaged Airbus A319 that was scheduled to fly to San Francisco later today. WestJet said it was also bringing in a replacement plane. "WestJet Flight 1722, Vancouver to Palm Springs, experienced damage to a winglet when it was struck at low speed by another aircraft being towed to a nearby gate," read the statement. "Flight 1722 was cancelled and guests are being re-accommodated on another aircraft, which was expected to depart approximately three hours later. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/planes-clip-wings-on-vancouver- airport-tarmac-leaving-both-unable-to-fly-1.3865810 Back to Top Lufthansa pilots extend strike until Saturday for long-haul flights Planes stand on the tarmac during a pilots strike of German airline Lufthansa at Frankfurt airport, Germany, Nove Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) pilots in Germany said they will extend strike action until Saturday and target long-haul flights, further raising pressure on management in a long-running pay dispute. One of Europe's biggest airlines, Lufthansa has already grounded nearly 1,800 flights since pilots represented by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union went on strike on Wednesday, disrupting travel plans for more than 315,000 passengers. The strike had originally been planned as a 24-hour walkout but has now been extended three times. Lufthansa said earlier on Thursday that it will scrap 830 short- and medium-haul flights on Friday, just over a quarter of its schedule, hitting more than 100,000 travelers. Most long-haul flights will be unaffected on Friday, it said. On Saturday, however, all long-haul flights leaving Germany until midnight will be affected, VC announced, without being more specific. In a statement released after trading hours, VC said comments by Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr that the carrier's future would be on the line if pilots' wages were raised "amount to a completely exaggerated dramatization." Harry Hohmeister, a Lufthansa board member, said cancellations for the first two days of strike action had cost the airline about 20 million euros ($21 million) and customers were making fewer bookings. "Not only have we suffered severe damage (from the strike), but we're also noticing from mid-term booking numbers that customer behavior is changing," Hohmeister said. Shares in the company fell 1.1 percent on Thursday, underperforming a slight gain in German blue chips .GDAXI. COST SQUEEZE The pilots' strike is their 14th walkout since early 2014. The union wants an average annual pay increase of 3.7 percent for 5,400 pilots in Germany over a five-year period from 2012. Lufthansa has offered 2.5 percent over six years to 2019. The airline has urged the union to enter mediation, but the union said it wants to see a better offer first. Lufthansa insists that despite a record profit in 2015, it has no choice but to cut costs to compete with leaner rivals such as Ryanair (RYA.I) on short-haul routes and Emirates [EMIRA.UL] on long-haul flights. ALSO IN AEROSPACE & DEFENSE Airbus hopes to deliver up to 80 A350 aircraft in 2017: sources More than 800 flights grounded as Lufthansa dispute intensifies It has already agreed deals with the main unions representing ground staff and cabin crew in Germany, leaving an agreement with its pilots outstanding. "From a shareholder perspective we would rate the efforts of management to make the company financially sustainable in the long term as more valuable, than the short-term pain inflicted by the strikes," Commerzbank analysts said in a note. Pilot strikes in 2014 cost Lufthansa 222 million euros, roughly 21 million euros per day, according to the IW Cologne Institute for Economic Research. In 2015, walkouts by pilots and cabin crew cost it 231 million euros, around 30 million per day. Despite the row with its German pilots, Lufthansa is also moving forward with plans to expand lower cost operations, using a Eurowings unit based in Austria. It is in talks over bringing operations from Air Berlin and Brussels Airlines into the Eurowings platform. The row is mirrored at rival Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), which has also seen pilot strikes in France over plans to lower costs. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lufthansa-unions-idUSKBN13J1HS Back to Top Four-Engine Jumbo Era Nears End as Biggest Airbus A350 Takes Off The biggest version of Airbus Group SE's A350 wide-body jet will make its first flight Thursday, swelling the twin-engine model's capacity and casting further doubt on the future of four-turbine planes including the manufacturer's own A380 and the Boeing Co. 747. The A350-1000, due to depart Airbus's base in Toulouse, France, mid-morning local time, seats 366 people in three classes. That's just 44 fewer than the latest version of the 747, and with a vastly improved fuel burn thanks to the new aircraft's two engines and composite construction. More from Bloomberg.com: Soaring Consumer Confidence: Are Americans Happy It's Trump, or Just Happy It's Over? So-called twinjet planes have become the mainstay of inter-continental travel, with the A350, the baseline version of which had its first commercial flight in 2015, following on from the slightly smaller Boeing 787. Both models have built on inroads made by the U.S. company's 777, which began eating into markets previously restricted to four-jet models fully two decades ago and seats 364 people in three classes with No. 1 operator Emirates of Dubai. Before the advent of the so-called "big twin" aircraft, older two-engine wide-bodies such as the 767 and A330 were limited to medium-haul markets such as the north Atlantic, partly because of practical limits on how far they could fly in the event of one turbine failing. The 777 cast off those shackles by winning certification for flights as far as three hours from the nearest airport. More from Bloomberg.com: Siberian Snow Theory Points to an Early and Cold Winter in U.S. The standard A350-900 has U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval for up to five hours or 2,000 nautical miles of diversionary flying on a single engine, making possible trips from Southeast Asia and Australia to the U.S. In a denser configuration the new - 1000 will be able to carry 440 people, less than 100 short of the A380 superjumbo's standard 525-passenger payload, though the double-decker could accommodate as many as 800 seats in a single class. The airline industry's appetite for bigger twin-engine planes was revealed when Airbus scrapped a shrunken A350-800 variant, which was deemed too small at 280 seats, and opted instead to upgrade the A330 for shorter routes. Bigger Boeings Boeing is also adding more seats to its 777, with new slimline berths taking the total on the long-range 777-300ER to 396 while still retaining three classes. Twinjet capacity will increase still further with the 777X upgrade of the best-selling wide- body from 2020, the largest of which will seat as many as 425 people in three classes, with a bigger version under consideration able to take upwards of 450 travelers, making it a true jumbo in its own right. All told, the A350, 787 and 777 have unfilled orders totaling more than 1,950 planes, versus just 29 for the 747 and 121 for the A380. The Airbus A340, which emerged around the time of the 777, has already ceased production, though the lower oil price is prolonging its active life with some carriers. The A350-1000's debut flight means Airbus has met its goal of getting the model into the air before the end of 2016, with Qatar Airways Ltd. scheduled to be the first carrier to deploy the aircraft next year. The manufacturer is still racing to deliver the 50 A350-900s promised this year amid delays in the supply of interior fittings from suppliers including Paris-based Safran SA. Airbus's next challenge may be to decide whether to develop a further stretch of the A350 to combat the revamped 777. That option is emerging as more attractive than upgrading the A380, which appears to have few enthusiasts beyond Emirates, while the A350-1000 has attracted only 196 orders, versus about 600 for the baseline version, suggesting customers may be holding out for a bigger model. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/four-engine-jumbo-era-nears-092349639.html Back to Top RESEARCH SURVEY My name is Sherry Saehlenou and I have been in the field of aviation for over 38 years as a flight attendant, purser and cabin safety trainer and recently have started my own training/consulting company. I have been working, for a while now, to raise awareness in the aviation community about the need for training in recognizing and reporting instances of human trafficking around the globe. My focus started with training flight attendants but as I talk to my colleagues it became clear that all employee groups need to develop an awareness and a plan (pilots, ground agents, airport security personnel, ticket counter employees and airport officials, etc.). I have been asked to write an article for a prominent security magazine about what our industry is, or is not, doing to deal with the problem of human trafficking - as airlines are frequently the transport vehicle and airports are distribution hubs. To that end, I need data and input from the aviation community around the globe.This is an anonymous survey; however, you may leave your contact info at the end if you are interested in the results and/or would like more information on Human Trafficking. Please share this survey with your colleagues. I appreciate your help and thank you for your time! Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/htrafficking Curt Lewis