Flight Safety Information December 6, 2016 - No. 242 In This Issue Swearingen Metro Accident (Georgia) Bolivia: Crashed jet's company left trail of unpaid debts Pillsbury: Global, Top-Ranked, Non-Stop Service Russian jets keep crashing, and it may be an aircraft carrier's fault FAA Releases New Video for Safe Operation of Drones this Holiday Season Abu Dhabi Charter Operator GI Aviation Receives AOC Robot aircraft take to British skies BS Bhullar Appointed Chief of Aviation Regulator DGCA (India) Measuring an aviation system's safety performance Hawaiian Airlines to add A330s, A321neos; pilots issue strike warning Gulfstream Continues Supersonic Business Jet Research Navy Faces Carrier Jet Shortfall, Reportedly Looking At More Super Hornets Swearingen Metro Accident (Georgia) Status: Preliminary Date: Monday 5 December 2016 Time: 22:23 Type: Swearingen Metro Operator: Key Lime Air Registration: registration unknown C/n / msn: First flight: Crew: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 Airplane damage: Damaged beyond repair Location: N of Pelham, GA ( United States of America) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Panama City-Bay County International Airport, FL (PFN/KPFN), United States of America Destination airport: Albany-Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, GA (ABY/KABY), United States of America Flightnumber: LYM308 Narrative: A Swearingen Metro cargo plane, operating Key Lime Air flight LYM308, crashed near Whitesburg, Georgia, USA. The pilot, the sole occupant, was killed. The aircraft departed Panama City, Florida at 20:54 CST (02:54 UTC Dec. 6) on a flight to Albany Airport, Georgia. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20161205-0 Back to Top Bolivia: Crashed jet's company left trail of unpaid debts BOGOTA, Colombia - The airline involved in last week's crash in the Andes left a trail of unpaid bills that forced Bolivia's air force to seize two planes and briefly jail one of the company's owners, Bolivian Defense Minister Reymi Ferreira said Monday. The revelation added to a string of human errors and unsettling details about the Bolivian- based LaMia charter company's checkered past that experts say should have served as warnings to aviation authorities. A LaMia jet carrying 77 people, including a Brazilian soccer team heading to a South American championship final, slammed into a Colombian mountainside just minutes after the pilot reported running out of fuel. Investigators are centering their probe on why the short-range jet was allowed to attempt a direct flight with barely enough fuel on board to cover the distance between Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and Medellin, Colombia. Ferreira said that in 2014, LaMia brought its three airplanes - all of them short-haul jets made by British Aerospace - to Bolivia's air force for repair. He didn't say what maintenance work was performed but accused the airline of paying for only half the work and abandoning two of the planes. After months of the company refusing to pay hangar fees, the government took legal action and seized the planes, Ferreira said. He added that one of LaMia's owners, pilot Miguel Quiroga, who died in the crash, was detained for a few days five months ago in the case. Ferreira said aviation officials who signed off on LaMia's irregular flight plan would be prosecuted. The airline, which was only licensed to fly earlier this year, has also been suspended and Bolivian officials are looking into whether the son of another owner, former air force Gen. Gustavo Vargas, favored the airline as head of the office responsible for licensing aircraft. "This was a mistake by two or three people who are causing enormous damage to Bolivia's aviation industry, but it's not the country that's to blame," Ferreira said, alluding to the possibility that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration could downgrade Bolivia's aviation safety ranking. Minutes before the crash, Quiroga requested permission to land, telling air traffic controllers that he was having fuel problems without making a formal distress call, according to air traffic tower recordings. Minutes later, as the jetliner circled in a holding pattern awaiting another aircraft with its own mechanical problems to land, his voice became more desperate as he reported the fuel had run out and the aircraft was experiencing a "complete electrical failure." Passengers on the flight were oblivious to the tense exchange and had no time to prepare for the crash, according to one of six survivors who on Monday described the final moments of the doomed flight. "Nobody knew there was a problem," Erwin Tumiri, a technician on the flight, told Blu radio of Colombia. "We felt the plane descending but all along we thought it was preparing to land. Everything happened very quickly and from one moment to the next the plane began to shake, the lights went out and the emergency lights turned on." Tumiri, who is recovering in a hospital in his hometown of Cochabamba, Bolivia, said the cockpit never alerted him that the plane was running low on fuel and that the pilot had requested an emergency landing. "I think the pilot should've at least communicated to me the situation," Tumiri said, adding that he only learned about the fuel shortage from another survivor, flight attendant Ximena Sanchez. Investigators in Colombia said Monday that they hope to have their preliminary accident report ready in 10 days. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/05/bolivia-crashed-jet-company-left-trail- unpaid-debts.html Back to Top Back to Top Russian jets keep crashing, and it may be an aircraft carrier's fault A Russian Su-33 fighter jet, like the one reported crashed, sits on the flight deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. (AP) MOSCOW - The second crash of a Russian warplane off the coast of Syria in less than a month intensified scrutiny Monday of a critical weakness in Moscow's show of naval force in the Mediterranean and the 1,000-foot hulk leading it. The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's sole, aging aircraft carrier, made a very public entry into the Syrian conflict when it steamed through the English Channel in October. But analysts say it is not suited to the task of providing ground support in a protracted conflict. Nor is it suited for the job President Vladimir Putin intended when he ordered the ship into the Mediterranean: to project Russian naval power. "The Admiral Kuznetsov was not designed for such tasks," Alexander Golts, a military writer for the independent Moscow-based news journal New Times , said in an interview. "It's a very old ship with very old technologies. It is not prepared for intensive flights." Golts spoke after Russia's Defense Ministry announced Monday that an Su-33 Flanker returning from a combat mission plunged into the Mediterranean as it tried to land on the Kuznetsov. The accident occurred when an arresting cable on the aircraft carrier snapped during the landing, the ministry said in a statement. The pilot ejected and was saved by a search-and-rescue team, the statement added. He was not injured. Last month, a Russian MiG-29K fighter jet crashed while attempting an emergency landing on the aircraft carrier shortly after takeoff. The Syrian conflict is the first combat deployment for the Admiral Kuznetsov, which has a history of onboard accidents during training missions since being launched in 1985. [An advanced Russian jet just crashed during its debut off the Syrian coast] Unlike modern aircraft carriers, the Kuznetsov does not have a catapult system, and the jets it carries must launch off a ramp, which makes takeoff and landing extremely challenging. "We have a very limited number of pilots who can fulfill this task," Golts said. "I doubt there are many in the world." The Kuznetsov's design also limits the loads of fuel and weapons that its jets can carry, which was not a serious impediment for its intended purpose: to defend Soviet submarines preparing to launch nuclear weapons. "This carrier was never designed for projecting power on shore," said Pavel K. Baev, who studies Russian military reform at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. "The fact of the military matter is that this deployment adds nothing, just absolutely nothing to the capabilities" that Russia has on the ground in Syria. When the Kuznetsov set sail, state media said the expedition demonstrated Russia's independence as a regional power. But by mid-November, military analysts were questioning the ship's suitability for the task. "The intermediate results produced by the Admiral Kuznetsov's carrier air wing have been not what the top brass expected," military analyst Sergei Ishchenko wrote in the Svobodnaya Pressa online news agency a week after the carrier launched its first attacks in Syria. For one thing, the "Su-33 is an air-superiority fighter designed to provide air defense to friendly naval forces far away from home shores," not to attack ground targets. The MiG-29K is a multi-role fighter capable of attacking targets in the air and on the ground, and it is a newer, carrier-based variant of the traditional MiG-29, but Ishchenko said the jets were grounded, at least for a while, after one of them crashed, leaving the Su-33s to shoulder the burden. Asked about the latest crash Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only that the important thing is that the pilot was not injured. "This is a very intense, hard, heroic job," the news agency Interfax quoted Peskov as saying. Translation: Don't look for Moscow to order the Kuznetsov to set sail for home anytime soon. "One lost plane was not enough for exposing the absurdity of this demonstration of nonexistent force," Baev said. "And two may be not quite enough, either." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-just-lost-its-second-warplane-in-a-month- of-syria/2016/12/05/f8353be8-bad8-11e6-817f- e3b588251d1e_story.html?utm_term=.86c6320cd7ef Back to Top FAA Releases New Video for Safe Operation of Drones this Holiday Season The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a friendly holiday warning for those who chose to purchase a drone this year for the holidays: fly it safely. The FAA released a new video summarizing the rules and regulations that each drone operator must follow to ensure safe flights. The video tells drone operators to register their drones at www.faa.gov/uas before they fly it outdoors (and if you are flying your drone under the model aircraft rules, you will receive one identification number that will apply to all your drones, if you choose to buy more than one this holiday season). The FAA's video also advises drone operators: * Not to fly their drones over people; * Respect other people's privacy when operating your drone; * Not to fly their drones in restricted airspace (such as airports or other "No Drone Zones"); and * To check the FAA's B4UFLY smartphone app to keep up-to-date on the latest information about airspace restrictions in the area where you want to fly your drone. To check out the new FAA video click here. Back to Top Abu Dhabi Charter Operator GI Aviation Receives AOC GI Aviation, the Abu Dhabi-based charter company, is celebrating its newly granted aircraft operator's certificate (AOC) from the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The operator is hoping to revolutionize business aviation in the UAE with Pilatus PC-12NG single-engine turboprops. Operating single-engine turboprops commercially under instrument weather conditions is becoming increasingly acceptable worldwide-and popular-largely attributed to the outstanding reliability of modern engines, avionics and systems. Equally important is the low-cost of operation, when compared with multi-engine jets-especially the large, long- range jets that make up so much of the Middle East fleet. Her Excellency Hafsa Al Ulama, managing director of GI Aviation parent company Global Ideas, said, "Our team have been working had this past year to deliver a brand new entry-level service for business aviation in this region, which has, until now, been dominated by larger business jets. We have received significant interest from a number of parties who are keen to fly with us." GI Aviation (Stand 692) accepted its first PC-12 in the spring, and plans to take delivery of a second in January. The large-cabin aircraft have custom-designed interiors by BMW DesignWorks. GI CEO Marios Belidis expects charter flights to launch as early as next week with the first PC12-NG based at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi. "We are able to serve all the major business and capital cities within the GCC and surrounding region and will also serve popular resort destination like Sir Bani Yas, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah," he said. "We will, on certain short-distance city pairs, serve as a real alternative to flying first- and business class. Our focus is to ensure that we provide a time- and cost-effective service which is responsive to clients' itineraries and requirements, while maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety in our operation." The initiative is backed by the experience and support of Finland-based Hendell Aviation, which has operated a similar service with PC-12s in its home country since 2013-the first such service to receive EASA approval. Hendell's chairman Matti Auterinen, who served as a consultant in the development of the GI Aviation operation, said, "The GCAA regulations and requirements closely follow EASA with key differences adapted for the UAE and the region. The very professional framework established in the UAE by authority is strict, but fair." MEBAA Supportive Very supportive of the effort by GI Aviation to "right size" the market, MEBAA founding chairman Ali Alnaqbi has asserted that fully 70 percent of aircraft available on charter in the regional market are large-size aircraft largely that are not really suited to actual business needs. "MEBAA is calling on its members to strategically invest in light jets [and other] small aircraft. The market is losing a big segment of business. Paying $10,000 for an hour-long flight to Bahrain is too much. This is what we have been trying to get across," he said. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-12-06/abu-dhabi- charter-operator-gi-aviation-receives-aoc Back to Top Robot aircraft take to British skies The Jetstream aircraft will fly itself along a route between Inverness and Lancashire Robot aircraft are to be tested in UK airspace to help refine systems that control autonomous planes. BAE said it would be carrying out 17 flights, using a converted Jetstream 31 capable of flying itself. Human pilots will handle take-off and landing, but the craft will be autonomous as it navigates 300 miles (482km) from Lancashire to Inverness. The trial will assess piloting software as well as sensor systems that monitor clouds and other aircraft. To pilot itself, the Jetstream aircraft will use data from satellites as well as on-board identification systems that log radio signals broadcast by transponders on other planes. In addition, the Jetstream is fitted with a camera that can see other air users even if they are not emitting warning signals. This camera also surveys the skies around the craft to spot bad weather or heavy cloud, allowing the aircraft to adjust its route to avoid turbulence and other "challenging conditions". On its autonomous flight, the aircraft will follow a route through non-congested airspace at an altitude of about 15,000ft (4.6km). The journey is expected to take about 90 minutes. Maureen McCue, head of BAE's research and technology, said the trials were "exciting" and it was working with the UK's National Air Traffic Services to determine how well the autonomous aircraft handled sharing the skies with human-piloted craft. "We are working towards the possibility of flying our own unmanned systems in a highly controlled environment in the UK," she said. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38207976 Back to Top BS Bhullar Appointed Chief of Aviation Regulator DGCA (India) New Delhi: Senior bureaucrat BS Bhullar was on Monday appointed chief of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). He is presently working as Additional Secretary in Civil Aviation Ministry. The post has been lying vacant for past over four months after M Sathiyavathy, first woman chief of the aviation regulator, was named as new Union Labour Secretary in July this year. Sathiyavathi, a 1982-batch IAS officer of the union territories cadre, was in September last year appointed as the Director General of Civil Aviation. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved Bhullar's appointment to the post "by keeping the regular recruitments for the post in abeyance", an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said. The DGCA endeavours to promote safe and efficient air transportation through regulation and proactive safety oversight system. http://www.news18.com/news/india/b-s-bhullar-appointed-as-chief-of-dgca- 1319600.html Back to Top Measuring an aviation system's safety performance Measuring an aviation system's safety performance PhD candidate and Safety Manager at NATO's Airlift Management Programme, Ilias Panagopoulos, has collaborated with Professor Chris Atkin and Dr Ivan Sikora, senior academics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics at City, University of London, for his doctoral research in aviation safety performance. Ilias presented his methodology for measuring performance and research results at the 19th EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting (EWGT2016) on 5th to 7th September 2016, Istanbul, Turkey, and at the 1st International Cross-industry Safety Conference (ICSC 2016), organised by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Aviation Academy) in the Netherlands from 3rd to 4th November 2016. Annex 19 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says: 'safety is the state in which risks associated with aviation activities are reduced and controlled to an acceptable level'. New harmonised approach Safety is a system quality stemming from a legal and regulatory framework which stipulates strict and high- performance targets as well as a number of activities which must be performed by air operators. Annex 19 goes on to say that aviation service provider (i.e. airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance organisations, air training organisations and air traffic services) shall, as a minimum: Establish a Safety Management System (SMS) Provide continuing monitoring and regular assessment of safety performance Ensure remedial action to maintain agreed performance Aim at a continuous performance improvement At the European level, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), in parallel with management system requirements, outlined its new harmonised approach for establishing a Performance-Based Environment by introducing a clear set of indicators and targets against which the oversight performance of civil aviation authorities is assessed. In the aviation industry there is nevertheless a level of uncertainty about the extent existing methodologies for measuring performance are suitable for those operators who have achieved excellent safety records (i.e. zero accidents or serious incidents) and in- control processes, and as such the need to look for further improvements. Measuring an aviation system's safety performance In addition, within the aviation industry, the measurement process regarding a set of pre- defined indicators for measuring an aviation system's safety performance has not yet been introduced or standardised. Besides, the development and measurement of proper Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) or metrics is not straightforward and the operational experience for measuring the effectiveness of SMS is very limited, since there are many questions yet to be answered on measuring safety performance. Continuous improvement methodology Consequently, the main challenge remaining is how to control and maintain performance within agreed safety specification limits and how to develop an objective methodology that will proactively investigate and measure system performance variability from target. As a consequence, this study further investigated the following key research questions: What methodology could proactively measure system safety performance and improve the safety performance measurement process? Could a conceptual framework assist the continuous improvement of the safety performance measuring process? So as to address the key research questions, the research presents a conceptual framework that will improve the safety performance measurement process and the aviation system safety performance. In this framework, the Safety-Performance Indicator Lean Sigma (Safety-PILS) model has been embedded within Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve and Control (DMAIC) continuous improvement process. This integration results in a continuous improvement methodology that measures system safety performance and reduces the safety process variability. In addition, the study provides an implementation guide on how organisations could use this framework to design and develop a proactive, performance-based methodology for measuring Acceptable Levels of Safety Performance (ALoSP) at sigma (?) level, a statistical measurement unit. Measuring an aviation system's safety performance In Phase I of the safety measurement process, the Safety-PILS model provides guidance on how organisations could design, implement and use a proactive, performance-based measurement tool for assessing and measuring ALoSP. Also, Safety-PILS model assists operators to comprehend and design their safety system in accordance with the agreed Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs), targets and specification limits. Nevertheless, the Safety-PILS model provides a holistic view on how organisations could set leading performance indicators and monitor metrics on the top of identified root- causes that affect safety performance or how to set lagging indicators and feedback metrics on the top of safety outcomes (e.g. number of occurrences). Moreover, the core advantage of the Safety-PILS model is that applies the Central Limit Theorem and since it repeatable uses a large size of data and means, the distribution of the sample means will finally approach a normal distribution. Accordingly, the next step for the operator is to follow at Phase II the DMAIC process for continuously improving the overall system's safety performance measurement process. Through DMAIC process shown in the Figure below, the operator could apply Lean Six Sigma methodology for measuring both the performance of each established indicator and system safety performance variability at sigma level from core safety objectives. The research study introduces an integrated, empirical-tested conceptual framework that may satisfy the requirements of aviation authorities for establishing a performance-based approach in aviation safety. Furthermore, the study identified and filled the gap existing in the literature and proposed a practical implementation guide and tools for measuring aviation system safety performance. Finally, the study revealed that the application of Lean Six Sigma methodology can enhance the safety measuring process. To this end, the proposed guide is a new way of thinking for designing a safety case aims to achieve desired outcomes within agreed specifications limits. http://phys.org/news/2016-12-aviation-safety.html Back to Top Hawaiian Airlines to add A330s, A321neos; pilots issue strike warning Hawaiian Airlines has agreed to purchase an additional Airbus A330-200, bringing its A330 fleet to 24 by the end of the fourth quarter of 2017. The Honolulu-based carrier will also lease two more A321neos. According to Hawaiian, the newly ordered aircraft will enable it to early retire its Boeing 767 fleet by the end of 2018. "The addition of these three aircraft provide for low- to mid-single-digit capacity growth over the remainder of the decade," Hawaiian Airlines EVP and CCO Peter Ingram said. "At the same time, the accelerated retirement of the Boeing 767s from our fleet will simplify our operation and allow us to be more efficient." Hawaiian had previously announced plans to phase in 16 new A321neos beginning in 2017. Today's signed letters of intent with two lessors for the delivery of additional aircraft in early 2018 will bring its total fleet of A321neos to 18 by 2020. Hawaiian's current fleet includes 23 Airbus A330-200 widebody, twin-aisle aircraft used on long-haul routes between Hawaii and the US west coast. The airline also operates 20 narrowbody Boeing 717-200s and three ATR 42s. Separately, Hawaiian pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), met with investors in New York Dec. 5 and warned the flying public of a potential strike after the recent breakdown in negotiations regarding a new contract. "Hawaiian pilots have offered a contract that will keep the airline competitive, profitable and that it can afford to pay-and that will pay pilots market-rate wages. However, despite months of negotiations, Hawaiian pilots still don't have a contract. With negotiations having broken off, and the National Mediation Board (NMB) scheduling no more meetings, Hawaiian pilots have no choice but to prepare for a strike," ALPA Hawaiian-Master Executive Council chairman Hoon Lee said. http://atwonline.com/airframes/hawaiian-airlines-add-a330s-a321neos-pilots-issue- strike-warning Back to Top Gulfstream Continues Supersonic Business Jet Research Gulfstream Aerospace continues to pursue technologies that would enable development of a supersonic business jet (SSBJ), logging two new U.S. patents for such technologies in the past several months alone. Asked about these latest patent awards, a company spokeswoman told AIN, "Gulfstream has a small team committed to researching sonic- boom mitigation. We also continue to work to remove the ban on flying supersonically over land." The Savannah, Georgia-based aircraft manufacturer's most prominent research in this field is its Quiet Spike, a telescoping nose meant to greatly reduce or even eliminate the sonic boom. It has previously tested the Quiet Spike on a NASA F-15 and has even built an acoustic simulator to demonstrate the spike's effectiveness, which it dubs the "Gulfstream Whisper." The company, however, has noted that the engine inlet is also a major factor in reducing sonic boom noise. Thus, a patent issued on November 1 to Gulfstream (Stand A13, A14) is for an "isentropic compression inlet for supersonic aircraft [which shapes] the compression surface of the inlet to defocus the resulting shocklets away from the cowl lip." This improves inlet drag characteristics and interference drag characteristics, according to the patent. The company has also developed a way to use fuel loading to mitigate the sonic boom. In a patent issued on September 20, Gulfstream engineers outline a computerized fuel redistribution "to adjust an amount of fuel stored within a wing to minimize a twist in the wing caused by the deviation." Such redistribution will reduce the magnitude of the sonic boom caused by the deviation, the patent notes. While the Concorde also employed fuel load shifting, it did so for moving the center of gravity in the supersonic realm and was a highly manual process, using a series of toggle switches controlled by an on-board flight engineer. The Gulfstream application is different- not just because it will be used to twist the wings to minimize the sonic boom, but also because it is employing a computerized system with processors and sensors to automatically and instantly adjust fuel loads. It is primarily this computing and sensor technology that is the underlying basis of the patent. SSBJ Clues The patents also give some clues to what a Gulfstream supersonic business jet might look like, should the company actually decide to go ahead with such an ambitious project. According to information and drawings included in these patents, the design would likely employ a swing wing, like that used for the F-111 (built by Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics in the 1960s), and be powered by two engines. Configuration drawings also show a T-tail and the telescoping Quiet Spike, in addition to isentropic compression engine inlets and the fuel-load shifting system. In addition, the patents suggest a top speed of Mach 1.9 for a would-be Gulfstream SSBJ. Gulfstream has flirted on and off with the idea of an SSBJ since 1989, though it appears to have become more serious about such an aircraft in 2008, when it tapped Robert Cowart as director of supersonic technology development, a position that was newly created at the time. Cowart still heads this research at the aircraft manufacturer. And as Gulfstream and rival Bombardier Aerospace approach subsonic large-cabin business jets with ranges nearing 8,000 nm-enough to fly halfway around the globe nonstop-speed appears to be the next frontier. In fact, an aviation consultancy specializing in this issue published a study last year that concluded that an SSBJ now makes economic sense. "We've done the study in two ways-on the air transportation side with the airlines, and with the corporate aviation side," said InterFlight Global CEO Oscar Garcia. "On the airline side, the price premium cannot exceed 30 percent. On the corporate side, the price premium can reach up to 70 percent. The corporate and special-mission government side is much less price sensitive." He also thinks that the time is ripe for the U.S. Congress to revisit the national ban on supersonic flight over land. "Congress is looking at this issue again, maybe more than ever before. It is starting to look at the fact that we need speed, we need the ability for rapid reaction," Garcia noted. "It's mostly for the military, but it is permeating into the civilian realm," he added. "With good research results from Gulfstream and NASA, if that sonic boom gets reduced to a certain level, I wouldn't be surprised if the ban is lifted." That could happen as early as 2020, Garcia believes. He envisions an SSBJ as just the first step in developing a pathway to regular suborbital transportation, perhaps as early as 2035. "Propulsion remains the main challenge," Garcia concluded. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-12-06/gulfstream- continues-supersonic-business-jet-research Back to Top Navy Faces Carrier Jet Shortfall, Reportedly Looking At More Super Hornets The Navy is considering buying more Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets to make up for a shortfall of carrier-based jets. (Boeing) The Navy is reportedly considering buying more Boeing (BA) F/A-18 Super Hornets to make up for a shortfall of carrier-based jets due to delays with Lockheed Martin's (LMT) F- 35s and long maintenance times for older model Hornets. "To decrease the strike fighter shortfall and to best prepare future air wings for likely threats we will soon divest from legacy Hornets, look to buy several squadrons worth of Super Hornets and continue with efforts to bring on the F-35 carrier variant," said an official cited in a Reuters report. The deal could be implemented in the fiscal 2018 budget and would include dozens of planes as the Navy is facing a shortfall of about 70 fighter jets in the coming years, according to Reuters. The Super Hornet deal would also let Boeing keep its St. Louis production line in service. Boeing shares fell 0.1% to 152.16 on the stock market today after rising intraday to 153.75, its highest since April 2015. Lockheed stock fell 0.3% to 266.93, just below a 267.03 buy point. The defense giant initially broke out of a flat base on Nov. 14, pulled back and retook that level on Dec. 2. http://www.investors.com/news/navy-faces-carrier-jet-short-fall-reportedly-looking-at- more-super-hornets/ Curt Lewis