Flight Safety Information December 23, 2016 - No. 255 In This Issue Hijackers Threatening to Blow Up Plane in Malta NTSB: Air traffic controller, pilots share blame in mid-air collision over Brown Field (California) German air safety warns: Drones not just for Christmas Pillsbury: Global, Top-Ranked, Non-Stop Service Donald Trump's Tweet Sets Up Jet Dogfight Strange noises from cargo hold prompt jetliner to make U-turn Virgin Galactic ends 2016 with second SpaceShipTwo glide flight 'SMALL DRONE' RESEARCH RESEARCH STUDY SURVEY Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship Graduate Research Survey Hijackers Threatening to Blow Up Plane in Malta Airbus A320 with 111 passengers aboard was on a domestic flight in Libya when it was diverted Maltese troops survey a Afriqiyah Airways plane on the runway at Malta Airport, on Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. Two suspected hijackers of an Afriqiyah Airways airliner with 111 passengers aboard have threatened to blow up the plane on the runway at the international airport in Malta, a Maltese government spokesman said Friday. The airliner, an Airbus A320, landed at Malta's Luqa airport at 1030 GMT, according to Flightradar24. A negotiating team was in contact with the hijackers, the spokesman said. The plane, bound for Libyan capital Tripoli from the central city of Sabha, was diverted by the alleged hijackers, who demanded to be flown to the tiny Mediterranean island. The men, both Libyan, threatened the crew with homemade grenades, according to an Afriqiyah board member. "The plane was forced to land in Malta at the hijackers' request. We don't know the reason they are doing this," he said. Airport authorities in Malta confirmed that there has been "an unlawful interference" at the airport and that emergency teams have been dispatched to the site. All Libyan carriers are banned from flying to the European Union under the bloc's so-called aviation safety blacklist. The EU took the step two years ago out of concern that Libyan aviation officials couldn't ensure safety because of the country's political turmoil. Afriqiyah Airways has been the victim of Libya's political unrest before. In 2014 attacks by militias on Tripoli Airport destroyed and damaged several of its planes. Four years earlier some of its planes were destroyed in fighting at Tripoli's airport. The airline has a fleet of six active planes, all made by European plane maker Airbus. The hijacking comes amid a tumultuous year for aviation security that has seen bombings of jetliners, airports and hijackings. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S., plane hijackings have become rarer. Locked and reinforced cockpit doors have made it more difficult for hijackers to enter. But hijackers have still managed to force planes to alter course. In March, an EgyptAir flight with 63 passengers and crew aboard was hijacked on a domestic flight and forced to divert to Cyprus. The hijacker was carrying an authentic-looking suicide vest that turned out to be fake. The hijacking occurred just days after Brussels Airport was struck by suicide bombers. The March 22 bombing, along with a parallel attack on the Belgian capital's subway, killed 32 people. In June, attackers hit Istanbul's Atatürk Airport, killing 45 people. EgyptAir Flight 804, an Airbus Group SE A320, disappeared from radar on May 19 while flying at 37,000 feet. The plane, bound to Cairo from Paris and carrying 66 passengers and crew, had just entered Egyptian airspace when it plunged into the Mediterranean Sea. Egyptian officials said earlier this month that explosive residue was found on the bodies of some of the victims. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for an explosion on Feb. 2 aboard a plane operated by Djibouti-based Daallo Airlines in Mogadishu, Somalia. Only one person, the suspected bomber, died in the attack shortly after takeoff. The crew managed to land the plane after its fuselage was punctured by the blast. http://www.wsj.com/articles/hijacking-suspected-as-libyan-jet-diverted-to-malta-1482493192 Back to Top NTSB: Air traffic controller, pilots share blame in mid-air collision over Brown Field (California) Controller had 9 aircraft, limit was 7 SAN DIEGO - A National Transportation Safety Board report shows an air traffic controller in the tower at Brown Field had too much going on at the time two planes collided, killing five people in 2015. A year and a half after the crash, the NTSB released a report that shows air traffic controllers bear most of the blame in the fiery collision between a Sabreliner jet and a Cessna. The report says an air traffic control trainee was getting on-the-job training in the minutes before the fatal crash. When it became apparent there was too much activity for the trainee to handle, the local controller took over. The controller was handling 9 aircraft, when his workload limit was 7. According to the investigation report, the controller made several errors, including telling the pilot of the Cessna to make a 360-degree turn that resulted in the collision. The pilots involved also didn't have a clear view of the other aircraft nearby, the report says. The report also says many of the errors made were the result of the high workload. The controller's stress was apparent to the pilots listening to his commands. One of the pilots in the Sabreliner was heard on the cockpit voice recorder saying, "Wow, he's like panicking" -- with an emphasis on panicking -- according to the report. The report also places partial blame on the pilots. Because the weather was clear that day, the pilots might have avoided the collision by using the "see and avoid" rule. The pilots could have shown more "situational awareness," according to investigators. If they had been more aware, the pilots may have been able to "take evasive action in time to avert the collision." The families of those killed in the crash have pending lawsuits against Serco, Inc., the private company that handles air traffic control at Brown Field. Two trials are set to begin next summer. http://www.10news.com/news/team-10/ntsb-air-traffic-controller-pilots-share-blame-in-mid-air-collision- over-brown-field Back to Top German air safety warns: Drones not just for Christmas Some 100,000 drones are expected to be given as presents in Germany this Christmas. And the head of Germany's air safety authority wants new rules in place to cover the aircraft. Medientage München (picture-alliance/dpa/S.Hoppe) The head of Germany's air traffic control authority (DFS) is worried. His organization, a state-owned company, has estimated that some 100,000 drones will be piled under German Christmas trees this winter, and director Klaus-Dieter Scheurle isn't sure if all their new owners will have been properly apprised of the rules of the sky when they take them out in the festive aftermath. "There are already rules today that no drones are allowed to fly in the approach and take-off zones of major airports or within 1.5 kilometers [0.9 miles] of an airport fence," he told the WAZ media group on Thursday. "But apparently not every drone pilot knows that or pays attention to it." There has been a massive increase in reported "obstructions" this year - airplane pilots have reported 63 incidents this year - up from 15 in 2015. Other European countries have reported similar incidents - in the UK in April, a British Airways jet was hit by a suspected drone as it landed at London's Heathrow airport, while in August a passenger plane narrowly avoided being hit by a drone as it prepared to land in the southwest of the country. And now that drones start at prices from as little as 30 euros ($31) in some online stores, the DFS is expecting a swarm of airborne robots in the coming years: by 2020, the organization expects more than a million civilian quadrocopters and multicopters to cloud the skies of Germany - more than double the number owned by Germans today. Deutschland IFA 2016 Drohne DJI Phantom 4 (DW/R. Fuchs) Pilots must be able to see the drone they are flying Scheurle is serious As far as Scheurle is concerned, the rising numbers make it only a matter of time before there is a collision with a plane. Even if most drones on the market are light enough not to trouble a commercial airliner if they do hit, anything over five kilos could well cause a serious problem. "This is in no way a trivial offense," he said. "Whoever accepts the possibility of a collision with a passenger aircraft can be prosecuted and convicted. So there's a need for action." Some action is already being taken in Germany: At the moment, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are not allowed to be flown over crowds, hospitals and disaster areas, "military objects," power plants or prisons. Nor are drones allowed to be flown beyond the operator's direct line of sight, or if the operator is intoxicated. The German government is already drawing up plans to mark heavier drones with a registration number linked to the owner's name and address. Meanwhile, at the beginning of December the European Council agreed a "draft regulation" which includes the first-ever EU-wide rules for civil drones to fly safely in European airspace. The EU, through the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), can regulate all drones heavier than 150 grams, and the EASA's new "basic regulation" is no more than a set of principles by which such rules might be framed, such as "Higher-risk operations will require certification, while drones presenting the lowest risk would just need to conform to the normal EU market surveillance mechanisms." Deutschland Flughafen Schönefeld (picture-alliance/dpa/B. Settnik) Airline pilots have been reporting more drone incidents Technical issues But there are plenty of other things that could be done, and Scheurle has a few more concret suggestions: such as requiring "proof of knowledge" certification for any aircraft heavier than 250 grams and an actual pilot's license for larger models. Similar action is being considered in Britain, where a consultation by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is set to discuss introducing new safeguards such as the compulsory registration of new drones, mandatory safety tests and whether to introduce a new criminal offense for drone misuse around "no-fly zones." British prisons have also a reported an increase in the use of drones to smuggle drugs inside. There are other, more technical challenges. Drones are invisible on a radar screen - and the DFS is working with German telecom operator Deutsche Telekom to come up with a way to use cell phone technology to be able to track drones flying near airports. And then there's "geo-fencing" - the use of electromagnetic "fences" that can potentially stop a drone in mid-flight. Here too, the DFS is working on prototype experiments. http://www.dw.com/en/german-air-safety-warns-drones-not-just-for-christmas/a-36882603 Back to Top Back to Top Donald Trump's Tweet Sets Up Jet Dogfight President-elect suggests a Boeing plane could be used as substitute for Lockheed's F-35 combat jet An F/A-18 jet aboard the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in June. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday continued his pressure on the defense sector by suggesting he could use a Boeing Co. plane as a substitute for the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 combat jet. "Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F/A-18 Super Hornet!" he said in a tweet, referring to a Boeing plane that has long been used by the Navy and some overseas allies. The Pentagon plans to acquire more than 2,400 of the F-35 jets to replace much of its combat fleet in what is by far its costliest program, and Mr. Trump has singled it out for criticism after a legacy of delays and design problems. It is unusual for a president or a president-elect to publicly negotiate government procurement spending on weapons programs. Mr. Trump's approach of negotiating via Twitter has shaken defense contractors and the complex defense bidding and procurement process. He has said he sees it as his job to try to save taxpayers money, but defense experts have said he is tackling a process that can't be orchestrated in 140- character social media posts. Daniel Gordon, who worked on government procurement issues for the Government Accountability Office for 17 years before becoming President Barack Obama's administrator for federal procurement policy, said Mr. Trump cannot award government contracts without going through the formal competition and bidding process. "The government would be violating the law to award a contract to Boeing without a competition [bidding process] unless they go through exceptions to the normal legal requirements for competition," Mr. Gordon said, adding that this process would likely not qualify for any of the exceptions. Pentagon officials have long said the two planes served very different roles, with the F-35 providing more radar-evading features and serving as an airborne command post. Variants of the F/A-18 are used as attack jets and to provide electronic countermeasures to protect U.S. forces. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the military head of the F-35 program, said this week that the capabilities of the F-35 couldn't be diluted. Lockheed shares fell 2% in after-hours trade, with Boeing up around 0.7%. The F-35 accounts for more than 20% of Lockheed's annual sales. Mr. Trump met the chief executives of both companies on Wednesday. The two jets have faced off to win contracts for overseas governments, with the F-35 prevailing in most of them. However, Canada last month said it would order the Boeing jets after the government dropped plans launched by the previous administration to buy the F-35. The Lockheed plane will still be considered in a future contest to acquire more jets. Boeing has long pressed the Navy to buy more F/A-18s. "We have committed to working with the president-elect and his administration to provide the best capability, deliverability and affordability across all Boeing products and services to meet our national security needs," the company said in a statement. Boeing declined to comment on whether Mr. Trump had raised his request about the F/A-18 at his Wednesday meeting with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Lockheed Martin declined to comment and Pentagon officials didn't immediately respond to a request The F-35 entered service with the Marine Corp. in 2015 and with the Air Force earlier this year. The Pentagon said the average cost of the model used by the Air Force has fallen to $102 million, though some budget watchdogs said this excludes some expenses such as fixing past design problems. Defense analysts estimate the F/A-18 costs $70 million to $80 million. http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-sets-up-jet-dogfight-1482448470 Back to Top Strange noises from cargo hold prompt jetliner to make U-turn United Airlines plane in Houston airport after returning because crew members heard strange noises coming from cargo hold on December 22, 2016 KHOU-TV HOUSTON -- A United Airlines flight returned to Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport Thursday evening after crew members heard strange noises coming from the cargo hold, reports CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV. The United Airlines flight to Equador departed from Houston at 5:39 p.m. and was in the air about an hour before landing without incident back in Houston. The airline said the crew members on United Flight 1035, with 163 passengers on board, heard unusual noises in the cargo hold after takeoff. United said nothing unusual was found in the cargo area, and described the noises as resulting from a maintenance issue. Four hours later, the passengers boarded another plane and took off for Quito, Equador. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/strange-noises-from-cargo-hold-prompt-united-airlines-jetliner-to-make- u-turn-return-to-houston/ Back to Top Virgin Galactic ends 2016 with second SpaceShipTwo glide flight SpaceShipTwo glide flight VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo, glides during a Dec. 22 flight test. Credit: Virgin Galactic SANTA FE, N.M. - Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane performed its second free flight Dec. 22 as the company prepares to enter a critical year in the vehicle's long-delayed development. The suborbital vehicle, named VSS Unity, took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California around 4:20 p.m. Eastern attached to its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, according to updates provided by the company on Twitter. SpaceShipTwo was released from WhiteKnightTwo about 40 minutes later, gliding back to a runway landing in Mojave. The company did not immediately release technical details about the flight, which was not announced in advance. The flight was the second glide flight for VSS Unity, after a Dec. 3 flight. That first free flight was delayed a month because of an unspecified technical issue found after the aircraft had taken off on a Nov. 3 test flight. This latest flight is the last the company plans to carry out in 2016. "Well done to the pilots and the whole crew. Great way to end the year!" tweeted George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, a few hours after the flight. Virgin Galactic will enter 2017 likely needing to carry out a number of additional glide flights. In October, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said that there was not a set number of glide flights planned. Instead, the company planned to carry out glide tests until it completes all its test objectives. Moses estimated that those objectives could be achieved in about ten flights, but could require more, or be wrapped up in fewer, depending on the progress made during the test flight program. If there are no major setbacks in the glide test program, Virgin Galactic will likely begin powered test flights later in 2017. "We'll start slow," Moses said in October of those test flights, beginning with short- duration engine burns to accelerate SpaceShipTwo to Mach 1 to study its performance in the transonic regime. "Once that's under our belts, we'll punch through to full duration, expand the envelope, and look at all the off-nominal conditions that can occur." The company has not disclosed schedules for the test flight program, or when SpaceShipTwo could begin commercial flights. Development of the suborbital spaceplane, capable of carrying six spaceflight participants or equivalent cargo for tourism and research missions, has been beset by years of delays, including a 2014 fatal test flight accident that destroyed the first SpaceShipTwo and killed the vehicle's co- pilot. Despite the delays, the company says it still has about 700 customers who have signed up and paid either the full ticket price or a deposit for a flight on SpaceShipTwo, offering views of the Earth from altitudes of up to 100 kilometers as well as several minutes of microgravity. http://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-ends-2016-with-second-spaceshiptwo-glide- flight/#sthash.faprZsuh.dpuf Back to Top 'SMALL DRONE' RESEARCH I'm conducting a research project on small Visual Line-of-Sight (VLOS) remotely-piloted aircraft (RPA)/Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations. The project is investigating the piloting strategies used in operating a small (up to 2kg gross weight) VLOS rotary-wing or multi-rotor drone. If you are 18 years or over and have any experience operating a small drone for recreational or professional purposes, you are invited to participate in the study. If you would like to participate, you will be asked to complete an on-line protocol which involves a consent form, demographic questionnaire and the small VLOS drone version of EXPERTise 2.0, a situational judgement test. The study takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. You will need to complete the study using a desktop computer or laptop/notebook with at least a 17 inch monitor or screen. The preferred internet browser for completing the study is Google Chrome. Firefox and Safari are also suitable. To access the study, please go the following website: https://expertise.mq.edu.au/Participant/Account/Login The access details for the study are: Organisation code: Small Drone 2 Project: Small drone Study 2b 2017 Participants who complete the study will go into a draw to win an iPad mini 4. If you have any questions, please contact me at renshawp@hotmail.com or Prof Mark Wiggins at mark.wiggins@mq.edu.au Thank you for your interest. Peter Renshaw Macquarie University Sydney, Australia Back to Top RESEARCH STUDY SURVEY Hello, I'm Dr. Tim Holt and I'm currently the Program Chair for Aeronautics and an Associate Professor with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ. In this position I'm responsible for faculty, curriculum, course updates, course alignment, etc... Furthermore, I teach undergraduate courses in aeronautics, safety, unmanned systems, and airport management for the Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics program. To this day, there are no reported statistics of general aviation pilots that have survived hypoxia during normal flight operations. More often than not there are tales of pilots getting themselves into a hypoxic situation and not surviving; rarely do people hear of those that survive. This leaves the aviation community unsure of the common circumstances that these pilots find themselves that create a hypoxic state, as well as whether or not that reported the occurrence to the proper establishments. The data collected from this survey issued to general aviation pilots, will hopefully give insight as to how best to prevent these occurrences from happening, as well as promote a healthy safety culture to report these events. It is with this in mind that we decided to embark on this research study. This survey is completely anonymous and individual responses will not be recorded. It should only take 5- 10 minutes to complete. The link to the survey will provide you the Informed Consent and contact information of the researchers involved in the study. Thank you in advance, it's truly appreciated. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GAHYPOXIA Back to Top Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship The Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship was established by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to shape the next generation of aviation researchers, honoring the late Najeeb Elias Halaby, an eminent aviator and administrator, for his vision and more than five decades of extraordinary contributions to aviation (http://www.ral.ucar.edu/halabyfellowship.pdf). The Fellowship The recipient of a Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship will spend three months (in 2017 or early 2018) in residence with NCAR's Aviation Weather Research Program, which Mr. Halaby was instrumental in establishing in the 1980s. As the nation's leader in addressing aviation weather research, NCAR plays a unique role in meeting user needs by transferring research results to operations through its Research Application Laboratory (http://www.ral.ucar.edu/). The Fellow will conduct research broadly aimed at improving the integration of weather into decision support tools for enhanced mitigation of weather sensitivities (e.g., weather impact avoidance) and management of air traffic. The Fellowship will provide: * a monthly stipend for three months, including temporary living expenses * round-trip travel expenses to and from Boulder, CO * travel to a conference to present results * page charges for one publication of key results Eligibility and Application The Halaby Fellowship targets graduate students (late Masters or early PhD level) enrolled in an aviation- relevant department or program of a domestic or international university. Interested candidates should have advanced research skills, far-reaching vision, and dedication to get things accomplished. Consideration for this Fellowship will be given to candidates based on the following submitted material: * Curriculum vitae * Proposal (maximum five pages) presenting the research to be conducted at NCAR, the anticipated outcome of that, and how the proposed effort ties into the candidate's ongoing graduate research project(s) * Contact information for three references (one of which should be the student's primary advisor) NCAR will accept applications for the Halaby Fellowship each year. Email Applications by February 28, 2017 to halabyfellowship@ucar.edu Back to Top Graduate Research Survey HI! My name is Amber L. Hulsey, A.B.D. and I am currently working on my dissertation for my Ph.D. entitled, "Human Trafficking: Flying Under the Radar." My dissertation examines the extent to which human trafficking occurs by air as a mode of transportation compared to land and sea. Additionally, the study examines the actions that can be taken to combat human trafficking into and within the United States. The theoretical lens to which this study uses is Human Security Theory. This survey is completely anonymous, has undergone Institutional Review Board and has been approved. If you have any questions or would like to contact me for any reason, please email me at amber.hulsey@usm.edu. The survey will be open from December 7- December 21st. Please share this on all social media accounts, with your friends, family, and with your colleagues. Upon completion of this study, I will share the findings with various government and NGO's to aid in eradicating human trafficking. Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HTinUSA Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this survey and more importantly, for helping aid in the research to combat human trafficking by air. Curt Lewis