Flight Safety Information December 28, 2016 - No. 259 In This Issue Second flight recorder recovered from Black Sea crash site Wing flap fault main theory behind Black Sea Russian jet crash Doomed LaMia Flight's Engines Began Shutting Down Several Minutes Before Crash Pillsbury: Global, Top-Ranked, Non-Stop Service FAA Gets Ready to Roll out SMS FAA sets hazmat penalties for three shippers Maltese Bureau of Air Accident Investigation signs MOU with UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch Delta to cancel order for 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft RESEARCH STUDY SURVEY Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship Second flight recorder recovered from Black Sea crash site MOSCOW (AP) - Search teams on Wednesday recovered another flight recorder from a military plane that crashed in the Black Sea, killing all 92 people aboard, the Defense Ministry said. The first flight recorder was found the previous day and experts have started analyzing its data, seeking to identify the cause of the crash. The Tu-154 of the Russian Defense Ministry crashed into the sea early Sunday, two minutes after taking off in good weather from the city of Sochi. It was carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, widely known as the Red Army Choir, to a New Year's concert at a Russian military base in Syria. The Defense Ministry said 15 bodies and 239 body fragments have been recovered from the crash site. It previously said 17 bodies had been found. A massive recovery effort has involved 3,600 people, including about 200 navy divers flown to the site from all over Russia. They have been aided by drones and submersibles. Investigators were looking into whether the crash might have been caused by bad fuel, pilot error, equipment failure or objects stuck in the engines. The top Russian investigative agency said it had taken samples from a fuel tank used to fill the plane, which flew from Moscow's Chkalovsky military airport and stopped in Sochi for refueling. The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily and online publication Life.ru published what they described as a script of cockpit conversation, with a pilot yelling about a problem with the plane's flaps and then shouting: "Commander, we are falling!" It was impossible to verify the report, but both publications were known to have good connections with Russian security agencies. Flaps are moveable panels mounted on the edge of the wings to increase lift. The Kommersant daily also said that investigators believed that the crash was caused by a combination of malfunctioning flaps and pilot error, which caused the plane to lose speed and stall. However, Nikolai Antoshkin, the former deputy chief of the Russian air force, dismissed the claim, saying that responding to flap malfunctions is part of standard pilot training. "If flaps fail to retract or extend in time ... pilots know how to deal with it, it's not a problem at all," he said in remarks carried by state RIA Novosti news agency. Russia's main domestic security and counter-terrorism agency, the FSB, said it found "no indications or facts pointing at the possibility of a terror attack or an act of sabotage." However, some aviation experts have noted that the crew's failure to report any technical problem and the large area over which fragments of the plane were scattered could point to an explosion on board. The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s. Russian airlines decommissioned the noisy, fuel-guzzling aircraft years ago, but the military and other government agencies continue using the plane, which is still loved by crews for its maneuverability and sturdiness. The plane that crashed Sunday was built in 1983 and underwent factory checkups and maintenance in 2014, and earlier this year. Investigators have taken relevant documents from the plant that did the job. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/world/article/Second-flight-recorder-recovered-from-Black-Sea- 10822067.php Back to Top Wing flap fault main theory behind Black Sea Russian jet crash Russian investigators looking into the crash of a military plane that crashed, killing all 92 on board, believe a fault with its wing flaps was the reason it plunged into the Black Sea, an investigative source told the Interfax news agency on Tuesday. The plane, a Tupolev-154 belonging to the Defence Ministry, disappeared from radar screens two minutes after taking off on Sunday from Sochi in southern Russia, killing dozens of Red Army Choir singers and dancers en route to Syria to entertain Russian troops in the run-up to the New Year. The three black box flight recorders from the aircraft were found on Tuesday, Russian news agencies said, amid unconfirmed reports that authorities had grounded all aircraft of the same type. The Defence Ministry confirmed one box had been found. The Life.ru news portal, which has close contacts to law enforcement agencies, said it had obtained a readout of one of the pilot's last words, indicating a problem with the wing flaps: "Commander, we are going down," the pilot was reported to have said. There was no official confirmation of the readout. The Interfax news agency separately cited an unnamed investigative source as saying preliminary data showed the wing flaps had failed and not worked in tandem. As a result, the aging Soviet-era plane had not been able to gather enough speed and had dropped into the sea, breaking up on impact. If confirmed, the technical failure will raise questions about the future of the TU-154, which is still actively used by Russian government ministries but not by major Russian commercial airlines. Interfax cited an unnamed source as saying Russia had grounded all TU-154 planes until the cause of Sunday's crash became clear. There was no official confirmation of that. The Defence Ministry says the jet, a Soviet-era plane built in 1983, had last been serviced in September and underwent more major repairs in December 2014. Russia grounds all its TU-154 planes after Black Sea jet crash: Ifax Russian pilots say the TU-154 is still flightworthy, though major Russian commercial airlines have long since replaced it with Western-built planes. Experts say only two are registered with Russian passenger airlines with the rest registered to various government ministries. The last big TU-154 crash was in 2010 when a Polish jet carrying then-president Lech Kaczynski and much of Poland's political elite went down in western Russia killing everyone on board. The Defence Ministry said search and rescue teams had so far recovered 12 bodies and 156 body fragments. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-airplane-black-box-idUSKBN14G0CY Back to Top Doomed LaMia Flight's Engines Began Shutting Down Several Minutes Before Crash Colombian officials say pilots didn't warn of total fuel loss until it was too late Rescue workers at the site of the LaMia chartered airplane crash in November. BOGOTÁ, Colombia-Pilots of the doomed LaMia charter plane knew its engines were shutting down several minutes before the crash that killed 71 people, but failed to notify air-traffic control until it was too late, Colombian officials said Monday. Investigators from Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority said the pilots didn't report "a total electric failure without fuel" until two minutes before the aircraft collided at 145 miles an hour into a hillside just outside Medellín, Colombia on Nov. 28. While the crew had asked for priority landing, they didn't indicate imminent danger and investigators said the pilots spoke with controllers "in a completely normal manner." "There was no technical failure, only human and managerial error," Freddy Bonilla, head of the investigation team for Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority, said in the first official report since the accident. The 28-day investigation found that the Avro RJ85 aircraft left Bolivia nearly 1,000 pounds overweight and flew at an altitude above 30,000 feet, even though the plane isn't designed to travel above 28,000 feet, Mr. Bonilla said. In addition, the flight's 1,839-mile trip was near the aircraft's capacity for a tank of fuel, the Colombian official said. "The flight crew was conscious of the fuel limits and that they did not adequately have what was needed," Mr. Bonilla said, adding that headwinds may have caused the aircraft to use more fuel. Bolivian aviation officials should not have permitted the flight to take off, Mr. Bonilla said. "The conditions for the flight-as presented in the flight plan-were unacceptable," he said, noting that the flight form was incomplete, naming only one of a required two alternate landing destinations. There was no immediate response from the Bolivian government, whose investigators last week blamed the accident on a series of miscues by the airline and the pilot, calling it an "isolated" incident. The country's airport authority had earlier filed a criminal complaint against one of its officials for allowing the plane to depart despite the incomplete flight plan. The official, Celia Castedo, is seeking asylum in Brazil. Both Bolivia and Colombia have suspended LaMia's operating licenses. Pilot Miguel Quiroga, who perished in the crash, was a co-owner of the airline along with Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, who was arrested earlier this month in Bolivia on manslaughter charges The pilot and his co-pilot discussed the possibility of landing to refuel here in the Colombian capital or in Leticia but decided to continue 45 minutes northwest toward Medellín, Mr. Bonilla said, citing audio recordings of the crew's communications recovered from the plane's black box. The recordings were synchronized with a 24-minute video flight simulation and presented by Mr. Bonilla. Yaneth Molina, the air-traffic controller in Jose Maria Cordova International Airport, described the harrowing final minutes in an interview earlier Monday with Colombia's Caracol Radio. The LaMia flight, she said, never alerted them of any major problems before suddenly beginning an unauthorized descent for landing, looking to cut in front of three other planes that were scheduled to land before. "That's when I called them and they tell me about an emergency," Ms. Molina said. "There were 71 victims, but it was too close. They were practically on top of the other aircraft. It could've been worse," she said. Colombian civil aviation officials declined to speculate why the pilots decided not to make a stop or report their low-fuel status earlier. Investigators say a potential refueling stop for the jet, which was crossing over Colombia at night, could have been Cobija. However, that airport lacks runway lights after dark and the flight was already behind schedule. The flight's operators also had a strong incentive not to declare a fuel emergency because it would have led to sanctions that could have grounded the company, potentially putting it out of business. According to Colombian law, pilots or flight crew members found of negligence can face suspension or fines of nearly $115,000, Mr. Bonilla said. Onboard were 4 crew members, 20 journalists and Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, a professional Brazilian soccer team on a Cinderella season, traveling to its first ever finals of the South American Cup. Six people survived the crash. Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority, which is working with investigators from Brazil, Bolivia, the U.K. and U.S., said it would release a final report with its findings in April. http://www.wsj.com/articles/doomed-lamia-flights-engines-began-shutting-down-several-minutes-before- crash-1482780139 Back to Top Back to Top FAA Gets Ready to Roll out SMS In 2016, the FAA published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) proposing an SMS requirement of certain certificated airports. Under the proposal, these airports would develop and implement processes and procedures to proactively identify hazards and mitigate unacceptable risk. In addition to safety risk assessment and management, the proposal would require these airports to also deploy confidential hazard reporting systems, provide training and orientation programs, and offer enhanced safety communications. Together, these elements form the building blocks to support an organizational culture that values safe practices. According to Marcia Adams, a spokesperson for the FAA, a Safety Management System (SMS) is the formal, top-down, organization-wide approach to managing safety risk and assuring the effectiveness of safety risk controls. It includes systematic procedures, practices, and policies for the management of safety risk. "SMS is becoming a standard throughout the aviation industry worldwide," she said. "It is recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), civil aviation authorities, airlines, airports, and air traffic service providers as the next step in the evolution of safety in aviation. SMS is also becoming a standard for the management of safety beyond aviation." Ken Ibold, national SMS discipline Lead for RS&H and an airport planner said nearly 300 airports in the country may fall under this requirement. "This is all about making safety a standard part of airport operations," said Ibold. "Airports are already highly regulated and are extremely safe environments. But the goal of the FAA programs is to anticipate safety challenges before an accident happens rather than react to an accident by altering processes in order to not let them happen again." He said Part 139 Airport Operators will be required to update their Airport Certification Manual to address the elements of Safety Policy, Safety Risk Assessment, Safety Assurance and Safety Promotion for operations within the movement and non-movement areas of the airport. Ibold likes the mandate because of its business-like approach to managing risk. "An SMS plan is intended to not only reduce the probability of aircraft accidents/incidents on the airfield, but also help protect workers, passengers and visitors by creating a culture that values safe practices," Ibold said. "It can be designed to integrate into the safety programs that airports may already have in place." Ibold said that SMS practices have long been present among other industries and has helped companies identify safety hazards before they lead to injury or damage. "The International Civil Aviation Organization, (ICAO) the international version of FAA has been working on SMS since 2004," he said. "Because the U.S. is a member state of ICAO, it has to follow their standards. Thus, the U.S. is compelled to implement SMS." Although Ibold believes the FAA mandate is a worthy endeavor, he said the difficulty will be meeting the requirements of the new rule while not sacrificing efficiency at the airports. "The rules only say what you have to achieve but not how," he said. "It will be up to the airport as to decide what processes and operations to put in place to meet the FAA rule. Every airport is different in terms of its operational environment. As a result there is so much variance it would be impossible to create a uniform template that addresses the safety concerns of every airport." Ibold said the FAA is aware of that challenge and has chosen to prescribe a methodology to address airport safety issues rather than develop a "one size fits all" plan. "That strategy will mean that SMS will be individualized by each airport to address its own unique needs," he said. Some airports, such as Portland International, are already out in front of the SMS rules. According to Danny Garcia, senior manager, airside operations for Port of Portland, Portland International Airport, SMS has been on his radar for some time. He said that PDX has worked diligently over the last five years on safety risk management and its operational impact in order to capture both air traffic organization and airport requirements of the FAA rule. "We are now having to document and demonstrate it administratively, but we have always done the work," Garcia said. Still, he said that there are so many aspects to what the FAA is trying to regulate each airport will be a remarkably unique challenge. "The difficulty will be making a rule that applies to each airport's individual environment," said Garcia. "The rule will have to be broad in nature so that each airport can have find out what works for them." Garcia said that establishing a timeline will be virtually impossible as his airport and he could never fully implement an SMS in 36 months as it will require changes to the airport's management and organization structure. "I appreciate that the FAA is shifting to a different format of a compliance structure that allows me to determine how to best comply rather than give us a straight rules-based specific methodology," he said. "This gives me more latitude and at the same time more responsibility." Garcia believes it is the logical evolution of airport operations to take on more responsibility for regulations. "It is a good business practice to have the right equipment and the right staff in place for safety," he said. "I think the challenge will be demonstrating to the inspector that we have all these processes operating now." For Ibold and others in the industry, the question is how the FAA will implement the new rules. Ibold said a previous FAA initiative, FAA order 5200.11, which addressed airfield construction projects, was originally issued with an effective date then amended to phase in over four years with a schedule contingent on airport size. "The greater uncertainly will be how the FAA phases in implementation and to what degree," he ask. "Will the schedule require larger airports to implement first followed by smaller ones?" According to Adams, that will all be worked out over the next 16 months. "The FAA is implementing the principles of SMS both internally and externally," she said. "Externally we've supported numerous pilot studies to develop and implement SMS, participated in industry research including projects by the Transportation Research Board's Airports Cooperative Research Program, and developed the SNPRM. The SNPRM comment period closed on September 12, 2016. The agency now has 16 months to adjudicate the comments and determine whether it will pursue a final rule." David Fleet, director of consulting of Faith Group in St. Louis, believes the new regulations provide an opportunity for airports to derive more value from their operations. "So often airports look to the do the minimum to be in compliance," he said. "SMS can serve as a proactive business management practice not only with the implementation of the new FAA rule, but also for the entire operation." Fleet believes the four components of SMS - safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion, are very much needed in the industry. He said SMS is a proactive way to manage the airport because it creates the triggers that better enable you to use risk assessment. An example, he said, is an airport getting larger aircraft. Risk assessment provided by an SMS will help Operations understand what the impact will be on adjacent gates, vehicle service roads, aircraft taxi routes, as well as any impact it may have on the ARFF index. "Overall, SMS allows you to better assess risk while encouraging the use of inspections because now you have the plans to make corrections," Fleet said. "Proactive decisions are based on leading/lagging indicators that point to better training and orientation on safety hazards." "The FAA traditionally has been a reactionary agency," Fleet said, "making regulations to events that have occurred already. This allows them to get in front of the risk curve." According to Fleet there were 31 airports that went through SMS pilot programs. He said that the FAA has done a good job of exploring the potential impact of the new regulations. "The airports that were selected for the studies indicate that SMS will deliver favorable results to them," he said, adding he also thinks that it is advantageous that the Advisory Circular and proposed rule will leave it to the airports as to how they will develop their individual SMS. Ibold believes many airports will want to seek outside guidance on the SMS implementation from selected experts because the new rules will not include the FAA's usual step-by-step requirements. "There are not a lot of people who know how to do this and eventually the knowledge will catch up to the demand," Ibold said. "Consultants will need to examine the airport's current processes and figure out how those processes how do they already fulfill some of the requirement of SMS. Then they can turn their efforts to fill in the gaps." Fleet adds that airports will need proper training, more open communication, integrated technology systems and incentive programs to make SMS work, contributions he sees coming from the consulting community as well. Regardless of where airports are in the development of their native SMS, both Ibold and Fleet believe implementation of the new rule with its guidance tools and periodic evaluations to ensure continued will go a long way to making airports even safer. "This will make safety an on-going priority." Voice your opinion! http://www.aviationpros.com/article/12276192/faa-gets-ready-to-roll-out-sms Back to Top FAA sets hazmat penalties for three shippers The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration proposed civil penalties against three shippers that violated the country's hazardous materials transport regulations. The U.S Transportation Department's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed civil penalties against three shippers that violated the country's hazardous materials transport regulations. The FAA assessed a $72,000 civil penalty against Posan Industry Co. Ltd. of Goyang City, South Korea. The agency alleges that on Sept. 15, 2014, Posan offered to DHL Express an improperly packaged and labeled shipment containing flammable solvents, paint, resins and naphthenates for air transport to Ontario, Canada. The shipment was discovered leaking at a DHL sorting facility in Erlanger, Ky. four days later and reported to the FAA. Power Distributors of Columbus, Ohio was assessed a civil penalty of $63,000. The FAA alleges that on June 7, 2016, Power Distributors offered UPS an improperly packaged and labeled shipment containing two 32-ounce plastic containers of corrosive wood cleaner for air transportation from Pendergrass, Ga. to Martin, Tenn. Workers at the UPS package sorting facility in Louisville, Ky. discovered both bottles leaking. In addition, Atlanta-based Consolidated Container Co. was assessed a $57,400 civil penalty. In this case, the FAA alleges that on Aug. 13, 2015, the company offered an improperly packaged and labeled box containing four one-gallon plastic containers of flammable liquid xylenes to FedEx for air transportation from Katy, Texas to Dallas, Texas. Two of the containers leaked during transit. http://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/faa-sets-hazmat-penalties-for-three-shippers-66369.aspx Back to Top Maltese Bureau of Air Accident Investigation signs MOU with UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch The Maltese Bureau of Air Accident Investigation (BAAI), established under Maltese law for the investigation of air accidents and incidents, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), Department for Transport, United Kingdom. The purpose of this MOU is for both countries to cooperate in relation to aircraft accident and incident investigations, sharing experience and expertise in investigation techniques in various specialist fields, equipment and research. "Such cooperation shall enhance aviation safety in Malta and the United Kingdom," a statement read. "The BAAI will benefit from the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, with observer status at accident sites and subsequent off-scene investigative activities". The parties have also agreed to exchange views on the latest development in European and International standards and share experiences on developing legislation in the territory of each participant that governs aircraft accident and incident investigation. BAAI Chief Investigator Captain Frank Zammit said, "After various discussions I am pleased to have signed this agreement as it is another means to increase the BAAI's knowledge and expertise in aviation safety." The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch acting Deputy Chief Inspector of Air Accidents said "the UK AAIB is pleased to be able provide assistance to Malta through this agreement, it is beneficial that States are able to increase their knowledge and expertise in aviation safety through accident and serious incident investigation using the experience of other established Safety Investigation Authorities". Minister for Tourism Dr Edward Zammit Lewis stated that, "this MOU is another step in the right direction for Malta to continue investing in expertise with a country like the United Kingdom which has deep expertise in the aviation industry." He stated that this MOU complies with Malta's vision in strengthening safety and security within the Aviation industry. http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2016-12-28/local-news/Maltese-Bureau-of-Air-Accident- Investigation-signs-MOU-with-UK-Air-Accidents-Investigation-Branch-6736168365 Back to Top Delta to cancel order for 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft Delta planes line up at their gates while on the tarmac of Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah September 28, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) said on Tuesday that in agreement with Boeing Co (BA.N) it would cancel an order for 18 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which it assumed as a part of its merger with Northwest Airlines. The order is valued at more than $4 billion at current list prices. Delta, in its statement, did not disclose specific terms of the agreement. (bit.ly/2ibCr6f) The airline, which acquired Northwest in 2008 for $2.6 billion in shares, said it would continue to take delivery of 737-900ER aircraft through 2019. Delta declined to comment beyond its statement. The cancellation comes as Delta and other top U.S. airlines seek to slow flight capacity growth and in some instances shrink existing service in response to falling airfares. Airlines like Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (NWC.OL) from outside the United States are adding flights that Delta says have exceeded passenger demand and hurt unit revenue. Delta has 25 widebody aircraft from Airbus Group SE (AIR.PA), the A350, already slated for delivery that will add to its flight capacity this decade. Delta said earlier this year that it would defer the delivery of four A350s by a year or two from 2018 to make the schedule "more consistent with (the) expected pace of international market improvement." http://www.reuters.com/article/us-delta-air-boeing-idUSKBN14H00N 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 Curt Lewis