Flight Safety Information January 2, 2017 - No. 002 In This Issue Flight MH370 Update: Boeing Taking Over Search? Diversion...due to engine oil leak Transport Canada issues $400k in fines in 2016 Medical helicopter hits wires on approach to St. Luke's Feds accuse man of aiming laser at news helicopter Lawsuit filed in Sevier County helicopter crash (Tennessee) Nigeria steps-up in global aviation safety rating Chinese Aviation Conglomerate HNA is Bigger Than Boeing and Has Appetite to Grow SpaceX concludes accident investigation, targets return to flight on Sunday RESEARCH STUDY SURVEY Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship Flight MH370 Update: Boeing Taking Over Search? Aviation Expert Claims As Underwater Search Nears End Boeing is expected to take over a new privately funded search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, an aviation expert said Sunday. The news comes as the underwater search - jointly funded by Australia, China and Malaysia - is nearing its end. John Goglia, a safety consultant and former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, reportedly said that while the current search led by Australia is wrapping up, the quest for answers is far from over. "The search will continue ... but it will be a privately run," he said, adding that Boeing will most likely take the lead. "It'll be smaller and more focused but that's probably better." Last month, investigators said in a report that the missing Boeing 777-200 won't be found in the area in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean that officials have searched for two years. The plane's wreckage may have instead traveled further north based on flight simulations and new analysis of satellite communications, according to a team of international investigators searching for the plane. "There is a high degree of confidence that the previously identified underwater area searched to date does not contain the missing aircraft," the report stated. "The experts concluded that, if this area were to be searched, prospective areas for locating the aircraft wreckage, based on all the analysis to date, would be exhausted." The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the $145 million search for the aircraft, said that the operation will be suspended if there are no credible clues as to the plane's whereabouts after the completion of the underwater search of the 46,000-square-mile area in a remote part of the ocean. Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. http://www.ibtimes.com/flight-mh370-update-boeing-taking-over-search-aviation-expert-claims- underwater-2468201 Back to Top Diversion due to engine oil leak. Date: 01-JAN-2017 Time: 00:30 LT Type: Boeing 777-381ER Owner/operator: All Nippon Airways ANA Registration: JA786A C/n / msn: 37948/866 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 162 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: east of Krasnoyarsk - Russia Phase: En route Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Frankfurt Airport (FRA/EDDF), Germany Destination airport: Tokyo International Airport/Haneda (HND/RJTT), Japan Narrative: A Boeing 777-300ER of All Nippon Airways, operating flight ANA/NH204 from Frankfurt, Germany to Tokyo/Haneda, Japan, diverted to Krasnoyarsk/Yemelyanovo International Airport, Russia due to engine oil leak. The plane made a safe landing on Yemelyanovo at about 02:00 LT, 1st January 2017 (19:00 UTC of 31st December 2016), and no injuries were reported among 162 occupants. The Flightradar24.com record shows that the Boeing made a turn for diversion at 00:30 LT (17:30 UTC). The flight continued by a replacement Boeing 777-281ER, JA717A, after 19 hours of stop over. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=192442 Back to Top Transport Canada issues $400k in fines in 2016 Orca Airways Beech 99 Orca Airways Beech 99 © Orca Airways Orca Airways (ORK, Vancouver Int'l) was one of hardest hit by fines from Transport Canada in 2016. The Vancouver-based airline was issued with a total of CAD25,000 (USD18,400). Three fines totalling CAD20,000 (USD14,700) were for flying an aircraft with unserviceable equipment, but Company president Andrew Naysmith has told the Vancouver Sun that he is appealing the charge. Buffalo Airways (BFL, Yellowknife) also received fines totalling CAD25,000, one of which was an aircraft maintenance violation. Other companies hit by Transport Canada include Kenora Air Service (Kenora), Island Air Charter, Sandy Lake Seaplane Service Ltd, and Geotech Aviation (Toronto Buttonville). Airports were not spared either. The Prince George Airport Authority was fined CAD10,000 (USD7,400) for failing to comply with aerodrome standards and for not notifying "the Minister of the existence of an obstruction affecting aviation safety at the airport". St. John's International Airport Authority copped a CAD15,000 (USD11,000) fine for permitting someone to act as an aircraft firefighter without up-to-date training. For the period January to November 2016, Transport Canada has issued ninety-seven fines for a total of CAD554,750 (USD409,000). Responding to ch-aviation, a spokesperson for Transport Canada said that it "is responsible for verifying that air operators are in compliance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations. If safety deficiencies are identified, the department does not hesitate to take immediate and appropriate action." http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/52046-transport-canada-issues-400k-in-fines-in-2016 Back to Top Medical helicopter hits wires on approach to St. Luke's A PennSTAR helicopter such as this one contacted power lines early in the morning of Dec. 29, 2016, outside St. Luke's Hospital in Coaldale, Schyulkill County. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo) A PennSTAR helicopter landing early Thursday morning at St. Luke's Hospital in Schuylkill County struck power lines, knocking out power, St. Luke's University Health Network said in a news release. The helicopter was able to land safely about 2:20 a.m. and none of the personnel on board was injured, the hospital system said. No patients were on the helicopter and the patient who was going to be picked up at the Coaldale hospital was transported by ambulance. "There was no disruption in patient care," the hospital network said. Power was restored by 9 a.m. There was some external damage to the helicopter, PennSTAR Program Director Bob Higgins said in an email. "But the aircraft landed with full power and control which indicates dynamic flight components were operational," he said in an email. "Very skilled and high flight time pilot." PennSTAR often flies to the hospital, he said. PennSTAR provides "critical care" transportation through the air and on the road within 100 miles of Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, its website says. The helicopter is owned and operated by Metro Aviation, St. Luke's said. The Federal Aviation Administration didn't immediately have information to release on the incident, a spokesman said. "The aircraft owner and operator, Metro Aviation, follows the published FFA reporting mandate regulations and will solely determine next steps," Higgins wrote. St. Luke's University Health Network is based in Fountain Hill. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/helicopter_flying_into_st_luke.html Back to Top Feds accuse man of aiming laser at news helicopter Fernando Garces is accused of "knowingly" aiming the beam of a laser pointer at a Bell 206 helicopter FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2009 photo provided by Airborne Integrations and the Bonneville Power Administration, a helicopter equipped with a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) imager, the black globe underneath the helicopter, that will fly over rivers in Central Idaho to map temperatures is seen at Portland International Airport, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Airborne Integrations Bonneville Power Administration) PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) - A man has pleaded not guilty to aiming a laser pointer at a news helicopter, officials say. Fernando Garces is accused of "knowingly" aiming the beam of a laser pointer at a Bell 206 helicopter. The helicopter is owned by a broadcast company in Portland, and its footage is shared among all four network television stations in the metro, including KOIN 6 News. The incident, according to federal records, occurred November 9 in "the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States." The indictment against Garces was filed in U.S. District Court on December 20. Garces appeared before Magistrate Judge John Jelderks on December 28 and pleaded not guilty. He was later released from custody pending trial. That trial is scheduled to start February 28, 2017. http://koin.com/2016/12/30/feds-accuse-man-of-aiming-laser-at-news-helicopter/ Back to Top Lawsuit filed in Sevier County helicopter crash (Tennessee) The family of a woman killed with four others in a Sevier County helicopter crash last April has filed the first federal lawsuit following the crash. Keith Morvant is the husband of Johna, who died in the helicopter crash with her two children. Together he and Johna's mother, Lynne Frederick, have filed a lawsuit in Florida against Bobby Riggs, who owns Smoky Mountain Helicopters. The lawsuit claims negligence and gross negligence against Riggs, saying he had a duty to exercise "reasonable care" as owner of the helicopter. it goes on to say "the helicopter crash and subsequent death of Johna were the direct and proximate result of the negligent acts and omissions and conduct of Riggs," and his team. Morvant is being represented by Attorney Frank Spagnoletti of Houston. We have reached out to Spagnoletti for comment, but haven't heard back yet. The suit comes after the crash last April. At that time, Parker, 18, and Peyton, 18, Rasmussen were in Tennessee to visit their mother, Johna and her husband Keith. On April 4, the three family members decided to take a helicopter sightseeing tour of the Smoky Mountains. They boarded the helicopter with pilot Jason Dahl, 38, and Texas passenger Michael Mastalez, 21. At 4:10 p.m. the helicopter suddenly crashed into the ground, bursting into flames, killing all 5 people on board. According to the lawsuit, witnesses heard screams for help coming from the wreckage, but were unable to do anything. http://www.wbir.com/news/local/lawsuit-filed-in-sevier-county-helicopter-crash/380918196 Back to Top Nigeria steps-up in global aviation safety rating The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Monday said Nigeria had attained another high level of safety rating which had placed it amongst the world leaders in aviation safety. The NCAA disclosed this in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Relations, Mr Sam Adurogboye, and made available to newsmen in Lagos. The statement said the country had climbed to Level 3 State Safety Programme (SSP) Implementation Process, and be on the same rating with the United States of America, United Kingdom and other countries in this echelon. "This categorisation is dependent on the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), who tracks the SSP implementation process of member-states via its Integrated Safety Trend Analysis and Reporting System (iSTARS). "Member states in tandem, therefore, deploy this platform to undertake Gap Analysis, define their action plans and benchmark their progress. "Only two member states-Australia and Sri Lanka- have achieved full implementation of the SSP according to ICAO records. Nigeria is striving to achieve Level 4 which will be 100 per cent by the end 0f 2017," it said. According to the statement, the SSP process is inaugurated in member countries in compliance with the ICAO requirements as contained in Annex 19 on Safety Management. The statement said that Nigeria's advanced level had put its SSP implementation process amongst states that had defined an action plan for all non-implemented Gap questions. It said that Nigeria had completed its Gap Analysis, implemented 43.6 per cent of the required SSP tasks. The statement said : " In addition, the country has developed a detailed action plan for the accomplishment of the outstanding tasks with an established and approved timeline. "In pursuant to the above, Nigeria has commenced the implementation of the SSP processes and has achieved several milestones. "These include the completion of the SSP Gap Analysis and the establishment of the Implementation Plan approved by the Director-General (DG) of NCAA. "Other completed SSP tasks are the official authorisation of the D-G of NCAA as the Accountable Executive of the SSP and the designation of the NCAA as the Placeholder Organisation of the SSP in Nigeria by the Minister of State (Aviation), Sen. Hadi Sirika." It said the approval and publication of the State Safety Policy Statement, the Enforcement Policy in an SSP-SMS environment including Nigeria's Voluntary and Confidential Reporting System etc, were among the tasks that had been concluded. According to the statement, the ICAO Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) has recognised the relevance of establishing and maintaining fundamental safety oversight systems as a prerequisite to the full implementation of an SSP. The statement said: "Member - states with robust safety oversight system have been called upon to progress towards full implementation of SSP. "An SSP is an integrated set of regulations and activities aimed at improving aviation safety which will be monitored through Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) after such a state has achieved an Effective Implementation (EI) of over 60 per cent. "It is required that states that have achieved EI levels of over 60 per cent should endeavour to fully implement SSP by 2019. "Nigeria achieved an EI Level of 67.36 per cent during the immediate past ICAO USOAP Audit in March 2016 which is above world average of 63.54 per cent. " It noted that with this achievement, the NCAA would continue to ensure that air transportation in Nigeria was seamless, safe and secure at all times. It, therefore, urged airline operators to take advantage of the robust regulation and adhere to all safety regulations as contained in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs). http://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-steps-up-in-global-aviation-safety-rating/ Back to Top Chinese Aviation Conglomerate HNA is Bigger Than Boeing and Has Appetite to Grow Although known for its ownership of Hainan Airlines, conglomerate HNA Group got just 20 percent of its revenue in 2015 from transporting passengers. The Group also does airline catering and cargo transportation, and owns hotels and travel agencies. Hainan Airlines HNA Group owns Hainan Airlines, airports, travel agencies, hotels in more than 100 countries, and has a stake in China's short-term rental site Tuniu. If China doesn't rein in its mergers and acquisitions activity, HNA could buy a global distribution system, cargo business or lots of other stuff on its shopping list. - Dennis Schaal There's an old joke: How do you build a $100 million airline? Start off with a $1 billion airline. Under founding Chairman Chen Feng, HNA Group Co. appears to have gone in the opposite direction. From its first flight in 1993, through a $25 million investment from George Soros in 1995 and a 2000 restructuring, the former Hainan Airlines has never stopped growing. In December last year, gross assets of the aviation-focused conglomerate already amounted to 468.7 billion yuan ($67 billion) - more than any U.S. carrier, and greater than the combined assets of Europe's market leaders Deutsche Lufthansa AG and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA. Then in 2016, things really got going. On Jan. 8, it completed its then-biggest acquisition, the $2.5 billion takeover of Irish aircraft lessor Avolon Holdings Ltd. A month later, it paid $6 billion for Ingram Micro Inc., the world's biggest electronics distributor, and completed the $2.8 billion purchase of ground cargo handling company Swissport Group. In October, HNA paid $10 billion for another lessor, CIT Commercial Air, and spent $6.5 billion on a quarter of the Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. hotel chain. Throw in smaller deals and the tally for 2016 should put gross asset value easily over $100 billion. That would be enough, were the closely held HNA listed, to make it one of the world's 100 biggest non-financial companies - larger than Boeing Co., Walt Disney Co. or Coca-Cola Co. The growth could serve as a parable about what a business can achieve with sufficient cheap capital and good political connections. Chen, a puckish graduate of Harvard Business School and Lufthansa's flight school, should hope it doesn't end up looking more like a cautionary tale. No company becomes one of the world's most acquisitive without some seriously good finance, and HNA appears able to borrow more cheaply than the U.S. government. Based on the prospectus for HNA Group Co.'s 1.5 billion yuan in three-year 6.2 percent bonds announced in July, the company made 247 million yuan of interest payments during 2015 - equivalent to less than 0.1 percent of its 264 billion yuan average debt. Its cash holdings earned a higher rate, with a 0.5 percent return. HNA's cash interest payments as percentage of debt: 0.1% That's given Chen a free hand to expand away from the perennially unprofitable airline business into the bits of aviation where money is actually made. HNA is now the world's third-largest aircraft lessor, the biggest ground-handling business and the leader for in-air catering. It owns airports, cargo businesses and travel agencies, not to mention hotels in more than 100 countries and stakes in online travel-booking site Tuniu and China's version of Airbnb. Those moves have proved well timed. A glut of capacity among Hainan Airlines' competitors has caused a sharp drop in prices over the past year, with its own tickets now barely more costly than those for Juneyao Airlines Co., an upmarket budget carrier. But air transport made up barely a fifth of HNA's revenue in 2015, according to the July prospectus, so that's probably survivable. The bigger question is whether the nexus of government policy, cheap capital and strategic ambition that's fueled HNA's expansion continues to play out in the year ahead. Should the M&A cash continue to flow, Chen might look to bulk up in freight forwarding: Deutsche Post AG and Deutsche Bahn AG are both reported to have looked at raising capital over the past year through sales of DHL and DB Schenker, two of the world's largest logistics businesses. Computer reservation systems are another possible target: Sabre Corp., which manages bookings for carriers including American Airlines Group Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and Virgin America Inc. and provides hotel bookings to HNA itself, traded last month at its lowest valuation since a 2014 listing. Amadeus IT Group SA would be an even bigger prize, although its 18.9 billion euro ($19.7 billion) market capitalization may be too big even for Chen. Still, there's a potent reason not to bulk up in reservations. Such a move risks setting up HNA in competition with state-owned China TravelSky Holding Co., which provides the same service to domestic carriers. The son of a middle-ranking Communist Party official who's been a delegate to China's legislature, Chen has prospered over the years by always keeping on the right side of the government. He's pointedly linked HNA's overseas expansion with former President Jiang Zemin's "go out" policy and made Xi Jinping's "Chinese dream" slogan a core of the group's mission statement. That's wise. Regardless of how cleanly they run their businesses, high-profile corporate leaders in China have to be alert to the risk of having their wings clipped by jealous officials. Anbang Insurance Group Co. was blocked from taking over Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. by China's insurance regulator, and steel-to-property conglomerate Fosun International Ltd. promised to rein in its acquisitive ways after co-founder Guo Guangchang briefly disappeared last year to assist in a government investigation. Like Fosun and Anbang, HNA has grown mighty on a combination of lenient finance and ravening pursuit of overseas acquisitions. But those cheap borrowing costs have left it flabby in financial terms: Interest cover is generally in the region of 1.5 times, according to HNA's bond prospectus, a level that's usually considered a danger zone. Returns on invested capital barely break 1 percent . HNA has been a powerful vehicle for China Inc.'s global ambitions, carving out a space in the aviation sector to match billionaire Wang Jianlin's Dalian Wanda Group Co., which has turned itself into a linchpin of the entertainment industry. But it's only got there thanks to the goodwill of some very generous lenders. Should the bill ever come due, how is Chen ever going to pay it? This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. David Fickling is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. He has been a reporter for Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the Guardian. https://skift.com/2016/12/30/chinese-aviation-conglomerate-hna-is-bigger-than-boeing-and-has-appetite- to-grow/ Back to Top SpaceX concludes accident investigation, targets return to flight on Sunday Just four months after rocket loss, SpaceX ready to begin launching a packed manifest. The launch of SpaceX's Eutelsat/ABS mission, on June 15, 2016. Four months after a fueling accident led to the loss of a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload, SpaceX said Monday morning that it has concluded an investigation into the incident and submitted its findings to the Federal Aviation Administration. The company also announced a target date of January 8th for a return to flight. The SpaceX investigation, in concert with the FAA, US Air Force, NASA, and the National Transportation Safety Board, concluded that one of three composite overwrapped pressure vessels, or COPVs, inside the rocket's second stage liquid oxygen tank failed. "Specifically, the investigation team concluded the failure was likely due to the accumulation of oxygen between the COPV liner and overwrap in a void or a buckle in the liner, leading to ignition and the subsequent failure of the COPV," the company stated in an update. COPVs are used in rocketry to contain high pressure fluids and offer a substantial weight savings over all- metal tank designs. In a general sense, a composite simply means a matrix of carbon fibers contained within a resin, which is then wrapped over a pressure barrier. The Falcon 9 rocket uses COPVs that consist of a carbon wrap over an aluminum liner to store cold helium, which in turn is used to maintain tank pressure. "The recovered COPVs showed buckles in their liners," SpaceX said Monday in its update. "Although buckles were not shown to burst a COPV on their own, investigators concluded that super chilled liquid oxygen can pool in these buckles under the overwrap. When pressurized, oxygen pooled in this buckle can become trapped; in turn, breaking fibers or friction can ignite the oxygen in the overwrap, causing the COPV to fail. In addition, investigators determined that the loading temperature of the helium was cold enough to create solid oxygen, which exacerbates the possibility of oxygen becoming trapped as well as the likelihood of friction ignition." The investigation identified several "credible causes" for this failure, all of which can be avoided in the short term by changing the COPV configuration to allow for the loading of warmer helium, and returning helium loading procedures to a "prior flight proven configuration." Presumably this means prior to December 2015, when the company began using supercooled liquid oxygen and kerosene fuels to increase the performance of its rocket, known as the Falcon 9 Full Thrust vehicle. Since the accident did not involve the rocket fuels themselves, Ars understands that the new procedures will not substantially affect the performance gains of the full thrust Falcon 9 for upcoming launches. In the long term, SpaceX said it will apply a permanent fix to this problem by implementing design changes to the COPVs that should prevent buckles altogether. These changes are expected to be in place before human launches on the Falcon 9 under NASA's commercial crew program, which could begin some time in 2018. Although SpaceX has submitted its findings to the FAA, the federal body still must clear the company's rocket before it begins flying again. Nevertheless, the company said it will target a launch on Sunday, January 8, from Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex 4E, where final preparations are under way for the launch of several Iridium NEXT satellites. http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/spacex-concludes-accident-investigation-targets-return-to-flight- on-sunday/ 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