Flight Safety Information February 6, 2017 - No. 027 In This Issue PRISM's Consulting Services Top air safety official warns Delhi airport unsafe Russian pilots will not be allowed to fly drunk Hawaiian Airlines Jet Was Forced to Avoid Cessna on Takeoff hina's First Large Homemade Passenger Jet to Fly in 2017 'SMALL DRONE' RESEARCH University Research Study ESASI SEMINAR 2017 - LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA Top air safety official warns Delhi airport unsafe NEW DELHI: A senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has alerted the Prime Minister's Office to the dangerous safety conditions of major Indian airports. S Mangala, Aviation Safety, Deputy General Manager, Mumbai, has red-flagged Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai airports. The Sunday Standard had reported that Mangala had recommended the partial closure of runway of Mumbai airport citing safety in October 2016. But civil aviation bureaucrats and other officials had put a lid on it. She had pointed out that encroachment of airspace by buildings around the airports is a 'cancer' spreading across Indian airports. "I am filing this report based on the documents I could get and the real condition of aviation safety could be far worse than what I have reported in this Safety Report. There is involvement of top officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), AAI and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," says her letter to the PMO. She alleges official connivance. "The encroachment of airspace did not happen overnight and it was a systematic destruction that happened over a period with the active involvement of officials of the AAI, DGCA and the MoCA. The main conduit for this systematic destruction is the MoCA's Appellate Committee on Height Clearances," she further highlighted. In her affidavit filed in Bombay High Court in response to the PIL on air safety of the Mumbai airport last year, Mangala had listed out names of 24 top officials of the MoCA, DGCA and AAI. After alerting the government to the dangerous condition of runways at Mumbai airports, S Mangala, Aviation Safety, Deputy General Manager has written to PMO that other airports in major metros could be facing a similar danger. Her letter is unsparing in blaming officials for ignoring airport safety. It says, "We gather an impression that officials of Mumbai airport, AAI, DGCA, Collector or other authorities are merely interested in passing on buck. Therefore, we would like to impress upon the authorities that this is a matter which cannot be taken so lightly and there is necessity to enquire into the violations and take action as permissible in law against the violators." When the PMO sought response on my report on air safety, no action was taken on it. Basically, the persons empowered to do the course correction are themselves involved and are culprits." http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2017/feb/05/top-air-safety-official-warns-delhi- airport-unsafe-1567024.html Back to Top Russian pilots will not be allowed to fly drunk Russian airlines and air traffic control centers intend to introduce obligatory alcohol and drug tests for pilots and flight control officers, officials with the Ministry for Transport said. The Transport Ministry has prepared amendments to the Air Code of the Russian Federation. The bill is likely to be sent to the government this spring. One of the key proposals from the Ministry for Transport is to introduce obligatory procedures to test the state of health of crew members of civil aircraft and air traffic controllers to identify signs of alcohol, drugs or other toxic substances, including residual effects. Such medical examinations are to be conducted before and after flights for pilots and before and after work shifts for flight control officers. Currently, most airlines conduct such preflight examinations, although the procedure is not regulated by law. A paramedic conducts a visual inspection of each member of the crew, measures their pulse, body temperature and blood pressure. Last summer, pilots of United Airlines were arrested at Glasgow airport, Scotland, when trying to pass a preflight examination while intoxicated. Drunken pilots had boarded the aircraft bound to Newark, but someone made a timely report to the police. A year earlier, passengers of North Wind airline refused to fly with drunk pilots to Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh. The passengers suspected that the crew members were drunk and demanded additional medical examination for the pilots and other crew members. Pilots and flight attendants on AirBaltic (Latvian air carrier) were arrested for drinking alcohol before departure in 2015. A Norwegian court sentenced a Latvian co-pilot to six months and flight attendants to 45 and 60 days in jail for drinking two bottles of whiskey and some beer before flying to Crete with about 100 passengers on board. Pravda.Ru http://www.pravdareport.com/news/society/stories/06-02-2017/136786-russian_pilots_drunk- 0/#sthash.Ir4cE730.dpuf Back to Top Hawaiian Airlines Jet Was Forced to Avoid Cessna on Takeoff Officials say a Hawaiian Airlines jet carrying 130 people was forced this week to avoid a small plane that was taking off without clearance. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it launched an investigation and that the much smaller Cessna was taking off without clearance. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email the incident happened Wednesday morning when the Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 was taking off from Kahului Airport on Maui. A controller noticed the two planes taking off on runways that intersect and told the Cessna to turn left to avoid the jet. Controllers then alerted the Hawaiian jet, but the plane's pilot was already turning right to avoid a collision. A Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman gave flight information but declined further comment. Flight 155 landed safely in Honolulu. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hawaiian-airlines-jet-forced-avoid-cessna-takeoff- 45259636 Back to Top China's First Large Homemade Passenger Jet to Fly in 2017 After years of delays, China's first large homemade passenger jetliner will take to the air for its maiden flight in the first half of this year, state media reported Monday. State-owned aircraft maker Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., or Comac, based in Shanghai, has nearly completed work on the 175-passenger C919, the ruling Communist Party newspaper People's Daily reported. The C919 was originally due to fly in 2015, but has been beset by delays blamed on manufacturing problems. It is now scheduled to enter service in 2019, aimed at competing with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, along with the Russian Irkut MC-21. Airbus and Boeing say the market for new aircraft will be worth more than $5 trillion over the next 20 years. Industry experts say China faces a tough slog capturing a significant share of that market, even with government support. Comac has 517 orders for the C919. Company officials couldn't immediately be reached. The C919 is part of China's efforts to develop a homegrown aviation industry in one of the world's biggest and fastest-growing air travel markets. China currently relies heavily on foreign-made aircraft. Last June, the ARJ21-700, China's first homemade regional jet, made its debut flight carrying 70 passengers. The jet is one of a series of initiatives launched by the party to transform China from the world's low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology in aviation, clean energy and other fields. The ARJ21, also made by Comac, is a rival to aircraft made by Bombardier Inc. of Canada and Brazil's Embraer SA. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chinas-large-homemade-passenger-jet-fly-2017- 45296015 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. I have a background as an aeroplane, helicopter and small RPA pilot. The project is investigating cue utilization 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 Dear Participants, You are being requested to participate in a research study on the use of controlled rest in position. This study is expected to take approximately 5 minutes of your time. In order to participate, you must be at least a student pilot and at least 18 years old. Participation in this study is voluntary, and you may choose to opt out of the study at any time. The study is looking for consumers, student pilots, and airline pilots complete this short questionnaire. We appreciate your consideration and time to complete our study. Please click on or copy and paste the URL below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2n9UeQunUJMvYPuTegn- t9mjxmxLMGLAX0qblfZmi2apQ8w/viewform For more information, please contact: Dr. Scott Winter swinter@fit.edu We appreciate your interest and participation! Dr. Scott R. Winter, Assistant Professor, Florida Institute of Technology Dr. Stephen Rice, Associate Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Back to Top ESASI SEMINAR 2017 - LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA The European Society of Air Safety Investigators (ESASI) will hold their annual seminar in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on the 19 and 20 April 2017. Further details, and previous seminar programmes, can be found at www.esasi.eu . ESASI would welcome proposals for presentations to be given during the 2017 seminar, which should last a maximum of 25 minutes with a further 5 minutes for questions. Presentations should address issues relating to air safety investigations; particular areas of interest are: * challenges faced by air safety investigators, * the environment, and culture, that air safety investigators operate in, * practical experience of applying investigation techniques, * new techniques to aid the investigation, * topical case studies. Details of proposed presentations should be sent to Brian McDermid, by 31 January 2017, at presentations@esasi.eu. The ESASI committee will select the presentations in early February 2017. Curt Lewis