Flight Safety Information March 21, 2017 - No. 058 Accident: Lufthansa A346 near Munich on Mar 18th 2017, smoke in cockpit, odour in cabin Accident: South Supreme AN26 at Wau on Mar 20th 2017, collided with fire truck on landing OPINION: Dana Air crew failings highlight African safety gap New rules limit electronics in airplane cabins on flights to US from select countries MIA flight delayed after swarm of bees found on jet's wing Chinese bodybuilder subdues crazed man who tried to break into airplane cockpit Flight Safety Foundation Releases Global Safety Information Project Report, Toolkits NextGen expands digital communications between pilots, tower Pilots association sees membership spike after allowing drone operators Production underway for customer Longitude jets Accident: Lufthansa A346 near Munich on Mar 18th 2017, smoke in cockpit, odour in cabin A Lufthansa Airbus A340-600, registration D-AIHF performing flight LH-412 from Munich (Germany) to Newark,NJ (USA) with 286 people on board, was climbing through FL320 out of Munich when the crew donned their oxygen masks, reported smoke in the cockpit and decided to return to Munich dumping fuel on the way back, the aircraft descended to FL100. On approach to Munich the crew advised they would vacate the runway at the end and stop once clear of the runway and needed emergency services to inspect the aircraft. The aircraft landed overweight but safely on Munich's runway 26L about 40 minutes after stopping the climb. The Aviation Herald hears reports from multiple sources that there was smoke in the cockpit prompting the crew to don their oxygen masks, in addition there was an odour in the cabin as well causing health problems to passengers and cabin crew. One flight attendant suffered Bell's palsy that continued at least through Sunday (Mar 19th) evening. On Mar 20th 2016 Germany's BFU reported in response to our inquiry with the information as shown above that they have received information about that occurrence and are collecting information to decide how to rate the occurrence and whether to open an investigation. http://avherald.com/h?article=4a660212&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: South Supreme AN26 at Wau on Mar 20th 2017, collided with fire truck on landing A South Sudan Supreme Airlines Antonov AN-26, flight from Juba to Wau (South Sudan) with 40 passengers and 5 crew, suffered a landing accident at Wau Airport (South Sudan), came to a rest near the first part of runway 27 and burst into flames. All 45 occupants were rescued alive, 17 or 18 have been taken to local hospitals with injuries. Media in South Sudan are reporting all 44 occupants are feared dead, other media in South Sudan report at least 9 survivors have been rescued and taken to local hospitals. Local aid workers in Wau reported, that there has been no fatality, all 44 occupants were rescued alive, 17-18 were injured and have been taken to hospitals. The airline reported there were 40 passengers and 5 crew on board, no further known so far. In the evening the airline reported that due to bad weather the aircraft "missed the line" and collided with a truck of the fire brigades. There were 4 injuries including one crew member, which are still treated in the local hospital. According to various (western) databases including ATDB the airline operates one Fokker 50 registration C5-SSA, which had another accident in Aweil in 2014, see Accident: South Supreme F50 at Aweil on Jan 7th 2014, runway excursion as well as one Antonov AN-32A registration EK-32710. According to Russian databases South Supreme operated two Antonov 26s EK-26310 and EK-26804 (both in South Supreme Colours but listed in storage) and one L-410 5Y-DAD (flying). A local source reported the tail number of the AN-26 probably was S9-TLW or S9-TLZ. http://avherald.com/h?article=4a675f56&opt=0 Back to Top OPINION: Dana Air crew failings highlight African safety gap As IATA stresses a continuing falling accident rate in its annual review of commercial airline safety, the circumstances of the Dana Air crash in Lagos serve to remind that global progress is far from a uniform affair. Nigerian investigators' newly disclosed narrative detailing the loss of the MD-83 almost amounts to a roll- call of the sort of practices that might tempt IATA's safety teams to bang their collective heads despairingly against the walls of its Geneva headquarters. The culmination of sloppy internal processes, technical failure, clumsy decision-making and poor airmanship, the Dana Air accident's most astonishing aspect is probably that it did not happen sooner. With such crude failures still evident in African air transport, any apparent improvement in the continent's safety statistics carries a hefty disclaimer. If Nigeria, its richest economy, can still fall desperately short in the mainline jet transport sector, the prognosis for other nations cannot be good. Only 22 African states reached at least 60% compliance with ICAO standards last year. IATA wants its safety auditing schemes - required for membership - to become fundamental to Africa, through being part of an airline's certification process. Such a proposal can only be beneficial. Never mind fine-tuning, much coarse-tuning is still necessary before spurious bright blips in Africa's air safety record settle into a real and encouraging long-term trend. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/opinion-dana-air-crew-failings-highlight-african-sa-435288/ Back to Top New rules limit electronics in airplane cabins on flights to US from select countries Restrictions disallow most electronic devices as carry-ons DETROIT - There are new restrictions involving carry-ons for air travelers, but only those who are flying into the United States from certain countries. The rules apply to flights on Royal Jordanian, which tweeted Monday about the restrictions. Now, cellphones are about the only thing passengers are allowed to take onboard. Laptops and tablets, including children's games, are out. A nonstop flight from Yemen to Detroit is about 12 hours long. "We kindly inform our passengers departing to and arriving from the United States that carrying any electronic or electrical device onboard the flight cabins is strictly prohibited," the airline announced. Cellphones and anything needed for medical treatment are exempt from the restrictions, but laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and electronic games are required to go into checked baggage. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said this is another example of targeting people of Middle Eastern descent. An aviation official told CNN there are no U.S. carriers affected because none travel nonstop from the countries in question. There are still many unanswered questions, starting with which countries are involved. If they are the same as the countries listed in the Trump administration's travel ban, it's unclear if this is simply an attempt to make travel from those countries more difficult. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/new-rules-limit-electronics-in-airplane-cabins-on-flights-to-us-from- select-countries Back to Top MIA flight delayed after swarm of bees found on jet's wing MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - A passenger flight headed to New York City from Miami International Airport was delayed for hours, Monday afternoon, after bees were spotted on the outside of the plane. A 7News viewer sent in a picture of the swarm on one of the wings of the American Airlines jet bound to John F. Kennedy Airport. The airline called a beekeeper to get rid of the insects. Once the aircraft was bee free, crew members and passengers returned to the jet. The flight finally took off at 5:18 p.m., more than four hours after its scheduled departure time. http://wsvn.com/news/local/mia-flight-delayed-after-bees-found-outside-jet/ Back to Top Chinese bodybuilder subdues crazed man who tried to break into airplane cockpit The man who tried to break into the airplane's cockpit was taken into custody after the plane made an emergency landing at Lahore, Pakistan. A Chinese bodybuilder has become an overnight hero after helping to restrain a violent man who had attempted to break into the cockpit of a plane. Shanghaiist reported that Cao Hongguo was on an Ethiopian Airlines flight back to Beijing from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 18, when a man threw himself at the cockpit door, before pounding and kicking it. While flight crew and fellow passengers were terrified, Cao, who had just taken some medicine for his cold, stepped forward and took it upon himself to subdue the man with the help of three others, reported The Paper. Cao Hongguo (third from left) subdued a suicidal man who tried to break into the cockpit of the plane he was on.Photo: Internet The man struggled violently, kicking and biting the men trying to restrain him. Despite Cao being a bodybuilder with a considerable amount of strength and stamina, it still took 20 minutes of vicious struggling before they managed to bind the man's hands. However, the bindings proved no match for the crazed man, who managed to launch yet another flurry of kicks at Cao and the other men. Fearing for the other passengers' safety, Cao staunchly held the 1.8m-tall man down, though with great difficulty. They eventually used passengers' headphone wires to fasten the man's restraints, before making an emergency landing at an airport in Lahore, Pakistan, where the man was taken into custody. It was reported that the attacker had recently lost his job, was suicidal and had wanted to hijack and crash the airplane. A video of the suspect was uploaded on YouTube by Pakistan newspaper Dawn. Ethiopian Airlines Plane Emergency Landing in Lahore When the plane landed in Beijing, five hours after its slated arrival time, the grateful flight captain handed Cao a letter to give to his boss. In the letter, the pilot explained what Cao did, and asked his employer to excuse him for turning up for work late and injured. The letter from the grateful flight captain, to Cao's employer.Photo: Internet Read also: Saudia pilot triggers false hijack alarm in Philippines Cao's employer then shared the letter on social media, where it quickly went viral, earning him attention and praise from netizens. "Anyone else would have done the same thing," Cao said later in a phone interview with The Paper. http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/chinese-bodybuilder-subdues-crazed-man-who-tried-break-airplane- cockpit#sthash.yDKsojdG.dpuf Back to Top Flight Safety Foundation Releases Global Safety Information Project Report, Toolkits ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Flight Safety Foundation has released its Global Safety Information Project (GSIP) Year Two Report and initial GSIP toolkits, which are intended to help aviation organizations develop their safety data collection, analysis and sharing capabilities. GSIP was launched in October 2014 to study how aviation safety data are used in the Pan America and Asia-Pacific regions, and to produce toolkits that can be used by aircraft operators and other aviation stakeholders around the world to mitigate risk through more effective safety data collection, processing and sharing. "Safety management systems are becoming more widespread, and 65 percent of the organizations surveyed as part of GSIP already are using safety performance indicators linked to the critical International Civil Aviation Organization accident categories," said Mark Millam, the Foundation's vice president, technical, and GSIP project leader. "But at the same time, there are many challenges in assuring that safety data are used consistently in trying to manage risk." The Year Two Report details what Foundation researchers and staff learned at focus group sessions and subsequent workshops across the Pan America and Asia-Pacific regions. The information gathered during those events was used in the development of the toolkits, which describe the fundamentals of using risk management in aviation and of how to assess and evaluate risk in ways that might not be apparent within an individual organization. Work on the toolkits is continuing. The Foundation is collaborating with its members and GSIP workshop participants to further refine the toolkits and add detail. "The aviation industry has accomplished remarkable improvements in safety over the decades," Millam said. "The safety data inside organizations will be crucial to continuing to make safety improvements. It may be that safety data - properly and consistently collected, analyzed, shared and protected - that identifies how to avoid the next accident." Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, non-profit, international organization engaged in research, education, advocacy and publishing to improve aviation safety. The Foundation's mission is to be the leading voice of safety for the global aerospace community. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12316869/flight-safety-foundation-releases-global-safety-information-project-report-toolkits Back to Top NextGen expands digital communications between pilots, tower A growing number of airports have deployed the Data Comm capabilities developed under Federal Aviation Administration's NextGen modernization effort that allow text-based supplemental communications system for aircraft pilots and control towers. The deployments come, however, as the proposed White House budget looks to begin outsourcing federal air traffic control duties to a private entity as soon as fiscal year 2018. . Data Comm, the developed under the agency's NextGen program, is up and running at five New York City airports and at Miami International Airport, bringing the total number of installations to 55, according to the FAA's March 16 statement. The new technology supplements radio voice communication, enabling controllers and pilots to transmit important information such as clearances, revised flight plans and advisories with the touch of a button. The text transmission reduces radio frequency congestion and read-back errors between pilot and controllers, saving an average of 13 minutes per flight in New York during times of heavy traffic congestion, the FAA said. The FAA's announcements came just before the White House released its fiscal 2018 budget proposal that If approved by Congress, those funding plans would kick off a multi-year effort to shift the agency's air traffic control function to an independent, non-governmental organization. According to the White House's budget statement, the move would make the air traffic control system more efficient and technologically innovative. The move was anticipated by some in Congress as the budget was being prepared. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and committee Vice Chairman and Ranking Member Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a Feb. 28 letter to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) that such a shift to a private company could endanger progress made under the FAA's NextGen program. The senators said the FAA's innovative, collaborative approach to NextGen is producing cost savings and improving air traffic flows in dynamic collaboration with the aviation industry. If air traffic control were separated from the FAA in the face of rapid technological advancements, they said, progress to implement the technology would be lost. The airline industry association applauded the proposed move to outsource air traffic control as a means to bring more innovation and provide steadier funding, resulting in a quicker, more effective path for system modernization efforts. The association said it has consistently advocated putting the function under an independent, not-for-profit entity funded by system users. General aviation groups weren't happy with president's proposal, however. In a March 16 statement, National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen "strongly" opposed the administration's budget, which he said endorses air traffic control system privatization. The move, Bolen said, would adversely affect "countless small and mid-size communities across the U.S., which rely on general aviation." https://gcn.com/articles/2017/03/20/faa-data-comm.aspx Back to Top Pilots association sees membership spike after allowing drone operators In this Oct. 9, 2016 photo, drone pilots for SkySkopes, a Grand Forks, N.D. company that became the first business in the state legally approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly unmanned aircraft for business purposes, gather at a practice airfield. With the number of commercial drone operations outpacing the pool of certified drone pilots, experts say more training is needed to help young flyers operate the planes legally and safely. (Brandi Jewett/SkySkopes Academy via AP) The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has welcomed 55 new members over the past month, after announcing in February the organization would open up to include drone pilots. Kathleen Swain, the association's senior director of unmanned aircraft systems, said the interest in their new program has attracted traditional manned aviators and remote pilots alike among the association's 350,000-member base. "Since we've launched the drone membership back on February 21 - almost a month to the date - we have currently 55 new drone members, close to 1,000 AOPA members who have opted in for drone membership content and over 3,000 that have subscribed to AOPA's newsletter for drones, that also goes out to public," she said. What's most striking is not the differences between the two groups of pilots, but their similarities, Ms. Swain said. "Even if I'm siting in the aircraft or standing on the ground controlling the aircraft, I can do a lot of the same missions," she said. "I've flown humanitarian missions as a manned pilot and a drone pilot." Ms. Swain, who recounts that her first flying experiences were operating remote-controlled aircrafts as a child, is a certified commercial pilot who had corporate, instructional and commercial piloting experience before transitioning to UAV planning and piloting in 2010. "When we welcomed the drone community a month ago, one of our biggest things here at AOPA is that continuous freedom to fly," she said. "Now we're not just focusing on manned pilots, it's the unmanned pilots as well - keeping the airspace for general aviation as a whole." The growth of the AOPA to include drone pilots in its services - which includes insurance, legal services, safety and education, news and media - follows last year's move by the FAA to introduce commercial license for UAV pilots. Hobbyists can operate without a certificate. According to FAA estimates, drone purchases for both hobbyists and commercial use are expected to increase from 2.5 million in 2016 to 7 million in 2020. Growing commercial areas for drones include humanitarian efforts, search and rescue, data gathering, TV, media and film, to name a few. Swain herself helped on a fact-finding and documentation mission after the deadly 2014 mudslide in Oso, Washington, which killed 44 people. "It was painful to see, and to watch great technology sit on the sidelines because of regulation, or lack thereof," Ms. Swain said in an interview with AOPA online last month. This experience helped inform her mission in bringing drone pilots into the fold of the organization. Moving forward, one of the most important considerations for remote pilots and drones is keeping federal regulations and safety guidelines up to speed with advances in technology, Ms. Swain said. "Innovation is so profound in this area - people are finding new business cases for drones, humanitarian search and rescue, there is a plethora of business verticals and uses for drones that will continue to evolve and will continue to evolve faster as regulatory continues to catch up," she said. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/20/aircraft-group-spike-after-allowing-drone-pilots/ Back to Top Production underway for customer Longitude jets The third Cessna Citation Longitude to be used in Textron Aviation's flight test program takes off for its first flight. Textron Aviation Courtesy photo extron Aviation has started producing Cessna Citation Longitude business jets in Plant IV at its east Wichita campus - the first time a Cessna has been manufactured alongside Beechcraft airplanes. The company has four production Longitudes in various stages of assembly, including some for delivery to customers. It also flew a third Longitude on Friday that will be used in its flight-testing program. A spokeswoman said Monday the company will manufacture two more Longitudes for flight testing. "The speed at which our team is achieving these milestones is an important indication to our customers of the maturity of the aircraft's systems and the proficiency of our processes," Brad Thress, Textron Aviation senior vice president of engineering, said in a news release. Assembly on the first four production Longtiudes were begun at Plant IV, 101 N. Greenwich, following installation of new tooling, Textron Aviation spokeswoman Sarah Estes said. The line occupies a spot in the plant previously occupied by the Hawker 4000, production of which ended in 2013. Textron Inc. acquired Beechcraft in 2014 and merged it with Cessna to create Textron Aviation. Textron Aviation's third Longitude will test the model's Garmin G5000 avionics and systems development. The aircraft also will collect flight simulator data. The company first announced the Longitude - Cessna's largest Citation yet - at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in 2012 and brought a nonflying prototype of the $23.9 million jet to the NBAA Convention in 2015. Last year, its first flight-test Longitude was on static display at the NBAA Convention in Orlando, Fla. Textron Aviation expects to receive Federal Aviation Administration type certification for the jet later this year, followed immediately by customer deliveries. http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article139600413.html#storylink=cpy Curt Lewis