Flight Safety Information April 26, 2017 - No. 084 Incident: United B738 near Liberia on Apr 24th 2017, engine problem Incident: Canada Rouge B763 over Pacific Ocean on Apr 22nd 2017, smoking galley MiG-31 interceptor crashes in Siberia, both pilots ejected NTSB blames flightseeing pilot, employer safety 'culture' for crash near Ketchikan that killed 9 Aviation Skills Shortage in Africa Reaching Crisis Proportions CHICAGO AVIATION POLICE QUIETLY BEING REBRANDED Shenzhen Airlines evaluating Inmarsat and Cobham's flight deck connectivity platform EU aviation body says in process of certifying China C919 jet House passes bill to enhance airport employee screening Boeing's Dilemma: 1 New Airplane or 2 to Address Middle Market? Creating a Mini Personal Jet JetBlue delays some jet deliveries, swaps Airbus models Everything You Need to Know About Ejecting From a Fighter Jet SpaceX Will Fly Two to the Moon Next Year Northern California Business Aviation Association (NCBAA) Safety Day - May 9 New Graduate Research Survey Graduate Research Survey -2. Graduate Research Survey Request-3 SAFE Encourages Pilot Input on GA Runway Incursions (Survey) Incident: United B738 near Liberia on Apr 24th 2017, engine problem A United Boeing 737-800, registration N16234 performing flight UA-1516 from Liberia (Costa Rica) to Houston Intercontinental,TX (USA), was climbing out of Liberia about 90nm north of Liberia en the crew stopped the climb at FL200 reporting an engine (CFM56) problem. The aircraft entered a hold to burn off fuel and returned to Liberia for a safe landing about 100 minutes after departure. The airline reported a maintenance issue. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Liberia 27 hours after landing back. http://avherald.com/h?article=4a8209b2&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Canada Rouge B763 over Pacific Ocean on Apr 22nd 2017, smoking galley An Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300, registration C-GBZR performing flight RV-1831 from Vancouver,BC (Canada) to Honolulu,HI (USA) with 290 people on board, was enroute at FL350 over the Pacific Ocean about 560nm southwest of Vancouver when smoke emanated from a forward galley. Responding cabin crew identified a utility light as source of the smoke, a halon fire extinguisher was discharged and the related circuit breaker was deactivated. The flight crew in the meantime declared PAN, turned around and diverted to Portland,OR (USA) for a safe landing about 70 minutes later. The Canadian TSB reported the airline included the occurrence in their safety management system and is investigating the occurrence. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ROU1831/history/20170423/0105Z/CYVR/KPDX http://avherald.com/h?article=4a820367&opt=0 Back to Top MiG-31 interceptor crashes in Siberia, both pilots ejected - Russian MoD A MiG-31 military plane has crashed in the Russian Republic of Buryatia, western Siberia. Both pilots managed to eject, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that their lives are not in danger. MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft © Alexander VilfWorld-fastest Russian MiG-31 interceptor jets practice in stratosphere over Kamchatka in Far East The incident happened as the jet was conducting a training flight over the Telemba Airfield. A helicopter has been dispatched as part of the search and rescue operation. "The plane crashed in a deserted place. Both pilots ejected. The pilots have been recovered quickly, there is no danger to their lives," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement, as quoted by RIA Novosti. The Russian Air Force's MiG-31 supersonic interceptor is the world's fastest aircraft in service today. With a maximum altitude of 30,000 meters, it can even shoot down low-orbit satellites and can also intercept targets flying at speeds of up to five times the speed of sound. Back in 2016, MiG-31 interceptors took part in Pacific Fleet Air Force drills in the upper atmosphere over Kamchatka in Russia's Far East. https://www.rt.com/news/386174-mig-31-crash-siberia/ Back to Top NTSB blames flightseeing pilot, employer safety 'culture' for crash near Ketchikan that killed 9 The wreckage of a flightseeing plane operated by Promech Air that crashed near Ketchikan on June 25, 2015. (NTSB photo) A floatplane pilot for a Ketchikan-based air tour operator and the company's safety "culture" were directly responsible for the 2015 crash that killed him and eight cruise-ship passengers, the National Transportation Safety Board found Tuesday. Meeting in Washington, D.C., the board's four current members unanimously found the cause of the June 25, 2015, crash was Promech Air pilot Bryan Krill's "decision to continue visual flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions that resulted in geographic disorientation and controlled flight into terrain." The de Havilland Otter slammed into a mountainside near Ella Lake, roughly 20 miles northeast of Ketchikan, on its return from Misty Fjords National Monument in what an NTSB final report called "deteriorating weather conditions" and overcast skies. It was carrying a group of passengers on a shore-excursion from Holland America Line's MS Westerdam. The board also blamed the crash on a Promech company culture that "tacitly endorsed flying in hazardous weather and failed to manage the risk associated with the competitive pressures affecting Ketchikan-area air tour operators." The company's lack of a formal safety program and its inadequate protocol for releasing flights for departure were also cited. After about two hours of discussion during Tuesday's meeting, NTSB staff proposed citing Promech's approach to safety - in which some pilots reported being pressured to fly despite poor weather - as a contributing factor to the crash. Robert Sumwalt, the board's acting chair, asked those issues be upgraded to a causal factor of the crash, which members unanimously approved. "Promech and at least one other operator that was willing to take more weather-related risks were both able to fly more revenue passengers than two other more conservative operators who cancelled flights that day," the NTSB said in a statement on the findings Tuesday. Speaking by phone after the hearing, Sumwalt said Promech's actions resonated with board members, who didn't meet as a group to discuss the crash until Tuesday. "My philosophy is that people don't make errors in a vacuum and there's oftentimes organizational issues, that they are part of a system - it's just too easy to say, 'The pilot screwed up,' and I want to understand these underlying issues," Sumwalt said. During the hearing, investigator William Bramble described a series of incidents reported to NTSB by Promech pilots, including one in which the head of Promech expressed "frustration" when a plane returned to Ketchikan from Rudyerd Bay by a safer "long route" that took five minutes more than the "short route" on which Krill's plane crashed. Promech Air pilots took a "short route" and a "long route" between Ketchikan and Rudyerd Bay to the east. A June 25, 2015 crash that killed nine people occurred on the "short route." (From NTSB) Pilots also said that Promech's assistant chief pilot told other pilots they would have to bend the rules because they were flying in Alaska. "It suggests that, although some of the managers may have been talking the talk, they were not collectively walking the walk of setting good expectations for safety-oriented behaviors," Bramble said. Promech's Alaska operations were purchased in 2016 by Taquan Air, a competing carrier in Ketchikan. Four Promech employees are now employed by Taquan, none in leadership positions, according to George Curtis, director of operations for Taquan. He noted all new employees must go through training on Taquan's policies and procedures, "regardless of past experience." Taquan offered its condolences Tuesday to friends and family of those killed in the crash. "This is a heavy reminder that passenger safety is our No. 1 responsibility, as well as the importance of safety protocol during flight operations in Alaska's constantly changing weather landscape," Taquan officials said in a statement. "Taquan Air acknowledges the issues the NTSB has identified and will continue to conduct flight operations that propagate our company culture of safety." Taquan had canceled all of its own tour flights due to weather on the day of the Promech crash, according to NTSB documents. Members of the board questioned about a dozen NTSB staff members who were on hand to discuss various elements of the crash, including Alaska-based investigators Brice Banning and Shaun Williams. During Tuesday's hearing, Banning was asked what it would take to prevent frequent "nuisance" alerts from planes' terrain avoidance and warning systems, which likely led to their being manually disengaged in the Promech crash as well as a fatal Wings of Alaska crash near Juneau weeks later. The terrain avoidance warning system in a de Havilland Otter, disabled by the "inhibit" switch, as found after a fatal June 25, 2015 crash near Ketchikan. (From NTSB) The terrain avoidance warning system in a de Havilland Otter, disabled by the "inhibit" switch, as found after a fatal June 25, 2015 crash near Ketchikan. (From NTSB) "To be completely honest, I don't know," Banning said. "I know that we need to limit the nuisance alerts so that pilots will quit inhibiting this equipment that could very likely prevent an accident like this." Board members also discussed competitive and time pressures among air tour operators in Ketchikan, including the fact Promech's flights were running too late on the day of the crash to return by the 12:30 p.m. "all-aboard" time for the Westerdam to leave Ketchikan. Missing the deadline meant Promech would have to transport the passengers to their ship's next port of call at its own expense. "Lives depended on the pilot's decision-making," Sumwalt said in the NTSB statement. "Pilot decisions are informed, for better or worse, by their company's culture. This company allowed competitive pressure to overwhelm the common-sense needs of passenger safety in its operations." Curtis, director of operations at Taquan, said for his company, flights that might cut close to the all-aboard time are usually coordinated with cruise ship personnel. "Generally the ship will wait. If the ship must leave on time and our estimated return time is expected to exceed the all aboard time the flight is cancelled," Curtis said in an email Tuesday. The board adopted nine new safety recommendations to the FAA, focused on improving general safety culture and information sharing among Ketchikan air tour operators as well as setting new training requirements. Tuesday's findings also reiterated previous recommendations that carriers like Promech be required to implement formal safety management systems, as well as install cockpit voice and video recorders in aircraft, after the fatal Promech flight was only partially recorded on passengers' smartphones. An additional recommendation asked the Cruise Lines International Association's Safety Committee to consider mitigating time pressures on air tour operators conducting shore- excursion flights. Sumwalt, a former airline pilot with 14,000 flight hours and 32 years of experience, said his call for Promech's culture to be considered a causal factor in the crash was personal. "I had just met with family members who lost loved ones on this tragedy and as I was speaking I was looking directly at family members in the audience," Sumwalt said. "Our goal is to ensure that other people don't have to undergo the tragedy that these folks have undergone." The board will convene an Alaska meeting this summer on a crash that killed all three people aboard on a flight near Togiak in October. The meeting is tentatively set for August in Anchorage. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2017/04/25/ntsb-blames-flightseeing-pilot- employer-safety-culture-for-crash-near-ketchikan-that-killed-9/ Back to Top Aviation Skills Shortage in Africa Reaching Crisis Proportions ICAO secretary general Fang Liu called for more interstate cooperation in Africa. Insufficient training capacity and an exodus of skilled manpower lead a list of factors that have resulted in a shortage of aviation professionals in Africa, according to airline executives and African aviation authorities. Speaking during this month's recent ICAO Global Training and Trainer Plus Symposium held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebremaraim expressed concern that aviation development hasn't kept pace with economic growth in Africa, hindering its ability to serve the population's growing middle class. "All of us in Africa are concerned that the aviation sector is not developing as fast as the economic growth in the continent," he said. African pilots and technicians continue their migration to the Middle East in search of better pay; recently Kenya Airways and South African Airways saw large numbers leave their ranks to join Persian Gulf carriers. Meanwhile, air traffic controllers and radar technicians have also migrated to other regions. Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority director Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw told AIN that staff retention stands as his authority's biggest challenge. A recent market forecast by Airbus indicates that Africa would need 1,000 commercial jets and 21,700 new pilots in the coming 20 years, while Boeing estimates that Africa would demand 18,000 new pilots and 22,000 technicians over the same time period. "Over the next 20 years new aircraft will need to be commanded by qualified pilots and maintained by skilled technicians and managed by competent air traffic controllers," ICAO secretary general Fang Liu. "Air transport is not only a transportation means but it is [also] an economic enabler and driver of national and economic development. However, in order to further develop aviation human capacity is a key. As we know there is a gap between the number of professionals sought and the training capacity in particular in Africa." Liu, who lauded the establishment of the Association of African Aviation Training Organizations, said that ICAO is working hard with African states to further develop aviation training entities. "We want to see how to strengthen aviation subjects in the universities and also promote aviation in the existing universities' program," she noted. Liu advised African countries to properly manage and plan their human resources through collaboration among their respective aviation authories. "Cooperation is another important factor in our training capacity solutions for short and long term success," she said. "This is a perfect opportunity to increase state-to-state coordination." Liu further noted that ICAO has developed the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa (AFI Plan) with the view of assisting member states to meet the organization's safety standards. "I should emphasize that ICAO could take effective [measures] only when governments take ownership and have the political will and commitment to effectively implement ICAO standards," she stressed. Within the AFI Plan, African member states have established targets for effective implementation of ICAO standards called the Abuja Safety Plan. Under that plan, ICAO cooperates with African member states, the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), the African Union and the industry. "ICAO's team in our African regional offices in Nairobi and Dakar help member states as first priority in addressing significant safety concerns." However, Liu told AIN that member states must proportionally increase investment in financial and human resources to strengthen their safety oversight functions. "In the coming years safety remains priority for every state including African states," she said. "Without aviation safety the air transport development could not be sustained. It is extremely important that we encourage member states to invest in CAAs and empower them with appropriate human and financial resources that enable them to undertake proper safety oversight." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2017-04-25/aviation-skills-shortage- africa-reaching-crisis-proportions Back to Top CHICAGO AVIATION POLICE QUIETLY BEING REBRANDED The ABC 7 I-Team has learned that Chicago Aviation Department officials have quietly begun retooling the Airport Police Department. (WLS) CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ABC 7 I-Team has learned that Chicago Aviation Department officials have quietly begun retooling the Airport Police Department. The move comes a little more than two weeks after police dragged a United passenger off a flight at O'Hare. The Chicago Aviation Police Department is being rebranded, the word "police" being stripped from their name and replaced with the word "security." But the change from police officers to security guards has the officers' union preparing to file a labor complaint Wednesday morning claiming that the city is violating the airport police officers' contract. The move to rebrand the officers follows the video seen round the world from April 9, of a United passenger who refused to deplane being dragged way by aviation police. A video taken in February shows the array of aviation police vehicles outside the office at Midway Airport where officers arrive wearing their police uniforms complete with police patches. Their vehicles are also clearly marked police. Tuesday afternoon those same vehicles have been retagged as security, and officials of the Service Employees Union Local 73 said it's just the beginning of a complete downgrade from police officers to security guards. Union officials said it violates the contract they have with the city, and they call it a premature, rash decision by the Department of Aviation, which puts everyone using Chicago's airports at unnecessary risk. Mayor Rahm Emanuel indicated Tuesday that he will wait for the final report from Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans before making any moves. "Everybody knows what happened today is totally unacceptable and Ginger and the (Inspector General) are conducting in an investigation to get to the bottom of it with any recommendations and changes that need to happen," Emanuel said at the time of the incident. City officials have not responded to the I-Team messages concerning the rebranding of aviation police as security. The union said they will file their contract violation complaint with the Labor Relations Board Wednesday. There are no new developments into the investigation of what happened on United 3411. Airline officials did send the I-Team a news statement Tuesday saying their focus currently is reviewing policies and making this right for customers so something like that incident doesn't happen again. http://abc7chicago.com/news/chicago-aviation-police-quietly-being-rebranded/1916798/ Back to Top Shenzhen Airlines evaluating Inmarsat and Cobham's flight deck connectivity platform Beginning May 2017, Shenzhen Airlines will launch its in-flight evaluation of SwiftBroadband- Safety (SB-S) platform, Inmarsat's next gen IP-based broadband service for the flight deck, which will be installed on Shenzhen's Airbus 320 aircraft using Cobham avionics' AVIATOR 300D hardware. It is designed to deliver powerful and flexible in-flight communications and secure, real-time, in- air information to enhance Shenzhen's safety, security and operational capabilities - both in the air and on the ground. The Shenzhen partnership is part of a joint venture between Inmarsat, Beijing Marine Communication & Navigation Company, Ltd. (MCN) and Aviation Data Communication Corporation (ADCC) to provide aviation safety services to the rapidly growing Chinese market. Under this partnership, MCN and ADCC will deliver satellite voice, ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing & Reporting System) and data services. MCN will serve as project manager for Shenzhen's SB-S evaluation process. In addition to compliance with the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) mandates CCAR 121 and AC-121, Shenzhen Airlines will focus its evaluation on three core SB-S satellite communication (satcom) capabilities, including: * Satellite Voice (satvoice) Communications - Two-channel satellite-based services that enable faster and high-quality voice communication between the flight deck crew and its designated contacts on the ground, including air traffic controllers and airline operations personnel. * Integral Global Flight Tracking - This enhanced, live tracking feature pinpoints an aircraft's location through regular transmission of position reports. SB-S flight tracking enables the airline and Air Traffic Control (ATC) to know where the aircraft is and to understand its status in real time, which is essential for both safety and delivery of fuel-efficient flight. * ACARS Over IP - Traditionally used to communicate with both the Airline Operations Centre and ATC, this short-text capability over IP is a prerequisite for FANS 1/A compliance in remote oceanic areas. Shenzhen Airlines also will be able to take advantage of other SB-S platform features, including real-time electronic flight bag applications, such as networked graphical weather and, ultimately, flight data streaming ('Black Box in the Cloud'). And, in addition to providing critical flight safety solutions, its high-speed communications capabilities also allow SB-S to deliver operational savings to airlines in the form of reduced fuel costs, improved efficiency and enhanced security. A recent study by Helios showed that satellite communications has already delivered US$3 billion in benefits to airlines to date (see link below). Through its SB-S evaluation, Shenzhen Airlines is preparing for China's explosive growth in passenger demand, which, according the International Air Transport Association (IATA)*, is expected to more than double over the next 20 years. IATA also predicts that China will displace the United States as the world's largest aviation market around 2024*. Much of this demand will be for international travel and Shenzhen is anticipating this demand by employing next generation satellite connectivity, which allows aircraft to travel in oceanic areas and across remote continental areas where terrestrial networks are not established. These satellite-based capabilities will allow Shenzhen to offer passengers a vastly wider range of service destinations that, until now, could not be realized due to the decades-old limitations of traditional, ground-based communications. Captain Shao Bin, Vice President of Operations for Shenzhen Airlines said: "As China's skies become more crowded and advanced flight-tracking capabilities become a necessity in the region's airspace, Shenzhen wants to be at the forefront of this exciting next chapter of aviation history. We look forward to evaluating SwiftBroadband-Safety as a pioneering, satellite-based connectivity solution that will enable Shenzhen to offer enhanced safety, increased capacity and more efficient operations to our passengers - both in China and beyond." Song Zhen, Vice President of MCN, said: "As a leading maritime satellite operator in China, MCN is committed to providing safety communication services to China's growing aviation industry. It is the first time that a Chinese aircraft will be equipped with the SB-S satcom technology platform, and we look forward to working with Inmarsat and other partners to provide the best service for Shenzhen Airlines in accordance with laws set forth by CAAC." Zhu Yanbo, Vice President of ADCC, said, "As the organisation jointly established by Air Traffic Management Bureau of CAAC and the major airlines in China, we especially appreciate Shenzhen's evaluation of SB-S, as they are our country's first airline to do so. As the air-ground datalink service provider for China's airspace, ADCC will work closely with MCN and Inmarsat to not only deliver SwiftBroadband-Safety's trusted cockpit communication and flight tracking services, but also Globalink VHF ACARS and VDL M2 services to our aviation customers." Captain Mary McMillan, Vice President of Safety and Operational Services at Inmarsat's Aviation business unit said: "As China continues its path toward becoming the world's largest passenger aviation nation," Shenzhen is making an important move to ensure it is ready to not only expand its domestic service offerings but also meet Chinese passengers' growing demand for international travel. As the trusted provider of aviation safety and operational services, Inmarsat is excited to work with Shenzhen and our partners to understand how SB-S can optimise their flight deck and aircraft operations as they enter this exciting new era in Chinese aviation." Cheng-Yu Tang, General Manager, China, Cobham SATCOM, said: "Shenzhen's decision to evaluate SB-S demonstrates that one of the China's largest airlines has full confidence in the performance of our AVIATOR 300D system and the Inmarsat SB-S platform. We are excited about this latest opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evaluation of SwiftBroadband-Safety as it also supports our development of communication technologies to meet the future needs of the aviation community." http://www.adsadvance.co.uk/shenzhen-airlines-evaluating-inmarsat-and-cobham-s-flight-deck- connectivity-platform.html Back to Top EU aviation body says in process of certifying China C919 jet Europe's aviation safety regulator said on Wednesday it had started the certification process for China's C919 passenger jet, which is set for its maiden flight early next month, a sign of closer ties between the two aviation markets. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Executive Director Patrick Ky said at an event in Shanghai that no decision had yet been made on certifying the C919 and that it was part of ongoing negotiations around a Bilateral Air Safety Agreements (BASA) between the two regions. The European and Chinese aviation regulators are preparing to meet in the Chinese port city on Thursday in an inaugural session to discuss safety issues, as China's looks to raise its profile and clout in the global aviation market. The C919 single-aisle jet, built by state-backed plane maker COMAC, is China's big hope to compete with Boeing Co and Airbus for a slice of global jet sales worth $2 trillion over the next 20 years. The meeting between the EASA and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is the first to be held since the two signed an agreement in 2015 to cooperate more closely on aviation issues. The Shanghai Airport Authority said on Wednesday the C919 jet's maiden flight was set for early May, the first official confirmation of the much-anticipated event. http://uk.reuters.com/article/aviation-china-comac-idUKL4N1HY4DX Back to Top House passes bill to enhance airport employee screening The House easily passed legislation on Tuesday to beef up the screening up of airport employees and target other insider threats in the aviation sector. Every single lawmaker voted to approve the bill, which would enhance vetting requirements for workers, overhaul how airports issue security credentials and improve the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) screening operations. The measure, backed by Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), would also require a study on the cost and feasibility of conducting full employee screening at domestic airports. Earlier this year, a House Homeland Security Committee report identified a number of potential security gaps in the employee screening process at airports around the country. "There remain serious vulnerabilities and gaps in employee screening at airports nationwide," said Katko, who chairs the Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation security. "We cannot allow these lapses in security to continue placing the traveling public at risk. After a number of insider threat-related attacks at airport overseas, along with plots here in the United States, it is essential that we act on this legislation." The bill's passage comes after a dozen airport and TSA employees were arrested for their alleged involvement in a massive cocaine smuggling operation in Puerto Rico earlier this year. The defendants are accused of helping smuggle approximately 20 tons of cocaine through Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport over the course of 18 years, from 1998 to 2016. The operation allegedly involved employees smuggling suitcases through TSA checkpoints and other secure areas at the airport and onto flights. "Frighteningly, we have seen multiple examples of aviation workers with access to secure areas of airports being involved in serious criminal activities, including terror plotting, after being radicalized," Katko said. http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/330569-house-passes-bill-to-enhance-airport-employee- screening Back to Top Boeing's Dilemma: 1 New Airplane or 2 to Address Middle Market? According to an exclusive report Tuesday morning from Reuters and U.S. News & World Report, Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is nearing a decision to launch a larger version of its 737 MAX family, the 737-10, following what the company believes is a technical solution to the problem of how to minimize the cost of lengthening the plane to accommodate more seats. Boeing announced technical specifications for the 737-10 in early March with plans to launch the program before the end of this year and to meet a first delivery scheduled for 2020. Boeing claims the plane will carry the same number of passengers in a two-class configuration as the Airbus A321neo and will have more range. Airbus, of course, disputes the claim. But the question for Boeing is whether to launch the single-aisle 737-10 program at the same time that it is considering a new "middle of the market" dual-aisle passenger jet, unofficially dubbed the 797. The 737-10 and the A321neo would carry about 190 passengers (in a two-class configuration) with a range of around 3,000 to 3,300 nautical miles. An A321LR variant has a range of around 4,000 nautical miles. The 797 would carry 220 to 270 passengers (in two versions of the plane) some 4,500 to 5,000 nautical miles. Airbus claims its A330 dual-aisle plane covers this part of the market. Market reaction to a 737-10 has been lukewarm at best. Air Lease CEO John Plueger thinks the 2020 date for first deliveries is too late. He believes the plane must be delivered in 2019. Boeing estimates the total market of 1,000 for the new airplane. If the reaction to the 737-10 has been tepid, the dual-aisle 797 makes up for it. Boeing has had little to say about this potential new airplane, but one thing the new plane would do is improve Boeing's position in the market for dual-aisle planes, a market it dominated as recently as two years ago. Boeing's dilemma is how to build a dual-aisle plane for the price of a single-aisle plane. For the airlines, the larger plane needs to offer the range, comfort and capacity of a dual-aisle plane at the cost per seat of a single-aisle plane. In the 1990s, Boeing solved the dilemma by offering the 757 single-aisle and the 767 dual-aisle planes. At the time, it had the dual-aisle market almost all to itself. Today, Boeing sees the 737- 10 as a replacement for the 757 and the 797 as a replacement for the 767. But does the market need both planes? Aerospace industry analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group is not convinced: The problem, though, is that the market views Airbus's A321neo as better able to replace the 757. And while Boeing could change course and make the 797 a new single-aisle jet, that would imply the 737 MAX would merely be an interim product. Orders would take a serious hit. Also, Boeing might find it difficult to differentiate a new large single-aisle from the A321neo, turning this segment into a low-profit commodity product battlefield. The current market demand for larger single-aisle planes like the A321 and the 737-10 is about three times larger than mid-market demand for dual-aisle planes. That could be due to the fact that a true 767 replacement isn't out there. The 797 may be it. http://247wallst.com/aerospace-defense/2017/04/25/boeings-dilemma-1-new-airplane-or-2-to- address-middle-market/ Back to Top Creating a Mini Personal Jet What happens when an aircraft builder becomes a jet pilot? John Monnett Sonex Aircraft founder and president John Monnett fulfilled his desire to be a jet pilot by building the SubSonex. John Monnett always thought of himself as a jet pilot, but as his 50s began drawing to a close he realized the only way that was going to happen was if he built one himself. Luckily for Monnett, his day job is founder and president of Oshkosh-based Sonex Aircraft, a kit builder already known for airplanes like the Sonex-B, the Xenos-B and the OneX. Flying caught up with Monnett at Sun 'n Fun earlier this month and coaxed the story of the company's single-engine jet kit, the SubSonex, out of him. Getting him to talk about building airplanes didn't demand much coaxing though. Monnett traced his interest in a jet back to the early days of Jim Bede's airplanes, including the BD-5 Jet he remembered in the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy. "But that airplane was unobtainable by most people," Monnett said. "The engine alone cost $150,000, and that was 35 years ago." But still Monnett remembered the BD-5 Jet as a cool machine. He thought for certain that other pilots would want a jet, if it was affordable. Fast forward a few decades and Sonex had just finished creating the Xenos motor glider. Where should the company focus next, he wondered? After a stint studying electric propulsion, Monnett and his co-designer Pete Buck began to notice what was happening in the model aircraft industry. "There was this jet engine we heard about that could produce 150 pounds of thrust, so we began putting some numbers and designs together trying to figure out what a jet might look like," Monnett recalled. "Late in the process, we found out there was no way to control the actual engine and at this point we almost had the airframe built. We knew this wasn't going to work." Then the Sonex team heard about another small jet engine with 250 pounds of thrust built in the Czech Republic, and by 2009 the SubSonex was certified. But there were still a couple of tweaks the airplane demanded before it became the jet thousands of people had watched at AirVenture and Sun 'n Fun. There are five SubSonex presently flying with another nine in various stages of construction. For instance, "We got the airplane certified with a single wheel gear," Monnett said. "That turned out to be one of the dumbest ideas we ever had. It was a tail dragger and when we leveled out the aircraft, the fuel would start sloshing around in the tank so we had to add fuel-tank baffles. Then we learned that with the high thrust line, adding takeoff power made the tail come up eary, before it was really ready to fly. That put the pilot at the mercy of wherever the airplane's nose was pointed." Monnett offered a big grin as he explained, "I initially made a few excursions all around the airport dodging lights, crossing taxiways, but luckily never damaging the airplane, much," except on one excursion on the ground when he punched a hole in the fuselage. The Sonex team realized the airplane needed a nose wheel and traditional main gear, a modification that just happened to fit where John had already punctured the fuselage. The tweaks to the original design eventually morphed into the JSX-2 SubSonex the company sells today. Although he had always wanted to fly a jet, when it came time to earn the FAA Letter of Authorization Monnett would need to fly solo, he had to admit he had no experience in jets. He did eventually convince the FAA he'd be a safe bet to fly the airplane he helped create. Was it worth the wait, I asked? "It's really easy to fly," he said. "I flew it first on a day when it was bumpy, but realized that once it got off the ground the airplane was awesome to fly, right up to its 250-knot redline. It cruises about 230-240 knots at 92 percent power. With a 40-gallon fuel tank you can fly for 2.5 hours, burning about 17 gallons an hour on the Fadec-controlled engine." Monnett said there are five SubSonex presently flying with another nine in various stages of construction. The quick-build aircraft kit costs $47,000. Add another $55,000 for the engine and some cash for avionics and you can own your own jet for about $130,000. Monnett likes to call the SubSonex "his personal hot rod." There is just one problem confronting him these days as a pilot. "Flying a jet is really cool. I'm so spoiled now that all I want to fly is a jet." http://www.flyingmag.com/creating-mini-personal-jet Back to Top JetBlue delays some jet deliveries, swaps Airbus models JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) said it was postponing delivery of 13 aircraft scheduled for 2019 and 2020, and had swapped its 2018 Airbus order of A321neos to 11 A321ceos, which have an earlier engine design. In its first quarter earnings call, JetBlue said it was deferring eight aircraft from 2019 to 2023 and five aircraft from 2020 to 2024. Deliveries of Pratt & Whitney engines have been disrupted by various technical problems, forcing Airbus to replace some A320neo jets with the earlier model to keep production lines flowing smoothly. It has made extra copies of the earlier type available for airlines that want them. Differences in fuel performance are less obvious when planes fly shorter routes. One expert said as many as 72 of the new Pratt engines have been taken off the wings of A320neo aircraft for inspection or repairs since entering service. As of mid-April, Airbus had delivered a total of 100 A320neo aircraft since the fuel-efficient plane entered service in January 2016, including 53 fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines and the rest with CFM engines. Chief Financial Officer Steve Priest said swapping the neos for the ceos between 2018 and 2019 "is just prudent" for the carrier. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jetblue-airways-fleet-idUSKBN17R2GO Back to Top Everything You Need to Know About Ejecting From a Fighter Jet You want to avoid it at all costs. But when there is no other option, it can save your life. The last thing a fighter pilot wants to do is eject, and it's not just because they're abandoning the ship to a fiery demise. The turbulent process of ejecting puts pilots at serious risk of injury. Once those rockets fire under the seat, they blow a person up and out of the cockpit with enough force to seriously bruise both shoulders on the harness straps and possibly break collarbones. And you better tuck in your knees and elbows, because if anything hits the side of the cockpit on the way out, it's coming off. I recently went down to Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, during the 2017 Atlantic Trident exercise, an international training exercise in which American, British, and French air forces fly all three nations' top jets together. F-22s, F-35s, French Dassault Rafales, and British Eurofighter Typhoons took to the skies together for the very first time, pitting the new jets in mock engagements against red air adversaries in F-15s and T-38s. I got to hop in the back of a T-38 trainer for one of the exercise flights-but not before five hours of egress and ejection training just in case anything went wrong. A FIRE UNDER YOUR ASS First, you learn what to listen for. If the pilot needs to warn you that you're going to have to eject in the near future, he will use the word "eject," as in, "Hey, get ready, we are going to have to eject in about 30 seconds." If things go horribly wrong and you need to blow out of the ship immediately, the command is, "bailout! bailout! bailout!" A U.S. airman goes through ejection training, including a VR-style simulation where you pretend to parachute to the ground, running through the post-ejection checklist as you go. Jay Bennett Each pilot, co-pilot, or weapons systems officer wears a large parachute and harness that buckles into the seat of their aircraft. When you pull one or both of the two levers positioned on the sides of the seat, charges fire to blow the aircraft canopy and then rocket boosters under your ass take the whole seat, with you in it, up and out of the jet. Within seconds you should be floating over the falling aircraft with a parachute canopy fluttering over your head. In newer two-seat jets, the ejection seats are synchronized so activating one triggers the other. But in the older T-38, each person needs to take care of himself or herself. The co-pilot sitting in the rear seat needs to go first-otherwise the rockets from the pilot's seat will burn the person sitting behind. After you fly out, the seat itself falls away. The chute automatically deploys if you are at low enough altitude, and if all goes well, you should float to the ground at a speed that won't kill you. But your work is not done just because you yanked those levers and left the jet. The system is designed to be mostly automated, but there is no guarantee that everything will function like it's supposed to. A small metal key attaches to the main belt of your harness, and when you eject, it pulls and activates a small red knob on the left side of your harness, called the "red apple" by airmen. This activates your parachute, which will deploy automatically as long as you are 14,000 feet or lower. (Any higher and you could freeze, or go hypoxic from lack of oxygen, or both. Not to mention that canopy openings at high altitude are much more violent due to the thinner air, increasing the risk of injury upon chute deployment.) If you fall below 14,000 feet and your chute fails to deploy, you can pull a rip cord manually to release the canopy. Generally speaking, a pilot would know the altitude at which they punched out, but it can be difficult to tell how high you are once you are free falling. The instructor at Langley simply said, "If you see the ground coming up big and fast, pull the rip cord." If the chute deploys above 14,000 feet and you are having trouble breathing, there is a "green apple" knob on the right side of your harness that you can pull to buy yourself about eight minutes of oxygen supplied to your mask from a reserve in your parachute rig. HICCUPS If you ever have to punch out of a fighter jet, you will quickly want to assess your situation, which will determine the next step. You are over either water or land, and more importantly, you are either at a high enough altitude to prepare for the landing or too low to do anything but brace for impact. A typical dome canopy parachute, like what is used on ejection seats. In the case of a low-altitude ejection, all you can do is glance at your canopy to make sure it opened fully and then tuck your feet, bend your knees, and prepare to hit hard. The proper technique is to hit with the side of one of your feet first, and then collapse with the momentum so that the impact spreads out over the side of your leg, your hip, and then below the shoulder on your back, dissipating some of the energy. If you land straight on the balls of your feet, or with stiff legs, you're liable to break something even if you have had adequate time to slow down with the parachute. If you eject up around 10,000 feet, so you have a little time in the air, there is a standard checklist to run through, one that fighter pilots can rattle off in their sleep: canopy, visor, mask, seat kit, LPU (life preserver unit), 4-line jettison, steer into the wind, prepare for PLF (parachute landing fall). First you put your hands on the parachute risers and tilt your head back to get a good look at the chute. It's possible that in the chaos of ejection the suspension lines get twisted up, in which case you are supposed to grab the risers, pull them apart, and kick your legs like a wild man riding a bicycle to spin yourself around and untangle the lines. The parachute canopy itself should be a nice full circle, but a couple things can happen to give you two smaller circles rather than a full canopy, significantly reducing the effectiveness of the chute. The first is that a suspension line can get caught up over the top of the canopy. If this happens, you have to start tugging on lines to find the one or ones that got snagged. You can yank on the line and move it around to try to force it to fall free, but if that doesn't work-and this is going to sound a little crazy-you are supposed to cut the line. Flight suits have a small pocket containing a hooked knife for just this purpose. But there is a hard and fast rule: Don't cut more than four lines. If you cut four, and you still haven't found the one that got snagged, you just have to make due with the tangled chute and brace for a hard landing. The other common malfunction is called a partial inversion. A full inversion is when the parachute canopy deploys inside out, but generally speaking this is no big deal and you might not even notice. A partial inversion, however, is when the canopy itself gets twisted so half the chute is deployed inside out and there are two distinct domes separated by the twist in the middle. If this happens, you are supposed to yank down on the risers as close to your hips as you can get them, then let them go so they snap back into place, shaking the chute and hopefully untwisting it to give you that nice full canopy. COME ON DOWN Once the canopy is fully deployed, the rest of the checklist is fairly straightforward. Lift your visor away from your eyes and then pull off your mask. Make sure the seat itself has fallen away from you and that the seat kit, full of survival supplies, is dangling behind you. After that, if you are going make a water landing, activate your life preserver unit by pulling down on two cords (if you do not do this manually, the LPU will deploy automatically after soaking up a bit of water). Then it comes time for the four-line jettison. Assuming you didn't have to cut any lines, your chute is fully deployed, and there are no holes in your canopy, you are instructed to pull down on both the steering lines, all the way to your hips, which shears four lines on one side of the parachute. This creates an indentation on that side of the chute, which propels the parachute forward at about 5 knots. After the four-line jettison, the goal is to use the steering lines to steer into the wind so that when you hit the ground, you are traveling nearly straight down. You get into the correct body position for a PLF-feet together, bent knees, chin tucked in-and use the same technique mentioned before to fall along one side of your body, maximizing the number of impact surfaces. Once you touch down, it's a matter of surviving until you are found and rescued. If you are in the water, which is likely considering the Air Force does much of their flight training over water and Navy aviators operate from carriers, then you are probably very cold. Your seat kit contains a one-man raft that automatically inflates as well as survival supplies including a flare, smoke signal, knife, first aid supplies, water and some other basic provisions. It can take hours or days for rescue crews to find you, especially if it's dark or you're in a remote location. If you have to eject from a fighter plane, you will come away from the experience significantly bruised and battered, possibly with fractured bones and torn ligaments. But despite the risks of ejection seats, they do save pilots' lives. Just last week, a Navy aviator safely ejected from an F/A-18 after an aborted landing on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. In 2004, a U.S. airman at Nellis AFB had to eject from the then-new F-22 Raptor when the flight controls failed during takeoff, injuring him from the low-altitude ejection, but saving his life. No pilot ever wants to eject. The sting of losing the aircraft is often coupled with the sting of serious physical injury. But compared to the alternative, the choice is clear. http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a26193/how-pilots-eject-from-fighter-jet/ Back to Top SpaceX Will Fly Two to the Moon Next Year Nobody from Earth has been to the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, but now SpaceX says it's time for that to change. The company, led by visionary Elon Musk, has a track record for achieving challenging goals-it was the first to safely retrieve rockets after use, and it's working under contract with NASA to deliver supplies, and eventually crew, to the International Space Station. Now SpaceX says it has been approached by two private citizens who are ready to fly to the Moon and back late next year. The unnamed astronauts won't make a landing, but will take an aerial tour and then return to Earth. "They have already paid a significant deposit to do a Moon mission," the company said. "Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration." The space travelers will undergo health and fitness tests, and start initial training later this year. The company declined to reveal any more details about the plan, but since the lunar trip was completed nine times using technology available in the 1960s and '70s, it seems reasonable that it could be done safely today. SpaceX already is working on the Crew Dragon spacecraft to deliver astronauts to the ISS, and it plans to use this vehicle for next year's Moon trip. The Crew Dragon will be fully autonomous, the company said, so the space travelers won't have to be trained astronauts-their voyage can be monitored and controlled by SpaceX mission specialists on the ground in Hawthorne, Calif. Lift-off will be from Kennedy Space Center's historic Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral-the same launch pad used by the Apollo astronauts. The travelers will enjoy an unprecedented view from four big windows, snugly encased in their carbon-fiber seats. SpaceX hasn't revealed a price for the trip, but said other flight teams already have expressed interest in later bookings. "We expect more to follow," the company said. (spacex.com) https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/spacex-fly-two-moon-next-190000082.html Back to Top Back to Top New Graduate Research Survey Hello my name is DEREK HAYNES and I am an MSc student at City University of London and a Captain on the B787. I trust you are well and I know that you are busy. Would you kindly please spare me a few minutes of your valuable time to complete my Air Transport Management MSc Pilot Survey - preferably by 27th April, (project deadline 1st May - it is anonymous). It takes <8 mins. Thanks a million, Derek. The survey can be completed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WRQ686G Back to Top Graduate Research Survey -2 Dear colleagues, The flight crew of an airliner is expected to exhibit very high levels of decision making, all the time. Disasters are often attributed to poor decision making skills that are rigorously scrutinised after the event but a good decision never faces similar depth of review. I am doing a research on this very topic and need your help with a short anonymous survey. The primary objectives of this survey are to evaluate: 1. How pilots make decisions in a time and safety critical situation. 2. Whether there are any comparisons with other professionals facing similar time and safety pressures. The survey can be completed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7TKJ66K Can you spare a few moments to take my survey? www.surveymonkey.co.uk Please take the survey titled "Anonymous Survey- Decision making in a time and safety critical environment.City University of London naveed.kapadia@city.ac.uk". Your feedback is important! Thank you for your help and support with this research. Naveed MSc student at City University of London Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Request-3 My name is Mohamed Sheryenna. I'm a student at the University of South wales (UK), MSc. Aircraft Maintenance System. I'm conducting this research about Importance of Implementation SMS to Aircraft Maintenance: For reducing accidents. This study would look to understand the approaches and benefits of implementation SMS in Aircraft maintenance organization to reduce risk of accidents or at least mitigate it by identify and manage risks in predictive phase. Moreover, the study sought to determine the influence of the organizational culture and its effective on maintenance. In addition, to assess some tools used by SMS to support maintenance and engineering to obtain optimal aircraft maintenance. Ultimately, the effectiveness of an SMS implementation means the organization can manage the complexity of these mechanisms to defend against risk incubation. All the information will be treated confidentially and reported in the aggregate. The resultant data will be analyzed as part of my master degree's thesis. I will strictly respect the confidentiality of all participants' input. If you are a participant, and if you desire, I will provide you with a copy of the outcomes of my study. Please return the survey with your business card or contact information to indicate your interest in receiving a copy of the results. I would greatly appreciate your input to my survey. I realize that you are very busy; and completion of the survey should require not more than 10 minutes of your time. These questionnaires are intended to explore SMS in Aircraft maintenance and are purely for academic purpose. Your participation in this research will be highly appreciated. please click the link below to go through the survey http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/8YYUA/ Thank you very much for your cooperation. Sincerely yours, Mohamed Sheryenna 15050033@students.southwales.ac.uk Tel. 00447459876975 Back to Top SAFE Encourages Pilot Input on GA Runway Incursions (Survey) Active general aviation (GA) pilots are being asked to help an ongoing study of GA runway incursions by completing a new online questionnaire. The FAA has said that runway incursions - a vehicle or aircraft on the ground endangering aircraft landing or taking off - average three per day and are a "serious safety concern." GA pilots are involved in about 80 percent of runway incursions. "The question is, what are GA pilots doing, or not doing, that results in so many runway incursions?" said Professor Donna F. Wilt of the Florida Institute of Technology College of Aeronautics. "By analyzing such occurrences we can help mitigate those dangerous situations." The study is being conducted by the FIT College of Aeronautics, Hampton University Department of Aviation and Purdue University Department of Aviation Technology. It is funded through the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS), and the FAA Center of Excellence for GA. SAFE is a partner of PEGASAS. The questionnaire will be available from April 1 through April 30, 2017. To take the new questionnaire, click here or click on or copy and past the URL below. The questionnaire is also available on the SAFE web site at www.SAFEPilots.org and will be available at the SAFE booth at Sun 'n Fun. SAFE is encouraging its members to participate in the project. Direct Link URL: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiJFFh52kh_afnEN7qoBRoliQvqLSUhksMQAGDGbO- EcDweg/viewform?usp=sf_link For more information, contact the project's Principal Investigator, Dr. Scott Winter. SAFE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting aviation education at all levels of learning. SAFE is a recognized leader in pilot training reform, safety education, and the mentoring of aviation educators. For information on free resource materials and membership, go to www.safepilots.org. Scott Winter Assistant Professor of Aviation Science College of Aeronautics, Florida Institute of Technology 321-674-7639 (Office) 218-269-9376 (Cell) Curt Lewis