Flight Safety Information December 4, 2017 - No. 240 In This Issue Incident: Nordic Regional E190 near Turku on Dec 3rd 2017, smell of smoke in cabin EVAS - Cockpit Smoke Protection Incident: PSA CRJ2 at Toledo on Dec 1st 2017, smoking engine Flight from Sacramento makes emergency landing at LAX Italy to investigate low fuel emergency landing involving Air Moldova Airbus A319 at Rome, Italy Hebei Airlines passes IATA safety audit Garuda Indonesia cancels flight due to lack of available pilots EU ban on Nepali airlines continues despite ICAO green signal Watchdog investigates AirAsia flight that turned left instead of right Boeing Dreamliner's Lithium-Ion Battery Fails On United Flight To Paris NTSB: Bird carcasses found in medical helicopter wreckage Airlines Ban Smart Suitcases, Luggage Over Risk Of Fire Lufthansa Technik to fit auto surveillance transponders in A320 Family How the Boeing jet no one wanted became the plane airlines scour the planet for PNG Accident Investigation Commission hosts ICAO accident and incident database training Book Announcement:..."Man of Honor (Enforcement Division) (Volume 4)" The NBAA Safety Committee is conducting its...3rd annual...Business Aviation Safety Survey 9th ESASI Regional Seminar Incident: Nordic Regional E190 near Turku on Dec 3rd 2017, smell of smoke in cabin A Nordic Regional Airlines Embraer ERJ-190 on behalf of Finnair, registration OH-LKE performing flight AY-865 from Helsinki (Finland) to Gothenburg (Sweden) with 100 passengers, was climbing out of Helsinki about 30nm south of Turku (Finland) when the crew stopped the climb at about FL310 and diverted to Turku reporting smell of smoke in the cabin. The aircraft landed safely on Turku's runway 26 about 15 minutes later. The aircraft was evacuated via slides, there were no injuries. Attending emergency services found no trace of fire, heat or smoke. A passenger reported there was smell of smoke intensifying as if there was a small fire on board. The aircraft diverted to Turku, the passengers went down the inflatable slides and were taken to the terminal. The airline confirmed smell of smoke in the cabin prompted the diversion to Turku and emergency evacuation. There were no injuries. Arrangements are being made to take the passengers to Gothenburg. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b1dc388&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Incident: PSA CRJ2 at Toledo on Dec 1st 2017, smoking engine A PSA Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 on behalf of American Airlines, registration N245PS performing flight AA-5479 from Charlotte,NC to Toledo,OH (USA) with 52 people on board, landed on Toledo's runway 25 and was vacating the runway when one of the engines (CF34) began to emit smoke. The aircraft stopped on the parallel taxiway and was evacuated, while emergency services responded. There were no injuries. A replacement CRJ-700 registration N703PS performed the return flight and reached Charlotte with a delay of 5 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Toledo about 23 hours after landing. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL5479/history/20171201/1630Z/KCLT/KTOL http://avherald.com/h?article=4b1d1b10&opt=0 Back to Top Flight from Sacramento makes emergency landing at LAX A Southwest Airlines jetliner that departed from Sacramento made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport late Sunday after a burning smell was detected in the cabin. Southwest flight 4046, with 103 passengers aboard, left Sacramento International Airport at 6 p.m. and was headed to Orange County when the burning smell was reported, said airline spokeswoman Melissa Ford. "The pilots declared an emergency and diverted the plane to LAX," she said. The plane landed safely and was able to taxi to the gate under its own power, Ford said. Mechanics from Southwest were investigating the source of the burning smell, she said. Southwest arranged for another jet to transport the passengers to the Orange County airport, according to Ford. They were expected to arrive about an hour behind schedule. http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article187898994.html Back to Top Italy to investigate low fuel emergency landing involving Air Moldova Airbus A319 at Rome, Italy Date: 05-NOV-2017 Time: 15:10 LT Type: Airbus A319-112 Owner/operator: Air Moldova Registration: ER-AXM C/n / msn: 1786 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: None Category: Serious incident Location: Roma-Fiumicino Airport (FCO/LIRF) - Italy Phase: Landing Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Chisinau Airport (KIV/LUKK) Destination airport: Roma-Fiumicino Airport (FCO/LIRF) Investigating agency: ANSV Narrative: Air Moldova flight 9U891 made a low fuel emergency landing at Rome's Fiumicino Airport, Italy. The aircraft, an Airbus A319, operated on a scheduled passenger flight from Chisinau, Moldavia. The flight departed at 13:10 hours local time (11:10 UTC). After a flight of just over two hours, the aircraft positioned for an approach to runway 16L. The approach was aborted at 14:20 hours local time (13:20 UTC). The aircraft then positioned for a second approach, this time for runway 34L. This approach was aborted at 14:33. Subsequently, the flight crew decided to divert to Bologna and climbed to FL160. About 14:45 the flight elected to return to Rome, declaring a low fuel emergency. A third approach, to runway 16L again, was aborted at 14:59 hours. The flight then circled for a visual approach to runway 16R and a normal landing was carried out at 15:10 hours. The ANSV decided to launch an investigation into this serious incident on December 1, 2017. Weather reported about the time of the incident: LIRF 051020Z 13018KT 9999 FEW030 SCT050 19/13 Q1012 TEMPO 4000 TSRA SCT014CB 1110Z: Departure from Chisinau LIRF 051120Z 14023KT 9999 TS SCT014CB SCT030 SCT040 19/12 Q1011 NOSIG LIRF 051220Z 13017KT 9999 -TSRA SCT014CB SCT030 BKN040 18/12 Q1010 NOSIG 1320Z: First approach aborted LIRF 051320Z 31013G24KT 280V340 2000 1000N +TSRA SCT007 SCT010CB BKN020 BKN030 13/12 Q1011 NOSIG 1333Z: Second approach aborted 1359Z: Third approach aborted 1410Z: Landing runway 16R LIRF 051420Z 16006KT 100V200 9999 -RA VCTS FEW005 FEW015CB SCT035 14/14 Q1009 RETSRA 882904// BECMG NSW LIRF 051520Z 09012KT 9999 FEW005 SCT040 14/13 Q1009 NOSIG https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=202471 Back to Top Hebei Airlines passes IATA safety audit The Chinese airline Hebei Airlines passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). The airline was founded as Northeast Airlines in Shenyang, China in 2006. In 2010 it was rebranded as Hebei Airlines. After initially operating domestic flights, the airline began international flights in March 2017. The airline currently operates a fleet of 2 Boeing 737-700 aircraft, 14 Boeing 737-800's and six Embraer ERJ-190's. The IOSA programme is an evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit principles and is designed to conduct audits in a standardised and consistent manner. It was created in 2003 by IATA. All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain IATA membership. https://news.aviation-safety.net/2017/12/03/hebei-airlines-passes-iata-safety-audit/ Back to Top Garuda Indonesia cancels flight due to lack of available pilots A Garuda Indonesia aircraft takes off from Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia canceled a flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Soekarno- Hatta International Airport on Sunday due to a lack of available pilots. The plane was scheduled to depart at 10 p.m. Singapore time. Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said the pilots who were meant to fly that evening had flown for nine hours on Sunday - the maximum number of hours a pilot is permitted to fly in one day. "The pilots should fly for a maximum of nine hours a day after having flown five times but, due to delays, the pilots had reached the flying limit," Ikhsan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday night, adding that the pilots were not immediately replaced as all available ones were in Jakarta. As a result, hundreds of passengers were forced to reschedule their flights on Monday as all Sunday flights were fully booked. One of the passengers, Rudy Bani, 39, said he was frustrated with the airlines because he had a meeting on Monday afternoon. "I am a frequent flyer of Garuda and this kind of thing had never happened before. This is the worst," Rudy said. Passengers trying to book morning and afternoon flights on Monday reportedly had a difficult time finding available seats. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/12/04/garuda-indonesia-cancels-flight-due-to-lack-of- available-pilots.html Back to Top EU ban on Nepali airlines continues despite ICAO green signal KATHMANDU: The European Commission has said all Nepali airlines are still subject to an operating ban within the 28-nation bloc of the European Union, mentioning the European Aviation Agency found no change in the country's four-year-old status as far as air safety is concerned. In its updated air safety list made public in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday the EC placed Nepal among 16 nations facing such ban, meaning all 18 Nepali air carriers are prohibited from flying into the EU. "All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Nepal have been banned from operating within the EU," the European Agency said in a statement. An update of the air safety list is based on the unanimous opinion of the aviation safety experts from the Member States who met from 13 to 15 November within the EU Air Safety Committee chaired by the EC with the support of the European Aviation Safety Agency. "A total of 178 airlines are banned from EU skies." The EC blacklisted Nepal, placing restrictions on Nepali airlines, for the first time in 2013 immediately after the International Civil Aviation Organisation raised the red flag. The ICAO which had designated the significant safety concerns about country's aviation sector citing non-compliance of ICAO protocols in eight critical elements, however, had removed Nepal's aviation from its blacklist in July. Many aviation stakeholders think that the charade enacted recently by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in arbitrarily attempting to summon the CAAN director general to the ministry and later reinstating him when under fire from the Election Commission has inadvertently shone the lights on the dark underbelly of Nepal's aviation safety. "Clearly, the casualties of the distasteful spectacle are the credibility of the statutory regulator for civil aviation," said one of the stakeholders. CAAN officials also claimed that the EC had lately expressed its serious concerns about the prolonged insatiability in the country's aviation regulatory body. CAAN honchos were also equally to blame for the continuation of EU ban as they deliberately misreported or decided to stay away from properly informing the EC about the improved air safety standards here as per the latest ICAO findings, an official revealed. EC clarified that the assessment was made against international safety standards, and notably the standards promulgated by ICAO. "Why did responsible senior officials fail to approach the EC to defend Nepal during the safety committee deliberations?" an official at the Nepal Airlines Corporation questioned. Nepali airlines are capable of providing air services as per the international standards but the regulatory body, which has its management board chaired by the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, has never improved itself, he added. According to him, the continuation of the EU ban comes at a time when NAC aims to operate two wide-body aircraft to European destinations and the country also aims to attract over one million tourists annually. "The sheer negligence on part of the CAAN has contributed lot to continuing with the ignominious safety list." With the latest update, one airline, Avior Airlines (Venezuela), is added to the safety list, while two others - Mustique Airways (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and Urga (Ukraine) - are removed following safety improvements, the EC's statement read. The Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said, "Our objective is to offer the highest level of safety in European skies. The EU's Air Safety List remains one of our most effective tools to achieve this. Today we are showing that with our help, airlines can be quickly removed from the list when they tackle their safety issues. Work pays off and I hope that the example of Mustique Airways and Urga will inspire others." The EASC member states will hold next meeting in May-June, 2018 to update the air safety list. https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/eu-ban-nepali-airlines-continues-despite-icao-green- signal/ Back to Top Watchdog investigates AirAsia flight that turned left instead of right Australia's air safety watchdog is investigating an AirAsia flight that turned left instead of right as it took off from Perth airport, a move it says was "contrary to standard instrument departure." The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said on Friday that an Indonesian AirAsia A320 was flying from Perth to Bali on November 24 when it was observed making the left turn. The ATBS is preparing a report. "This was contrary to the standard instrument departure, which required the aircraft to turn right when at 5 NM (9.26km)," the ATSB said in a statement. "Air traffic control then instructed the crew to turn onto a southerly heading and the flight continued without further incident. "As part of the investigation, the ATSB will interview the flight crew, review the recorded flight data and gather additional information." The investigation comes after a number of incidents for AirAsia, including a flight from Sydney to Malaysia in 2015 that ended up in Melbourne after the ATSB found the captain incorrectly entered the plane's location in its navigation system just before take-off. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/watchdog-investigates-airasia-flight-that-turned-left- instead-of-right-20171202-gzxdg0.html Back to Top Boeing Dreamliner's Lithium-Ion Battery Fails On United Flight To Paris Christine Negroni , CONTRIBUTOR I write about the business of aviation and travel. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Note: This story has been updated to include comment from Boeing. A United Airlines Boeing 787 experienced a lithium-ion battery failure on approach to Charles de Gaulle Airport on November 13. United Flight 915 was at the end of a seven-hour flight from Washington's Dulles Airport when pilots received a warning that the main battery was overheating. United spokesman Charles Hobart confirmed the event, which was first reported by the Aviation Herald. Boeing provided photo The battery vent on a United 787 On landing, technicians discovered the battery "venting fluid," with fluid dripping from the forward vent relief system, the titanium box and pipes Boeing installed after the airplane was grounded in 2013. Hobart would not answer other questions but the Aviation Herald reported the airplane was in Paris for four days and brought to Denver, where it remained on the ground for another two days before returning to service. Paul Bergman, a spokesman for Boeing said "the plane experienced a fault with a single cell," adding that it was not a safety of flight issue. This is not the first Dreamliner battery to go haywire in the three and a half years since the plane was released from its four-month, fleet-wide safety grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2013. That came after battery malfunctions on two Japanese-operated 787s within two weeks of each other destroyed the breadbox sized batteries and the area in which they sat, prompting three safety investigations. Photo courtesy of passenger Kenichi Kawamura An ANA 787 after an emergency landing at Takamastu, Japan in January 2013 The Dreamliner was only allowed back in the air in April 2013, when Boeing got approval to move the batteries into a housing designed to contain the toxic fumes and high temperature fire that occur when a lithium-ion battery goes into thermal runaway. The housing did not change the characteristics of the battery and this most recent event on a United flight is a clear sign that it still flies with an undiagnosed and unresolved problem. In January 2014, a battery cell on another Japan Airlines 787 vented as the plane sat on the ground at Narita Airport. Later that year in October, a Qatar Airways 787 was forced to divert because of a battery malfunction. And while I was told there were two other diversions resulting from batteries going bad in flight in the first 18 months after the plane began flying again, neither Boeing nor the FAA would provide details. When I asked again today if Boeing would provide a list of battery failures since the resumption of 787 flights, Bergman declined. "More than 2.7 billion revenue miles have been flown by the approximately six hundred 787 Dreamliners currently in service," he said in an email. Battery failures on those 600 airplanes are only knowable to Boeing because the FAA previously said it does not require notification; not from Boeing not from the Dreamliner's operators because the titanium housing removes the safety threat from thermal runaways. Battery experts disagree. After the Qatar diversion, Jeff Dahn, a physics professor at Canada's Dalhousie University told me that battery failures are an indication of a problem within the cells. "Normally they will do nothing unless they are being mechanically abused or electrically abused. Since they are in the box, they are probably not being mechanically abused, so there is something going on with those cells." Now that Dreamliner battery failures have been deemed "non-reportable" by aviation safety authorities, it is impossible gauge the size or the scope of the problem and that's how some folks seem to want it. The question is "why?" https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinenegroni/2017/12/01/dreamliners-beleaguered-lithium-ion- battery-creates-problem-on-united-flight-to-paris/#3d5670dd8513 Back to Top NTSB: Bird carcasses found in medical helicopter wreckage The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but officials have suggested that a large number of geese in the area may be to blame DEWITT, Ark. - Several bird carcasses were found in the wreckage of a medical helicopter that crashed last month in eastern Arkansas, killing all three people aboard, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report. The cause of the Nov. 19 crash remains under investigation, but local officials have suggested that a large number of geese in the area may be to blame. The helicopter, which had a pilot and two medical personnel onboard and was heading to pick up a patient, went down in a rural area near DeWitt, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock. The NTSB report, released this week, said residents near the accident site reported hearing a boom and seeing a fire plume. Killed in the crash were 46-year-old pilot Michael Bollen, of Hot Springs; 61-year-old flight nurse James Lawson Spruiell, of Sulligent, Alabama; and 26-year-old flight paramedic John "Trey" Auld III, of Shreveport, Louisiana. Spruiell and Auld worked for Pafford Air One, which provides emergency transport in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Bollen was a pilot for Air Methods Corp. Arkansas County Sheriff Todd Wright said at the time that a witness saw the helicopter spiral out of the sky, disturbing thousands of geese to the point that "they were louder than she had ever heard before." Wright said the area has had an "excessive amount" of geese this fall. An NTSB investigation into a 2009 helicopter crash off the Louisiana coast that killed eight people led to the agency blaming the aircraft's collision with a red-tailed hawk. The force of that collision dislodged a fuel-system control. https://www.ems1.com/fatal-incidents/articles/368538048-NTSB-Bird-carcasses-found-in-medical- helicopter-wreckage/ Back to Top Airlines Ban Smart Suitcases, Luggage Over Risk Of Fire Airlines are cracking down on checked luggage as its newly updated policies prohibit checking in high-tech suitcase's powered by lithium battery if it can't be removed. The policy change stems from the fear of a potential fire risk that the batteries pose. Battery-powered tech, like laptops and portable gaming devices, have faced scrutiny from several airlines because they contain lithium batteries. Airlines have updated their policies to accommodate this as these devices may pose a fire risk. Smart luggage is now being lumped into this category as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have modified its regulations to place a restriction on checking in high-tech suitcases. American Airlines was the first to push for a restriction on smart luggage. Its staffers, beginning Jan. 15, will no longer allow passengers to check in luggage that contains unremovable lithium batteries. All American Airlines and American Eagle flights will be affected by this new change. "Smart bags contain lithium battery power banks, which pose a risk when they are placed in the cargo hold of an aircraft," American Airlines said in a Friday press release. "As part of safety management and risk mitigation, we always evaluate ways to enhance our procedures, and the Safety team at American has conducted its own analysis of these bags." Delta's new policy will go into effect on Jan. 15. The airline had previously banned hoverboards and other lithium battery-powered devices in 2015 for similar concerns. "The safety of Delta's customers and employees remains the airline's top priority," Delta said in a Friday press release. "Smart bags with removable batteries will still be allowed if the battery can be removed on site and taken on board the aircraft with the customer, similar to Delta's policy today requiring customers to place spare lithium-ion batteries in their carry-on luggage." American Airlines and Delta's policy change has led United Airlines to work towards creating a similar policy, according to CNBC. Southwest Airlines claims to be evaluating its current rules but is also considering making further changes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has conducted 10 tests to determine that when a laptop's rechargeable lithium battery overheats in a suitcase near an aerosol can, it can result in a fire. This has led the agency to become more restrictive over passengers that attempt to check bags with lithium batteries. http://www.ibtimes.com/airlines-ban-smart-suitcases-luggage-over-risk-fire-2622896 Back to Top Lufthansa Technik to fit auto surveillance transponders in A320 Family December 2, 2017: In an attempt to make flying safer and traceable, Lufthansa Technik AG will equip its first Airbus A320 Family aircraft with second generation Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponders by 2020. According to reports, Lufthansa Technik has received the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to modify and fit ADS-B transponders in its first Airbus A320 aircraft. The completion of the modification has been prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by 2020. Earlier, aviation authorities had recommended that, in the future, all aircraft should be traced using GPS-based aircraft data. Reports suggest that Lufthansa Technik is ready to equip its customer aircraft with the new transponders that fulfills the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (DO-260 B RTCA) standard. As compared to the conventional surface-based radar monitoring, the new technology is expected to considerably enhance the localisation of aircraft and the airspace safety. "We can offer our customers with proper ADS-B modifications having original manufacture components and regulatory approvals," said Thomas Rueckert, vice president-base maintenance services of Lufthansa Technik AG. Interestingly, there has been a significant global demand for ADS-B modifications, which has resulted in capacity issues at several overhaul facilities. To mitigate the difficulty, Lufthansa Technik has offered viable options to enhance the performance of modification. It has deployed mobile installation teams that can work anywhere across the globe, with barely three independent night stops to avoid long ground time and high cost. http://www.stattimes.com/lufthansa-technik-to-fit-auto-surveillance-transponders-in-a320-family Back to Top How the Boeing jet no one wanted became the plane airlines scour the planet for Boeing 717 A Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-200. Flickr/Tomás Del Coro * The Boeing 717-200 went out of production in 2006. * Only 156 of the planes have been built. * A decade later, the airlines that operate the 717 want more of them. On May 23, 2006, Boeing delivered the last two 717-200 jetliners to customers at its Long Beach, California factory. It marked to the end of a program filled with promise but that had ultimately failed to capture the interest of airlines. Even Boeing's well-oiled sales operation could only manage to muster up 156 orders for the little 100-seat, short-haul-airliner. Currently, the 717 is operated primarily by four airlines; Delta, Hawaiian, Qantas, and Spanish low- cost carrier Volotea. With 91 of the planes in its fleet, Delta is the by far the type's largest operator. Incredibly, a decade after being axed from Boeing's lineup, airlines are scouring the planet looking for available Boeing 717s. "These guys keep begging me to give them more 717s," Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president of sales for the Asia Pacific and India, told Business Insider. "But that era over and it's not going to happen." So how did a plane Boeing couldn't sell become an aircraft that airlines can't get enough of? The difficult life of the 717 Well, there are several reasons, but first some background. Even though the 717 carries both the Boeing name and company's signature 7X7 naming scheme, it's not actually a Boeing. Rub on that Boeing logo with a brillo pad and some soapy water and you'll soon find the words McDonnell Douglas imprinted on the plane. Boeing 717 AP In 1997, Boeing acquired its long-time rival McDonnell Douglas for $13 billion. At the time, McDonnell Douglas produced the MD-11 widebody and the MD-80/90 narrow-body. Soon after the merger, Boeing phased out all of MD's commercial airliners. But, it spared a new variant of the iconic DC-9 airliner called the MD-95 that was set to enter service in 1999. (The MD-80/90 were also variants of the DC-9.) To make it fit better into the Boeing's portfolio of products, the MD-95 was rebranded the 717-200. However, that wasn't enough to convince to convince airlines to buy in. Even though it carried the Boeing name, it was still a plane designed and engineered by a different company with differing thinking and philosophies. Thus, the 717 was an orphan that didn't belong to any of Boeings product families. "We have the 737MAX 7,-8,-9, and -10. We have a family," Keskar said. "You talk to others and they'll tell you that family has a lot of value." For airlines, there's great financial incentive to have aircraft of varying sizes and roles being operated by the same crew and serviced by the same maintenance teams using the same spare parts. There's a whole of synergy there. Even though the McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80/MD-90 still served as the backbone of many major US airlines like American, Northwest, and Delta, none of the big boys would take the bate. In fact, when American acquired Trans World Airlines in 2001, it sold off all of its 717s. Hawaiian Boeing 717 Wikimedia Commons During the turbulent days of the early 2000s, the airline industry was reeling from the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and spiking fuel prices. Which means many of the 717's potential customers were either in no financial position to buy any planes or were dumping its aging MD fleet in favor of more fuel-efficient planes like the Boeing 737NG or the Airbus A320. Interestingly, the people who did buy the plane loves them. "They're brilliant aircraft. Anyone who has them wants more of them," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told Business Insider. And Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley echoed those sentiments. "It's great little secret. For what we do here in Hawaii, there's no better aircraft built today or even on the drawing board." Delta CEO Ed Bastian also praised the 717 for its durability and reliability during a recent interview with Business Insider. The rebirth of the 100-seat airliner As with many things in life, what is old is new again. As the airline industry recovered, demand for air travel boomed while investors ratcheted up the pressure to lower unit costs. The solution; upgauging to bigger planes. Qantas Boeing 717-200 Qantas As a result, Boeing and Airbus both neglected the 100-150 seat market in favor of bigger, pricier, and higher margin models. While this was happening, another little phenomenon happened in the airline industry, the regional jet. During the 2000s, Bombardier's CRJ and Embraer ERJ made their presence felt in a big way by offering small 50-70 seat regional jets that allowed airlines and their regional partners to serve routes traditionally operated by turboprops with jets. "Back in 2009 we had over 500 small aircraft," Bastian said. "The CRJ-200 was our predominant fleet type." Over time, airlines began to upgauge their regional jets with mainline aircraft. That's where the 717 jumps back into the picture. With around 100-130 seats, the 717 is the perfect size aircraft to take over for regional jets. In fact, Boeing used to market the 717 as the "Full-size airplane for the regional market." Delta CRJ A Delta Connection Bombardier CRJ. AP "The 717 is very much about how do we get out of the regional jets," Bastian said. "Customers hated the small regional jets, our employees hated them because they looked at it as an outsourcing of their jobs, and our [investors] hated them because they're fuel inefficient and their ownership costs were escalating." "Even the regional operators didn't the like them cause they are losing money on it because we had the contracts screwed down pretty low," Bastian added. With the addition of AirTran Airways' fleet of 88 717s following the low-cost carrier's acquisition by Southwest, Delta was able to drop 200 regional jets from its fleet. Unfortunately, for Delta or anyone else looking to their hands on a batch of 717s, they are pretty hard to come by. Delta currently operates roughly 60% of all 717s ever made while Qantas and Hawaiian, the second and third largest operators, have no plans to relinquish their planes anytime soon. And while Volotea's said that they will replace their 17 717s with Airbus A319s, there still aren't that many of the 100-seaters out there. Since discontinuing 717, Boeing has also stopped selling the smallest variant of the 737, the 737- 600. As a result, the company has abandoned the 100-150 seat market. That's where a plane like the Bombardier C Series, now under Airbus control, comes into the picture. The CS100 is of a similar size to the Boeing 717, but much greater range and fuel efficiency. According to Bastian, Delta's long-term plan is to eventually replace the airline's older 717s with the 75 CS100 jets it has on order. Two decades after it first flew, the Boeing 717-200 is still going strong. Even though Boeing didn't sell many of them, those that did buy the 717 can't get enough of them. That's a sign of a great plane. http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-717-jet-delta-hawaiian-qantas-2017-12 Back to Top Back to Top Book Announcement: "Man of Honor (Enforcement Division) (Volume 4)" There is a unit buried within the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Unit 61398-the cyber warfare unit. Li Yong prepared his entire life for command of Unit 61398. Li Yong believed this was the ultimate honor and service to the State. Then America's airliners started plunging from the sky. There is no honor in being the world's worst mass murderer. How do you right the most terrible wrong? How do you prevent the State from slaughtering your entire family if you succeed? How do you balance a moral imperative against a lifetime of homeland allegiance? How does Li Yong stop the unstoppable? 1. Amazon's website for the book: http://tinyurl.com/ManofHonorPreOrder 2. Book's video trailer: https://youtu.be/vNTeB8u7Uvw 3. Book's website: https://www.enforcementdivision.com/man-of-honor * ISBN-10: 1978415621 * ISBN-13: 978-1978415621 About the Author Chris Malburg is a widely published author, with over 4 million words published in 22 popular business books and four novels. Simon & Schuster, Putnam, Wiley and McGraw Hill all publish Chris' work which is consumed in most western countries. After classes at Stanford Writers School, Chris began the fun side of his career. He has crossed the chasm into fiction with the fourth installment in his Enforcement Division series. Chris is known for his meticulous research of the material presented in his books. Man of Honor is an example. While preparing this book Chris took the same aircraft accident investigation courses as the industry's professionals at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering. Chris developed a healthy respect for the NTSB, FAA, and those who teach the skills of aircraft accident investigation. The NBAA Safety Committee is conducting its 3rd annual Business Aviation Safety Survey and needs your feedback. By providing input on the safety culture within business aviation, you will help guide the committee's work in the coming year and have a direct impact on our ability to continue improving the level of safety within our industry. Survey responses are sought from the entire spectrum of aircraft operations, personnel, and responsibilities. Whether you are a pilot, technician, scheduler/dispatcher, flight attendant or someone in a non-aviation role who frequently interacts with business aircraft, your feedback is invaluable to our efforts. Questions on the 2017 survey relate to important topics such as: * Risk management activities * Data sharing * Distractions in safety-critical moments * Participation in formal aviation training and third-party audit programs * Threats and risks you feel are most likely to impact your operation This completely anonymous survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete, and your response is needed by Dec. 8, 2017. Thank you in advance for your participation, and for helping us work toward minimizing the risks you face in your daily operations. TAKE THE SURVEY NOW LEARN MORE You can also review the analysis and results of last year's survey, and we will make this year's survey results available in the coming months after the analysis is complete. National Business Aviation Association 1200 G Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005 * Tel: (202) 783-9000 * info@nbaa.org Back to Top 9th ESASI Regional Seminar We are pleased to announce that the 9th ESASI Regional Seminar will take place at the Baltic Beach Hotel in Jurmala / Riga, Latvia on 23-24 May 2018. In addition, the meeting of the military investigator group is scheduled to take place on the afternoon of 22 May 2018. The aim of the seminar is to keep the European air safety investigation community abreast of current developments and evolving best practice in aircraft safety investigation. As in previous years, the seminar will include presentations on case studies, the European environment, challenges of modern air safety investigations and human factors in aircraft accidents and incidents. ESASI welcomes proposals for presentations to be given during the 2018 seminar, which should last a maximum of 20 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 - presentations@esasi.eu. https://www.esasi.eu/ Curt Lewis