Flight Safety Information January 3, 2018 - No. 003 In This Issue Incident: Easyjet Europe A320 at Tenerife on Jan 1st 2018, door open indication Incident: Southwest B738 at Seattle on Jan 1st 2018, gear indication on departure Incident: Inuit B732 at La Grande Riviere Dec 23rd 2017, smoke from main deck cargo EVAS - Cockpit Smoke Protection Accident: Batik B739 near Surabaya on Jan 2nd 2018, turbulence injures 4 Mil Mi-171Sh...impacted trees (Bangladesh) Navy Fighter Jet Crashes After Overshooting Runway In Goa, Pilot Safe (India) Ryanair passenger climbed out of delayed jet's emergency exit A US customs computer snafu caused major airport delays 99 emergency landings in 2 years, nearly 1/3 of these by Air India planes: Govt (India) Punish rogue recreational drone pilots - not the rule followers Aviation safety in Africa continues to improve - Iata The search for MH370 New Primary Insurance for Drone Pilots, with no Drone Limit, no Deductibles, and Worldwide Coverage Chinese navy trains more fighter pilots for expanded aircraft carrier fleet Southwest Moves Up Some Boeing Max Orders, Defers Smallest Model Vietjet welcomes its first A321neo aircraft China's out-of-control space station may crash to Earth in 2 months Incident: Easyjet Europe A320 at Tenerife on Jan 1st 2018, door open indication An Easyjet Europe Airbus A320-200, registration OE-IVE performing flight U2-6950 from Tenerife South,CI (Spain) to Edinburgh,SC (UK), was in the initial climb out of Tenerife's runway 08 when the crew stopped the climb at 4000 feet, burned off fuel and returned to Tenerife for a safe landing on runway 08 about 80 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 60 minutes, then departed again and reached Edinburgh with a delay of about 2 hours. The Airport of Tenerife reported the aircraft returned due to a door open indication. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b3213cf&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Southwest B738 at Seattle on Jan 1st 2018, gear indication on departure A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N8644C performing flight WN-5489 from Seattle,WA to Baltimore,MD (USA) with 166 people on board, was in the initial climb out of Seattle's runway 34R when upon contacting departure the air traffic controller advised, it appeared the gear was still down. The crew confirmed they had a bad indication as well and needed to return to Seattle. The aircraft levelled off at 5000 feet, the crew decided to burn off fuel and subsequently landed the aircraft back on Seattle's runway 34R about 2 hours after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N8676A reached Baltimore with a delay of 6:20 hours. The airline reported the aircraft had a problem with the nose gear. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Seattle about 20 hours after landing back. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA5489/history/20180101/2256Z/KSEA/KBWI http://avherald.com/h?article=4b320c03&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Inuit B732 at La Grande Riviere Dec 23rd 2017, smoke from main deck cargo, heat in cabin An Air Inuit Boeing 737-200, registration C-GMAI performing flight 3H-705 from La Grande Riviere,QC to Montreal,QC (Canada) with 35 passengers and 4 crew, was climbing out of La Grande Riviera when cabin crew noticed smoke from the main deck cargo area and also noticed the cabin was unusually warm. The flight deck was informed, the crew stopped the climb at about FL230 and returned to La Grande Riviera for a safe landing about 12 minutes later. The Canadian TSB reported maintenance found an air conditioning duct had overheated. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AIE705/history/20171223/2135Z/CYGL/CYUL http://avherald.com/h?article=4b3206db&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Accident: Batik B739 near Surabaya on Jan 2nd 2018, turbulence injures 4 A Batik Air Boeing 737-900, registration PK-LBJ performing flight ID-6575 from Surabaya to Jakarta (Indonesia), was climbing through FL230 out of Surabaya when the aircraft encountered turbulence causing minor injuries to two passengers and two cabin crew. The flight crew continued the climb to FL340 and landed the aircraft safely at destination about 60 minutes after departure. The four injured were taken to a hospital. The airline reported the aircraft encountered unexepcted clear air turbulence while climbing through FL230 (about 39nm northwest of Surabaya), one passenger received minor injuries, another passenger suffered a shock, two cabin crew received minor injuries, too. All of them were taken to a hospital and are still in treatment. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground about 7.5 hours after landing in Jakarta. Infrared Satellite Image Himawari 8 Jan 2nd 2018 07:00Z (Graphics: AVH/JMA): http://avherald.com/h?article=4b31e4f1&opt=0 Back to Top Mil Mi-171Sh impacted trees (Bangladesh) Date: 03-JAN-2018 Time: 10:45 a.m. Type: Mil Mi-171Sh Owner/operator: Bangladesh Air Force Registration: 648 C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Sreemangal - Bangladesh Phase: Landing Nature: Military Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: The helicopter impacted trees while attempting to land. The tail separated and all 4 on board including the Chief of Staff of Kuwait survived the accident. Weather (fog) can be a factor in the accident. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=203717 Back to Top Navy Fighter Jet Crashes After Overshooting Runway In Goa, Pilot Safe (India) * The Goa airport is shut after the accident and firefighting is in progress * Navy's MiG-29K fighter aircraft overshoots runway at Goa airport, pilot ejects safely (File) PANAJI: A MiG-29 K fighter jet of the navy overshot the runway at Goa airport and crashed today. The pilot, a trainee, managed to eject safely from the aircraft, which caught fire after crashing. The operations at the airport located inside the naval base resumed after a brief halt, a senior airport official said, adding that firefighting is in progress. Goa airport operates from the naval base INS Hansa. COMMENTSA statement from the Defence Ministry spokesperson said the incident occurred when the fighter jet, manned by a trainee pilot, veered off runway this afternoon. Some flights were delayed at Goa Airport as the runway was closed for operations for a brief period due to the navy's urgent operational requirements, Goa airport authorities said. This is the first MiG-29 to be lost by the navy which operates the jet off the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The fighter jet will also be deployed off the INS Vikrant, the first indigenous aircraft carrier being built for the Navy. https://www.ndtv.com/goa-news/mig-29k-fighter-jet-catches-fire-at-goa-airport-pilot-ejects- safely-1795225 **************** Date: 03-JAN-2018 Time: Type: MiG-29K Owner/operator: Indian Navy Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: Goa-INS Hansa (VOGO) - India Phase: Take off Nature: Military Departure airport: Goa-INS Hansa (VOGO) Destination airport: Narrative: A MiG-29K suffered a runway excursion accident during take off. A fire broke out. The pilot ejected. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=203719 Back to Top Ryanair passenger climbed out of delayed jet's emergency exit at Malaga airport 'because he was suffering an asthma attack' Fellow passengers were stunned as the man made his getaway over the wing at Malaga airport. A RYANAIR passenger filmed opening an emergency exit and clambering out over the wing of a delayed jet was suffering an asthma attack, it has been claimed. The man apparently decided on drastic action after the delayed flight from Stansted was held on the tarmac after landing at Malaga on Monday evening. The passenger clambers out over the wing of a delayed Ryanair jet at Malaga airport The man, said to be a 57-year-old Polish man named Victor, had become frustrated after it arrived an hour late, and then passengers were kept waiting another 30 minutes with no explanation, according to passengers. Stunned Fernando Del Valle Villalobos, who filmed the renegade flyer making his escape, said: "This man decided he wasn't going to wait any longer. He activated the emergency door and left, saying, 'I'm going via the wing.' It was surreal." Raj Mistry, who was sat next to him, told MailOnline: "It seems nobody noticed that the man who decided to exit the plane was suffering from asthma. "He needed air, hence he decided to exit the plane but Civil Guards didn't want to listen to what he had to say. He was filmed sitting on the edge the wing before staff persuaded him to go back into the cabin "I was talking to him throughout the flight and there was a few times he was using his inhaler. He also took medication just before the flight took off. "When he used his inhaler the second time, A asked him if he is OK, he replied he's OK, he hates flying and struggles to breathe. The man is said to have opened the emergency exit after he grew tired of waiting for the doors to open The video shows ground staff appearing to be trying to dissuade him from going any further. Fernando said: "He was sat on the wing for quite a while until the crew managed to get him back inside. "I don't know why he did it. He must have just lost it and it was the first thing that came into his head." It happened just after 11pm local time after Ryanair flight FR8164 touched down an hour late in the Costa del Sol capital. Civil Guard officers recorded his name so they could report him for an infraction against airport security and he is expected to be hit with a hefty fine of at least four figures. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5255648/ryanair-passenger-opens-emergency-exit-door-london- delayed/ Back to Top A US customs computer snafu caused major airport delays US Customs and Immigration computers went down at various airports around the US yesterday, causing some havoc for travelers returning from holidays. It left hundreds of folks stuck in lines for a couple of hours in a part of the airport where there's normally not a lot to do. The agency didn't say what caused the problem, but said "there is no indication the service disruption was malicious in nature." As Reuters notes, a similar outage occurred at the same time last year, so it might be that the customs systems were slammed with Christmas travelers and couldn't handle the excess traffic. Agents were still able to process passengers using an alternative system, albeit at a much slower rate. Passengers depend heavily on some pretty wonky airport tech. Many airlines use ancient reservation systems, and even new ones like the Amadeus Altea system can go down, causing airport chaos. Despite those inconveniences, let's not forget that 2017 was the safest year for flying ever, with zero fatalities on scheduled passenger jets. https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-customs-computer-snafu-caused-080200076.html Back to Top 99 emergency landings in 2 years, nearly 1/3 of these by Air India planes: Govt (India) There were total 60 cases of emergency landings in 2016 and 39 cases in 2017, according to data shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in the Rajya Sabha. There were a total of 99 instances of emergency landings by aircraft in the country in the past two years, the government informed Parliament. However, the total number of emergency landings fell by 35 per cent in 2017 as compared to the previous year. There were total 60 cases of emergency landings in 2016 and 39 cases in 2017, according to data shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in the Rajya Sabha. Of these, Air India accounted for nearly a third of such instances, with 27 emergency landings. Jet Airways had 14 emergency landings, SpiceJet had 11 such incidents and IndiGo saw 10 cases. Various international carriers, including Lufthansa, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Nepal Airlines, and Sri Lanka Airlines accounted for 12 incidents of emergency landings over the past two years. As far as the violation of air safety norms was concerned, Air India group registered total 77 cases last year until November, which is a 13 per cent increase over cases of safety breaches in 2016. Private carriers in the country recorded 199 cases altogether last year until November, registering a 30 per cent decline in violations as compared to 2016 when their violations were at 279. http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/99-emergency-landings-in-2-years-nearly-13-of-these- by-air-india-planes-govt-2473891.html Back to Top Punish rogue recreational drone pilots - not the rule followers BY RICH HANSON, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR There is a lot of misinformation, and lack of information, surrounding the policies that govern recreational drones. Even those who work on drone policy inaccurately characterize provisions allowing for recreational use of drones, Part 107 and Section 336 of the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act. This mischaracterization branding these provisions as a "get out of jail free" card for anyone who wants to fly drones or model aircraft, as a recent opinion piece in The Hill argued. This couldn't be further from the truth. I agree with the Commercial Drone Alliance that drones have significant potential to support public officials and help small businesses grow. However, critics like the alliance completely mischaracterize the challenge of regulating recreational drones. Let me be clear - if you are flying drones for recreational purposes today, you must be operating within an established safety program, and there are two ways of doing so. By default, recreational pilots are to fly under the FAA's Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rule, known as Part 107. The only other way to operate is to fully comply with the criteria of Section 336 (Part 101) and fly within the programming of a community-based organization. Federal regulations require that recreational drone flyers must be educated and operate under one of these two options. The problem is that many people don't understand this. According to the current laws, recreational drone pilots are only eligible to fly under Section 336 if they fly in accordance with the safety guidelines and within the safety programming of a community-based organization, such as the Academy of Model Aeronautics. By our estimate, only about 200,000 people fall into this category, most of them are academy members. To put this in perspective, according to the FAA, around 900,000 recreational users have registered their drones with the agency so far. The math from here is easy - about 200,000 people fly under Section 336 and the remaining 700,000 are required to operate under Part 107. Those that aren't flying under Part 107 are in violation 14 CFR § 107.12, the requirement for a remote pilot certificate. The truth is Section 336 is not to blame for rogue flyers. Those people are Part 107 violators - and should be treated as such. If Congress wants to increase the safety of our skies, they should help recreational drone pilots understand that they need to comply with Part 107. Congress should also task the FAA with increasing enforcement so that those who violate Part 107 are held accountable for their actions. Many recreational drone pilots already know when, where and how to fly safely, and they comply with the law. Many pilots follow rigorous safety guidelines and our members are afforded a $2.5 million-dollar liability insurance policy, establishing financial responsibility. Pilots following the rules are not the problem, but we acknowledge that some tweaks to Section 336 may be necessary to clarify who the provision does and does not cover. We are willing to work with Congress and the UAS industry to ensure that those that fly under Section 336 are educated, trained and managed by an established community-based organization - and that everyone else operates under Part 107. Rogue flyers are Part 107 violators. We must, first and foremost, make clear the need to follow Part 107 if not operating within a community-based organization. And when someone violates Part 107, he or she needs to be held accountable. Unfounded statements asking to revoke the Special Rule only harm a community of responsible model aviation hobbyists and will do nothing to curb the 700,000 rogue drone pilots. Interest in drones has soared this year and shows no signs of slowing down. As it currently stands, the FAA is under-resourced to handle the growing surge in commercial drones, Part 107 waiver requests and future rulemakings. That's why public-private partnerships with experienced community-based organization s such as Academy of Model Aeronautics can be helpful in alleviating the strain on the FAA and enhance safety. In the next FAA reauthorization bill, Congress should continue to allow organizations such as AMA to manage its members as part of the recreational community, preserving the option to fly safely and responsibly under our guidelines, oversight and eighty years of experience. Rich Hanson is the President of the Academy of Model Aeronautics. http://thehill.com/opinion/technology/367079-punish-rogue-recreational-drone-pilots-not-the-rule- followers Back to Top Aviation safety in Africa continues to improve - Iata Cape Town - Aviation safety in Africa continued to improve over the past five years, according to Gilberto López Meyer, senior vice president, safety and flight operations (SFO) at the International Air Transport Association (Iata). He emphasised in a report that commercial air travel is the safest form of long distance transportation that has ever existed. Iata research has found that globally the overall trend in aviation safety continues to improve. A survey of airline safety over the past five and a half also indicated that Iata members had a lower accident rate than non-Iata members as well as an accident rate lower than the industry average. "We constantly strive to ensure standards of safety are maintained and improved," said López Meyer. Furthermore, airlines registered as part of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) have outperformed non-IOSA airlines globally over the period from 2012 to 2017. The IOSA audit reviews many areas of operator systems to ensure the highest standards are met. As of November 21 the IOSA registry contained 427 airlines of which 281 are Iata members. "While no operational standard will never have an event, the data show that operators who maintain IOSA standards have better a safety performance over time," said López Meyer. In Africa, for example, the accident rate is 1.18 for IOSA registered carriers compared to a rate of 9.79 for non-IOSA carriers. One of Iata's goals is to make more effective use of data to identify risks to safety and develop strategies to mitigate them. In this regard Iata is collaborating with a number of organisations all over the world. "Safety is everyone's business and we look forward to increasing this collaboration," said López Meyer. Iata also has meteorological projects (MET) which aim to mitigate the impact of turbulence and to improve global and regional weather forecasts. Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to airline passengers and crew globally, according to López Meyer. About 96% of respondents to an Iata turbulence study said they require real-time objective data about the location and severity of turbulence. Iata is, therefore, developing a framework for a turbulence sharing platform in collaboration with a number of airlines and industry stakeholders. It will likely be launched in 2019. Iata is also working closely with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to improve global weather forecasts. The WMO already collects real-time wind and temperature data from 40 airlines globally. According to López Meyer, after satellite-based observations this is the most important source of data for forecasting weather globally. There is, however, a limited number of participating airlines, so many areas of the globe do not have coverage. The overall benefit of the Iata MET project is expected to improve safety by reducing turbulence related injuries, reduce fuel burn, decrease carbon emissions and reduce cost to airlines through more accurate flight planning. López Meyer said Iata also has safety audit programmes. The aim of the SFO programmes is to digitise internal audit programme processes; to have data management and advanced analytics; and to create a collaboration platform for industry stakeholders. https://www.fin24.com/Companies/Industrial/aviation-safety-in-africa-continues-to-improve-iata- 20180102 Back to Top The search for MH370 * A fantastical ship has set out to seek Malaysian Airlines flight 370 * A swarm of submarine drones will scour the depths for the plane ON JANUARY 2nd, at 8pm local time, a strange vessel weighed anchor and sailed out of the Port of Durban, in South Africa, heading east. Her hull was orange. Her superstructure bristled with antennas-some long and pointy, some sleek, white and domed. Her stern sported a crane and also a strange gantry, known to her crew as the "stinger". Her bow looked so huge and ungainly as to be on the point of tipping her, nose first, into the depths. And below deck, invisible to the casual observer, she carried eight autonomous submarines called HUGINs, each six metres long, weighing 1,800kg, and containing a titanium sphere to protect the sensitive electronics therein from the pressure of the ocean's depths. The strange ship's name is Seabed Constructor. She is a Norwegian research vessel, built in 2014 and owned by Swire Seabed, a dredging and surveying firm in Bergen. At the moment, though, she is leased to Ocean Infinity, a company based in Houston, Texas. And the task Ocean Infinity has hired her for is a hard one: to find whatever is left of flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER that left Kuala Lumpur on March 8th 2014 with 239 people on board and vanished over the Indian Ocean. The disappearance of MH370 is one of the great mysteries of modern civil aviation. The aircraft was bound for Beijing, but changed course suddenly over the South China Sea and broke off radio contact. It was last detected by radar near the northern tip of Sumatra, heading west-north-west into the open ocean. Subsequent connections to a communications satellite suggested that it crashed somewhere along an arc 1,500km west of Australia. The search that followed was the largest in aviation history. It was mounted by Fugro, a Dutch firm, and paid for by the Malaysian, Chinese and Australian governments. Over the course of three years Fugro managed to scan 120,000 square kilometres of seabed. But it found nothing. The plan is for Ocean Infinity's search to be paid for, on a "no find, no fee" basis, by Malaysia alone. Contracts have yet to be signed, but Oliver Plunkett, Ocean Infinity's boss, has decided to go ahead anyway, to take advantage of the window of good weather that opens in the southern Indian Ocean in January and February. Ocean Infinity aims to cover the ground much faster than Fugro did. In prior cruises in the Atlantic, the firm has, according to Josh Broussard, its technical director, managed to scan 890 square kilometres a day using six autonomous submarines. With eight, Mr Broussard thinks that the new mission will be able to manage 1,200 a day-enough to have covered the original search area in just 100 days. The new search area, 25,000 square kilometres of sea floor chosen by investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), is just north of the old one (see map). Fugro could infer MH370's crash site only from its final, rather shaky, communication signals. Ocean Infinity's effort has been guided as well by wreckage washed ashore on the coasts of Madagascar, Mozambique and Réunion-hence the more northerly starting point. Seabed Constructor will reach the starting-point of the search, about 35°S off the coast of Western Australia, on or about January 17th, her crew having conducted a few final tests and calibrations of the HUGIN system en route, using remote- controlled robots to place dummy debris on the sea floor in order to see if the subs can find it. If searching the patch of ocean designated by the ATSB reveals nothing, then the ship will head further north, towards the 30th parallel, which some independent experts believe is a better bet. Rolling in the deep Fugro's search used but a single autonomous submarine, and this was unable to dive below 4,000 metres, meaning it was not always close to the seabed. The HUGINs carried by Seabed Constructor can, however, go as deep as 6,000 metres. That permits them to reach most of the sea floor comfortably. And the fact that there are eight of them means different areas can be searched in parallel, and that some submarines will always be at sea. The HUGINs will be launched by the stinger, which extends out over the ship's stern. Once underwater, the robot craft will communicate with the ship using an acoustic modem. The ship's own modem, which will receive these signals, is fixed to the end of a long pole that extends down through her hull into the water. Each HUGIN comes with a 300kg lithium-polymer battery pack, good for a tour of duty lasting up to 60 hours. A downward-pointing sonar will map the contours of the seabed beneath the craft, but most of the searching will be done by side-mounted sonars scanning the bed on either side of the craft. These send out pings and measure the intensity with which they are reflected. Sand reflects less sound than metal does, meaning metal objects such as aircraft debris are easy to distinguish. And if something apparently metallic is detected, its nature can be confirmed using an on-board magnetometer. The HUGINs' search patterns are set by people, but the craft will actually navigate with little reference to their mother ship. Every so often, the ship will send out a corrective ping to keep them on course. Mostly, however, they will employing dead reckoning, based on data from accelerometers, to steer themselves autonomously. They are also capable of picking their way without assistance over sheer underwater cliffs and mountains, past crevices and gullies, using on- board cameras and machine-vision software. After its tour of duty, a HUGIN will be lifted back on-board ship and the data it has collected (up to two terabytes, recorded on a waterproof hard drive) downloaded into the ship's data centre and turned into human-readable maps, a process that takes six hours. The HUGIN's battery will be replaced with a fully charged one, any necessary repairs made, and the craft then sent back out into the ocean. A team of geologists and hydrographers will then pore over the maps, looking for signs of the missing plane. Surprisingly, for such a high-tech operation, this stage of the search will be entirely manual. Every block of sea floor that the HUGINs map will be examined by three sets of human eyes. Together, this survey team will come up with a list of possible targets, ranked from "E" to "A" ("nothing" to "that's it"), to present to their bosses. If the data look good, a HUGIN will be sent down for a second, closer look, cameras at the ready. What happens next, if Ocean Infinity does locate what is left of the missing aircraft, is unclear. Friends and relatives of those aboard it will doubtless find relief from knowing where the flight ended up. But merely finding the wreckage will not explain what happened on board the plane. That will require the discovery of the aircraft's flight recorder. That object is therefore Ocean Infinity's ultimate target. If the firm finds it on this mission, Mr Broussard says they plan to bring it to the surface and then deliver it for analysis to the Australian authorities, who have the technical competence to assess it. A follow-up trip to examine the wreckage, and even bring it to the surface, would require further authorisation from the Malaysian government. Seabed Constructor is the most advanced civilian survey vessel on the planet today. If its array of technology cannot find MH370, then it is likely that nothing will, and that the mystery of MH370 may never be solved. Either way, though, the advance of technology may mean that it is the last such mystery. As the oceans are watched with ever closer scrutiny, from space and the depths, it is increasingly difficult for anything to get lost in the first place. https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21733399-swarm-submarine-drones- will-scour-depths-plane-fantastical-ship Back to Top New Primary Insurance for Drone Pilots, with no Drone Limit, no Deductibles, and Worldwide Coverage BELLEVILLE, Mich. - The International Drone Racing Association (IDRA) has announced that it has condensed its liability insurance for drone pilots into a single policy that has no drone limit, no deductibles, and maintains the worldwide coverage that has greatly benefited IDRA members. Starting January 1st, drone pilots can purchase the $1 million policy for $265 and will receive their certificate of insurance within 24 hours. The policy is valid for 1 year, covering all potential liabilities from recreational flying, racing, and training, if the drone pilot adheres to IDRA's Safety Manual and complies with the Legal Regulations in the area the pilot is operating. The IDRA community has upheld a high standard of safety and compliance, experiencing zero claims throughout the year of 2017. The announcement comes one year after IDRA's launch of the first primary liability insurance, with worldwide coverage, for drone pilots and recreational hobbyists. The $1 million policy was offered to IDRA members, whom predominately reside and operate internationally. In the past four months, IDRA experienced a 336% increase, 60% of which accounted in September, of insurance policy and membership sales. The only downside to the policy was that it was structured around the number of drones a pilot operated; the more drones the more expensive it was to purchase. To IDRA and the insurance program's designer, Chief Financial Officer Bonnie Haggerty-Leister, it was clear that the policy needed to be revamped to better fit the community's needs. "I'm extremely excited that we are able to release this new policy for the international drone community," said Bonnie Haggerty, CFO of IDRA. "My team and I negotiated for many months with several underwriters and our partner, Avion Insurance, to structure this simplified liability policy for drone pilots around the world, with the purpose of being more applicable and affordable to meet the demands of IDRA's growing member base." UAS/Drone racing is a worldwide sport that utilizes Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology to allow a new breed of innovators to compete on the international stage. There are roughly 100 drone competitions in the U.S. annually and 200 worldwide competitions, highlighted by races like 2016 World Drone Prix in Dubai and 2017 Dover Internationals at the Dover International Speedway with NASCAR. In 2018, IDRA will feature several marquee races at partnered events and venues like South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Dutch Comic Con in Utrecht, University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Munhak Baseball Stadium in Incheon, and Dover International Speedway in Dover, with the projection to exceed 200,000 spectators over the season. About the International Drone Racing Association The International Drone Racing Association (IDRA) is a for-profit association founded on the belief that competition drives innovation, and that drone racing is the next evolution of motorsports. IDRA believes in growing this awesome new industry by organizing historic drone racing competitions like the semi-professional Challengers Cup and professional Drone Racing Series. The IDRA's core mission is to grow this amazing community of tinkerers, dreamers, and innovators. Website: www.idra.co https://www.suasnews.com/2018/01/new-primary-insurance-drone-pilots-no-drone-limit-no- deductibles-worldwide-coverage/ Back to Top Chinese navy trains more fighter pilots for expanded aircraft carrier fleet * PLA Navy has stepped up training near Bohai Sea over winter China's navy on Tuesday said it had stepped up fighter pilot training near the Bohai Sea this winter as it prepares to expand its aircraft carrier fleet. The PLA Navy has started training its own pilots - rather than recruiting them from the air force - at its Naval Aeronautical University, which opened last year with a main campus in Yantai, Shandong. Fighter pilot cadets are using the country's most advanced training aircraft at that campus and three others - in Liaoning, Hebei and Shanxi provinces, the official PLA Daily reported. The navy did not give an estimate of how many fighter pilots it would need for its aircraft carriers - it plans to have a fleet of four in the future - but military experts said there was some urgency to get cadets trained for the vessels. The university's first intake of 450 cadets was in May. Home-grown aircraft carrier tops list of major additions to China's navy in 2017 China so far has only one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, but its sister ship, the Type 001A - which is Chinese designed and built - is expected to go into full service later this year. The navy needs more fighter pilots to be based on both of those aircraft carriers, along with support crew. The report did not specify which training aircraft was being used, but experts said it was likely to be the L-15B Falcon supersonic advanced jet trainer developed by Hongdu Aviation Industry in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. Chinese military websites have previously reported that the L-15B would be modified for aircraft carrier pilot training. The light attack aircraft is also used by the air force for training and has been exported to Venezuela and Zambia. Cadet pilots at the new university have flown over the East China Sea as well as over inland areas, where they carried out take-offs and landings, computer simulations on flight decks and other physical training and workshops, according to the PLA Daily report. The university is the result of a merger between the navy's aviation academy and its aeronautical and astronautical university, and will focus on training pilots and support crew for the country's aircraft carrier battle groups. Beijing has been trying to build up a blue-water navy that can operate globally and support its maritime security, including rolling out the Liaoning in 2012 and the new Type 001A this year. Beijing-based military expert Li Jie said the navy had built up experience with its first aircraft carrier but now the priority was to train more fighter pilots within the navy as the fleet expanded. "Carrier-based fighter pilots are the best in their field because they need to take off and land on a tiny runway on the flight deck, which is less than a tenth of the size of a land-based airstrip," Li said, adding that it was better to start from scratch with cadets than try to teach senior pilots these skills. Nearly all of the navy's J-15 fighter jet pilots on the Liaoning were chosen from among the air force's best, all of them with at least 600 hours of flight time under their belts. "China didn't have any experience with fighter jets on aircraft carriers until the Liaoning went into service. So when it came to training pilots for the J-15, the best way was to start with experienced air force pilots," Li said. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2126564/chinese-navy-trains-more- fighter-pilots-expanded Back to Top Southwest Moves Up Some Boeing Max Orders, Defers Smallest Model * Max 7 delays as far as 2024 cast doubt on future of variant Southwest Airlines Co. delayed orders for 23 of Boeing Co.'s 737 Max 7 aircraft, casting doubt on the future of the smallest Max variant as it adds 40 Max 8 deliveries valued at nearly $4.5 billion. Pushing most of its Max 7 orders out until 2023 and 2024 probably means that the carrier is trying to decide whether it wants to keep any of its pending orders for the plane, said George Ferguson, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. It also could eventually convert the orders to another version of the Max, said George Hamlin of Hamlin Transportation Consulting. "When your most important customer, and the one you probably built the airplane for, doesn't want it anymore, it's a bad day," Ferguson said in an interview. "When they defer the 7 out that far, it means they are trying to figure out if they ever want the 7." Converting options on the 40 Max 8s to firm orders gives life to Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly's statements last month that the airline would invest benefits from the recent corporate tax rate reduction into buying more planes. Taking the additional Max 8s in 2019 and 2020 means Southwest will receive some of that model every year through 2025, based on an order schedule from the carrier, Boeing's largest 737 customer. Pressure Building Southwest mentioned the decisions at the end of a statement announcing that it would spend $70 million in $1,000 cash bonuses for employees to "celebrate" recent legislation providing a corporate tax cut. The carrier expects to record a non-cash credit of $1 billion to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter as a result of the tax changes, the airline said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. The deferral piles additional pressure on the smallest Max 7, a variant that has struggled to gain customers while airlines opt for planes with more seats. Airlines are opting to move to larger planes to save on operating costs, Ferguson said. The Max 7 also has faced competitive threats from aircraft of about the same size built by Bombardier Inc. "We're excited that Southwest is adding 40 more Maxs to its fleet, bringing its total Max orders to 240," Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, said in an email. The first Max 7 test airplane is being assembled, and Southwest's changes don't affect the program, he said. While the deferrals may further imperil the Max 7, they may actually benefit Boeing in the long run if the orders are converted to larger models, Hamlin said. "Boeing is happy to deliver any of the family members in that program." The 40 Max 8s carry a list price of nearly $4.5 billion, although airlines often receive discounts when ordering multiple aircraft. The plane orders don't affect Southwest's plans for capacity growth this year, the Dallas-based airline said. It didn't comment on expansion plans in the years beyond 2018. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-02/southwest-moves-up-40-max-737-8- orders-delays-23-max-7-planes Back to Top Vietjet welcomes its first A321neo aircraft Vietjet has become the first airline in Southeast Asia to take delivery of an A321neo (new engine option) upon arrival of the Airbus aircraft which landed at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport from Hamburg (Germany). The A321neo aircraft, registered as VN-646, is powered by Pratt & Whitney's latest-generation of GTF engines. Fitted with 230 comfy leather-covered seats and high-quality carpeting, the first five rows of Vietjet's spacious new A321neo aircraft is specially designed to accommodate passengers flying with Skyboss, the airline's premium service. The aircraft's interior also features a unique color- changing LED light system and striking décor to create a comfortable and refreshing ambience throughout the whole cabin. The brand new A321neo aircraft incorporates the latest engine design, advanced aerodynamics and cabin innovations. According to the aircraft manufacturer, its GTF engines offer a significant reduction in fuel consumption - at least 16 percent from day one and 20 percent by 2020 - as well 75% reduction in noise and 50% in emissions. The engines were first introduced by Pratt & Whitney in 2016. Vietjet is one of the very first airlines in the world to incorporate these engines in its aircraft. The A321neo aircraft is also the 17th aircraft delivered to Vietjet from Airbus in 2017. The new aircraft will begin operating on domestic and international routes to and from Vietnam in January 2018. Upon receiving the aircraft, Vietjet also announced its decision to upgrade an existing order for 42 A320neo aircrafts to the superior and larger A321neo models. Accordingly, the airline now has a total of 73 A321neo and 11 A321ceo on order for future delivery. "We are proud when a dynamic airline like Vietjet endorses our products," said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus Chief Operating Officer and President Commercial Aircraft. "The A321neo combines higher capacity with the lowest operating costs in its class, offering unbeatable efficiency. This aircraft will be a real asset in Vietjet's expansion plans in such a competitive market. We look forward to seeing the A321neo flying in Vietjet colours." "The A320 family aircraft has greatly contributed to Vietjet's impressive operation performances with the airline's technical reliability rate standing at 99.6% in 2017. The aircraft has also helped us maintain some of the lowest operating costs in the aviation industry," said Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Vietjet President and CEO. "The upgraded A321neo deal once again emphasises Vietjet's ceaseless efforts to modernise our fleet. We believe that the technical reliability rate and other operation and safety indexes will continue to go up in order to bring maximum comfort, joy and safety to our valued passengers." The A320 Family is the world's best-selling single-aisle product line and comprises four models (A318, A319, A320, A321) seating from 100 to 240 seats. With more than 5,300 orders received from 95 customers since its launch in 2010, the A320neo family has captured some 60 percent share of the market. https://www.eturbonews.com/174256/vietjet-welcomes-first-a321neo-aircraft Back to Top China's out-of-control space station may crash to Earth in 2 months china tiangong 1 space station model reuters A scale model of China's Tiangong-1 space station. Jason Lee/Reuters * In 2016, China lost control of its first space station, called Tiangong-1 or "Heavenly Palace." * The Aerospace Corporation expects the spacecraft to burn up in Earth's atmosphere in mid- March, give or take a couple of weeks. * Chunks of the 8.5-ton vessel should be durable enough to reach our planet's surface. * Any surviving pieces of Tiangong-1 will most likely land in the ocean. China's first space station, called Tiangong-1 or "Heavenly Palace," will soon explode over Earth into a rain of fiery debris. Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit research company, predicted last month that the derelict spacecraft would reenter Earth's atmosphere in mid-March, give or take two weeks - so possibly as early as the end of February or as late as April. When it does, extreme heat and pressure caused by plowing through the air at more than 15,000 mph will destroy the 8.5-ton vessel. Not everything may vanish, though. There's a good chance that gear and hardware left on board could survive intact all the way to the ground, according to Bill Ailor, an aerospace engineer who specializes in atmospheric reentry. That durability is thanks to Tiangong-1's onion-like layers of protective material. "The thing about a space station is that it's typically got things on the inside," Ailor, who works for Aerospace Corporation, previously told Business Insider. "So basically, the heating will just strip these various layers off. If you've got enough layers, a lot of the energy is gone before a particular object falls out, it doesn't get hot, and it lands on the ground." For example, he said, after NASA's Columbia space shuttle broke up over the US in 2003, investigators recovered a working flight computer - an artifact that ultimately helped explain how the deadly incident happened. Predicting Tiangong-1's crash to Earth Tiangong-1 is a two-room space station for two taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts. It has a volume of 15 cubic meters, about 1/60th of the football-field-size International Space Station. Though China superseded Tiangong-1 in 2016 with Tiangong-2, space experts hailed it as a major achievement for the nation's space program, since it helped pioneer a permanent Chinese presence in orbit. "It conducted six successive rendezvous and dockings with spacecraft Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9, and Shenzhou-10 and completed all assigned missions, making important contributions to China's manned space exploration activities," said a memo China submitted in May to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. tiangong 1 chinese space station cmsa An illustration of Tiangong-1, China's first space station, orbiting Earth. China Manned Space Agency In the memo, China said it lost contact with the spacecraft on March 16, 2016, after it "fully fulfilled its historic mission." By May 2017, Tiangong-1 was coasting about 218 miles above Earth and dropping by about 525 feet a day, the memo said. Its altitude has since plummeted to less than 175 miles, according to Aerospace Corporation data. "For any vehicle like this, the thing that brings them down is atmospheric drag," Ailor said. "Why there's a lot of uncertainty in the predictions is that it depends on what the sun's doing, to a large measure." The sun can unleash solar storms and solar flares - bursts of X-rays and ultraviolet light - that heat Earth's outer atmosphere, causing the air to expand and rise. That forces low-flying objects like Tiangong-1 to plow through denser gases. "This puts just a little bit of a higher force on these objects that causes them to come down," Ailor said. An analysis of the combined effects of solar activity and Tiangong-1's orbital speed, direction, and altitude, as well as other factors, helped the Aerospace Corporation provide its most recent estimate of a mid-March de-orbit. Before the big moment, however, the company may refine its estimate as conditions change. What will happen when China's space station is destroyed atv spacecraft atmospheric reentry burning up fireball esa d ducros An illustration of Europe's ATV spacecraft breaking apart and burning up as it reenters Earth's atmosphere. ESA/D. Ducros Tiangong-1 is likely to crash over the ocean, as water covers about 71% of Earth's surface. But there's a decent chance some pieces may strike land as it breaks up over a long and thin oval footprint. "The whole footprint length for something like this could be 1,000 miles or so," Ailor said, with heavier pieces at the front and lighter debris toward the back. If anyone is lucky enough to witness Tiangong-1's atmospheric breakup from an airplane, it may look similar to the destruction of the European Space Agency's 14-ton Automated Transfer Vehicle - an expendable spacecraft that was once used to resupply the ISS. When asked for comment on Tiangong-1's threat to ongoing NASA missions, the space agency told Business Insider it "actually doesn't track any debris." Ailor says pieces of China's space station are "really unlikely" to hit anyone or anything on Earth. "It's not impossible, but since the beginning of the space age ... a woman who was brushed on the shoulder in Oklahoma is the only one we're aware of who's been touched by a piece of space debris," he said. Should a hunk of titanium, a computer, or another piece smash through a roof or windshield, however, international space law covers compensation for victims. "It's China's responsibility if someone gets hurt or property gets damaged by this," NASA's representative said. http://www.businessinsider.com/when-chinese-tiangong-1-space-station-will-crash-2018-1 Curt Lewis