Flight Safety Information January 16, 2018 - No. 012 In This Issue Incident: KLM E190 near Amsterdam on Jan 15th 2018, strange smell in cabin EVAS - Cockpit Smoke Protection Incident: TAAG B737 near Luanda on Jan 13th 2018, engine shut down in flight Accident: TAAG B773 at Lisbon on Jan 12th 2018, tyre tread separates on landing Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet flies low over Stafford before making emergency landing Alaska Airlines jet hits de-icing truck in Boston Pilots blame engine fault for passenger jet accident Pilot error blamed for low-flying AirAsia flight Libya's Afriqiyah Airways suspends flights following airport attack Airnorth cancels flights across Northern Territory, citing pilot shortage (Australia) 'Big Changes' for FSF's Aviation Risk Audit Program NATA Launches Supplemental Safety Training Program Q400 operators ordered to inspect nose-gear link With only one runway, Mumbai's airport is a traveller's nightmare Boeing's bid to buy Embraer could see Brazilian engineers work on the 797 Supersonic plane travel: Boom Technologies, Spike and Aerion aim to bring back ultra-fast jets India to Split Flag Carrier Into Four Parts Ahead of Sale This Year's Corporate Space Race: Getting Ready for Astronauts, Then Tourists POSITION AVAILABLE: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PNG ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION COMMISSION GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Call for Papers - ISASI 2018 Incident: KLM E190 near Amsterdam on Jan 15th 2018, strange smell in cabin A KLM Embraer ERJ-190, registration PH-EZA performing flight KL-1690 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Amsterdam (Netherlands) with 77 people on board, was descending towards Amsterdam when the crew donned their oxygen masks, declared PAN reporting a strange smell in the cabin, no visible fumes, no indication of a fire. The aircraft was cleared for high speed during the descent and landed safely on Amsterdam's runway 18C about 20 minutes later. The aircraft is still on the ground in Amsterdam about 9 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b3b0d21&opt=256 Back to Top Back to Top Incident: TAAG B737 near Luanda on Jan 13th 2018, engine shut down in flight A TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737-700, registration D2-TBK performing flight DT-461 from Luanda to Lubango (Angola) with 75 passengers, had just reached cruise FL380 when the crew needed to shut one of the engines (CFM56) down due to the failure of the engine and returned to Luanda for a safe landing on runway 25 about 55 minutes after departure. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b3b08f4&opt=256 Back to Top Accident: TAAG B773 at Lisbon on Jan 12th 2018, tyre tread separates on landing A TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration D2-TEJ performing flight DT-652 from Luanda (Angola) to Lisbon (Portugal), landed in Lisbon's runway 21 when the tread of the aft inboard right main tyre separated, broken pieces punctured flaps and caused damage to hydraulic lines as well as the right hand engine (GE90). The aircraft slowed safely and taxied to the apron. The aircraft was unable to depart for the return flight DT-653 and is still on the ground in Lisbon about 75 hours later. A replacement Boeing 777-200 registration D2-TED positioned to Lisbon the following day and performed the return flight as DT- 6531 with a delay of about 24 hours. The tyre missing its tread: http://avherald.com/h?article=4b3b0735&opt=256 Back to Top Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet flies low over Stafford before making emergency landing An Ethiopian Airlines plane had to turn around for an emergency landing at Dulles airport, and was seen flying low over Stafford County on Monday. An Ethiopian Airlines plane flew low over parts of Stafford County Monday as it returned to Dulles International Airport for an emergency landing because of a possible mechanical problem. The Boeing 777 en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, took off from Dulles at 11:40 a.m. before safely returning about an hour later, according to flight tracker website flightradar24. Andrew Trull, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said the plane turned around "out of an abundance of caution" after a warning light indicated a potential hydraulic failure. It landed at Dulles without incident. "Long story short: A mechanical issue caused the plane to return," Trull said. The plane was more than 9,000 feet above ground when it entered Stafford airspace, but its altitude dropped to 4,400 feet as it flew over Mountain View Road on its way back to Dulles. Witnesses said the plane released fuel over Stafford, and a picture appears to back them up. It's not uncommon for pilots to dump fuel-which vaporizes in the air-to lower a plane's weight before an emergency landing. Trull, the airports authority spokesman, said the plane "may have jettisoned some fuel to meet safe landing weight limits." http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/local/stafford/ethiopian-airlines-passenger-jet-flies-low-over- stafford-before-making/article_a4cdda31-95cf-5fcd-95c7-26e79d650ecc.html Back to Top Alaska Airlines jet hits de-icing truck in Boston * No injuries reported A plane heading to Portland, Oregon accidentally collided with a parked de-icing truck on the taxiway at Logan International Airport Monday afternoon before takeoff, the Massachusetts Port Authority said. According to the Boston Globe and WCVB, no one was inside the truck and no one was injured. Alaska Airlines said the 166 passengers on Flight 33 were returned to the boarding gate and placed on other flights. The plane suffered minor damage to its left wing, according to The Associated Press. Passengers told WCVB it felt like the plane ran over a speed bump. "A little bump turned into a big inconvenience," said Rick Gencarelli from Portland. Gencarelli said despite the inconvenience, the airline handled the mishap well. "The beer is really good here, so that's an upside," he said. Alaska Airlines says it is investigating the cause of the crash. http://www.wfmz.com/news/cnn-national/alaska-airlines-jet-hits-deicing-truck-in-boston/686482287 Back to Top Pilots blame engine fault for passenger jet accident Pilots of a passenger jet that almost plunged into the sea after skidding off a runway during landing in northern Turkey claimed the plane's engine malfunctioned. In their initial testimony to investigators, the two pilots on the Pegasus Airlines flight from Ankara to the city of Trabzon said the right engine "gained speed suddenly" before the plane veered off over the seaside cliff with its 162 passengers late Saturday. The incident took place after landing during maneuvers to park the plane. The plane ended up stuck in mud on a steep cliff, barely 25 meters away from the Black Sea. The pilots told investigators that the engine fault threw the plane off direction and made it hurl off the cliff. Authorities are still investigating the exact cause of the accident, while both pilots tested negative for alcohol consumption. Meanwhile, a special crane was transported to the area where the airplane was still stuck in the mud as of yesterday. None of the passengers or crewmembers was hurt, and they were evacuated to safety soon after the incident. Investigators are now examining the plane's flight recorder - better known as the black box. Authorities have retrieved the right engine of the plane that the pilots said malfunctioned after it tore off from the plane's wing during the accident and got thrown into the sea. https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2018/01/16/pilots-blame-engine-fault-for-passenger-jet-accident Back to Top Pilot error blamed for low-flying AirAsia flight The pilots of an Air Asia flight to Perth that flew 200m too low had a limited understanding of how the flight management guidance computer would affect the use of the aircraft's automated systems, a report has found. The incident happened late on February 19, 2016 as the pilots of flight QZ536 made their final approach to Perth Airport's runway 06 over Dalkeith towards South Perth. According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report issued this morning "during the flight down from Bali, the captain's flight management and guidance computer (FMGC1) failed. "Due to the failure, the flight crew elected to use the first officer's duplicate systems. For the aircraft's arrival in Perth there was moderate to severe turbulence forecast below 3,000 ft with reports of windshear. The crew commenced an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 21" the report said. The report said that during the [first] approach, the flight crew made a number of flight mode changes and autopilot selections, however some of those flight modes and autopilot selections relied on data from the failed FMGC1 and the autothrust system commanded increased engine thrust. The ATSB said that "the crew did not expect this engine response and elected to conduct a go-around." But with an increasing crosswind on runway 21, the crew accepted a change of runway, to conduct a non-precision instrument approach to runway 06. "During the approach to runway 06, the crew descended the aircraft earlier than normal, but believed that they were on the correct flight path profile," the ATSB said. "While descending, both flight crew became concerned that they could not visually identify the runway, and focused their attention outside the aircraft. At about that time, the approach controller received a "below minimum safe altitude" warning for the aircraft. The controller alerted the crew of their low altitude and instructed them to conduct a go-around. The crew then conducted another approach to runway 06 and landed." The ATSB said that it "identified that the flight crew were unsuccessful in resolving the failure of the FMGC and had a limited understanding of how the failure affected the aircraft's automation during the ILS approach. This resulted in the unexpected increase in engine thrust, which prompted a go-around." It added that "the flight crew had a significant increase in workload due to the unresolved system failures, the conduct of a go-around and subsequent runway change. This, combined with the crew's unfamiliarity and preparation for the runway 06 instrument approach, meant they did not effectively manage the descent during that approach." "The flight crew's focus of attention outside the aircraft distracted them during a critical stage of flight. The crew did not detect that they had descended the aircraft below the specified segment minimum safe altitude." The ATSB said that it is essential for flight crew to "adherence to standard operating procedures and correctly monitoring the aircraft and approach parameters provides assurance that the instrument approach can be safely completed." It warned that "a go-around should be immediately carried out if the approach becomes unstable or the landing runway cannot be identified from the minimum descent altitude or missed approach point." AirAsia Indonesia said in a statement that it took corrective actions immediately following the incident, before the publication of the final ATSB report: Those steps included grounding the flight crew while an internal investigation into the incident was held and briefing all pilots on its findings and those in the ATSB report. It has also reviewed recovery procedures and introduced additional training for pilots. The airline said "strict maintenance schedules and robust management systems were in place to monitor and prevent similar incidents from reoccurring". The statement said AirAsia continued to pass all safety and security audits conducted by various international regulators. The airline said it remained committed to complying with all safety and security regulations. It said the safety of passengers and crew was AirAsia's top priority. See Indonesia AirAsia's safety rating here; https://www.airlineratings.com/ratings/airasia-indonesia/ https://thewest.com.au/business/aviation/pilot-error-blamed-for-low-flying-airasia-flight-ng-b88715189z Back to Top Libya's Afriqiyah Airways suspends flights following airport attack Security services closed Tripoli's M'etiga international airport on Monday morning Libya's state-owned Afriqiyah Airways on Monday suspended all flights after heavy clashes damaged a number of its airplanes. "As a result of the clashes at M'etiga international airport, we regret to inform you that our aircraft fleet (five airplanes, including a cargo plane) has suffered great damage. This damage, unfortunately, prevents the fleet from flying again." Afriqiyah Airways said in a press release, Xinhua reported. The company said that flights from Misurata and M'etiga airports are suspended until further notice, including regular scheduled flights. Security services closed Tripoli's M'etiga international airport on Monday morning, following a heavy attack by an armed group that killed 16 people and injured 48 others, including civilians. The UN-backed government issued a statement condemning the attack, saying it "threatened the lives of travellers, nearby residents and the safety of air traffic." The airport witnessed frequent clashes and armed attacks, most recently in October 2017. However, Monday's attack is the most violent one the airport has witnessed so far, as gunmen attacked the air hub and the prison inside it, where hundreds of terrorists have been detained over the past few years. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/libyas-afriqiyah-airways-suspends-flights-following-airport-attack Back to Top Airnorth cancels flights across Northern Territory, citing pilot shortage (Australia) Airnorth E120 plane. Airnorth has not ruled out further cancellations due to pilot coverage. Regional airline Airnorth has cancelled flights across the Northern Territory, forcing frustrated passengers to drive hundreds of kilometres to make connecting flights out of Darwin. The airline has issued an apology for the disruption, citing a lack of qualified pilots to operate its aircraft. The Darwin-Gove Peninsula route is among those affected, with passengers receiving cancellation notices just hours before their scheduled departure. "Regional airlines are stuck in the middle because the major and international airlines take [experienced staff] from us," Airnorth COO Peter McNally said. "The larger airlines are more attractive to pilots as a career. We've lost 55 per cent of our pilots within the last 18 months." Though predictions of a global pilot shortage had been anticipated by regional and metropolitan carriers across the country, Airnorth said its impact has proven "more prolonged" than previously expected. Airline woes symptomatic of a 'global problem' The NT crisis follows a decision by the Federal Government to rescind two-year working visas for foreign pilots last year, which have since been reinstated. Many in the industry said Australia's major carriers had relied on 457 visas to recruit experienced captains. "There are plenty of pilots qualified to co-pilot," said Mike Higgins, CEO of the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA). "The actual shortage is in experienced captains, [which] is the result of deep and sustained recruitment activity by international carriers. "The 457 mechanism had been used for decades, [and] we've had to cancel the importation of those captains to fill the gaps." The RAAA said it had lost "around nine or 10 months" of recruitment activity because of the visas for pilots being being axed, and that Airnorth's woes were symptomatic of attempts by the industry to play "catch up". More cancellations, disruptions possible Residents as far as Western Australia have reported being "caught out" by the cancellations. "They've had an atrocious ability to arrive on time, [planes] just not showing up, it's been going on for the last six to 12 months," said Nhulunbuy resident David Suter, who had his flight from Darwin to Cairns via Gove cancelled on Sunday. "It doesn't really help surety of business because people commute between Darwin and Gove." Airnorth said it was filling vacant pilot positions, but that new recruits were required to undertake mandatory simulator and flight training before they were qualified to operate its aircraft. "This process takes time, and we are currently spending in excess of half a million dollars on recruitment and training in order to continue to provide safe and reliable services for all our customers," Airnorth said in a statement. "Whilst we have consolidated our schedule to reduce frequency on some routes over the next few months, there may be additional schedule changes and cancellations required due to pilot coverage." Federal Member for Solomon Luke Gosling said those concerned about regional air services should make a submission to the Senate Inquiry into rural and regional affairs and transport. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-16/airnorth-cancels-flights-amid-global-pilot-shortage/9332260 Back to Top 'Big Changes' for FSF's Aviation Risk Audit Program The Flight Safety Foundation said there are "big changes" ahead for its Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) aircraft operator audit program. "Based on industry feedback and lessons learned during more than 495 BARS program audits for more than 150 aircraft operators, we have identified a number of areas where we can help enhance global aviation safety for contracted operators," said program managing director David Anderson. Starting this year, the eighth of the program, BARS will offer two audit streams leading to registration: comprehensive and core audits. "The comprehensive audit stream, which covers Gold- and Silver- designated aircraft operators, will provide an enhanced level of recognition and evaluation for the operator," Anderson said. "The core audit stream will allow Green operators to remain in the program at a reduced level of commitment." Operators will be able to move between the two streams. According to Anderson, "Offering the two audit streams will extend the evaluation of implementation and deliver greater flexibility on audit fees and requirements." Other changes to the program include introducing negotiable fees for audits, revising audit checklists, and instituting a limit on the number of extensions to audit and closeout deadlines. For many customers, the cost of their audits is "likely to fall because we are allowing audit companies and their auditors to charge flexible fees," Anderson said. "In addition, the portion of audit fees that usually comes back to FSF [from its auditing contractors] has been reduced." Anderson said he is "confident that our three major stakeholder groups-BARS member organizations, audit companies, and aircraft operators-will see significant benefits" from the changes. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-01-15/big-changes-fsfs-aviation-risk- audit-program Back to Top NATA Launches Supplemental Safety Training Program The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has launched the Supplemental Safety Training Program as a means to rapidly respond to urgent industry safety issues. The first course, developed for FBOs, addresses the risk of jet fuel contamination with diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). This follows a jet-A contamination incident in Omaha, Nebraska, in November. This program, available free to all aviation businesses, provides background information on DEF, identifying possible risk contamination pathways and mitigation steps. "NATA is first and foremost committed to providing its members every possible safety enhancing tool. This new responsive resource was made possible by the hard work and dedication of the NATA Safety Committee and establishes a framework to quickly address future industry safety concerns," said NATA president Martin Hiller. Companies not currently participating in NATA's Safety 1st program need to contact the association to access the free Supplemental Safety Training course. This new program complements NATA's General Aviation Misfueling Prevention awareness program, which has been completed by more than 7,000 aviation professionals to date. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-01-15/nata-launches-supplemental- safety-training-program Back to Top Q400 operators ordered to inspect nose-gear link Canadian authorities have ordered Bombardier Q400 operators to carry out inspections of specific nose- gear components to prevent possible collapse on touchdown. Transport Canada has issued an airworthiness directive instructing operators to examine the lower lock link on the nose-gear. The inspections need to be carried out before the link has reached 8,000 cycles. Transport Canada's directive follows an incident in which a Q400's nose-gear was jammed in a partially- extended position, resulting in the gear's collapsing during landing. Investigators found that bushings located on the lock link in the nose-gear locking mechanism had become loose. "This condition was present due to insufficient interference fit which resulted in some bushing outer diameter wear and fretting," says the directive. "A dislodged bushing will also cause the bushing sealant to break. Broken sealant allows moisture ingress and corrosion that can accelerate free play build-up." The directive says that excessive free play on the lock link can prevent full retraction or deployment of the nose-gear. Bombardier issued a service bulletin in September last year detailing inspection and replacement of the lock link. Transport Canada has not identified the incident which led to the directive, which takes effect on 24 January. But Polish investigators have opened a probe into a LOT Q400 nose-gear collapse at Warsaw on 10 January. Investigation authority PKBWL says the aircraft (SP-EQG) suffered "technical problems" with the nose- gear while conducting flight LO3924. None of the 59 passengers and four crew members was injured. UK regional carrier Flybe also suffered a landing incident last November at Belfast during which the nose- gear of the aircraft (G-JEDU) failed to deploy. www.flightglobal.com Back to Top With only one runway, Mumbai's airport is a traveller's nightmare A SpiceJet passenger aircraft taxis on the runway at the airport next to a slum area in Mumbai December 19, 2014. What a mess. One of India's busiest airports is turning out to be a nightmare for travellers. Flight disruptions at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) are at a five-year high, with 44% of departures and 47% of arrivals delayed in December 2017, according to data on the airport's website (pdf). CSIA opened in 2014, eight years after a GVK-led consortium, now known as Mumbai International Airport, won the contract to renovate and manage the main Mumbai airport. It is now the country's second-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, receiving 45.2 million people in 2017 (pdf), as per Airports Authority of India (AAI) data. A major issue impacting the on-time performance at the airport is its single-runway facility. In May 2017, the Mint newspaper reported that CSAI beat London's Gatwick airport to become the world's busiest single-runway airport, handling one flight every 65 seconds. "Mumbai, with a single runway, manages more than 950 flights per day," an official from Mumbai International Airport told Quartz, requesting anonymity. "If traffic congestion happens on account of delays from other airports, there's little we can do about that." After all, traffic irregularities on the Delhi-Mumbai route, which is one of the world's busiest, majorly impact on-time performance. In particular, the official explained, delays caused by fog in Delhi during winters have a cascading effect on Mumbai. "It's not the airport that is responsible for on-time performance, it's the airlines," the official added. Another major cause of disruption involved air traffic control (ATC) issues, which caused 36% of all delays, the Economic Times newspaper reported. Moreover, things are unlikely to look up in coming years as the AAI not only has to contend with increasing traffic, but also manpower issues. "The AAI has implemented a rule that says one set of ATC officials can train on only one kind of radar- there are two, viz. en route radar and approach radar. Earlier, they used to be trained on both," AAI deputy general manager (airport safety) Mangala Narasimhan told the newspaper. "Now when the permits of the former kind lapse, there will be an artificial shortage of ATC officials. That is expected to happen from March 2018." For now, the possibility of timely landings and takeoffs at the Mumbai airport seems a flight of fancy. https://qz.com/1180239/mumbai-airport-nearly-half-of-all-flights-delayed-in-december/ Back to Top Boeing's bid to buy Embraer could see Brazilian engineers work on the 797 SEATTLE - The revelation last month that Boeing was in talks to acquire control of Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer may have seemed like a bolt from the blue, but the U.S. company has quietly explored such a deal twice before. The previous efforts indicate Boeing's strategic interest includes the acquisition of engineering talent to work on its next new jet. According to people involved with the history, Boeing took serious looks alternately at Embraer and at its Canadian rival Bombardier over the past 18 years. In May 1999, then-Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Alan Mulally commissioned the first study of the possibility of buying Embraer. There was even a family connection: Daniel Da Silva, now a senior executive at Boeing Capital Corporation, the jetmaker's airplane financing unit, was a principal in that Boeing study. His father, Ozilio da Silva, was one of Embraer's founders, its first chief operating officer and later the jetmaker's chief executive, though he left the company in 1991. An executive familiar with Boeing's approaches to Embraer over the years, who asked to remain anonymous because he spoke without company authorization, said the impetus for the approach then was to bolster the future of the jet Boeing inherited from McDonnell Douglas, the Long Beach-built 717. Embraer was developing its 70- and 90-seat E-jets and the idea was to encourage it to engineer as much commonality as possible with the 106- to 117- seat 717, creating a family of airplanes for the otherwise orphan 717 jet. Not another de Havilland The study's conclusion was very positive and Mulally was set to move ahead. However, Harry Stonecipher, then president of Boeing, nixed the move, according to three people with knowledge of what happened. Apparently judging that Canada offered less risk than Brazil, Stonecipher instead switched targets and launched an effort to buy Bombardier's aerospace division. Commercial Airplanes executive Gary Scott and then-Boeing chief financial officer Deborah Hopkins were the leads in that push. The two shuttled back and forth to Montreal for detailed talks with the Beaudoin family, which controlled Bombardier. One issue was wariness among top Boeing executives who remembered the disastrous mid-1980s purchase of de Havilland Canada, which made various seaplanes and also the Dash 8 turboprop flown today as the Q400 by regional airlines including Seattle-based Horizon Air. On the de Havilland deal, Boeing "lost a million dollars a day every day for three straight years," said Joe Ozimek, a retired executive who held senior positions both in Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Boeing Capital Corporation. Boeing cut its losses and sold de Havilland to Bombardier in 1992. In the end, the effort at buying Bombardier seven years later foundered when the Beaudoin family demanded a price Boeing deemed too high. "Boeing could have been interested in buying all of Bombardier's aerospace unit, but not at the price they were asking," said Scott, now retired, in an interview. Boeing discontinued production of the orphan 717 in 2006. Acquisition blocked Meanwhile, Scott had left Boeing in 2002 and moved to Canada. A couple years later, he joined Bombardier as head of its new commercial airplane program and launched the CSeries jet - the first new aircraft by a regional jetmaker intruding upon Boeing's slice of the sky. In 2005, Scott visited Mulally and suggested that Boeing could collaborate on the CSeries. Boeing set up another internal study, this time tasked with assessing which regional jetmaker would make the best partner. By then, Stonecipher was long gone. When Embraer came out way ahead, Mulally rebuffed Scott and Boeing pushed to structure a deal with the Brazilians. Ozimek said Boeing's main interest was in Embraer's engineering talent. It also wanted to ensure as much cockpit commonality as was practical, to make it easy for pilots to migrate from Embraer to Boeing aircraft. Acquiring Embraer would forestall it building a 737 competitor as well as address the competitive threat from Bombardier's CSeries. But the company hit a barrier: The Brazilian government wanted to retain control of this crown jewel of the country's manufacturing, and especially to protect Embraer's military aircraft division. In the end, that blocked an acquisition, though discussions on potential collaboration continued. The executive familiar with the various approaches to Embraer said that when Boeing was vacillating between going ahead with a revamped 737 featuring new engines - the 737 MAX - versus developing an all-new small airplane to replace the 737, there was discussion inside the company as to whether to involve Embraer in the latter project. But when Airbus in 2011 launched the A320neo with new engines, that precipitated Boeing's decision to ditch the new small airplane in favor of the MAX. Later, in 2012, Boeing and Embraer instead settled for an agreement to engage in broad collaboration. The two agreed for example to maintain basic cockpit similarities, using steering columns to pilot their jets rather than an Airbus-style side-stick. That collaboration has continued since then. In 2016, Boeing agreed to jointly market Embraer's KC-390, a military airlift and aerial refueling aircraft. Not another 787 Airbus's move in October to acquire the CSeries program was almost certainly the catalyst for Boeing to resume its effort to buy all or part of Embraer. If closed, an acquisition could bring Embraer's engineering resources to bear on Boeing's next all-new jet development program, the 797, whether that's the potential New Mid-market Airplane that Boeing is currently pitching to airlines or a 737 Replacement. Yet according to reports, Boeing faces the same stumbling block now that it did in the mid-2000s. The U.S. jetmaker is trying to offer assurances to the Brazilian government while holding out for full control of at least the commercial airplane side of Embraer. The harsh lessons of the 787 Dreamliner program probably factor into Boeing's position in those talks. On the 787, Boeing partnered with major suppliers in Italy, Japan and the U.S., handing them engineering work and depending on them both to deliver their parts and over time to reduce the cost of those parts. But those partners weren't up to the production task, resulting in unprecedented delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns. And they preferred to reap the benefits of any gradual cost savings themselves, rather than passing them on to Boeing. The result was a financial nightmare. Boeing was forced to buy out the partner plants in South Carolina. It will probably never recover all of its 787 investment. "That was a solid lesson learned," said Ozimek. To avoid a repeat of that debacle, he said, Boeing is unlikely to be interested in having Embraer engineers help develop a new Boeing plane. They'd have to be Boeing engineers. "That's why Boeing wants to control Embraer," Ozimek said. "It wants to own them, not to have a partnership." https://www.dailyrepublic.com/wires/business/boeings-bid-to-buy-embraer-could-see-brazilian- engineers-work-on-the-797/ Back to Top Supersonic plane travel: Boom Technologies, Spike and Aerion aim to bring back ultra-fast jets The Spike Aerospace supersonic jet S-512. Supersonic passenger travel, which died out with the Concorde's demise in 2003, will make a comeback by the mid-2020s if three entrepreneurial US-based companies can make jets quiet and efficient enough to win over buyers and fliers. Fifteen years ago, Boeing cancelled plans to build the near-supersonic Sonic Cruiser, the last big attempt by a major manufacturer to speed up commercial travel. Now Japan Airlines and Virgin Group are backing one of the three US supersonic projects, Denver-based Boom Technology, which plans a 55-seat all business class jet. Boeing abandoned its Sonic Cruiser project 15 years ago. Lockheed Martin is partnering with Aerion to develop smaller supersonic business jets, with Spike Aerospace also targeting the private jet market given many see the super-rich as the likeliest early adopters of supersonic travel. Concorde was developed in the 1960s, meaning this is hardly a new technology. But the programme was government-backed, with only 14 jets ever delivered to then-government owned British Airways and Air France. Other airline orders evaporated as the purchase price soared and they were eventually retired as maintenance costs rose and passenger revenue fell. "This is more about engines and economics than it is about airframes," Richard Aboulafia, the vice president of analysis at aerospace research firm Teal Group, said of the challenges of a supersonic revival. To make the project economics stack up the engines need to be far more fuel efficient and less noisy than those used by Concorde or fighter jets. That has proven tough to engineer, especially at higher speeds like the Concorde's Mach 2, which halved the travel time from London to New York to 3.5 hours. 'REALISTIC PROJECT' Engine manufacturers and jet makers have spent decades improving fuel efficiency, expanding range and reducing noise. But to get up to mach speed, a supersonic jet requires an engine core more like those on the commercial jets of the 1970s and 1980s which noisily gobble more air and fuel. Boom Technologies has had investment from Japan Airlines and Virgin Group. "A large fraction of the benefits we have in efficiency and noise reduction we are going to lose as soon as we have to go back to that sort of architecture," said Daniel Edgington-Mitchell, an aerospace engineering lecturer at Melbourne's Monash University. Aerion, the most advanced of the proposed supersonic jet projects, is working with GE Aviation to develop an engine based on a core used in F-16 fighters and Boeing 737s that was developed in the 1970s, a GE spokesman said. In a sign of the challenges involved using an older engine core rather than spending $1 billion-plus to engineer a new one, Aerion has reduced the jet's planned speed from Mach 1.6 to 1.4. Today's top business jets fly at around Mach 0.9 and commercial jets at Mach 0.85. Jeff Miller, Aerion's head of marketing, said the speed had fallen to meet noise standards and due to temperature limits involved with adapting an existing engine core. Aerion, chaired by billionaire businessman Robert Bass, plans for the 12-seat, $US120 million ($A153 million) jet to make its first test flight in 2023, with entry into service in 2025. Lockheed Martin is partnering with Aerion to develop smaller supersonic business jets. "Aerion has researched the problems since 2003 and therefore reached the highest degree of realism," Leeham Co analyst Bjorn Fehrm said, comparing it to the loftier supersonic ambitions of Boom and Spike. "If one wants to go faster, a suitable core is harder to find." FASTER IS BETTER Boom wants a $US200 million jet capable of Mach 2.2 and Spike aims for a $US100 million jet at Mach 1.6, down from an earlier Mach 1.8. Both want their jets to enter service in 2023, two years earlier than Aerion. Several industry sources said those timelines appeared unrealistic because the companies have yet to select engines and will face testing and certification challenges. Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said the company was examining an adaptation of an existing engine as well as a clean-sheet option, with more to say next year. Spike CEO Vik Kachoria said his company was in talks with two engine suppliers. Both are working on smaller demonstrator aircraft with different engines designed to prove the concept is achievable within their proposed timeframes. Engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings said it was interested in supersonic work. United Technologies's Pratt & Whitney division said it was "not currently" working with Boom and did not respond to a question on Spike, while GE did not provide comment on either project. Scholl said airlines need a speed of at least Mach 2 to make the supersonic business case stake up because that would shave one day off a trans-Atlantic itinerary and two days off trans-Pacific trips. For now, only over-water itineraries are under consideration due to widespread bans on civilian supersonic flights over land. "Faster speeds not only are better for passengers, they are better for airlines, who get to turn the plane around and fly more segments in the same day, possibly even with the same crew," Scholl said. Japan Airlines and Virgin Group, which declined to comment, have a combined 30 options over Boom jets, with three other as-yet-unnamed customers signed on for another 46. Former British Airways chief Concorde pilot Mike Bannister said the biggest hurdle for Boom was to develop jets at a price that would stack up for airlines, or early orders would evaporate as they had with Concorde. "The technical challenges, whilst great, are surmountable," said Bannister, who was the captain of the last-ever commercial Concorde flight and has advised Boom's team. "It is an absolute delight to be able to see on the horizon the prospect of another supersonic airliner, particularly for my family because my daughter who is 24 is a commercial pilot. I would love to see my daughter flying it." http://www.traveller.com.au/supersonic-plane-travel-boom-technologies-spike-and-aerion-aim-to-bring- back-ultrafast-jets-h09mr9#ixzz54LIM4ePy Back to Top India to Split Flag Carrier Into Four Parts Ahead of Sale * Air India, Air India Express to be offered as single company * Sale should be completed by end of 2018, minister says India will break up its debt-burdened flag carrier into four separate companies and offer to sell at least 51 percent in each of them as part of a disinvestment proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The core airline business comprising Air India and Air India Express -- the low-cost overseas arm -- will be offered as one company, and the process will be completed by the end of 2018, Junior Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha said in an interview Monday. Its regional arm, ground handling, and engineering operations will also be sold separately in the same process. A successful sale of Air India -- with $7.9 billion in debt, five subsidiaries and a joint venture, and a combined workforce of 27,000 -- is crucial for Modi, who wants to showcase his credentials as a reformist attempting to steer the state away from running businesses. The airline, which is surviving on a taxpayer-funded bailout, has strained government finances for decades, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said last year that money spent on Air India could have been used for education. Unlocking Growth "The aviation sector is a very fast growing sector, with really exciting opportunities for all participants, so we felt all of this will unlock growth and competitiveness of Air India group," Sinha said. "We expect it to be a very bright future for its employees." Sinha declined to name potential bidders but said management control will be retained by local investors. The government altered foreign investment rules last week, allowing foreign airlines to own as much as 49 percent of Air India. Investors' interest will be sought by end of this month with details on Air India's core and non-core debt and assets, he added. The government will add most of the non-core debt owed by the carrier to its own balance sheet, while borrowings linked to core operations will be retained by the unit on offer, Sinha said. A so-called special purpose vehicle will hold the unsustainable debt of the airline and the government is making "every effort" to protect employees. Air India has been unprofitable since its 2007 merger with state-owned domestic operator Indian Airlines Ltd. The company made an operating profit of about 1 billion rupees ($15.7 million) in the year through March 2016, primarily due to a slump in oil prices. It still posted a net loss of 38.4 billion rupees, according to the government. $63 Billion Investment India, the world's fastest growing major aviation market, may not sustain the current 15-20 percent growth in the long term, but will expand at about 12 percent annually. To handle the surge in passengers, the country will need investments of as much as 4 trillion rupees to expand and build new airports over the next decade-and-a-half, with the bulk of it coming from the private sector. Carriers in India, including market leader IndiGo, are set to order more than 1,000 planes as they look to tap an emerging middle class with disposable income to fly for the first time, according to Sydney-based CAPA Centre for Aviation. However, capacity constraints at the main airports in New Delhi and Mumbai mean there are hardly any landing and parking slots available. The government is in the process of implementing new airports in these two cities and, in the short-term, improving infrastructure at nearby airports to handle some of that growth. "As of now, we have very significant expansion plans underway. We've looked at the top 30 airports in the country," Sinha said. "We now have a very clear roadmap for the next 15-20 years as to what we have to do." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-15/india-to-split-flag-carrier-into-four-separate- firms-for- sale?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=bd&utm_campaign=headline&cmpId=yhoo.headline&yptr=yahoo Back to Top This Year's Corporate Space Race: Getting Ready for Astronauts, Then Tourists Boeing and SpaceX have a busy year proving they can replace NASA's defunct shuttle program. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lift off from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sept. 21, 2014. For the past seven years, American astronauts who need to get to the International Space Station have had only one option: Pay roughly $80 million to hitch a ride on a cramped Russian Soyuz rocket. Now Boeing Co. and Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. are preparing to ferry Americans to space for the first time since the Space Shuttle program went dark in 2011. If all goes well during a flurry of testing over the coming months, Boeing's CST-100 Starliner will carry two astronauts to orbit in November, followed by SpaceX's Crew Dragon in December. Those first manned flights by these companies would usher in the first-ever commercial taxi service to earth orbit in 2019, followed by a battle to tempt high-spending tourists to take a trip into space. For SpaceX the stakes couldn't be higher. The company's first launch of 2018, a classified U.S. government mission dubbed "Zuma," created a torrent of intrigue and wild conspiracy theories. The payload, a satellite built by Northrop Grumman, apparently crashed into the ocean on Jan. 7 despite a successful launch and first stage landing. Northrop and the Pentagon have so far refused to comment, while SpaceX released an extraordinary statement last week insisting its rocket "did everything correctly." The companies trying to put astronauts into space see it as a step towards a near-future in which space travel reaches beyond low-earth orbit. For Musk, proving that SpaceX can safely fly NASA personnel is an important step towards his ultimate goal of bringing human civilization to Mars. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has goals that are no less lofty than Musk: In speeches, he is fond of predicting that the first person to step foot on the Red Planet will get there in a Boeing rocket. Boeing's roots in space are long and deep, from leading the Saturn rocket program in the 1960s to running the International Space Station. The corporate space rivals also have dueling interests in tourism. SpaceX has said that it will fly paying sightseers around the moon in its Dragon shuttle once its crewed missions for NASA are operational. Boeing plans to market seats on its craft via Space Adventures, the firm that has helped wealthy civilians book rides to orbit on Russian craft. Successfully launching demonstration missions in 2018 would also end America's dependence on the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, to reach the space station before NASA's current arrangement runs out in 2019. And President Trump has expressed interest in returning to the moon. "It's a point of national pride," said John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. "You can't be a space-faring country if you can't send your machines and people into space. The Trump administration is emphasizing the idea of leadership. A country unable to send people into space on its own is not a leader." NASA awarded SpaceX and Boeing combined contracts worth up to $6.8 billion to fly American astronauts to the space station in 2014, choosing two companies for the unique public-private partnership to assure safe, reliable and cost effective access to space and avoid the perils of one provider having a monopoly. Congress is set to receive an update Wednesday on the progress of this "Commercial Crew" program. John Mulholland, vice president and general manager of Boeing's commercial crew program, and Dr. Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of Build and Flight Reliability for SpaceX, are among those slated to testify. The aggressive timeline this year, following delays building and testing new spacecraft by both companies, have already pushed the initial flights more than a year behind schedule. The U.S. Government Accountability Office warned in a May 2017 report that certifying the new vehicles to meet rigid safety guidelines to carry humans to space could easily slip into 2019. But when new crafts are being developed and human lives are potentially at risk, NASA, Boeing and SpaceX are all on the same page: better safe than sorry. "Flying reliably and safely is more important than soon," said Kathy Lueders, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew program. "Boeing and SpaceX have both done extensive testing in the face of a very stringent time frame. We want them to fly as fast as they can, understanding that when they fly they will be flying our nation's crew members." Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule. The exterior of the Boeing capsule may look like a throwback to the Apollo era, when the Chicago-based company was a major NASA subcontractor, but the interior will be more reminiscent of Boeing's most advanced jetliner, the 787 Dreamliner. It will be operated by touchscreen panels rather than dials, with astronauts searching tablets rather than paper manuals for detailed instructions. The Starliner will take eight hours to reach the space station, Boeing's John Mulholland said in an interview, rather than the two-day voyage that was typical for NASA's shuttle voyages. And it will return to a western U.S. desert, cushioned by air bags and parachutes, rather than splash down in the ocean like its 1960s forebears. Boeing is building three capsules: one to carry out the launch pad abort test this summer, a second for a dry run without crew, and a third for its first human mission. Mulholland said he expects to wrap up by mid-year tests of structural loads and propulsions systems on two already-built modules. While there's a risk of costly retrofits that comes with building new craft before testing is completed, Boeing purposefully staggered the "major build sets" behind testing to give it time incorporate any changes. Boeing propulsion engineer Monica Hopkins, wearing a newly-designed spacesuit, climbs out of a mockup of the CST-100 Starliner crew module, on Jan. 25, 2017. Boeing is already studying how to expand its market beyond the NASA contract, whether it is spurring new destinations in space like Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable hotel. The Starliner could also provide a ride to space for countries that aren't part of part of the current coalition supporting the International Space Station. "The job, I think, for our team right now, is to start the initial flight," Mulholland said. "That I believe has held back the emergence of other destinations, other human space transportation." SpaceX's Dragon shuttle. Musk, who is also the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., designed SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft from the beginning with the goal of one day carrying humans. The company, based in Hawthorne, California, has already made several supply runs to the International Space Station for NASA. The SpaceX Crew Dragon includes several changes, such as an emergency escape system, first tested in 2015, designed to carry astronauts to safety in the case of a launch failure. The company has six Crew Dragon modules in various stages of production and testing. "SpaceX continues to target 2018 for the first demonstration missions with and without crew under NASA's commercial crew program," said Eva Behrend, a spokeswoman for SpaceX. "In 2017, significant progress was made toward the production, qualification and launch of Crew Dragon - one of the safest and most advanced human spaceflight systems ever built - and we are set to meet the additional milestones needed to launch our demonstration missions this year." Aesthetics are also top of mind. Here's the marketing copy from the SpaceX website, which highlights the luxurious appeal of its spacecraft for future tourists: Dragon was designed to be an enjoyable ride. With four windows, passengers can take in views of Earth, the Moon and the wider Solar System right from their seats, which are made from the highest-grade carbon fiber and Alcantara cloth. Unlike the vintage Soyuz rockets and capsules, which launch from Kazakhstan and can only carry three people at a time, Boeing and SpaceX have designed vehicles capable of carrying as many as seven people-and in far more comfort. The Dragon's interior. "A Soyuz capsule is as small as you can be," said retired astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year on the International Space Station and has flown on both the old NASA shuttle and its Russian counterpart. "You are elbow to elbow, and your knees are up to your chin," he recalled of the Soyuz experience during a phone interview from his home in Houston. "One clear difference, when you look at these new vehicles, is that they are a lot more roomy and spacious inside." Astronauts may not need spacious digs. But the new capsules come outfitted with extra seats beyond the four mandated by NASA, since the space-faring public is expected to participate in the next generation of space travel. "When you start talking about space tourism," Kelly said, "comfort is going to be important." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-01-16/this-year-s-corporate-space-race-getting-ready- for-astronauts-then-tourists Back to Top Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY I am a student with City University in London doing my MSc in Air Transport Management and conducting a survey for academic research on the Importance of Pilot Mental Health and Peer Support Group and would be grateful if you could complete the survey below: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/B3HGHVV Thank you in advance! Bilal Farid Curt Lewis