Flight Safety Information March 14, 2018 - No. 053 In This Issue Incident: Batik A320 at Manokwari on Mar 13th 2018, runway excursion on backtrack Incident: Aeroflot A320 at Paris on Mar 8th 2018, runway incursion Accident: US-Bangla DH8D at Kathmandu on Mar 12th 2018, runway excursion on landing Robinson R22 Accident (South Africa) After deadly Nepal crash, Bangladeshi airline defends pilots UK's air accident cops are slurping data from pilots' fondleslabs Air safety in 2018: should we be concerned about flying? Dog dies in overhead locker on United Airlines plane Op-Ed: Four years after MH370, a new era in safety is on the horizon ACSF Safety Symposium Kicks Off with Compliance Focus DOT Minces No Words in Latest FAA NextGen Audit FAA expands authorization tests for low-altitude drones Robinson helicopter boss pushing for watchlist removal (New Zealand) AVIATION PROFESSOR BRIDGES REAL, ARTIFICIAL WORLDS Summary of Congressional Hearing: "The State of Aviation Safety" Part II In a first, women can now be pilots for Iran Air Embraer reports business jet revenue slide as outlook remains flat Boeing and Guinness World Records celebrate production of 10,000th 737 jet Cathay Nears End of Tunnel With Surprise Second-Half Profit KNOW YOUR AIRCRAFT: SYSTEM TRAINING...By Captain Shem Malmquist RESEARCH SURVEY BOOKS: The Air Crash Files: Thermal Runaway and JET BLAST POSITION AVAILABLE: AVIATION OPERATIONS SAFETY SPECIALIST Position: Manager, Maintenance School Support Incident: Batik A320 at Manokwari on Mar 13th 2018, runway excursion on backtrack A Batik Air Airbus A320-200, registration PK-LAJ performing flight ID-6155 from Manokwari to Sorong (Indonesia) with 125 people on board, was backtracking runway 17 for departure and was about to turn around before the runway threshold when the right hand main gear went off paved surface disabling the aircraft. The passengers disembarked onto the runway via stairs. The aircraft needed to be digged out and towed to the apron. The aircraft is still in Manokwari 21 hours later. PK-LAJ disabled at the edge of the runway (Photo: Papua Kini): http://avherald.com/h?article=4b608e33&opt=256 Back to Top Incident: Aeroflot A320 at Paris on Mar 8th 2018, runway incursion An Aeroflot Airbus A320-200, registration VQ-BKU performing flight SU-2454 from Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), had landed on Charles de Gaulle's runway 27R and was instructed to hold short of runway 27L, which was read back correctly. An Air Transat Airbus A330-200, registration C-GTSO performing flight TS-397 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Montreal,QC (Canada) with 308 passengers and 11 crew, was cleared for takeoff from runway 27L, the crew heard the instruction to SU-2454 to hold short of runway 27L and the correct readback before commencing their takeoff roll. While accelerating through 120 KIAS the Transat crew heard ATC query SU-2454 whether they had stopped, the Aeroflot crew responded they were holding short of runway 27L. When the Transat crew passed the A320 they saw the A320 at the wrong side of the hold short line. The takeoff was continued without further incident, the aircraft landed safely in Montral. The Aeroflot continued taxi to the apron. The Canadian TSB stated: "When TSC397 passed the Airbus 320, the flight crew observed that it had stopped on the wrong side of the hold line." http://avherald.com/h?article=4b60880f&opt=256 Back to Top Accident: US-Bangla DH8D at Kathmandu on Mar 12th 2018, runway excursion on landing A US-Bangla de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration S2-AGU performing flight BS-211 from Dhaka (Bangladesh) to Kathmandu (Nepal) with 67 passengers and 4 crew, was on final approach to Kathmandu's runway 02 cleared to land, when the aircraft turned left, tower radioed "Do not turn towards runway 20, turn right" and repeated "cleared to land runway 02". The crew requested to land on runway 20, tower cleared the aircraft to land on runway 20. When tower queried the aircraft whether they had the runway in sight, the crew responded "negative". Tower queried whether they had runway 02 in sight, crew affirmed, tower cleared the flight again to land on runway 02. The aircraft collided with the ground and burst into flames at about 14:25L (0835Z), tower stopped all traffic in and out of Kathmandu and sent arriving aircraft into holds reporting an aircraft accident. 49 people including all crew perished in the accident, 22 people were rescued alive. Rescue services took 39 occupants to hospitals, however, eight of them were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. 31 bodies were recovered from the wreckage. The Ministry of Tourism reported 39 people died in the accident, 31 were rescued alive. Later in the evening Nepali Police reported that 22 people are in hospital care, 31 bodies were recovered from the wreckage, 18 people were pronounced dead at the hospitals, 49 people died in the accident. Ground observers reported the aircraft turned suddenly left, overflew two aircraft, came very close to the control tower and went out of sight. A large plume of smoke began to rise seconds later. The airport reported the aircraft veered right off the runway and slid for about 300 meters until coming to a rest on a soccer field and burst into flames. The airport later added: "The plane flew past just above the air-traffic control tower during its descent for landing. It touched down the ground just next to a parked plane, a Thai Airways, and ploughed through a fence on the east side of the airport, and plunged into the lower ground." The airline complained tower "gave the wrong signal" to the aircraft and thus caused the accident. Nepal's government have appointed an accident investigation commission to investigate the accident. A Thai Airways Boeing 777-200 registration HS-TJR was parked at Bay 2 of Kathmandu Airport. The aircraft had arrived as flight TG-319 about one hour prior to the accident and was able to depart Kathmandu about 3 hours after the accident. The aerodrome is elevated by about 10 meters above the surrounding terrain including the soccer field. After contacting Kathmandu Approach the aircraft was cleared to descend to 13,500 feet and proceed to GURAS Hold via the ROMEO standard arrival. The Aviation Herald was unable to hear the actual approach clearance to BS-211, however, all other approaches were cleared for the VOR approach runway 02, BS-211 was later instructed to "continue approach" before being handed off to tower. Metars: VNKT 120950Z 31011KT 280V350 7000 TS FEW015 FEW025CB SCT030 BKN100 20/10 Q1015 NOSIG CB TO SE NW N AND E= VNKT 120920Z 27005KT 230V320 7000 TS FEW015 FEW025CB SCT030 BKN100 20/10 Q1015 NOSIG CB TO SE W N E AND OVERHEAD= VNKT 120850Z 26007KT 140V300 7000 FEW015 FEW025CB SCT030 BKN100 21/10 Q1015 NOSIG CB TO SE AND S= VNKT 120820Z 28008KT 240V320 6000 TS FEW015 FEW025CB SCT030 22/11 Q1015 NOSIG CB TO SE S AND SW= VNKT 120750Z 25007KT 200V300 6000 FEW015 FEW025TCU SCT030 22/10 Q1016 NOSIG= VNKT 120720Z 31006KT 6000 FEW015 SCT030 22/10 Q1016 NOSIG= VNKT 120650Z 31008KT 6000 FEW015 SCT030 21/10 Q1017 NOSIG= VNKT 120620Z 27005KT 230V340 5000 HZ FEW015 SCT030 21/09 Q1018 NOSIG= VNKT 120550Z 29004KT 5000 HZ FEW015 20/10 Q1019 NOSIG= VNKT 120520Z 00000KT 4000 HZ FEW015 19/11 Q1019 NOSIG= S2-AGU on the ground (Photo: Narayan Amrit): http://avherald.com/h?article=4b5fa1cb&opt=256 Back to Top Robinson R22 Accident (South Africa) Date: 13-MAR-2018 Time: Afternoon Type: Robinson R22 Owner/operator: Registration: ZS-RNW C/n / msn: 3388 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: S of Johannesburg - South Africa Phase: Unknown Nature: Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: A helicopter crashed under unknown reasons in a field near Swartkoppies Road in Brackendowns, south of Johannesburg. The 2 occupants sustained moderate injuries. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=207455 Back to Top After deadly Nepal crash, Bangladeshi airline defends pilots KATHMANDU/DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi airline said on Tuesday its two pilots aboard the plane that crashed in Nepal killing 49 people had both received special training to land at Kathmandu airport and had successfully handled previous flights. The airline and airport authorities in Kathmandu have blamed each other in the aftermath of Monday's disaster, the Himalayan nation's worst since the 1992 crash of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft killed 167 people. Flight operator US-Bangla Airlines said it was too early to blame anyone, after a transcript of the pilots' radio conversation with ground control in Kathmandu revealed confusion over the designated runway. Captain Abid Sultan and co-pilot Prithula Rashid died when their plane crashed short of the runway, broke into pieces and caught fire, officials said. "Sultan was experienced, quite familiar with the airfield and the aircraft," US-Bangla spokesman Kamrul Islam said. "Rashid was also specially trained to make landings at the airport. This is mandatory for any pilot to fly over there. She also made landings at the airport before." Investigators have retrieved the flight data recorder from the wreckage, said Raj Kumar Chettri, the airport's general manager, and an investigation had begun into the cause of the crash. The Bombardier Q400 series aircraft was carrying 71 people from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka when it tried to land in visibility that weather officials said exceeded 6 km (4 miles), with cloud at one end of the runway and a light tailwind of six to seven knots. A Nepali army official said one of the 22 survivors being treated in Kathmandu hospitals was to be discharged on Tuesday. Families of some of the victims mourned outside the hospitals. There were 33 Nepali passengers, 32 from Bangladesh, one from China and one from the Maldives. "NO TECHNICAL GLITCHES" US-Bangla said Sultan, a former Bangladesh Air Force pilot, had landed more than 100 times at Kathmandu, where wind shear and bird hits are frequent hazards in the mountainous region. Sultan had more than 5,000 hours flying experience and was specially trained to land at the airport, Islam said. The airline also denied a media report that the aircraft had skidded off the runway during a domestic flight in 2015, saying it "never, ever encountered any accident. It had no technical glitches." Defending the pilots, airline chief executive Imran Asif cited the transcript of their radio conversation with ground control in Kathmandu issued by a German air safety website, JACDEC. Nepali students of University of Dhaka light candles in memory of the victims of the US-Bangla aircraft crash in Nepal, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal did not directly confirm the authenticity of the transcript, saying publication of such exchanges went against the law. "We suspect wrong signals from Kathmandu air traffic control room might have led to the crash," Asif told reporters on Monday. "A three-minute conversation between the pilot and the air traffic control before the landing indicated that they sent a wrong signal to the pilot." Transmissions by the Kathmandu tower controller show that, despite being cleared to land on runway 02, the flight began deviating from its course. The captain and the tower controller discussed which runway the aircraft was aiming for, the website said. At one point, the controller told the co-pilot she was heading toward runway 20, although the aircraft had been cleared for runway 02. Later, the captain took over the conversation and confirmed the plan to land at runway 02. At one stage, ground control said runway 20 had also been cleared for landing, however. The plane made an attempt to land on the runway it was originally meant to use. Chettri said most international flights are directed to runway 02 but depending on wind conditions, flights are also requested to use 20. He said police would investigate how the conversation between the pilots and control room was leaked. FLIGHTS RESUME On Tuesday, airport operations returned to normal. The aircraft wreckage lay on ground near the runway, guarded by security personnel. "Regardless of what contributed to this tragic accident, we are sorry," Asif, the airline's chief executive, wrote on networking website LinkedIn. "And we stand by the bereaved families of those who lost their loved ones." On Monday, Kathmandu airport officials said they had asked the pilots if they faced a problem after the aircraft changed course in the final descent, but the pilots said they did not. The plane was then seen circling twice in a northeast direction, Chettri said. Traffic controllers again asked the pilot if things were OK, and he replied, "Yes". The tower then told the pilot his alignment was not correct, but received no reply, Chettri said. Canadian plane maker Bombardier said it was sending an air safety investigator and a field service representative to the site. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nepal-crash/after-deadly-nepal-crash-bangladeshi-airline-defends- pilots-idUSKCN1GP0CS Back to Top UK's air accident cops are slurping data from pilots' fondleslabs 'We need the families' assistance' says AAIB A British government agency has been downloading data from iPads and similar devices used by pilots of crashed aircraft, it has emerged. The Air Accident Investigation Branch routinely recovers data from tablets found in the wreckage of aircraft crashes. Such tablets are normally used by pilots of light aircraft with navigational apps open. One of the AAIB's recent investigations was into a fatal helicopter crash in March 2017 where the aircraft flew into the Snowdonia mountain in Wales while in low cloud. The accident report, published a few days ago, reveals how the AAIB's investigators recovered screenshots from the device of the apps that were in use immediately prior to impact. "The logic board (containing the memory) and battery were still attached to the base of the iPad, which was slightly bent and dented," said the report (PDF, 27 pages). "The logic board was removed from the iPad base and slaved into a similar iPad mini whose own logic board had been removed. The memory was downloaded using a commercially available data extraction and analysis software tool." An AAIB spokesman told The Register: "While larger commercial aircraft are required to carry flight data and cockpit voice recorders, most smaller private aircraft do not carry these. Many pilots use mapping and other flight applications on personal devices, including phones and tablets. Following an accident, data stored in these can help build a picture of what happened in the runup to an accident, particularly where the occupants of the aircraft did not survive." The branch has been downloading data from digital devices over the past few years, as a glance over its reports reveals. A report from November 2016 (PDF, 114 pages long, page 11 onwards) reveals how a pilot's iPad Mini was interrogated to reveal details of the navigation apps he was using after a fatal crash. Similarly, a December 2015 report into a botched takeoff (PDF, 18 pages) of a Gulfstream commercial jet also revealed how three iPads and their GPS functionality were used to corroborate the aircraft's track across the runway edge. "We need the families' assistance - such as recalling passwords and PINs - in order to try and access this information," added the AAIB spokesman. "It often helps answer questions from bereaved family members who need to understand what happened, and is important for improving flight safety." https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/12/aaib_ipad_data_downloads/ Back to Top Air safety in 2018: should we be concerned about flying? 2017 was a spotless year for commercial travel, so why has 2018 started off so badly? This photo provided by Mizan News Agency, shows the the wreckage of a Turkish private jet that crashed on Sunday in the Zagros Mountains, outside of the city of Shahr-e Kord in Iran. Asal Bigdeli / Mizan News Agency via AP. Almost 200 people have been killed in a spate of passenger plane crashes in the first three months of this year, after a fatality-free 2017 for commercial jets. While it's impossible to draw comparisons to any of the recent aviation accidents, questions have naturally resurfaced over air safety and why it's been such a bad start to 2018 for flying. It's not easy coming off the back of what seems like an anomaly for the industry: a year without a single commercial passenger jet fatality, making it the safest on record for commercial air travel. But does the question need to be posed? Is air safety suddenly regressing? Luckily, the answer seems to be no. Air travel remains the safest mode of transport in the world, and aviation experts are quick to put paid to any comparisons between separate crashes. By the numbers Since January, there have been four major commercial jet crashes, with 196 people killed between them. That number might have doubled had the year's first crash resulted in fatalities. - January 13: Pegasus Airlines Flight 8622 skidded off the end of the runway at Trabzon Airport, Turkey and came to rest on a cliff. All 168 passengers and crew survived without any injuries, and instead the most notable thing to come out of the potential disaster was a spectacular picture which quickly went viral. A Pegasus Airlines Boing 737 passenger plane is seen struck in mud on an embankment, a day after skidding off the airstrip, after landing at Trabzon's airport on the Black Sea coast on January 14, 2018. A passenger plane late on January skidded off the runway just metres away from the sea as it landed at Trabzon's airport in northern Turkey. The Pegasus Airlines flight, with 168 people on board, had taken off from Ankara on its way to the northern province of Trabzon. No casualties were reported. / AFP - February 18: Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashed into the Zagros Mountains in Iran, killing all 60 passengers, two security guards, two flight attendants and a pilot and co-pilot. - March 12: US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211, on an international flight from Dhaka to Nepal, crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. At least 49 people, of the 71 onboard, died. This only refers to aircraft that weigh over 5700kg, which is an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) weight-defined limit. But there have also been a number of smaller crashes, which resulted in many fatalities. Not least Sunday's crash, which killed wealthy Turkish socialite and business heir Mina Basaran, 28, her seven friends and three crew members when a private plane travelling from Sharjah to Istanbul crashed in Iran. On March 6, a Russian transport plane crashed in Syria, killing all 32 people on board, and on March 12, a helicopter carrying six people crashed in New York City's East River, killing all passengers, while the pilot survived. Remains of Bangladesh's US-Bangla Flight BS211 lies on the ground as a plane takes off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, March 13, 2018. The plane, which was coming from Bangladesh, was flying low and erratically before striking the ground and erupting in flames on Monday. US-Bangla Airlines Flight BS211 from Dhaka to Kathmandu was carrying 67 passengers and four crew members. Capt Darren Straker, former Chief Air Accident Investigator at UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and independent investigator at Straker System Safety, claimed there was a common theme in some of the commercial airline crashes: an "attributable cause based on human error". "A bad start to the year? Yes, but I think last year was the aberration, the system is now back to accidents and operational liabilities," he said. "Despite the ICAO accident data trend decreasing for several years, the alarming increase in accidents where no technical cause has been prioritised, indicates that that the systemic underlying causes are still prevalent in accident causation." The Pegasus Airlines flight was likely an engine or thrust problem, he said, and the Saratov Airlines flight had been caused by ice covering the speed sensors as the heaters were not turned on, despite it being the middle of winter. The Iran Aseman Airlines, and US-Bangla crash were also avoidable, Mr Straker said. On Monday, US-Bangla's chief executive Imran Asif said there had been a "fumble from the control tower" as the plane approached the airport's single runway. Recordings of the conversation between air traffic control and the pilot appear to indicate confusion over which end of Kathmandu airport's single runway the plane was to approach. "Kathmandu, well Nepal as a country, is on the ICAO blacklist as it has failed so many audits - it cannot recover without significant investment in infrastructure," Mr Straker said. "A renewed and dedicated effort inline with the ICAO initiative 'No country left behind' can bring support and much needed expertise to countries without the effective infrastructure to support a fully enabled safety investigation process, increasing regional safety and oversight in regions where infrastructure and expertise are at a premium." However, Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said it was "totally wrong to wonder why one year has had successive incidents and previous years may not have had any". "Equally, it's unfair and irresponsible to try and connect [the crashes] in any way at all either and air transport remains by far and away the single most safest method of travel in the world". He said pilots regularly trained for different scenarios, and accidents happened in unknown quantities. The flight paths from the UAE to Turkey, over Iran, are well-used as the most efficient air corridor for that region, he said, and also helped to avoid airspace around Iraq and Syria. "Human error is always possible, and it has happened in various crashes - but the events of 2018 are still under investigation and nothing is clear about any of the crashes yet let alone pilot error being a factor," Mr Ahmad said. https://www.thenational.ae/uae/transport/air-safety-in-2018-should-we-be-concerned-about-flying- 1.712944 Back to Top Dog dies in overhead locker on United Airlines plane "Pets should never be placed in the overhead bin," United Airlines said United Airlines has accepted "full responsibility" for a dog's in-flight death after a flight attendant put the pet in the overhead locker. "This was a tragic accident that should never have happened," the airline said. The French bulldog died during a flight from Houston to New York on Monday. Witnesses said the flight attendant had asked one of the passengers to put her airline-approved pet carrier in the locker. The attendant later said she did not know the dog was in the bag. "We assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them," the US airline said in a statement. "We are thoroughly investigating what occurred to prevent this from ever happening again. Pets should never be placed in the overhead bin," the statement added. Passenger Maggie Gremminger, who said she was sitting behind the woman with the dog, gave her account of what happened. "I witnessed a United flight attendant instruct a woman to put her dog carrier with live dog in an overhead bin," she told One Mile at a Time, a travel website. "The passenger adamantly pushed back, sharing verbally that her dog was in the bag. "The flight attendant continued to ask the passenger to do it, and she eventually complied. "By the end of the flight, the dog was dead. The woman was crying in the airplane aisle on the floor." Although, overhead lockers are not air-tight, lack of oxygen could have been the cause of the dog's death, US media report. United's policy for onboard animals states that "a pet travelling in cabin must be carried in an approved hard-sided or soft-sided kennel. "The kennel must fit completely under the seat in front of the customer and remain there at all times." http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43394952 Back to Top Op-Ed: Four years after MH370, a new era in safety is on the horizon By: This is an Op-Ed contribution by former NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker, and shared by Inmarsat. Last week marked four years since the loss of MH370. It's an appropriate time to reflect on how far the aviation community has come in working to prevent a similar incident, and on the opportunities for further progress that lie ahead. Four years ago, many observers were surprised to learn that aircraft can be a notable exception to the "always-on" connectedness of the modern world. Consistent with the applicable regulations at the time, MH370 transmitted only a limited amount of data about its operations; most information was stored in the onboard flight data recorder or 'black box.' As a result, we still don't know where it is or what happened. The MH370 tragedy highlighted the critical importance of connectivity to aviation safety. Without accurate, real-time information about an aircraft's position and operating condition, safety authorities will continue to face daunting challenges in locating missing aircraft, responding to emergencies, and learning from experience to prevent future incidents. International regulators have already made considerable progress toward achieving this goal. In 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted new requirements calling for more frequent reporting of aircraft positions in oceanic airspace, where radar coverage is limited. More frequent position reporting in turn means a narrower search radius in the event that an aircraft goes missing. This is a pivotal opportunity to realize the full potential of aircraft connectivity - and its promise for aviation safety. Flight data recorders are critical to identifying what transpired in the event of an accident. But the old techniques for recovering black boxes can require multi-million-dollar searches for lost aircraft, and an agonizing wait for family members left totally in the dark about the fate of loved ones. New technology can avoid these drawbacks by streaming data from an aircraft while it is in flight. This offers the value of not only providing the actual location of an aircraft, but also understanding its performance in real time. Today's aircraft generate vast quantities of data - a Boeing 787 produces 500 gigabytes per flight - which can yield a similarly vast array of operational, performance, and safety insights. Most significantly from a safety perspective, flight data streaming can allow airlines and safety authorities to detect aircraft distress conditions when they arise, and engage to help prevent an incident before it occurs. The satellite-based flight data streaming solutions that are already available today incorporate sophisticated algorithms that, in many cases, can identify operational issues and distress conditions autonomously and seamlessly relay that information to the personnel on the ground that are best positioned to help - including airline maintenance departments, as well as aircraft and engine engineers. Flight data streaming can also provide a secure "black box in the cloud" solution - meaning that accidents investigators do not have to wait for black box retrieval before beginning their evaluation of cockpit voice and flight data. This eliminates delays in developing insights that can help prevent future incidents. As someone who has led multiple investigations of aviation accidents, I know from experience that every minute counts when it comes to determining the cause of an incident and sharing that information with those affected and with the aviation community more broadly. Although today is a somber anniversary, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that today's airlines are extremely safe and only getting safer. According to International Air Transport Association's Safety Report issued last April, over the last ten years the world's commercial aviation industry has improved its overall safety performance by 54%, with an accident rate in 2016 of 1.61 accidents per million sectors, compared to 3.53 in 2007. This improvement is due in large part to the continued innovation and regulatory oversight that make commercial flights the most efficient and safest mode of travel in the world. Still, as safe as commercial aviation is, one accident or one life lost is one too many. The question facing our industry is and will always be: what can be done to raise the bar even higher and make commercial flight even safer? Advances like flight data streaming show that there is more that can and should be done. We have the 21st century technology to make air travel even safer - and we need to use it. About Author Mark V. Rosenker of Virginia was the 11th Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Rosenker served as head of the agency (in Chairman and Acting Chairman roles) from 2005 until 2009. Previous to this, Rosenker served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office, where he was responsible for policies, personnel and plans that involved Department of Defense assets in direct support of the President and Vice President. Rosenker is a retired U.S. Air Force Major General, having served in the Air Force for more than 37 years. Today, Rosenker serves as Member of the Board of Directors of FLYHT, and is a Board Member of Lattice Corp., a specialized telecom company. He is also a consultant to CBS News and appears on both TV and radio networks to discuss transportation safety issues. https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2018/03/13/op-ed-four-years-after-mh370-looking-ahead-to-a-new- era-in-aviation-safety/ Back to Top ACSF Safety Symposium Kicks Off with Compliance Focus Pressure on pilots to complete missions, poor training, complacency, fatigue, and apathy are among myriad factors that play into procedural noncompliance, and in turn can have devastating consequences, attendees of the 2018 Air Charter Safety Foundation's (ACSF) 2018 Safety Symposium were told today. However, these factors, said Bob Bardon, president of The Aviation Consulting Group, can be mitigated by a proactive and predictive approach that balances safety with operations. Bardon was part of a slate of eight safety experts scheduled to guide attendees on topics ranging from decision-making to implementing an Aviation Safety Action Program to runway excursions to managing communications after an aircraft accident. More than 120 senior industry, association, and government representatives registered for this year's two-day ACSF symposium, which also featured a half-dozen exhibits. Kicking off the symposium, Bardon relayed personal pressures he faced while a contract pilot, including operators chastising him for executing a go-around or deicing the aircraft, and being told to continue operating with a worn tire. Along with pressure from a company, he noted pressure pilots face from interaction with passengers could further lead to procedural noncompliance. Other pitfalls can come from a lack of training, high risk-takers, and even use of contract pilots that can make crew resource management more difficult, he said. But Bardon stressed that balancing "production" with "protection," where a strong safety culture is incorporated while still fostering strong operations, could help offset issues that might lead to noncompliance. He advised thoroughly vetting pilots, "looking for red flags," and cautioned against "pencil whipping" or pressuring pilots to such an approach where boxes are checked without full knowledge of what was just approved. He also advised implementing a strong cockpit resource management program. A proactive approach-through safety management systems, safety reporting, and/or efforts such as FOQA-further will ward off noncompliance, he added. These efforts won't prevent all accidents, he acknowledged, saying, "There is no silver bullet." However, he added the efforts would provide the necessary ammunition to help provide appropriate safeguards. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-03-13/acsf-safety-symposium-kicks- compliance-focus Back to Top DOT Minces No Words in Latest FAA NextGen Audit Criticism comes close on the heels of ATC privatization fight. The DOT's Inspector General report was highly critical of the FAA's progress on NextGen. Although the attempt to corporatize the nation's ATC system has been sent to a semi-permanent holding pattern, the criticism of how the FAA has been managing the NextGen project to update the national airspace system continues. The DOT's Inspector General in a recent report said it received 17 hotline complaints "alleging serious problems and abuse related to the agency's management of NextGen developmental funds." One complaint said, "Senior [FAA] leaders promoted an environment of hostility, fear, and reprisal toward those who point out mismanagement." The IG chose not to discuss this complaint in its recent report "due to pending administrative proceedings and potential litigation." The House Committee on Appropriations also tasked the IG with investigating how funding is managed and learn if any measurable results for some NextGen projects have been achieved to date. In a snapshot, the IG looked at $1.7 billion spent by the FAA on developmental projects aimed at testing and demonstrating the value of upgrades on a per project basis. The IG's analysis reviewed approximately 11.6 percent of the NextGen projects created between 2009 and 2015, valued at about $195 million of the $1.7 billion. The IG believed the sample was sufficient to project their findings over the remainder of the agency's work at the 90-percent confidence level. While this report is certainly not the first criticism by the IG of NextGen, it appears to be one of the harshest. In its findings, the Inspector General's lambasted the FAA for mismanagement, offering harsh criticisms worthy of little more than about a "D+" if the efforts had been academic. The report discovered that of the 22 project level agreements evaluated, a dozen did not even line up with the FAA's high-priority NextGen investment decisions. The FAA defines a PLA as an internal control mechanism to ensure individual projects remain within the original scope and budget. The IG said the FAA lacked leadership stability resulting from unclear roles and responsibilities, lack of involvement by key managers and a lack of accountability by top senior officials to address PLA weaknesses. The IG gigged the agency for not having a framework to manage project oversight. The FAA was also not clear about which developmental projects are eligible for funding and funded some work without any PLA at all. The agency lacked a paper trail to evaluate whether or not the work actually met the goals of advancing NextGen, or whether the projects should be terminated or continued. The IG made six recommendations mainly focused around controls and the reporting of outcomes, two of which the FAA agreed to. The FAA did not accept other criticisms sitting down however, arguing back that some of the IG's conclusions were incorrect, as was some of the content used to explain the agency's perceived shortcomings. In one major pushback, the FAA called the sample size the IG used for its evaluation too small to be representative of the agency's overall process. In response, the IG simply said it considers four of the six recommendations related to NextGen as "unresolved." The IG concluded that the FAA still seems unable to overcome significant weaknesses in transparency, accountability and project oversight. Without a fix to these major issues, "the FAA will remain challenged in completing the NextGen upgrades." https://www.flyingmag.com/dot-minces-no-words-in-latest-faa-nextgen-audit Back to Top FAA expands authorization tests for low-altitude drones Starting at the end of April, the Federal Aviation Administration will roll out tests of its near-real-time authorization processing system for unmanned aerial systems and will add more mapping providers to the effort. At the agency's 3rd Annual UAS Symposium, Acting Administrator Dan Elwell told a gathering of unmanned aircraft operators that the FAA will expand its Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) into a nationwide beta test. The test at 300 air traffic control centers across the country, which serve 500 airports, will evaluate how the automated processing system data sharing functions will work. The test begins April 30. FAA regulations require unmanned system operators flying aircraft at lower altitudes in airspace controlled by an agency air traffic control facility to get formal permission before such operations.With the explosion of commercial drone technology and applications, the agency has been buried under a backlog of thousands of commercial applications. The LAANC effort fully automates that authorization process in near real-time, according to the FAA, which the agency said will "dramatically" decrease wait times compared to the manual process. Additionally, air traffic controllers would be able to actually see where drones have planned operations. LAANC data exchange services are currently provided by four vendors -- AirMap, Project Wing, Rockwell Collins and Skyward -- but the FAA said it will consider agreements with additional entities starting April 16. The FAA launched a prototype low-altitude test last fall at eight regional air traffic control facilities, as it accelerated plans to integrate drones into the national airspace. In an Oct. 23 memo, President Donald Trump called for an UAS Integration Pilot Program to go live in 90 days to set test zones and build regulatory framework to get commercial drones, such as those that deliver medicine, inspect critical infrastructure, monitor emergencies and other applications into the U.S. airspace more effectively. https://gcn.com/articles/2018/03/13/faa-laanc-tests.aspx Back to Top Robinson helicopter boss pushing for watchlist removal (New Zealand) Robinson helicopters' flight safety director is confident presenting new information to officials in New Zealand today will get the company's aircraft removed from a safety watchlist. A Robinson R-44 helicopterA Robinson R44 helicopter The Department of Conservation banned its staff from flying in Robinson R22, R44 and R66 model helicopters because of safety concerns following a crash in October 2016. The helicopters have featured in 143 helicopter crashes in New Zealand since 2000 - 21 of which were fatal. Those 21 accidents make up 48 percent of New Zealand's total fatal helicopter crashes in the 17 years between 2000 and 2017. Robinsons make up about 35% of the helicopters in New Zealand. Five other government agencies have suspended the use of Robinsons while the aircraft are on a Transport Accident Investigation Commission safety watchlist. Robinson Helicopter Company director of flight safety Bob Muse told Morning Report some good things had come out of the watchlist. "A lot of awareness was put on flight safety, accidents, training, and there have been very positive things that came from the watchlist but we really don't think that it was needed for us to be put on a watchlist. "My hopes from today's meeting with TAIC ... is to share new information, things that we've been working on that they specifically requested in the watchlist." He maintained the company's line that the crashes were because of pilot error, and training gaps, rather than a problem with the aircraft. "We looked at what was occurring down in New Zealand, and if you look at the TAIC accident report that they put together ... pointed out that there were pilots in New Zealand who were practicing and demonstrating in-flight manoeuvres that are prohibited in our aircraft. "TAIC goes on to say of particular concern are reports of demonstrations that amount to experimentation. Many of the crashes have been because of what is known as mast bumping - contact between an inner part of a main helicopter blade and the main rotor drive shaft, which usually results in the helicopter breaking up in flight. Mr Muse said it was a problem that was not unique to Robinson models. "There are hundreds, thousands of New Zealand helicopter pilots who are great pilots who have done everything right, but there is a culture in New Zealand - not that Robinson has pointed out but TAIC and the CAA - they've pointed it out that it occurred in other helicopter accidents. "Any two-bladed rotor systems on helicopters are susceptible to low-g mast bumping. When you become a helicopter pilot you have to go through standards and you're educated to this, and it's something that all pilots who fly two-bladed helicopters are aware of. He said Robinson helicopters were the most common civilian helicopters in the world, they had not been placed on a watchlist in any other country. "Any helicopter accident where loss of life occurs is beyond tragic, it happens to all the manufacturers of helicopters. And we take it to heart and we do everything we can to look at the cause of that and see what we can do to prevent it from happening again, either by education, training or even design change of an aircraft. He said he believed the chance of Robinson being taken off the watchlist was pretty good. "We are hoping they will look at it and see that the watchlist has served its purpose and it's no longer needed. https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/352493/robinson-helicopter-boss-pushing-for-watchlist- removal Back to Top AVIATION PROFESSOR BRIDGES REAL, ARTIFICIAL WORLDS JETXPLORE HOLOGRAPHIC LEARNING ENHANCES TRAINING Western Michigan College of Aviation associate professor Lori Brown harnessed the advantages of augmented reality technology to make learning come alive for aviation students. She designed a virtual but realistic holographic learning system called JetXplore through a partner spotlight program with Microsoft so students could see, touch, and feel the aircraft systems they studied in class. A Western Michigan College of Aviation student learns about a jet engine during an augmented reality session in Battle Creek, Michigan. Photo courtesy of Lori Brown, Western Michigan College of Aviation. A Western Michigan College of Aviation student learns about a jet engine during an augmented reality session in Battle Creek, Michigan. Photo courtesy of Lori Brown, Western Michigan College of Aviation. The computer giant's mixed reality-based HoloLens technology allows Brown's students to become engaged in the learning process with realistic depictions of flight controls, systems, and procedures. The technology is certainly appealing. Several years ago I returned to college to complete my undergraduate degree and would have welcomed this type of learning over the more common book, study guide, and lecture-reinforcement teaching process. Hands-on, reality-based technology is far more engaging for students because it adds a level of understanding sorely lacking in traditional classroom settings. "This is where we want our future to be," Brown said by telephone. "I don't have the space or the budget to have a brand-new Boeing 787 in my classroom, but with mixed reality I can bring it into the learning" environment. She was inspired by a Walt Disney quote that reads, "If you mix the old with the new, you get new all over again." Brown lives by the mantra to create a fun and more realistic aviation learning atmosphere. The new equipment is a far cry from the old days when she slapped a poster of an aircraft cockpit on the wall and strapped herself into a rigid chair, closed her eyes, and tried to visualize the layout of gauges and flight controls. "I wanted that poster to come alive for my students," Brown said. "I wanted them to be able to press those buttons and have something happen." The 3-D HoloLens technology is as lifelike as things can get without students trudging through the slush to perform an exterior preflight or flipping switches from a sheepskin-covered captain's chair. A CRJ200 jet cockpit is depicted in augmented reality technology at the Western Michigan College of Aviation. Photo courtesy of Lori Brown, Western Michigan College of Aviation. Brown has seen a lot of change since she began teaching at Western Michigan College of Aviation 17 years ago, and students learn differently now than they did back then. "We were actually [recently] using transparencies and PowerPoints and as a professor I was very frustrated." Those types of tools "just don't really engage today's learner. What I planned in class 17 years ago doesn't work." "When I tell the students 'No PowerPoint today, instead we're going to use the HoloLens,' they are really excited." The digital revolution allowed her to bridge the gap between a classroom and a flight simulator. "I tried virtual reality, and I liked it, but I didn't like it isolating the students from the instructors and in aviation we work as a group," she noted. That led to trial and error during development of the PC-based program that morphed into JetXplore. "Students can interact with crews and instructors, not wires. We can't replace the simulator but we certainly can enhance it and better prepare the students." She explained that students experience near-lifelike views and sensations while manipulating dials and other controls, and they are more apt to remember exact procedures like engine startup, flight management data entry, and other tasks if they feel like they are doing the real thing. "Unlike other advanced technologies, HoloLens offers a natural means of interaction. There's no mouse, wire or touch screen," she noted. "All you need are simple gestures to interact with holograms, your voice to communicate with apps, and your eyes to navigate and analyze content." Microsoft HoloLens technology makes propulsion systems come alive. Photo courtesy of Microsoft via Western Michigan College of Aviation. Students work in small groups, with some donning special headsets that display the realistic scene while their classmates control the computer-generated system. They switch roles so everyone gets a chance to experience the virtual world and "pinch, turn, and move dials and controls." She noted that augmented reality technology helps with muscle memory and is especially helpful while learning emergency procedures. Each unit costs about $3,000 (although Microsoft has plans to reduce the price for commercial market applications), so lab classes of 18 students are divided into workgroups of four students each. "The great thing is, while they are wearing the HoloLens, we can mirror it so the whole class can see what the student is experiencing. It offers a really rich debriefing opportunity because I can instruct as they are participating in the holographic training. It's filmed and we can debrief as a class" when the lab ends. She noted that education comes from failures as well as success, and the debriefing is another avenue of learning. Western Michigan College of Aviation professor Lori Brown introduced augmented reality technology to help make learning come alive for aviation students in Battle Creek, Michigan. Photo courtesy of Lori Brown, Western Michigan College of Aviation. The aircraft systems instructor noted the medical community used HoloLens technology to peer inside a human body and adapted it to explore the inside of a turbofan engine. She wanted students to see inside and interact with aircraft components and compared the learning process to "seeing the bones inside a human body." Brown feels that HoloLens augmented reality is providing an advantage to her students by teaching familiarity before they enter professional aviation careers. "With the JetExplore app I created, you can picture yourself inside the jet cockpit. You are interacting with a holograph and can actually start the engines," and perform other tasks to increase understanding in real-world aviation scenarios. "It's a new way of training. I've seen retention improvement and that's the main piece" of the learning puzzle. If she could look into a crystal ball, Brown said future adaptations might include instructing classes "in three or four places at the same time" through telepresence or teleporting. She is currently developing the HangAR, a mobile augmented reality learning space and virtual airport. "If I can be elsewhere, it can be game-changing, especially since we're a global industry. Mixed reality is the future, and this is just the beginning." https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2018/march/12/aviation-professor-bridges-real- artificial-worlds Back to Top Summary of Congressional Hearing: "The State of Aviation Safety" Part II Blog Plane-ly Spoken LeClairRyan USA March 13 2018 In Part I of this post, we summarized the statements of Subcommittee Chairman LoBiondo and FAA and NASA witnesses at the February 27 hearing on "The State of Aviation Safety" conducted by the Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives. In this Part II, we will briefly discuss the prepared and oral statements from NTSB, USDOT Office of Inspector General (OIG), and Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) officials. NTSB: Aviation deaths in the U.S. decreased slightly from 416 in 2015 to 412 in 2016, with nearly 94% of these fatalities (386) occurring in general aviation (GA) accidents and the remainder primarily in part 135 operations (charters, air taxis, air tours, and air medical services when a patient is on board). Although the number of GA accident fatalities increased slightly to 386 from 378 in 2015, the fatal accident rate fell below 1 fatal accident per 100,000 flight hours for the first time in the NTSB's 50-year history. The agency continues to advocate for actions that address its Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements for 2017-2018. A specific aviation item included in the List is addressing loss of control in GA flights. The agency has continued to collaborate with the FAA and the aviation community to increase awareness, education, and training to reduce these accidents, which account for nearly 46% of all fatal fixed-wing GA accidents in the U.S. since 2008. Another List item calls for expanded use of data, audio/voice, and image recorders in all transportation modes, including GA and rotorcraft where these devices are not mandated. The testimony also summarized several recent aviation accidents investigated by the NTSB, including the 2016 commercial hot air balloon crash in Texas resulting in 15 passenger fatalities - the deadliest U.S. aviation accident in 7 years; the 2015 crash in Ohio of a part 135 air taxi resulting in 9 fatalities and in which the NTSB determined the crew failed to follow basic SOPs and the aircraft was not equipped with recording device; and the 2017 collision between a small UAS and a U.S. Army helicopter in New York. Ongoing NTSB aviation accident/incident investigations include examining the aborted landing of an Air Canada flight on an active taxiway at San Francisco International Airport this past summer, as well as two actual runway incursions at the same airport. OIG: The FAA continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to improving safety oversight of the aviation system but it faces both new and longstanding safety oversight challenges. Among these challenges are utilizing objective risk-assessment tools to identify operational risks - including financial distress - experienced by regional airline operators, which account for 20% of all airline passengers. (For additional information on the OIG's December 2017 audit on the FAA's oversight of the regional airline industry, see the Plane-ly Spoken post of January 16, 2018, DOT v. FAA: Oversight of Regional Air Carriers). Additional longstanding safety oversight challenges include the FAA's process for monitoring suspected unapproved parts and runway incursions (SUPs). With regard to the former, the FAA's oversight is not effective due to weaknesses in recordkeeping and management controls to capture and accurately report SUP cases. Regarding runway incursions, there has been a nearly 83% increase in total incursions between fiscal years 2011 and 2017. The FAA also is facing challenges in developing regulations for the commercial UAS industry and overseeing their operations and mitigating risks as their integration in the airspace system continues. ALPA: The 2010 legislation addressing pilot qualification and flight experience requirements, as well as science-based flight, duty, and rest requirements, and the resulting FAA implementing regulations, have improved commercial aviation safety and Congress should not act on proposals to change these requirements. In addition, there is an adequate supply of qualified pilots and a pipeline of new pilots to meet commercial aviation needs. Further, more needs to be done to mitigate the risks to aviation safety from hazardous materials by improving regulations and eliminating shipments of undeclared hazardous materials. Regarding UAS, Congress should remove the current statutory restrictions on the FAA's ability to fully regulate all UAS, including small UAS flown by hobbyists, and work with the FAA to implement mandatory UAS identification and tracking capabilities. ALPA also urged the FAA to develop science-based flight, duty, and rest regulations for flight crews of all-cargo operations and remove the exemption of all-cargo operations from the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting requirements in part 139 (Certification of Airports). LeClairRyan - Mark Dombroff and Mark McKinnon https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2f67ccad-0a5c-43ab-9d41-eee9eadc5d36 Back to Top In a first, women can now be pilots for Iran Air If you're on a flag-carrying airplane in Iran, you might look up soon to see that the pilot is a woman. Iran Air, Iran's national airline, recently announced that it will for the first time allow women pilots. The announcement was made by Farzaneh Sharafbafi, Iran Air's chief executive, the first woman to hold that position in the airline's history, according to the Tehran Times. "This is highly significant for us to have female pilots among our personnel," Sharafbafi said when she announced the new policy, the Times reported. In Iran, women are still required to wear a headscarf in public, including on airplanes. TEHRAN - For the first time, the Iranian flag-carrier airline, Iran Air, also known as Homa, is set to recruit female pilots, said Farzaneh Sharafbafi, the CEO of Iran Air here on Sunday. Iran Air, headquartered in Tehran, flies to more than 25 domestic destinations and dozens of other cities in Asia and Europe. Once a year, Iran Air announces job openings, and this year's main feature in the announcement let women know that they are welcome to apply to be pilots, according to the Times. The airline, known as Homa, has five women working in top management, and about 16 percent of the company's middle managers are women, according to the Times. Women have been permitted to fly planes for years in Iran, but they have never been allowed to work for the country's airline. It was a big deal in Iran last summer when Sharafbafi, then 44, became head of the airline. She is also the first woman in the country to get a PhD in aerospace engineering. In 2014, she told Iran Front Page newspaper that when she was in college, she didn't know that women could even study aerospace engineering. "I consulted with a university professor telling him I wanted to study fluid mechanics. He let me know that women were allowed to take up aerospace. That was what I did. [...] At first it was hard for others to accept me as an aerospace student and my admission dropped a bombshell at the university," she said. In her announcement, Sharafbafi said the first women hired as pilots by Iran Air will begin as co-pilots. "Women can play a key role in the social development as well as the realization of social justice in a society," she said, according to the Times. "Today, the world is paying more serious attention to the role of women in the society." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/03/13/in-a-first-women-can-now-be- pilots-for-iran-air/?utm_term=.800b27c6f009 Back to Top Embraer reports business jet revenue slide as outlook remains flat Embraer Executive Jets recorded a 14% fall in revenues in 2017, as a result of an "unfavourable mix of aircraft deliveries". Although its performance is forecast to remain flat throughout 2018, the Brazilian airframer is upbeat about its prospects, as the market starts to turn a corner. Speaking on a fourth-quarter earnings call on 8 March, Embraer chief executivePaulo Cesar de Souza e Silva said the business aircraft industry was under "huge pressure" in 2017, but is now seeing signs of a "smooth" recovery. He says three big drivers are contributing to a stronger market and creating opportunities for the division: the shrinking inventory of used aircraft, which is helping to firm up prices of new models; favourable tax reforms in the USA; and that country's strengthening economy. For the 12 months ended 31 December, the division posted revenue of $1.48 billion from a delivery output of 109 aircraft. This comprised 72 Phenom 100/300 light jets and 37 large-category Legacy 450/500/650s and Lineage 1000Es. This compares with revenues of $1.73 billion in 2016 and 117 business aircraft shipments: 73 light and 44 large jets. Embraer is targeting sales of between $1.35 billion and $1.50 billion in 2018 on deliveries of 70-80 light jets and 35-45 large jets, including a clutch of model upgrades. The Brazilian airframer is now putting the final touches to the first E-model variant of the Phenom 300 - which features a significantly updated cabin - at its US facility in Melbourne, Florida, in preparation for its handover in late March to an unnamed South African owner. Embraer is also poised to begin delivering this month the first Legacy 450s and 500s with a reduced cabin altitude of 5,800ft - 200ft (60m) lower than their predecessor - when flying at an altitude of 45,000ft. The midsize pair will also feature restyled passenger seats as standard from June. The company ended 2017 with an order backlog valued at $777 million. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/embraer-reports-business-jet-revenue-slide-as-outloo- 446722/ Back to Top Boeing and Guinness World Records celebrate production of 10,000th 737 jet Boeing employees surround the 10,000th 737 jet to be produced. (Boeing Photo) Boeing 737 jets are rolling out of the factory in Renton, Wash., more than once a day, but the Southwest 737 MAX 8 jet that emerged today brought hundreds of Boeing employees outside to watch: It's the 10,000th 737 jet to be produced. The occasion was marked by the Guinness World Records' renewed recognition of the 737 as the world's most produced commercial jet aircraft model - and by a pep talk from Kevin McAllister, Boeing Commercial Airplanes' president and CEO. "This incredible milestone is a testament to the work we do every day to build the most reliable and efficient single-aisle airplane in the world," McAllister said. "It represents more than 50 years of success and achievement on the part of thousands of Boeing employees past and present, our supplier partners, and our airline customers around the globe who put their confidence in the 737." Southwest Airlines marked the occasion as well, by making a $10,000 contribution to Boeing's employee community fund. (For what it's worth, the average list price of a 737 MAX 8 is $117.1 million.) The first production 737 made its first flight in 1967 and is now on display at Seattle's Museum of Flight. Boeing's best-known single-aisle passenger jet has gone through several design iterations since then, culminating in four different variants of the super-efficient 737 MAX. Depending on the configuration, passenger capacity can range from 138 to 230 seats. Guinness first awarded the "most produced" title to the 737 back in 2006 when the 5,000th airplane rolled out of the Renton factory. In other words, it's taken Boeing only 12 years to build as many of the planes as it did during the first 39 years of the 737's existence. "The speed at which Boeing achieved this new milestone is very impressive," Michael Empric, official adjudicator for Guinness World Records, said in a news release. "We are excited to once again recognize the 737 and the important role it plays in commercial aviation." It's not all smooth sailing ahead: Boeing's 737 MAX line is facing stiff competition from Airbus, which delivered the 8,000th plane in its A320 line jet family last month and has a backlog of more than 6,000 A320 orders. Boeing's backlog for the 737 program, meanwhile, amounts to more than 4,600 orders. Both companies are scrambling to keep up. Boeing is producing 47 of the 737s per month in Renton, plans to up the monthly rate to 52 later this year, and could eventually go to 63 or more. Airbus is said to be targeting an A320 production rate of 60 to 70 per month. All this suggests that Guinness will have to prepare for a 15,000-plane update in the 2020s. But who'll get there first: Boeing or Airbus? More stats about the 737 from Boeing: A 737 takes off or lands every 1.5 seconds. On average, more than 2,800 737s are in the air at any given time. More than 22 billion passenger trips have been taken on a 737. In all, Boeing 737 jets have flown a total of 122 billion miles - the equivalent of 16 trips to Pluto and back, plus pit stops. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/boeing-guinness-world-records-celebrate-214458811.html Back to Top Cathay Nears End of Tunnel With Surprise Second-Half Profit * Strong cargo demand, travel pickup help narrow full-year loss * Airline also records smaller loss from fuel-hedging contracts * Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is finally seeing some respite from its earnings woes. Asia's biggest international carrier reported a surprise profit in the second half of 2017, with a pick-up in cargo and premium-travel demand helping narrow the full-year net loss to HK$1.26 billion ($161 million). That's well below analysts' expectations for a loss of HK$2.26 billion, based on estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Ten months in the job, Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg can reassure investors that a rebound in business travel and cargo demand have contained the damage caused by past fuel-hedging contracts gone awry. Hogg also has cut 600 jobs as part of a three-year revamp, and taken delivery of newer aircraft to help Cathay become more competitive against low-cost and Chinese mainland carriers. "The outlook for our cargo business is positive," Chairman John Slosar said in a statement Wednesday. "Our priorities for 2018 are our transformation program, changing the way that we work so as to better contain costs which will strengthen our passenger business further." Cathay ferried 11 percent more cargo for the full year, while the number of passengers carried increased 1.4 percent. Cargo yield -- a key indicator of profitability reflected by earnings from carrying one ton per kilometer -- jumped 11 percent. A slower rate of decline in passenger yields also supported the improved result. "The surprise in the second-half profit was due to cargo business," said Mohshin Aziz, an analyst at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. "Cargo performed far better than what was expected. Passenger yield is still in pain." Cathay recorded profit of HK$792 million for the second half, helped by increased earnings from associates including Air China Ltd., in which it owns 18 percent. The Hong Kong-based carrier posted a loss of HK$928 million in the second half of 2016. Shares of Cathay recovered from losses in the morning trading session and climbed as much as 3.2 percent to HK$14.22 in Hong Kong, the highest intraday price since November 2015. The stock rose 1.2 percent as of 2:17 p.m. "Cargo is highly cyclical and they are heavily dependent on cargo," said K. Ajith, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian Pte in Singapore. "There's concern whether this is sustainable" given uncertainties due to a possible trade war after the U.S. increased tariffs on aluminum and steel, he said. Cathay said losses from wrong-way fuel bets amounted to HK$6.4 billion for the whole of last year, narrowing from HK$8.46 billion in 2016. Fuel is the largest component of an airline's costs in Asia. Cathay has been booking losses on its hedges after crude oil unexpectedly tumbled from more than $100 a barrel in 2015. The carrier has since shortened the contracts' lock-in period to two years from four. As part of the three-year plan kicked off last year, Cathay is on track to cut costs by HK$4 billion, Slosar said in January. The company has been in talks with its pilots over compensation, frozen pay for senior staff, and increased the number of economy seats on some planes as part of its efforts. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-14/cathay-s-wrong-way-jet-fuel-bet-leads-to- biggest-loss-since-2008 Back to Top KNOW YOUR AIRCRAFT: SYSTEM TRAINING By Captain Shem Malmquist System training. This is part of the curriculum when learning any new aircraft. Why is it important to talk about here? In recent years there has been a trend towards less and less system training. At one time we really needed to understand the systems. I can still draw the electrical system of a B-727, I still remember what bus powers the fuel pumps, dump values, what controls are powered by which hydraulic system, etc. This was standard for pilots. If a crossfeed valve failed on an classic B-747 all of us knew we could still move fuel via the dump manifold. I had similar knowledge of the DC-8 and other airplanes I had flown. As a testament to how well we learned these, I still remember most of the systems of those early airplanes after nearly 30 years! Today I still have a fairly in depth understanding of the systems, but that is more due to my work outside of my flying job. It is not part of the curriculums anymore. What changed? It can be argued that much of this was a result of automation, and that does explain some of it. Automated systems are able to act on their own to solve problems, so "why should someone know the details?" the logic goes. The truth is that the automation is only part of it. Engineers have been able to come up with simpler systems that accomplish what needs to be done for the fuel, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and flight control systems. In turn this allows for highly proceduralized steps to be written, which can then be put into checklists or automatic system responses. However, another factor has had an even greater impact on what is trained, and that is greatly improved component reliability. Even 30 years ago it was not uncommon for a pilot to have experienced an engine failure during a career, or a failure in some other critical system. Today the probabilities of many of these types of failures is so low that a pilot has a good chance of flying an entire career with nary more than a fairly minor glitch. The lack of events (industry parlance for accidents or incidents) is then used as a basis for arguing that we should spend our limited training budgets on things that are statistically more likely to lead to an accident. We find those statistics by looking at the accident and incident trends. The industry uses methods that are somewhat limited in finding "root causes" of those accidents (there are serious flaws in this approach as the findings tend to be simplistic, at best) and these are used to build training scenarios. The training "footprint" is also used to teach pilots new technology that has been implemented, new procedures (such as RNP approaches), and the like. The result is a very full simulator period! So, what's the problem then? Well, the way the training is built, the aircraft manufacturers design and build the airplane, provide the aircraft and manual, and then the airlines and regulators are the ones that work to create the training programs. Well, really it is just the airlines, but the program needs to be approved. The manufacturers are rarely involved in what the airline actually teaches their pilots. This is a problem, as I have found that there is a gap between what the people who design airplanes and avionic systems believe pilots should know and what they are actually being taught. The manufacturers all expect pilots to "fill the gaps" for those scenarios they could not foresee. Need evidence? A system fails and who is everyone blaming if the pilot does not prevent an accident or incident? I think we all know the answer here. There is more, however. Modern aircraft systems rely heavily on computers. These computers are "talking" to each other, and rely on information from other computers in the system to function properly. There is a term for this, "integrate modular avionics". Now, these computers are extremely reliable, but if one of them gets bad information or faults, the problem can cascade across the other computers in the system in very unpredictable ways. Unpredictable and almost impossible to reproduce later, as exactly how they react depends on what data is being shared, what faults are present, the way it propagates through the system - even the lag due to the distance the information has to travel (length of the wires) can make a difference. Yes, that data is moving at the speed of light so we are talking about changes in the fractions of nanoseconds. From there, the systems not only fault in unpredictable ways, but also the "boxes" are likely to start sending alerts to the pilots of their problems, but these alerts are also going to present in ways that are impossible to predict. This is part of what the Air France 447 pilots needed to contend with! So, suddenly, we have a very highly reliable system not just fail one aspect, as might have occurred in an airplane built 30 or more years ago, but instead take out all sorts of other systems, including very possibly degrading the flight control system itself! Now the pilot is left trying to sort out a lot of very confusing indications but the "scripts" that are normally relied upon, the checklists, procedures, just don't apply anymore. Everything now depends on that system knowledge, all while flying an airplane that possibly no longer handles like anything they have ever experienced (training for degraded flight control laws in FBW aircraft is often very limited as well). We have seen pilots who had "above and beyond" knowledge do a good job of handling unusual scenarios. "Sully" Sullenberger did it when he started the APU out of sequence, restoring normal law to the flight controls. The pilot of Qantas 72, Kevin Sullivan (coincidentally, also nicknamed "Sully") used his superior knowledge to handle what could have been a catastrophic flight control failure. In a May 2017 article in The Sydney Morning Herald on the event he said something that should resonate with most pilots: "Even though these planes are super-safe and they're so easy to fly, when they fail they are presenting pilots with situations that are confusing and potentially outside the realms to recover" he says. "For pilots - to me - it's leading you down the garden path to say, 'You don't need to know how to fly anymore.' You just sit there - until things go wrong." Both of the "Sully"s had something that is not trained anymore. They "grew up" in a time prior to the highly reliable components, before RVSM rules made hand-flying at altitude virtually illegal, when pilots still needed to learn their systems. They carried that to the day when they needed that information and those skills. Notice this is not about just "hand-flying more". Hand-flying a normal airplane is fun and good, but is not going to equip you to handle a real degraded flight control state. Plus, most hand-flying is done at lower altitude with limited configuration changes, not a great preparation for a degraded airplane in the upper flight levels. While it is a great ploy for the marketing departments to state that pilots can get by with minimal training due to the reliability of the systems an the automation, the reality is that they can get by with it until the day they can't, and we have no idea when that day might come. The engineers tend to have a different take then the folks that are trying to sell airplanes, as previously stated. They expect pilots to "fill the gaps". There are also times when more system knowledge can make a big difference even with no failures. One that comes immediately to mind are the automated radar systems. While these can improve the situation if a pilot had minimal training, the fact is that they still leave significant gaps due to the relative simplicity of the models they use to scan for weather. They can also lead pilots to think that there is not weather ahead when in reality the algorithm is just not depicting the weather due to a difference in the vertical liquid profile of the particular storm in that part of the world. A pilot with more knowledge on meteorology as well as radar functioning can fill those gaps. A pilot with more knowledge can also prevent other problems, such as a delay due to just misunderstanding what the system is doing. Granted there are some that might "overthink" in these situations, but this, too, can be rectified. Pilots remain the most important safety feature on the airplane. System knowledge can be hard to find these days. What really needs to happen is when designing training programs the airlines should be required by regulation to consult with the manufacturers to ensure that pilots are being taught what the manufacturer thinks is important (regarding systems, handling qualities and pertinent aerodynamics, what pilots should have as skill sets to fly the airplanes after various faults, but not operations). That is, the men and women that actually are involved in the design. In the meantime, though, we pilots are on our own. I do not anticipate the airlines voluntarily increasing the training footprint (although there may be ways to teach what needs to be taught without a significant increase), so it is up to us to go out and learn what we need to on our own. As an example, while Boeing stopped publishing, there are still many issues of its magazine, (Boeing Aero) and Airbus has two good in-house magazines (Airbus FAST and Airbus Safety First) that should be read (even if you don't fly one of their products), and there are other sources as well,such as Skybrary. Google what you want to learn, you might be surprised. I realize it is frustrating to have to go out and learn things not provided by your company, but the person you might be saving is yourself! 777 Captain Shem Malmquist is the coauthor of Angle of Attack and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. ***************** Captain Shem Malmquist, the coauthor of the acclaimed new book Angle of Attack: Air France 447 and The Future of Aviation Safety (Curt Lewis Books/Lexographic Press will be speaking at a number of aviation events this spring. Orlando, Florida March 17, 10 a.m. Preventing Loss of Control: Improving Safety Through Design and Expertise Orlando FSDO FAA Safety Team Sebring Regional Airport 128 Authority Lane FBO Sebring, FL 3387 Contact: Virginia Louise Adelstone Phone: (813) 966-3055 pilot.adelstone9@gmail.com Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology March 26, 27, 28 presentations with Dr. Nancy Leveson and Dr. John Thomas. MIT Partnership For a Systems Approach to Safety STAMP Workshop presentations Contact Dr. Nancy Leveson (leveson@mit.edu) Orlando, Florida, April 18, 11:15 a.m. World Aviation Training Summit. Rosen Shingle Creek Resort Training to Facilitate Adaptive Capacity in Automated Systems Chicago, May 10, 10:30 a.m. to noon Flight Safety Foundation Business Aviation Safety Summit A Systems Engineering Approach to Safety Performance Indicators and Accident Causality with Dr. John Thomas Radisson Blu, Aqua Hotel Contact Flight Safety Foundation 703 739 6700 Click here to order Angle of Attack: Air France 447 and The Future of Aviation Safety and the feature film it inspired Pilot Error. Or call (231) 720-0930 for more information. You can also email rogerdrapoport@me.com for more information on Shem Malmquist's future events. Back to Top RESEARCH SURVEY Dear Participants, You are being asked to participate in a research study of your opinions of criminalization in aviation accidents. This study is expected to take approximately 10 minutes of your time. In order to participate, you must be at least 18 years old and a certified pilot. Participation in this study is voluntary, and you may choose to opt out of the study at any time. If you choose to opt out, your data will be immediately destroyed. We appreciate your consideration and time to complete our study. Please click on or copy and paste the URL below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJKwrq6VG_2gRwoXEs7PLRIBBVQ48- d9k75CDD_Yyh6wlk0g/viewform?usp=sf_link For more information, please contact: Dr. Scott R. Winter winte25e@erau.edu We appreciate your interest and participation! Back to Top BOOKS: The Air Crash Files: Thermal Runaway and JET BLAST "Dan, you've raised the Bar on accident investigation." Daniel Tenace (pronounced ten-ah-ch?) is a seasoned major accident investigator for the NTSB. In 'The Air Crash Files' series, Tenace becomes involved in two different aviation tragedy investigations: Jet Blast, Tenace must discover the reason airliner engines reverse in flight without warning; Thermal Runaway, Tenace must analyze an airliner disaster in the Atlantic Ocean and uncover what caused an inflight fire that would not extinguish, hours from land. Armed only with experience, Tenace fights bureaucrats and manufacturers, each intent on derailing his efforts. Where the lives of many hang in the balance ... Nobody investigates it better than Tenace. ___________________________________________________________________________________ AVAILABLE FOR ORDER AT: https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Carbone/e/B00SQ0YR78/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=152018 About the Author Stephen Carbone, a thirty-six-year veteran of the commercial aviation industry, is a certificated aircraft mechanic who worked both analog and digital airliners. Stephen spent years working the most sophisticated airliners flying; he inspected them, repaired them, and tested them. As an NTSB major accident investigator, Stephen applied his airliner technical experience to correctly investigate major aircraft accidents, both domestic and international. As an aviation inspector for the FAA's Flight Standards Division, Stephen kept a qualified eye on the aviation industry; he inspected them and investigated them ... and he knew where to look. He's instructed hundreds of U.S. and International professionals in aviation safety and has been writing articles for aviation trade magazines since 2005. Since 2014, he has written weekly safety articles to his website, including 'Lessons Unlearned', where he analyzes past accidents to show how important lessons in safety were missed. Stephen Carbone has lived what he writes about. He can be followed on Twitter: @stephenmcarbone Website: https://danieltenace.com/ Back to Top Position Reporting to the Executive Director, this individual works with air carriers to guide them through designing and implementing aviation safety management programs in accordance with Medallion standards under the Shield ProgramŽ. This specialist should have a broad working knowledge of part 121 and part 135 aviation practices and the general principles of aviation safety management system, a working knowledge of the FARs and good customer relation skills. The position is based in Alaska and requires some travel. The ideal candidate will also serve as the ASAP Facilitator. We manage all of the administrative aspects of the ASAP MOU with over 15 carriers. Applicants with previous part 119 credentials or recent FAA ASI background are strongly encouraged to apply Duties Guide development of documentation to support Medallion Shield programs Perform on-site visits to ensure basic compliance with an aviation operator's Medallion safety programs Interface with Medallion staff and Auditors on progress of programs and deficiencies Work with Medallion Auditors and operators to develop corrective action plans Develop and conduct classroom training in support of the Shield program Keep Medallion database up to date with customer information Other duties as assigned to support other Medallion programs and initiatives Job can be tailored to Part-time or Full-time Qualifications 10 Year Aviation preferred 5 years' experience in aviation safety Understand and apply general principles of aviation safety management systems Must have excellent communication skills and be able to interact with a wide variety of people Have basic computer skills Must have no travel restrictions Able to work with minimal supervision Must be able to lead people and accept responsibility Knowledge and understanding of the Federal Aviation Regulations Experience working with certificated aviation businesses Familiarity with Medallion Shield Program a plus Working knowledge of Safety Management System concepts Class Room Training as an Instructor Medallion is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Contact - info@medallionfoundation.org Back to Top Department of Aerospace - Manager, Maintenance School Support Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) is seeking qualified applicants to fill a Maintenance School Support Manager position. Responsibilities include maintaining 14 CFR Part 147 maintenance school aircraft, engines, and training aids essential to the Maintenance Management degree; providing facilities management essential to the operation of the Miller Lanier Airway Science building (AWS) located at the Murfreesboro Municipal Airport; coordinating AWS repairs with campus; and maintaining simulation training devices. All applicants must possess two (2) years of aircraft maintenance experience requiring an FAA A&P certificate. Experience includes general aviation maintenance, flight school maintenance, corporate, or Part 121 airline maintenance. One (1) year of maintenance personnel management experience preferred, in addition to required experience. Bachelor's degree and FAA A&P certificate are required. Inspection Authorization (IA) and 30 hour OSHA Outreach Training Program for General Industry are preferred. Must be eligible to work in the U.S. Application review will begin on March 21st and will continue until the position is filled. Proof of U.S. citizenship OR eligibility for U.S. employment will be required prior to employment (Immigration Control Act of 1986). Clery Act crime statistics for MTSU available at http://police.mtsu.edu/crime_statistics.htm or by contacting MTSU Public Safety at 615-898-2424. MTSU, a culturally diverse university, is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educational institution and employer. Women, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. To apply, go to https://mtsujobs.mtsu.edu Curt Lewis