Flight Safety Information April 6, 2018 - No. 070 In This Issue Incident: ATA MD83 near Tehran on Apr 5th 2018, engine shut down in flight Incident: Canada A333 at Zurich on Mar 23rd 2018, hydraulic failure Accident: Mega AN26 at Wau on Apr 5th 2018, left main gear collapse on landing Incident: Pegasus A320N at Bucharest on Mar 30th 2018, touched down before runway threshold Accident: Easyjet A319 at Murcia on Mar 27th 2018, rejected takeoff due to bird strikes into both engines Agusta-Bell AB 212 Fatal Accident (Italy) Diamond DA-42 MPP...landed with the wheels retracted Bell 47G-2 Fatal Accident (France) NTSB investigates wing detachment in deadly ERAU plane crash Crack in fuel nozzles causes Delta Airline's incident - AIB (Nigeria) 'Flight Deck LIBIK - Lithium-Ion Battery Incident Kit FAA Says Pilots Can Conduct Piper Fuel Selector AD Inspections FBI offers $10,000 reward for fugitive mechanic wanted in 1996 fatal airline crash Australia Consolidating Part 91 Regulations India's airlines are buying 1,000 new planes, but that still won't be enough Maryland jet engine startup raises $1.45M from USM, Abell Foundation Horizon Air gets first new jet since pilot crisis, pointing to an upturn Virgin Galactic fires up spaceship for the first time since deadly 2014 crash X Prize Is Relaunching a Private Moon Race Without Google (or a Prize) ERAU - PhD in Aviation Safety Operating Systems Air Safety Investigation Professional Education Course TU Delft University Positions Available:...PNG Accident Investigation Commission RESEARCH SURVEY - I RESEARCH SURVEY - II GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 1 GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 2 Incident: ATA MD83 near Tehran on Apr 5th 2018, engine shut down in flight An ATA Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registration EP-TAM performing flight I3-6600 from Tabriz (Iran) to Najaf (Iraq), was enroute near Tehran (Iran) when the crew needed to shut the #2 engine (JT8D, right hand) down and diverted to Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport for a safe landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b6fa1d8&opt=256 Back to Top Incident: Canada A333 at Zurich on Mar 23rd 2018, hydraulic failure An Air Canada Airbus A330-300, registration C-GFAF performing flight AC-879 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Toronto,ON (Canada) with 301 people on board, was climbing through 2000 feet out of Zurich's runway 16 when the crew received indications the blue hydraulic system had failed. The crew consulted with dispatch and maintenance, all of which agreed to continue the flight to destination. The aircraft climbed to cruise level and continued to Toronto for a safe landing about 8.5 hours after departure. The Canadian TSB reported maintenance replaced the Leak Measurement Grd Manifold, the left hand engine blue engine driven pump assembly and the pressure, return and case drain filters. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b6f9f13&opt=256 Back to Top Accident: Mega AN26 at Wau on Apr 5th 2018, left main gear collapse on landing A Mega Airlines Antonov AN-26 on behalf of Ultimate Air, registration UP-AN607 performing a cargo flight from Kuajok to Wau (South Sudan), landed on Wau's runway 09 at about 16:00L (13:00Z), however, on touch down the left main gear collapsed. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway near the left edge about 1100 meters/3600 feet past the runway threshold. No injuries are being reported, the aircraft sustained substantial damage. No weather data are available for Wau. The aircraft disabled on the runway (Photos: Deng D'Aleer): http://avherald.com/h?article=4b6f7b73&opt=256 Back to Top Incident: Pegasus A320N at Bucharest on Mar 30th 2018, touched down before runway threshold A Pegasus Airbus A320-200N, registration TC-NBF performing flight PC-361 from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (Turkey) to Bucharest Otopeni (Romania), was on final approach to Otopeni's runway 08L when the aircraft touched down ahead of the displaced runway threshold. The aircraft rolled out without further incident and taxied to the gate. The aircraft was able to depart for the return flight after about 6.5 hours on the ground and reached Istanbul with a delay of 5.5 hours. Romania's AAIB rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation stating the aircraft did not receive any damage. Metars: LROP 301000Z VRB02KT CAVOK 16/05 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300930Z 10003KT 050V150 CAVOK 15/04 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300900Z VRB02KT CAVOK 14/04 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300830Z VRB03KT CAVOK 14/04 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300800Z 06004KT 030V130 CAVOK 12/05 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300730Z 06004KT 030V130 CAVOK 12/05 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300700Z 06004KT 040V100 CAVOK 11/04 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300630Z VRB02KT CAVOK 09/05 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300600Z VRB02KT 9000 NSC 08/04 Q1016 NOSIG= LROP 300530Z 08003KT 8000 NSC 07/05 Q1015 NOSIG= LROP 300500Z 00000KT 5000 BR NSC 05/04 Q1015 NOSIG= http://avherald.com/h?article=4b6f822a&opt=256 Back to Top Accident: Easyjet A319 at Murcia on Mar 27th 2018, rejected takeoff due to bird strikes into both engines An Easyjet Airbus A319-100, registration G-EZMK performing flight U2-8552 from Murcia,SP (Spain) to London Gatwick,EN (UK) with 124 passengers and 6 crew, was accelerating for takeoff from Murcia's runway 23L when both engines ingested a number of birds. The crew heard loud noise and observed high vibrations for both engines. The speed was below V1, hence the crew rejected takeoff and brought the aircraft to a safe stop on the runway. The engines were shut down. The airport reported the aircraft had already entered the runway but had not yet commenced takeoff when the crew reported a right hand engine fire indication after a number of sea gulls had been ingested. The airline reported the passengers disembarked normally and returned to the terminal. Spain's CIAIAC have opened an investigation into the occurrence. A replacement A320-200 registration G-EZWV reached London with a delay of 5 hours. On Apr 5th 2018 the CIAIAC reported the aircraft was accelerating for takeoff when both engines ingested birds causing high vibrations. The crew rejected takeoff below V1 and stopped on the runway. The aircraft sustained substantial damage limited to the engines. The aircraft was towed off the runway about 90 minutes after the rejected takeoff. The occurrence was rated an accident and is being investigated by the CIAIAC. http://avherald.com/h?article=4b6b0f31&opt=256 Back to Top Agusta-Bell AB 212 Fatal Accident (Italy) Date: 06-APR-2018 Time: Type: Agusta-Bell AB 212 ASW Owner/operator: Marina Militare Italiana (MMI) Registration: MM C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 5 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Mediterranean Sea - Italy Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) Nature: Military Departure airport: Comandante Borsini (P491) Destination airport: Comandante Borsini (P491) Narrative: During night drill, a helicopter from Italian naval vessel Comandante Borsini, reportedly lost control. All five crew members were rescued from the sea, but one crew member died later. The helicopter was participating in Operation Mare Sicuro. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=208862 Back to Top Diamond DA-42 MPP landed with the wheels retracted -blocking the r/w for 2 hours (U.K.) Date: 06-APR-2018 Time: 08:39 LT Type: Diamond DA-42 MPP Owner/operator: DO Systems Ltd Registration: G-DOSB C/n / msn: 42.328 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: Bournemouth Airport (EGHH) - United Kingdom Phase: Landing Nature: Training Departure airport: Bournemouth Airport (EGHH) Destination airport: Bournemouth Airport (EGHH) Narrative: During circuit training the aircraft landed with the wheels retracted -blocking the r/w for 2 hours https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=208878 Back to Top Bell 47G-2 Fatal Accident (France) Date: 05-APR-2018 Time: 10:00 LT Type: Bell 47G-2 Owner/operator: Héli-Pro-Passion Registration: F-BTSN* C/n / msn: 126* Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: near the château Malydure, Lussac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine - France Phase: En route Nature: Private Departure airport: Libourne-Les Artigues Airport (XLR/LFDI) Destination airport: Libourne-Les Artigues Airport (XLR/LFDI) Investigating agency: BEA Narrative: The helicopter crashed after 30 minutes of flight in a vineyard. There was a post crash fire. Both occupants, the instructor (66) and the student (59) died in the crash. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=208821 Back to Top NTSB investigates wing detachment in deadly ERAU plane crash DAYTONA BEACH - Federal investigators are working to determine what caused a small plane's wing to fall off mid-air, resulting in a crash that killed an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student and his instructor, a Federal Aviation Administration pilot examiner. Witnesses, which included air traffic controllers, said that following takeoff the plane's wing "departed the aircraft," causing it to spin out of control and then slam into a cow field about a half mile from Daytona Beach International Airport on Wednesday morning, said Aaron McCarter, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. "With the wing departure, we are focusing our efforts initially on that part right now," he said during a news conference Thursday. "We are looking at the engineering, and any kind of maintenance records." Maintenance records for the plane - a Piper PA-28R-201 aircraft, better known as an Arrow - have already been provided by the school, he said. The student and instructor, he said, were working on "touch-and-go maneuvers," which basically means the student was practicing how to take off and land the aircraft. The wing fell off the plane during the "cruise climb" following takeoff, he added. Determining what caused the plane's wing to fall off will take an investigation lasting between 18 months to two years, which is the typical length of time it takes for the NTSB to reach a conclusion about what caused a plane to crash. The investigation into the crash will include metallurgists examining the plane's wreckage, McCarter said. He said that a wing detaching from a plane in mid-air is "very uncommon" and that "there is no reason to think there are any holistic problems" with the plane. A search of NTSB records examining crashes involving Piper planes found no mentions of a wing detaching. A 2015 FAA bulletin, however, warned that the plane's model has the "potential for corrosion on the wing rear spar at the fuselage attach fitting." There were also two separate bulletins in 2011 that said there is the the potential for corrosion "on the wing front spar at the fuselage attach fitting" and "on the "aileron hinge fitting." All three bulletins say variables increasing the potential for corrosion include age, incompatible materials, and certain environmental conditions, such as "high moisture or salt water." The FAA makes clear on its website that Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins are "an information tool that alerts, educates and makes recommendations to the aviation community" and that they do not require mandatory actions. The 2015 bulletin recommends that all Piper PA-28 models and others receive inspections and take certain steps if damage is found. Jacqueline Carlon, senior director of marketing and communications at Piper Aircraft, said that the company is working with the NTSB in its investigation but can not comment on the accident. Flight operations at Embry-Riddle resumed Thursday for all of the school's planes except the Piper Arrow, the model involved in Wednesday's crash, said Ginger Pinholster, assistant vice president for news and research communications. Those planes will remain tied down until full inspections can be conducted, which will probably take at least a week. Two YouTube videos published last month show Roy Williams of Airframe Components in Indiana going over how to inspect a Piper plane's main wing spar and aft wing attach fittings for corrosion. Both inspections require a hole be cut in the plane's wing to allow for the insertion of a camera scope to see the wing's interior. In the video for the aft fittings, he shows corrosion on the rear spar at the attach plate. "This is an extreme case, with so much corrosion that we actually have deformation of the rear spar and also metal missing," he says in the video. He goes on to explain how the "most dangerous situation" is when corrosion is hidden between the outside steel plate and the aluminum spar. "Where the problem lies is the mating surface," he says. Williams could not be reached Thursday. Brian Willis, director of aviation safety with the University of North Dakota John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, said that Piper planes are commonly used in flight training. He said that the aviation program there has more than 30 of them and that the single-engine planes with retractable landing gear are used in training pilots of varied experience, from those seeking their private pilot license to those looking for commercial training. He said maintenance standards are strictly regulated by the government and that routine annual inspections would have examined for corrosion. "We look at our planes all the time," he said. "We pride ourselves on maintenance, and I know Embry Riddle would do the same on what they are putting out." News of the deadly crash had already filtered through much of the tight-knit community involved in aviation training, Willis said. "We have been in contact with Piper and been in touch with Riddle," he said. "We understand what they are going through, and any way we can be of assistance we are willing to do it." http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20180405/ntsb-investigates-wing-detachment-in-deadly-erau-plane-crash Back to Top Crack in fuel nozzles causes Delta Airline's incident - AIB (Nigeria) The Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has revealed that the Delta Airline's engine fire incident that occurred February 13, 2018, was caused by a crack in one of the fuel nozzles of the aircraft. Akin Olateru, commissioner of AIB, on Wednesday told journalists that the aircraft that was involved in the incident was now in America for further investigations. Olateru explained that the cause of the incident was a contained engine fire, and the engine had to go back to the shop to do some analysis and checks to find out what really caused the problem. "We nominated our National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to be part of the investigations. The report just came back last week and we found out that there was a crack in one of the fuel nozzles, which caused the engine fire. We are working hard on the investigation and will be concluded very soon," he said. Few weeks ago, AIB released a preliminary report on Delta that revealed a picture of the interior of the combustion chamber showing corrosion in the turbine section. Recalled that on February 13, 2018, at about 2251hrs, a schedule flight DAL55, an Airbus A330-223 aircraft with registration N858NW belonging to Delta Airlines Inc., departed Lagos, Nigeria, for Atlanta, United States of America with 221 passengers and 13 crew on board made an air return few minutes after take-off following a fire warning on one of the engines. The Bureau also announced the inauguration of a specially constituted committee on the effectiveness of 120 safety recommendations made by it from inception. The commissioner said the safety recommendations were as critical as the investigation itself, as it was the lever used to effect safety changes and improvements in the aviation industry. "AIB, during investigations, identifies a lot of hazards that sometimes may not be related to the particular occurrence under investigation but work with the operators to resolve them. It is noteworthy to state that safety recommendations/safety alerts can be made at any stage of the accident investigation and we do not have to wait until final report is released. "While we appreciate that our safety recommendations have recorded positive impacts locally and globally, we found it imperative to holistically review the effectiveness of all the recommendations with a view to enhancing aviation safety to the benefits of all air travellers," he said. It is with this background that AIB decided to review its recommendations from inception totalling 120, and measure the level of their effectiveness, he said, adding that members of this committee are drawn from AIB, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Ministry of Transportation and the industry. He noted that to ensure a balance and objectivity, Hadi Sirika, the minister of state for aviation, approved the appointment of experienced industry experts as consultants to the committee. They include Kiddie Dare and Gbolahan Abatan. The committee will engage the affected stakeholders on the effectiveness of the safety recommendations addressed to them and submit their report to AIB management, which will work on it for the benefits of the industry. https://www.businessdayonline.com/crack-fuel-nozzles-causes-delta-airlines-incident-aib/ Back to Top Back to Top FAA Says Pilots Can Conduct Piper Fuel Selector AD Inspections Owners of nearly 19,000 Piper PA-28s can now perform their own required AD inspections on fuel tank selector placards, the FAA announced this week. The new AD supersedes an earlier directive issued last January that required inspection of the fuel tank selector cover by a qualified mechanic to verify the left and right tank selector placards are properly located. According to the FAA, the ADs arose from a report it received from Piper that a "quality control issue" had resulted in the installation of fuel tank selector covers with the placement of the left and right fuel tank selector placards reversed in some PA-28 models. The concern is that the mislabeled placards could cause fuel management errors and result in fuel starvation during flight. The new AD came about in response to comments from AOPA and others. The organization noted that they "are unaware of any accidents or incidents that have occurred as a result of improper placards." Also, according to AOPA, allowing pilots to perform the inspection themselves could save up to $763,000 in labor costs. Once complete, the pilot-performed inspection and compliance with the AD must be documented in the airplane's records. If a problem with the placards is discovered, a temporary corrected placard must be installed immediately with a permanent replacement installed within the next 100 hours service time. https://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/101/3993-full.html?ET=avweb:e3993:272360a:&st=email#230570 Back to Top FBI offers $10,000 reward for fugitive mechanic wanted in 1996 fatal airline crash FBI wanted poster is offering a $10,000 reward for Ociel Valenzuela-Reyes, who the FBI says is a fugitive mechanic that is connected to the 1996 ValuJet Flight 592 crash in the Everglades, which killed all 110 people on-board. FBI It's been more than 20 years since ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Everglades killing all 110 people on-board. On Thursday, FBI's Miami Field Office announced a $10,000 reward to help locate an airline mechanic who may have had a role in the 1996 crash. Ociel Valenzuela-Reyes, who worked for the airline's maintenance contractor, SabreTech, was criminally charged in 1999 after he allegedly mishandled and packaged oxygen generators that were placed in the plane's cargo space. According to the FBI, the generators didn't have safety caps and ignited the cargo area. But Valenzuela-Reyes never faced the charges. "He fled before trial," said FBI Miami Special Agent Jacqueline Fruge, who has been the primary agent on the case since it began, in a news release. On Thursday, the FBI announced the reward and shared a new "Wanted" poster including photos from 1996 and images of how he may look today. For more than 20 years, @FBIMiamiFL has been searching for Mauro Ociel Valenzuela-Reyes, a #fugitive airline mechanic who may have had a role in the fatal crash of a ValuJet Airlines passenger plane in the Florida Everglades in 1996. https://t.co/gdN5OrFxGEpic.twitter.com/qvXhgN15rA Relatives of the ValuJet crash victims visited the crash site and memorial to honor the 20th anniversary on May 11, 2016. Hector GabinoEl Nuevo Herald On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592 took off from Miami International Airport heading to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reported a fire in the cargo area. Before it could return to MIA, the plane plunged into the Everglades. According to the FBI, the investigation "proved challenging" because it was hard to identify the remains and the cause of the crash. Two other SabreTech employees were also charged in the criminal case, but were acquitted. Valenzuela-Reyes, who also faces additional federal charges for fleeing and failing to appear at his trial, has connections to Atlanta, where his ex-wife and kids have lived, and Santiago, Chile, where he has family, according to the FBI. "We've tried over the years to find him," said Fruge, in the release. "It bothers me. I've lived and breathed it for many, many years." http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article208110759.html Back to Top Australia Consolidating Part 91 Regulations Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has released for comment its proposal to simplify and reorganize its Part 91 rules, which regulate non-commercial aircraft operations. According to CASA, the vast majority of the proposed regulations make no changes to current requirements, "as the rules have simply been moved into one package. We have consolidated more than 100 current documents into just two: the new Part 91 and its manual of standards." However, there are nine new rules aimed at making compliance easier, providing greater operational flexibility, reducing red tape and paperwork, and improving safety, as well as increasing adherence to ICAO standards. Feedback on the draft regulations is due by April 29. To help users understand and follow the requirements of the new Part 91, CASA will produce a guidance document to serve as a "pilot's guide to all the regulations, including the manual of standards requirements, written in the familiar style of the current and popular visual flight rules guide," said CASA. The agency believes this "practical and user-friendly document will assist everyone to have a better understanding of the rules and will therefore improve compliance." That guide will be available later this year, according to CASA. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-04-04/australia-consolidating-part-91-regulations Back to Top India's airlines are buying 1,000 new planes, but that still won't be enough Airport staff stand as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May's aircraft arrives amid the heavy smog at the airport in New Delhi, India, November 6, 2016. In February, domestic air travel demand in India grew twice more than the global average, and the country's airlines are gearing up for a further rise. Jet Airways, India's second-largest airline (by market share), informed the Indian exchanges (pdf) on March 03 that it had agreed to buy 75 new Boeing 737 MAX planes. This would take the airline's total order book to over 150 aircraft, though the company hasn't specified a timeline. Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group, is reportedly looking to buy 60 planes. IndiGo, the country's largest airline, wants to add an eye-popping 450 in eight years. These orders total to around 1,000 aircraft over the next eight years (pdf). However, according to American aircraft manufacturer Boeing's estimates, India will actually need double that number of planes in the next 20 years. Its rival Airbus is a little conservative, pegging the number at around 1,750 by the year 2038. Going by these projections, Indian airlines currently seem short of the requirements. After all, in financial year 2018 alone, the sector grew nearly 20% in terms of passenger traffic, with industry estimates showing that the trend is likely to continue. Over 117 million Indians travelled by air in 2017, nearly double from six years ago. "You look at the average traffic growth in the last 10 years...you will understand the need for about 2,500 aircraft over the next 20 years because the economy is also growing. So you can assume that the traffic growth will continue," said Dhiraj Mathur, partner at PwC India. Airline Aircraft addition Delivery year Air India 11 2018-2019 Air Asia 60 2023 GoAir 119 2018-2022 IndiGo 448 2026 Jet Airways* 156 2018-2024 Spice Jet 157 2018-2023 Vistara* 60 likely undecided In the shorter term, airlines need to add an average of 50 aircraft annually to keep up with this rate of growth, said Mark Martin, head of aviation consultancy firm Martin Consulting. "An airline usually replaces or renews its aircraft every five years, because after that period, the maintenance costs dramatically shoot up...Our estimate is that over the next four years, Indian airlines will need to add 400 planes at least," Martin explained. However, according to a parliamentary response (pdf) from civil aviation minister Jayant Sinha on March 06, airlines in India will add only around 30 planes between 2017 and 2019. It doesn't necessarily mean airlines will be scrambling to keep up, though. Currently, Indian airlines are still only utilising 80% to 90% of their total passenger capacity, Martin added. https://qz.com/1244737/jet-indigo-and-other-indian-airliners-order-1000-planes-but-still-wont-be-enough/ Back to Top Maryland jet engine startup raises $1.45M from USM, Abell Foundation North American Wave Engine Corporation grew out of research at the University of Maryland College Park. NAWEC's wave engine. A University of Maryland College Park-born startup developing new jet propulsion technology raised $1.45 million in funding from a group of investors in the state. The funding for North American Wave Engine Corporation was organized by the University System of Maryland Momentum Fund and the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation. Each contributed $350,000. Other investors included Gula Tech Adventures, the investment firm of Tenable cofounders Ron and Cyndi Gula, and former Harpoon Medical CEO Bill Niland also contributed funding, according to a release. The company is developing a wave engine, which is a jet engine that does not have moving parts. The idea is to offer a cheaper and more fuel-efficient alternative to what's currently availabe. It's seeking to enter the market both for planes and aviation, as well as unammed aerial vehicles. The company is looking to move toward flight testing at the college's Unmanned Aircraft Systems test site in Southern Maryland. It plans to use the funding for that activity and a new incubator near Naval Air Station Patuxent River in St. Mary's County called TechPort @ The Airport. Baltimore appears to factor into future plans, as well. "We're excited that this innovative technology is expected to seed a new industry that, looking ahead, will create manufacturing jobs in Baltimore," Abell Foundation President Robert C. Embry, Jr. said in a statement. The company is led by CEO Daanish Maqbool, who is currently a lecturer at UMD. Maqbool received his Ph.D. at the engineering school there, and worked on a NASA project on rocket engine cooling project for graduate research. It's the third investment in less than a year for the Maryland Momentum Fund, which was established by the university system to provide funding and links to other investors for startups that originated at the university. The other two investments so far went to MF Fire and NextStep Robotics. https://technical.ly/baltimore/2018/04/05/maryland-jet-engine-startup-raises-1-45m-usm-abell-foundation/ Back to Top Horizon Air gets first new jet since pilot crisis, pointing to an upturn A Brazilian-built Embraer E175 plane was delivered to Horizon Air this week for the first time since last year's pilot shortage forced it to suspend deliveries. (Horizon Air) Regional carrier Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, took delivery this week of its first new Embraer E175 jet since last year's crisis over a shortage of pilots. Reflecting a turnaround in fortunes, four more are due by the end of May and 13 altogether this year. Regional carrier Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, this week received its first new jet since last year's crisis over a shortage of pilots prompted it to reduce flights and suspend deliveries of the Brazilian-built Embraer E175 planes. The new jet landed in Portland, Oregon, and will be integrated into the regional air carrier's schedule later this month. Four more are to arrive before the end of May, and Horizon expects to take a total of 13 this year, bringing its E175 fleet to 23 aircraft. These 76-passenger jets, featuring comfortable four-abreast seating, will take over the flying as Horizon retires some of its Q400 turboprop planes. The E175 will also be the aircraft used on the new routes out of Paine Field in Everett, starting this fall. The delivery is a clear sign of progress after Horizon's year of turmoil in 2017. The E175 deliveries were originally supposed to begin last year, but in September Horizon was forced to defer the first six because the airline didn't have enough pilots to fly the planes. This past summer and into the fall, Horizon had to cancel hundreds of flights, and parent company Alaska Air announced that to avoid further disruption it would hand over some of Horizon's routes to rival regional carrier SkyWest. That move was a big blow to employee morale. It also sparked a lawsuit from the union representing Horizon pilots, Teamsters Local 1224, which alleged a breach of its 2016 contract, when the union granted concessions to management on the basis that the company's investment in the E-175 jets would secure Horizon's future. In an internal Horizon staff newsletter, vice president of finance and planning Brooke Vatheuer expressed the relief employees felt at the new jet's arrival. "Growing the E175 fleet is essential to Horizon's future, but I'm sure some of us thought these planes would never come," she said. As new Horizon CEO Gary Beck looks to a recovery, he's also made some pragmatic cuts. The airline has announced internally that in August it will end its daily service to Lewiston, Idaho, because that market has underperformed financially. The closure affects 14 Horizon employees based there. And this summer, Horizon will close its airplane-maintenance operation in Medford, Oregon, cutting the jobs of eight employees based there. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/horizon-air-gets-first-new-jet-since-pilot-crisis-pointing-to-an-upturn/ Back to Top Virgin Galactic fires up spaceship for the first time since deadly 2014 crash Richard Branson's spaceship fired up its rocket engine Thursday, marking the first powered test flight for the company since a fatal crash left it hamstrung in 2014. Virgin Galactic said in tweets that the pilots brought the spaceship to speeds faster than the speed of sound before gliding to a landing in the Mojave Desert. It conducted a "planned partial duration burn," which means the engine intentionally didn't fire as long as it will on full missions. Rather than aiming for space using a traditional vertically launched rocket, Virgin Galactic uses a massive plane, called a mothership, to hoist its reusable spaceship into the air before the craft ignites its own engine. The goal is to one day fly paying space tourists into the microgravity environment of space to enjoy stunning views of the Earth. The company faced a major setback in 2014 when a Virgin Galactic spaceship exploded over California during a test flight, killing one of the craft's co-pilots. Virgin Galactic has since eased back into testing by conducting gliding test flights of its new spaceship, named VSS Unity. The gliding test flights allowed the spaceship to drift back to the ground after detaching from the mothership rather than powering its engine so it could climb farther away from Earth. Thursday marked the first time the VSS Unity spaceship has flown with its rocket motor ablaze. Virgin Galactic VSS Unity Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spaceship is lifted into the air by a mothership, called VMS Eve. The mothership took off around 8 am PT and flew to about 46,500 feet over California's Sierra Nevada Mountains before releasing the Unity spaceship. After a brief free fall, Unity's rocket motor then roared to life for a 30-second burn, vaulting the spaceship to Mach 1.87, or nearly 1,500 miles per hour, and up to a max altitude of 84,000 feet. That's not nearly as high as the Karman line, which is generally considered the beginning of outer space and lies 62 miles or 327,000 feet above Earth's surface. After Thursday's test flight, Branson declared his space tourism company is "back on track." "Data review to come, then on to the next flight," he said in a tweet. "Space feels tantalisingly close now." Branson said in February that he would be "very disappointed" if Virigin Galactic does not launch into space within the next few months. The billionaire Virgin Group CEO founded Virgin Galactic in 2004. Like fellow tech giants Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Branson has long been a fan of spaceflight. He was inspired by the Ansari XPrize competition that was the catalyst for the very first privately funded manned trip to space, flown in a reusable spacecraft called SpaceShipOne. Over the course of a decade, Virgin Galactic built and tested the first version of its SpaceShipTwo, called VSS Enterprise, before the 2014 tragedy that killed co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injured co-pilot Peter Siebold. The company has been recuperating ever since. Its new SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, made its first gliding test flight in 2016. Virgin Galactic sells tickets - which cost about $250,000 each - aboard its spaceship. The firm says people in more than 50 countries whose ages range from teens to 90s have already put up the cash. They'll need to complete just three days of training before flying, according to Virgin Galactic's website. http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/05/technology/virgin-galactic-powered-test- flight/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+- +Most+Recent%29 Back to Top X Prize Is Relaunching a Private Moon Race Without Google (or a Prize) An artist's illustration of Moon Express' MX-1E lander on the lunar surface. Credit: Moon Express A private race to the moon is back on, without a title sponsor or a big cash prize. Earlier this year, Google ended its decade-long sponsorship of the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million moon race that sought to spur commercial spaceflight and exploration. But today (April 5), the nonprofit X Prize Foundation announced that it's relaunching the race as a non-cash competition (for now), with contest parameters to be worked out over the next few months. "We are extraordinarily grateful to Google for funding the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize between September 2007 and March 31, 2018. While that competition is now over, there are at least five teams with launch contracts that hope to land on the lunar surface in the next two years," Peter Diamandis, X Prize founder and executive chairman, said in a statement. [Google Lunar X Prize: The Private Moon Race Teams (Images)] "Because of this tremendous progress, and near-term potential, X Prize is now looking for our next visionary title sponsor who wants to put their logo on these teams and on the lunar surface," Diamandis added. A new title sponsor would be responsible for funding contingent cash purses, X Prize representatives said. The original Google Lunar X Prize called for privately funded teams to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon, move it at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface and beam high-definition imagery back to Earth. The first team to do this would win the $20 million grand prize, and the second would snag $5 million. An addition $5 million was available for various special accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million. Over the years, more than two dozen teams threw their hats into the ring. But none of them ended up meeting the Google Lunar X Prize's shifting deadline. (The deadline was originally the end of 2012, but it was pushed back several times, finally to March 31 of this year.) Only five teams remained in the competition to the very end - Florida-based Moon Express, Team Hakuto from Japan, Israel-based SpaceIL, India's Team Indus and international group Synergy Moon. As Diamandis mentioned, these five still plan to go through with their lunar missions, generally to lay the foundation for commercial operations based on moon mining and/or transportation services to the lunar surface. "We applaud X Prize's decision to continue the Lunar X Prize, with or without a title sponsor," Bob Richards, Moon Express founder and CEO, said in the same statement. "While we plan to win this moon race and are committed to carrying the Lunar X Prize logo, the real opportunity is in opening the lunar frontier and the multibillion dollar industry that follows." https://www.space.com/40218-lunar-x-prize-moon-race-continues-without-google.html Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top Air Safety Investigation Professional Education Course TU Delft University Are you interested in understanding the process behind an air safety investigation? Join TU Delft's professional education course and learn more about the challenges faced during an investigation. With a focus on the legal framework behind air safety investigations world-wide and the generic procedures followed during aviation occurrence, this course is intended for both technical and non-technical professionals. With the Air Safety Investigation course, you will have the opportunity to experience the accident investigation process and throughout a variety of learning activities you will be able to enhance your observation skills, fact-finding skills and analytical skills. If you want to learn more about this amazing professional course or to share with others, please visit: https://online-learning.tudelft.nl/courses/air-safety-investigation/ Back to Top Positions Available: PNG Accident Investigation Commission Back to Top RESEARCH SURVEY - I Dear Participants, I would like to have some help with a questionnaire I created (only 8 questions) aiming to find it if Aviation Industry understands Safety as an organizational or corporate value. I would be grateful if you could disseminate the surveymonkey link SURVEY LINK: Is Safety an Organisational Value? Survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/65MM65D) The Survey ends on April the 22nd and I will create and report with the findings and my opinion at May the 15th.I could send you also the report when is ready. Thank you in advance for your assistance Kind Regards Dimitrios Soukeras,MBA(ER) Lieutenant Colonel HAA(Ret.)-Helicopter Pilot SJSU Faculty Member Office:+302661054690 Mobile:+306947006664 Email: d.soukeras@yahoo.com P.O. BOX 391, 49100 CORFU , GREECE Back to Top RESEARCH SURVEY - II Dear Participants, You are being asked to participate in a research study of your experience on retaining your manual flying skills during flight. This survey study is expected to take approximately 5 minutes of your time. In order to participate, you must be at least 18 years old and currently employed as an airline transport pilot in the United States. 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 destroyed. We appreciate your consideration and time to complete our study. Please click on or copy and paste the URL below: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R8NCDGC For more information, please contact: Gajapriya Tamilselvan: gtamilselvan2014@my.fit.edu Or Dr. Scott Winter: winte25e@erau.edu We appreciate your interest and participation! Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 1 International airline pilot and 39-year veteran of flying, Karlene Petitt, has instructed pilots on Boeing aircraft for over 21 years, and holds type ratings on B777, A330, B747-400, B747-200, B767, B757, B737, and B727. She is working on her PhD in Aviation with a focus on safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Petitt is researching the impact of training, aircraft understanding, safety culture, aviation passion, and manual flight tendencies, to better understand the impact on performance. If the pilot is always blamed for errors, the underlying factors may never be identified. The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes and is anonymous. If you fly for a commercial operation, with a two (or more) person crew (corporate, charter, or airline) please visit http://petittaviationresearch.com to learn more and access the link to the survey that can be found at the bottom of the page. If you know any commercial pilot who qualifies, please share this link with them: http://petittaviationresearch.com The more pilots you send this to, the more impact we can make. Thank you! Karlene Petitt MBA. MHS. Doctoral Candidate Aviation ERAU Typed: B777, A330, B747-400, B747-200, B767, B757, B737, B727, http://karlenepetitt.blogspot.com Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 2 Dear Participant: Graduate students at Lewis University have invited you to participate in a research project entitled: Evaluating, Attitudes, and Opinions on the Cyber Threat Vulnerabilities of Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. The purpose of this survey is to collect survey data from the aviation communities on beliefs of current ADS-B security and its present issues. This study has been approved by Lewis University's Institutional Review Board (IRB). The survey is anonymous. Participation in this research is completely voluntary and you may refuse to participate without consequence. The survey will take approximately ten minutes to complete. If you would like to know the results of this research, contact faculty advisor Dr. Erik Baker at bakerer@lewisu.edu. Thank you for your consideration. Your help is greatly appreciated. Survey link: https://goo.gl/forms/MP1833a6acHXBLGn2 Curt Lewis