Flight Safety Information November 12, 2018 - No. 229 In This Issue Incident: PIA AT72 at Panjgur on Nov 10th 2018, runway excursion on landing Incident: Egypt A320 near Cairo on Nov 7th 2018, engine stall Incident: LOT DH8D at Warsaw on Nov 8th 2018, flaps problem Incident: Vueling A320 at Bilbao on Oct 25th 2018, dropped parts of engine cowling on departure Accident: Fly Jamaica B752 at Georgetown on Nov 9th 2018, hydraulic failure causes runway excursion McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet - Accident (Pacific Ocean) Embraer ERJ-190LR (ERJ-190-100 LR) - Flight Control Problems (Portugal) Airbus A340-313 - Ground Damage - (Turkey) NTSB Report:...Metroliner cargo flight turns ugly when loose screwdriver hit propeller during takeoff Airlines to be ordered to follow Boeing safety advice after Lion Air tragedy Deadly Lion Air Crash Puts Spotlight on Safety Culture Within Indonesia's Airlines Safety Watchdog Suspends Air India Operations Director's Pilot License for Three Years Flying high: Co-pilot's breathalyzer test failure at Heathrow puts JAL into tailspin Finland and Norway are telling airline pilots to be ready to fly without GPS, and some think Russia Aviation body accused of forcing out staff who raised safety fears (UK) Age of Nigeria's airlines fleet not an issue in aviation safety: Experts Bristow Group acquires Columbia Helicopters for $560M Former gate agent at Logan Airport charged in $785,000 flight scam Virgin Australia's effort to boost the number of female pilots on course Hawaii expects pilot shortage to worsen with school closures Ryanair Forced to Pay the French 525,000 Euros for Impounded Jet Chronicles of Bombardier's jet programs: signs were there Quantum 'compass' promises navigation without using GPS Investigation in Safety Management Systems from SCSI November/December Issue of FAA Safety Briefing Incident: PIA AT72 at Panjgur on Nov 10th 2018, runway excursion on landing A PIA Pakistan International Airlines Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A performing flight PK-517 from Karachi to Panjgur (Pakistan) with 54 people on board, landed on Panjgur's runway 31 at about 08:20L (03:20Z) but overran the end of the runway, burst both left hand tyres on soft ground and came to a stop with all gear on soft ground. There were no injures, the damage to the aircraft is being assessed. The airport reported the aircraft blew a tyre on landing and veered off the runway. The CAA Pakistan reported the aircraft suffered an incident while landing in Panjgur. According to information The Aviation Herald received the aircraft had been dispatched under Minimum Equipment List requirements with one of the brakes inoperative. The airline reported the aircraft landed at about 08:20L but skidded off the runway and burst two tyres on rough ground. Preliminary information suggests the aircraft was dispatched with the right hand brakes inoperative, the left hand brakes failed during landing causing the aircraft to overrun the end of the runway, while running over soft ground both left hand tyres blew. A passenger video reveals the aircraft landed long on runway 31 touching down past the taxiway to the terminal and overran the runway. Panjgur features a runway 13/31 of 5000 feet/1524 meters length. Usual landing direction is 31. Related NOTAM: C0258/18 NOTAMN Q) OPKR/QMRXX///A/000/999/ A) OPPG B) 1811100306 C) 1811112359 EST E) RUNWAY IS UNAVAILABLE DUE TO BLOCKED BY DISABLED ACFT. Incident: PIA AT72 at Panjgur on Nov 10th 2018, runway excursion on landing http://avherald.com/h?article=4c019bc5&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Egypt A320 near Cairo on Nov 7th 2018, engine stall An Egypt Air Airbus A320-200, registration SU-GCB performing flight MS-855 from Cairo (Egypt) to Khartoum (Sudan), was climbing out of Cairo when the crew stopped the climb at FL230 after the right hand engine (V2527) stalled several times associated with a failure indication for the EEC2. The aircraft returned to Cairo for a safe landing on runway 05R about 30 minutes after departure. A passenger reported the aircraft was climbing through estimated FL220 when the aircraft lurched several times, the right hand engine produced sounds as if it was oscillating between power and below idle. The captain later indicated the right hand engine had stalled. The passengers were supplied with drinks and cookies, about two hours later a Boeing 737 departed to Khartoum. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration SU-GCR departed Cairo about 3.5 hours after SU-GCB landed and reached Khartoum with a delay of 3.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service after about 28.5 hours on the ground. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c011db0&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: LOT DH8D at Warsaw on Nov 8th 2018, flaps problem A LOT Polish Airlines de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration SP-EQL performing flight LO-3923 from Warsaw to Krakow (Poland) with 73 passengers and 4 crew, was climbing out of Warsaw's runway 29 when the crew stopped the climb at FL180 due to problems with the flaps and decided to return to Warsaw. The aircraft landed safely back on Warsaw's runway 33 about one hour after departure. The flight was cancelled. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for about 26 hours, then returned to service. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c0113bb&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Vueling A320 at Bilbao on Oct 25th 2018, dropped parts of engine cowling on departure A Vueling Airbus A320-200, registration EC-MDZ performing flight VY-1431 from Bilbao,SP to Barcelona,SP (Spain) with 114 passengers and 6 crew, departed Bilbao's runway 12 when the left engine (V2527) dropped two bonnets. In the absence of any abnormal indications and unaware of the separation the crew continued the flight to Barcelona for a safe landing. On Nov 8th 2018 Spain's CIAIAC reported they opened an investigation into the occurrence. Although a part of the engine cowling became stuck in the left main gear, the gear retracted normally after takeoff and extended in Barcelona without problems. The aircraft received minor damage at the left main gear and the left side of the fuselage where debris hit, however all persons on board disembarked normally, no medical attention was needed. The damage (Photos: Eduardo P.): http://avherald.com/h?article=4c0038ea&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: Fly Jamaica B752 at Georgetown on Nov 9th 2018, hydraulic failure causes runway excursion on landing A Fly Jamaica Airways Boeing 757-200, registration N524AT performing flight OJ-256 from Georgetown (Guyana) to Toronto,ON (Canada) with 120 passengers and 8 crew, was climbing out of Georgetown when the crew stopped the climb at FL200 due to a hydraulic failure and decided to return to Georgetown. The aircraft landed on Georgetown's runway 06 at 02:53L (06:53Z) but veered right off the runway and came to a stop to the right of the runway just short of the runway end. The aircraft was evacuated via slides. There were six minor injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage with the right main gear collapsed, the right engine sparated from the wing and right wing damage. The injured were taken to a hospital. Guyana's Minister of Public Infrastructure reported the aircraft carried 118 passengers, two infants and 8 crew. The crew declared emergency and returned to Georgetown. 6 people received minor injuries and were taken to the local hospital. The airline reported the aircraft returned to Georgetown with a technical problem and suffered an accident on landing. Related NOTAM: A0091/18 NOTAMN Q) SYGC/QFALC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/0629N05815W005 A) SYCJ B) 1811090800 C) 1811091300 E) AD CLSD DUE DISABLED ACFT ON RWY F) GND G) UNL A0093/18 NOTAMN Q) SYGC/QFAAL///A/000/999/0629N05815W005 A) SYCJ B) 1811091230 C) 1811121230 E) AD OPR. ACFT NOT ALLOWED TO LAND RWY 24 DUE DISABLED ACFT APRX 385M NE OF THR RWY 24, AT A HGT OF 30FT ABV THR. F) GND G) UNL http://avherald.com/h?article=4c00d6b3&opt=0 Back to Top McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet - Accident (Pacific Ocean) Date: 12-NOV-2018 Time: Type: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet Owner/operator: US Navy Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Philippine Sea - Pacific Ocean Phase: En route Nature: Military Departure airport: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) Destination airport: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) Narrative: The F-18 military jet crashed after a technical malfunction. Both occupants ejected safely. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=217657 Back to Top Embraer ERJ-190LR (ERJ-190-100 LR) - Flight Control Problems (Portugal) Date: 11-NOV-2018 Time: ca 13:35 UTC Type: Embraer ERJ-190LR (ERJ-190-100 LR) Owner/operator: Air Astana Registration: P4-KCJ C/n / msn: 19000653 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Unknown Category: Serious incident Location: NE of Lisbon - Portugal Phase: En route Nature: Ferry/positioning Departure airport: Alverca Air Base (LPAR) Destination airport: Minsk Narrative: Air Astana flight KC1388 diverted to Beja Airport, Portugal after suffering control issues after departure from Alverca Air Base, Portugal. The aircraft had arrived at Lisbon on October 2 and underwent maintenance at the OGMA facilities, located at the Alverca Air Base. KC1388 was the first post-maintenance flight. The aircraft took off at 13:31 hours UTC. Shortly after departure, about 13:34 UTC, the flight issued a Mayday to the Lisbon Approach controller, stating they had control problems. The flight requested to return to Alverca. About 13:37 UTC the flight requested to climb to FL100, again stating they had "flight control problems". At 13:45 the flight requested vectors towards the sea for a ditching. The aircraft continued to circle to the northeast of Lisbon while requesting vectors from Lisbon Approach towards the sea. As the aircraft continued circling in the area, two F-16 Fighting Falcon jets of the Portuguese Air Force were scrambled from the Monte Real Air Base. KC1388 was intercepted at 14:48 with an F-16 on the left-hand wing. The F-16 accompanied and guided the flight to Beja Airport (LPBJ) were a landing was carried out about 15:10 UTC. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=217634 Back to Top Airbus A340-313 - Ground Damage - (Turkey) Date: 09-NOV-2018 Time: Type: Airbus A340-313 Owner/operator: Türk Hava Yollar? - Turkish Airlines Registration: TC-JII C/n / msn: 331 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Minor Location: Istanbul-Atatürk International Airport (IST/LTBA) - Turkey Phase: Standing Nature: Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: A Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300, TC-JII, was hit by a fuel truck. The driver attempted to drive underneath engine no. 4 but the truck became stuck after hitting the underside of the engine cowling. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=217559 Back to Top NTSB Report: Metroliner cargo flight turns ugly when loose screwdriver hit propeller during takeoff Status: Final Date: Monday 20 March 2017 Time: 04:05 Type: Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II Operator: Western Air Express Registration: N158WA C/n / msn: TC-411 First flight: 1981 Total airframe hrs: 28602 Engines: 2 Garrett TPE331-10UA Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Boise Air Terminal, ID (BOI) ( United States of America) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Boise Air Terminal, ID (BOI/KBOI), United States of America Destination airport: Denver-Centennial Airport, CO (APA/KAPA), United States of America Narrative: A Swearingen SA226-TC, N158WA, was substantially damaged due to foreign object damage to the airplane's propeller and fuselage during initial takeoff/climb from Boise Air Terminal, Idaho, USA. According to Federal Aviation Administration personnel, about the time the airplane was rotating from runway 10L, the pilot experienced a light vibration; he subsequently returned to BOI and landed uneventfully. During a post-landing examination of the airplane, it was revealed that a portion of the outboard section of a left propeller blade, which had fragmented into 2 pieces, was missing. Additionally, about a 4 inch by 4 inch puncture hole was observed to have gone through the left forward side of the fuselage just aft of the main air stair door; a piece of the propeller blade was found in the cabin. It was further noted during a runway sweep for foreign objects shortly after the occurrence, that a screw driver which had been used during maintenance on the airplane earlier, and the second piece of the propeller blade tip, were both recovered from the departure runway in the same approximate location from where the airplane would have rotated. Probable Cause: PROBABLE CAUSE: "Company maintenance personnel's failure to remove a screwdriver that was left lodged in the windshield wiper area of the forward fuselage during maintenance and subsequently became dislodged on takeoff/initial climb and collided with a left propeller blade." Accident investigation: Investigating agency: NTSB Status: Investigation completed Duration: 1 year and 8 months Accident number: GAA17CA114 Download report: Final report https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20170320-1 Back to Top Back to Top Airlines to be ordered to follow Boeing safety advice after Lion Air tragedy Fatal Lion Air crash of 737 Max off Indonesian coast spurs Federal Aviation Authority to enforce bulletin directive on how to handle false cockpit readings Indonesian rescuers sort recovered debris of Lion Air flight JT610 before loading onto a truck for investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, 02 November 2018. Lion Air flight JT-610 lost contact with air traffic controllers soon after takeoff then crashed into the sea on 29 October. The flight was en route to Pangkal Pinang, and reportedly had 189 people onboard. EPA/MAST IRHAM US aviation regulators plan to order airlines to follow Boeing's advisory on how pilots should handle false readings from a plane sensor that authorities linked to last week's deadly 737 Max jet crash off the coast of Indonesia. The Boeing bulletin combined with statements by Indonesian investigators suggest that the pilots on the Lion Air 737 Max 8 were battling the plane as its computers commanded a steep dive. The issue is easily solved - Boeing's notice said crews should follow an existing procedure to combat it - but can be difficult to address if pilots become confused. The so called angle-of-attack sensor failed on Lion Air Flight 610 and had been replaced the previous day after earlier faults, the Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee said in a briefing. The malfunction can cause the plane's computers to erroneously register an aerodynamic stall, causing the aircraft to abruptly dive to regain the airspeed it needs to keep flying. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week said it would issue an airworthiness directive on the issue and "will take further appropriate actions depending on the results of the investigation". The FAA also notified regulatory counterparts around the world, which typically follow the US agency's lead on safety matters. The Boeing bulletin only reminds operators of the plane to follow existing procedures and doesn't require any physical fixes that could disrupt service. It's still possible the FAA may order the Chicago-based plane maker to redesign the Max's flight computers in the wake of the October 29 accident, which left 189 people dead. The Lion Air jetliner plunged into the Java Sea minutes after takeoff from Jakarta airport, nosing downward so suddenly that it may have hit speeds of 950kph before slamming into the water, Bloomberg said. Moments earlier, the pilots radioed a request to return to Jakarta to land, but never turned back toward the airport, according to Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee and flight-tracking data. The committee said the pilots were dealing with an erroneous airspeed indication. Boeing said it is cooperating fully and providing technical assistance as the investigation continues. Indonesia authorities said on Saturday they had stopped the search for victims of the crash but would keep looking for the Lion Air flight's second black box, the cockpit voice recorder. "There is nowhere left to search and we have stopped finding victims' bodies," Muhammad Syaugi, the head of the national search and rescue agency (Basarnas) told Reuters. "We will limit our operations to monitoring." Authorities have downloaded data from one of the black boxes found last week, the flight data recorder, but are still looking for the cockpit voice recorder. Soearjanto Tjahjono, the head of the transportation safety committee (KNKT), said finding the voice recorder would be critical to understanding the cause of the crash. "From the black box data, we know about 70 to 80 per cent of what happened but to 100 per cent understand the cause of the accident ... we need be able to know the conversation that took place in the plane's cockpit," he said, declining to elaborate on what the flight data recorder had revealed. He said authorities were searching for 15 aircraft parts, including an "angle of attack" sensor on the aircraft, which helps the plane's computers understand if the aircraft is stable. Investigators have said one of these sensors had provided erroneous data. An wrong angle-of-attack reading while pilots are flying manually can cause the plane's flight computers to command the Max models to dive, Boeing said in the bulletin to airlines. While planes like the Max fly mostly on autopilot, pilots can fly manually if they're dealing with unusual situations like the malfunctions that occurred on the Lion Air flight. Pilots can override the nose-down movement by pushing a switch on their control yoke, but the plane's computers will resume trying to dive as soon as they release the switch, the manufacturer said. Pilots should follow a separate procedure to halt the potentially dangerous action by the plane, the bulletin said. Flight crews are taught to handle "uncommanded nose-down stabiliser trim" by memorising a procedure to disengage the angle-of-attack inputs to the plane's computer system. That angle-of-attack sensor is intended to measure the direction of air flow over wings so that they maintain lift. If the flow is disrupted by a plane going too slow or climbing too steeply, that can cause an aerodynamic stall and a plane will plummet. However, if the sensor malfunctions, it can cause the plane's computers to erroneously think it is in a stall - which can then command the aircraft to abruptly dive. The jet reported a discrepancy in its angle of attack sensor during a flight from Bali to Jakarta the day before it crashed. The device was replaced after pilots reported a problem with the airspeed reading, the Indonesian transportation safety regulator said on Wednesday. A Lion Air passenger jet was flying from Jakarta to an island off Sumatra when it crashed into the sea. Boeing has delivered 219 Max planes - the latest and most advanced 737 jets - since the models made their commercial debut last year with a Lion Air subsidiary. Boeing has more than 4,500 orders for the airliners, which feature larger engines, more aerodynamic wings and an upgraded cockpit with larger glass displays. The single-aisle family is Boeing's biggest source of profit. Aircraft and engine manufacturers routinely send bulletins to air carriers noting safety measures and maintenance actions they should take, most of them relatively routine. But the urgency of a fatal accident can trigger a flurry of such notices. After an engine on a Southwest Airlines plane fractured earlier this year over Pennsylvania, killing a passenger, CFM International issued multiple bulletins to operators of its CFM56-7B power plants. Aviation regulators such as the US FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency often follow such actions by mandating that carriers follow the bulletins. Pilots raise and lower the nose of Boeing jetliners by pushing and pulling on a yoke in the cockpit, which controls panels at the tail known as elevators. In addition, a system known as pitch trim can be changed to prompt nose-up or nose-down movement. The angle of attack readings are fed into a computer that in some cases will attempt to push down the nose using the pitch trim system. In the early days of the jet age, the pitch trim system was linked to several accidents. If pilots aren't careful, they can cause severe nose-down trim settings that make it impossible to level a plane. Such an issue arose in 2016 at Rostov-on-Don Airport in Russia when a FlyDubai 737-800 nosed over and slammed into the runway at a steep angle, according to an interim report by Russian investigators. That case didn't involve the angle-of-attack system. One of the pilots had trimmed the plane to push the nose down while trying to climb after aborting a landing, the report said. All 62 people on board died. Lion Air's latest crisis illustrates the challenge relatively new carriers face as they try to keep pace with unstoppable demand for air travel in developing nations while striving for standards that mature markets took decades to reach. Retired air force chief of staff Chappy Hakim, an adviser to the transport ministry, said he avoided flying with Lion Air or other Indonesian airlines, with the exception of Garuda, which has not had a fatal crash since 2007. "I know Garuda," he said of the national carrier. "The other airlines, I don't believe they do the maintenance and training properly." He declined to elaborate further. Lion Air managing director Daniel Putut disputed any laxity in the airline's safety culture, stressing that it conducted maintenance in accordance with manufacturer guidelines. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Indonesian aviation authority, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Lion Air's safety record. https://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/airlines-to-be-ordered-to-follow-boeing-safety-advice-after- lion-air-tragedy-1.790398 Back to Top Deadly Lion Air Crash Puts Spotlight on Safety Culture Within Indonesia's Airlines In April 2013, a Lion Air Boeing 737 missed the runway on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in bad weather and plowed into the sea, cracking its fuselage open on the rocks. All 108 on board survived. But a September 2014 report by Indonesia's air crash investigators highlighted errors and poor training, saying the 24-year-old co-pilot had failed to adhere to the "basic principles of jet aircraft flying." Lion Air, struggling to get off a European Union blacklist because of "unaddressed safety concerns," asked Airbus, which supplies part of its fleet, to help improve training. The EU removed the privately owned budget airline from the list in 2016 after it determined Lion Air met international safety standards. None of Indonesia's roughly 100 airlines - most of them tiny - remain on the EU blacklist, with the last few coming off in June. All were banned in 2007; the national carrier, Garuda Indonesia, was the first to be removed in 2009. The crash of a Lion Air jet on Oct. 29 into the sea off Jakarta has put a spotlight back on the airline's safety record, although the cause remains undetermined. None of the aircraft's 189 passengers and crew survived. Lion Air's latest crisis illustrates the challenge relatively new carriers face as they try to keep pace with unstoppable demand for air travel in developing nations while striving for standards that mature markets took decades to reach. Retired air force chief of staff Chappy Hakim, an adviser to the transport ministry, told Reuters he avoided flying with Lion Air or other Indonesian airlines, with the exception of Garuda, which has not had a fatal crash since 2007. "I know Garuda," he said of the national carrier. "The other airlines, I don't believe they do the maintenance and training properly." He declined to elaborate further. Sponsored by Insurance Journal Lion Air Managing Director Daniel Putut disputed any laxity in the airline's safety culture, stressing that it conducted maintenance in accordance with manufacturer guidelines. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Indonesian aviation authority, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Lion Air's safety record. Putut, a former pilot, also told Reuters during a visit to the airline's training center near the Jakarta airport that it complied with all regulatory requirements. He said Lion Air had worked hard to install an attitude of "zero tolerance" for accidents after the Bali crash, making last week's disaster a painful eye-opener. Thousands of Lion Air flights have taken off and landed without serious incident since then. "We are also looking into what went wrong - new aircraft, experienced crews, and we have applied the zero- tolerance culture, yet another accident happened," Putut said. "But we still don't know the cause, so we will wait for the investigation from NTSC (National Transportation Safety Committee)." Safety Culture Frank Caron, head of a risk consulting firm who served as Lion Air's safety manager from 2009 to 2011 after insurance companies requested a foreign expert, said that at the time he was troubled by what he regarded as the airline's attitude that accidents were inevitable. "Safety is much more than running concepts and procedures," he said. "Safety is a spirit, a state of mind, a way of thinking, an attitude in the daily aspects of an operational life. And that is precisely what Lion never got. They would say, 'The airline has 250 flights a day, it is not abnormal that you have accidents.'" For example, after the 2013 Bali crash, Lion Air co-founder Rusdi Kirana told local media who asked about the airline's safety record: "If we are seen to have many accidents, it's because of our frequency of flights." Caron claimed he left Lion Air after some of his safety recommendations were not implemented. Lion Air's chief executive declined to comment on Caron's account of his departure or his other assertions. Indonesian accident investigators made four recommendations after the Bali crash, including that Lion Air should "ensure that all pilots must be competent in hand flying" and teach proper cockpit coordination. They also urged the aviation authority to ensure all airlines under its control did the same. Putut said Lion Air embraced those recommendations. Between the Bali crash and the one last week, Lion Air had three non-fatal accidents, including one in April in which a 737 skidded off a runway, according to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network database. Since it began operating 18 years ago, Lion Air has seen a total of eight planes damaged beyond repair in accidents, two of which killed a combined 214 people, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. During the same period, five jets from its chief rival, the national carrier Garuda Indonesia, were damaged beyond repair, and two accidents killed a combined 22 people, according to the database. Garuda declined to comment about its safety record. Since the 2013 Bali crash, Lion Air has sought to improve safety by gaining European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for its pilot training and maintenance facilities. EASA certifies its training center to instruct other airlines' pilots on A320 simulators and is seeking the same approvals for 737 jets and ATR72 turboprops, said Audy L Punuh, Lion Air's Angkasa Pilot Training Organisation Director. Rapid Growth Lion Air has expanded quickly since it started flying in 2000, overtaking national carrier Garuda by capturing more than half of the domestic market and establishing offshoots in Thailand and Malaysia. It has ridden a wave of aviation growth in Indonesia, where air travel has become critical for the economy. Domestic air traffic more than tripled in Indonesia over the past decade as prosperity and low fares made flying affordable for more people. With 129 million passengers in 2017, the Southeast Asian country was already the world's 10th-largest aviation market and is projected to continue growing. That growth has been accompanied by an air-accident rate that was twice the global average in 2017 and consistently higher than Indonesia's neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to the United Nations' aviation agency. Indonesian pilots are allowed to fly a maximum of 110 hours a month, which is more than the 100 hours in most other countries. Last year seven commercial planes were damaged beyond repair around the world, according to Boeing data; two were in Indonesia, wrecked in non-fatal accidents involving Sriwijaya Air and Tri M.G. Airlines. Latest Crash Flight JT610 took off from Jakarta at 6:20 a.m. on Oct. 29, bound for Bangka island, off Sumatra, and plunged into the sea 13 minutes later. Just before the crash, the pilot asked to return to the airport. The aircraft flew erratically on its previous flight and its airspeed readings were unreliable, according to an accident investigator and a flight tracking website. Investigators on Monday said the flight data recorder from the downed jet showed an airspeed indicator had been damaged during its final four flights, raising questions about maintenance and mechanical problems. Boeing said on Wednesday it had issued a bulletin to airlines reminding pilots about what it described as existing procedures for handling erroneous data from sensors. The Federal Aviation Administration later issued a directive calling for revisions to "operating procedures of the airplane flight manual." It is too early for regulators to decide whether to reconsider the decision to remove Lion Air from the EU blacklist, EU Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Guerend told Reuters. "The European Commission continues to monitor the situation on a regular basis," he said. "It is still too early to have any conclusive views on the causes of the accident." https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2018/11/09/507190.htm Back to Top Safety Watchdog Suspends Air India Operations Director's Pilot License for Three Years FILE PHOTO: The Air India logo is seen on the facade of its office building in Mumbai, India, July 7, 2017. Picture taken July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Danish SiddiquiREUTERS NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's air safety watchdog on Monday suspended the license of a senior Air India pilot, who is also the carrier's director of operations, for three years, a day after he failed two breathalyzer tests before a flight to London from New Delhi. This is the second time Arvind Kathpalia has been in trouble over alcohol tests. He was suspended for three months in 2017 for allegedly refusing to take breathalyzer tests. "The privileges of his license have been suspended for a period of three years from 11.11.2018 as per the provisions of applicable regulations," a spokesman at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement. Kathpalia, who also sits on the airline's board, could not be immediately reached for comment. On Sunday, he said that he would contest the results of the tests and claimed he was the victim of internal feuding within the loss-making state-owned airline. An Air India spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. India is one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets with about 20 percent growth in the number of passengers taking domestic and international flights over the past few years. More than 1 million flights departed from the country last fiscal year, ended March 31, according to DGCA data. Between 2015-2017, 132 pilots in India failed a breathalyzer test during the mandatory pre-flight examination, the Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu told parliament in August. Of these, 112 pilots were first time offenders and their pilot license was suspended for three months. Fifteen pilots were repeat offenders and had their license suspended for three years, Prabhu said. The license of one pilot, who failed the test for the third time, was canceled while four expatriate pilots lost their foreign license for failing the test. In 2017, Kathpalia was suspended for three months when he had allegedly refused to take breathalyzer tests before and after a return flight between Bengaluru and New Delhi in January 2017, according to a court document available on law portal Indiakanoon. In August last year, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, a trade union representing pilots of the state- owned carrier, filed a court case against Kathpalia requesting stern action against him over the missed breathalyzer tests and other behavior. Kathpalia was appointed operations director in June 2017. According to the job description at the time, he is responsible for flight operations, ground operations, and flight safety and training operations. It is unclear if those remain the job specifications. It is also unclear if he will retain his position as operations director and stay on Air India's board. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-11-12/safety-watchdog-suspends-air-india-operations- directors-pilots-license-for-three-years Back to Top Flying high: Co-pilot's breathalyzer test failure at Heathrow puts JAL into tailspin "Drunk Japanese pilot arrested at Heathrow Airport" read the BBC news headline on Nov 1. Don't think that's particularly exceptional, remarked Friday (Nov 23). There's probably someone, somewhere in the world flying high right now. Former JAL pilot and aviation critic Hiroshi Sugie put it like this: "In today's aircraft, when an emergency arises, things have been designed so that the pilot cannot control the plane on his own. All the tasks have been apportioned. So if you think it will be all right that it was just a co-pilot this time, that's a huge mistake. Even then, I can't imagine alcohol in the equation, even a small amount. All the people in the aviation industry, myself included, are astonished by this." At around 7 p.m. on Oct 28, a 42-year-old Japanese co-pilot was arrested at Heathrow Airport while preparing for a flight to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The local police were alerted by the driver of a crew bus who smelled alcohol on the pilot. The co-pilot admitted that while in the hotel the night before, he had consumed two bottles of wine, three small bottles of beer and two cans of beer. "One possibility was excessive stress," explained aviation critic and former JAL pilot Hiroyuki Kobayashi. "International flights are a battle with time differences. If they can't get to sleep pilots in some cases may become drowsy during the flight. So he may have thought that the alcohol would help him fall asleep." Apparently at pre-flight meetings, JAL conducts its own sobriety test, which the co-pilot in question appears to have passed. Possible? Probably not. A JAL spokesperson noted that it intended to introduce a new type of alcohol detector, already in use on its domestic routes, at overseas destinations as well. He said they weren't able to determine the details from the co-pilot because he was still in detention. "After the court makes a judgment, we expect to determine a correct and appropriate punishment," he added. JAL and other carriers generally abide by a rule that no drinking is permitted within 12 hours of a flight. "But more new carriers, especially the LCCs (low cost carriers), make late-night arrivals and early-morning departures," said the aforementioned Sugie. "So people who want to drink tend to do it privately in their rooms, which is even more dangerous. It doesn't fit the reality." Just before the co-pilot's arrest, a regular pilot for a JAL subsidiary reported in sick, which resulted in a delay in his flight shift. Actually, Friday reveals, he had been hung over, and by calling in sick, his flight was delayed, buying himself time before undergoing the breathalyzer test. Isao Mori, author of a book titled "Rotten Wings: JAL's 60 years to Oblivion," remarks that JAL pilots of yore were elites, and for that reason were more likely to be assigned to international routes. But after the fatal crash of an Osaka-bound Boeing 747 in 1985, JAL's safety policies became even stricter. "But then after the company declared bankruptcy in 2010, it was forced to make personnel cuts, and the total number of JAL pilots fell below those at All Nippon Airways," Mori points out. "Following the appointment of Yoshiharu Ueki -- himself a former pilot -- as JAL president, salaries were boosted by over 10 billion yen, and a 48-year-old pilot for example could take home a monthly salary of almost 2 million yen. After that came about, I suppose maybe pilots' began letting their guard down." The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced it is putting together an advisory panel to set up new restrictions on pilot tippling, even as this story appeared on the stands, sighs Friday, its possible that booze-besotted pilots are seated in cockpits somewhere in the world. https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/flying-high-co-pilot's-breathalyzer-test-failure-at- heathrow-puts-jal-into-tailspin Back to Top Finland and Norway are telling airline pilots to be ready to fly without GPS, and some think Russia is up to something US Marine Corps pilots fly a MV-22B Osprey during Exercise Trident Juncture near northern Norway, November 6, 2018. US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Cody J. Ohira * Norway and Finland have both reported problems with GPS signals in their northern regions this month. * Both countries have been taking part in NATO's exercise Trident Juncture, which has irked Russia. * Reports of GPS interference related to Russian military activities have been reported in the past. Disruptions to Global Positioning System signals have been reported in northern Norway and Finland this month, overlapping with the final days of NATO's exercise Trident Juncture, a massive military exercise that has drawn Russia's ire. A press officer for Wideroe, a Norway-based airline operating in the Nordics, told The Barents Observer at the beginning of November that pilots reported the loss of GPS while flying into airports in the northern Norwegian region of Finnmark, near the Russian border, though the officer stressed that pilots had alternative systems and there were no safety risks. Norway's aviation authority, Avinor, issued a notice to airmen of irregular navigation signals in airspace over eastern Finnmark between October 30 and November 7, according to The Observer. Norway Finland Finnmark Lapland Russia Disruptions to GPS signals in Lapland in Finland and Finnmark in Norway were reported in late October and early November. Google Maps The director of Norway's civil aviation authority told The Observer that organization was aware of disturbances to GPS signals in that region of the country but there is always notice given about planned jamming. "It is difficult to say what the reasons could be, but there are reasons to believe it could be related to military exercise activities outside Norway's [borders]," the director said. Aviation authorities in Finland issued similar notices in early November, warning air traffic of disruptions to GPS signals over the northern region of Lapland, which borders Finnmark. A notice to airmen from Air Navigation Services Finland warned of such issues between midday November 6 and midnight on November 7. ANS Finland's operational director told Finnish news outlet Yle that the information had come from the Finnish Defense Forces but did not identify the source of the interference. "For safety reasons, we issued it for an expansive enough area so that pilots could be prepared not to rely solely on a GPS," the operational director said. The cause for the disruptions to GPS signals is not immediately clear, but the reports came during the final days of NATO's exercise Trident Juncture, which involved some 50,000 troops, tens of thousands of vehicles, and dozens of ships and aircraft operating in Norway, in airspace over the Nordic countries, and in the waters of the Norwegian and Baltic seas. All 29 NATO members took part, including Norway. Also participating were Sweden and Finland, which are not NATO members but work closely with the alliance. Moscow has in the past warned them against joining NATO. While NATO stressed that Trident Juncture was strictly a defensive exercise - simulating a response to an attack on an alliance member - Russian officials saw it as hostile, calling the drills "anti-Russia." Much of the exercise took place in southern and central Norway, but fighter jets and other military aircraft used airports in northern Norway and Finland. (US Marines stationed in Norway also plan to move closer to that country's border with Russia.) Norwegian intelligence services said in October 2017 that electronic disturbances - including jamming of GPS signals of flights in the northern part of the country - in September were suspected of coming from Russia while that country was carrying out its Zapad 2017 military exercise. Reports of similar outages were reported around the same time in western Latvia, a Baltic state that borders Russia. Electronic warfare appeared to be a major component of Zapad 2017, with the Russian military targeting its own troops to practice their responses to it. "The amount of jamming of their own troops surprised me," the chief of Estonia's military intelligence said in November that year. Norwegian and Latvian officials both said the jamming may not have been directed at their countries specifically. Latvia's foreign minister said Sweden's Öland Island, across the Baltic Sea from Latvia, may have been the target. At the end of 2017, Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen told media that he was not surprised that Russian jamming activity had affected Norway. "It was a large military exercise by a big neighbor and it disrupted civilian activities including air traffic, shipping, and fishing," he said, referring to Zapad 2017-related disturbances, adding that Norway was prepared for it. Similar disruptions were detected in Norway near the Russian border earlier this year. Norwegian authorities said the interference was related to Russian military activity in the area and that they had requested Russia take steps to ensure Norwegian territory was not adversely affected. Russia has invested heavily in electronic-warfare capabilities and is believed to have equipment that can affect GPS over a broad area. Northern Norway and Finland are adjacent to Russia's Kola Peninsula, which is home to Russia's Northern Fleet - its submarine-based nuclear forces - and other Russian military installations. "If your offensive military capabilities rely on GPS, guess what the adversary will try to do?" Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said in response to the latest reports of GPS interference in Finland. https://www.businessinsider.com/finland-norway-tell-pilots-to-fly-without-gps-and-some-blame-russia-2018- 11 Back to Top Aviation body accused of forcing out staff who raised safety fears (UK) Civil Aviation Authority denies constructive dismissal at employment tribunal The two workers claim the CAA changed their working conditions and performance ratings after they spoke up. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA Two senior flight operations inspectors have claimed they were forced out of the Civil Aviation Authority after raising concerns that job cuts had put passengers at risk. John Baker and Terry Neale, who served with the air safety regulator for a total of 40 years, told an employment tribunal that CAA managers changed their working conditions and downgraded their performance ratings after they expressed concerns to the board about dwindling numbers of qualified staff. Both were inspectors who oversaw the training of pilot instructors and examiners at British airlines and flying schools. Baker, a former Royal Navy pilot, said the CAA "denigrated safety concerns" he raised in an email to the then chief executive, Andrew Haines, and other board members, referencing fewer experts overseeing aircrew training. In a witness statement submitted to the tribunal in Croydon, south London, he said it was "the culmination of concerns expressed by me to CAA management during its transformation programme", and warned "the number of training inspectors, flight examiners and licensing standards inspectors are now well below the critical mass where we might hope to influence the standards across the industry ... with any real effectiveness". Baker sent the email in February 2015, days after watching footage from a plane crash in Taiwan, where 43 people died due to pilot error after an engine failure. He said he had seen pilot instructors at a major UK airline poorly trained to deal with such a scenario, "highlighting the potential for a similar mishap to occur in the UK ... I and my colleagues were warning of an increased risk to the travelling public". An internal review had since confirmed he was not alone in having safety concerns, Baker said. It found 20% of 289 staff respondents agreed that they "felt confident our [safety and airspace regulation] activities are currently sufficient to assure ourselves that we are protecting the safety of the public". Baker claimed he was told he could no longer work at home or do flexible hours in a role that was a long distance from his home, "making the job untenable" before he resigned in 2015. In a written statement, Neale said he resigned after "victimisation" following "the raising of a serious concern for the safety of the travelling public to the executive committee of the CAA", in a presentation that pointed out the number of inspectors in his section had dropped from eight to two, plus two part-time. He claimed the meeting "triggered a series of recriminatory actions", including loss of flying time, which he said was "highly incongruous for a regulator which encourages the aviation industry to have an open reporting ethic". Cross-examining, lawyers for the CAA challenged Neale's account of his treatment, citing emails showing his flying activity had stopped before the board meeting. They argued he had not made a public interest disclosure, as Haines and the board were well aware of "people in the ranks expressing concern about staff numbers", and there were no notes of claims he had made in the meeting, which he had been invited to address on the subject of automation in aviation. The CAA denies constructive dismissal in both cases. Neale is claiming £367,ooo in compensation, and Baker is seeking £181,000. The hearing continues. The regulator underwent a "transformation programme" after Haines took over in 2009, with the overall wage bill slashed. According to the Prospect union, a significant number of highly trained and experienced safety inspectors left the CAA, often signing confidentiality agreements. The CAA has said independent international safety audits showed it was consistently performing to a very high standard, in compliance with its regulatory duties, and that it had consistently protected frontline safety roles. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/09/civil-aviation-authority-accused-forcing-out-staff-safety- fears-employment-tribunal Back to Top Age of Nigeria's airlines fleet not an issue in aviation safety: Experts Some of Nigeria's commercial airlines have the oldest aircraft fleet in Africa, with the age of the aircraft owned by one of them being 28.1 years. But the experts are quick to disconnect aviation safety with the age of an aircraft. In sharp contrast to the age of airline fleets in Nigeria, major African airlines, such as Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, Africa's oldest, Rwandair, Royal Air Maroc and Kenya Airways have fleets with average age of between 11.4 years and 5.8 years. Rwandair, founded in 2002 and the youngest of the African airlines, has fleet average age of 7.1 years. A random check of the fleet of Nigeria's airlines, shows that Arik Air has the youngest fleet of 23 aircraft, with average age of 11 years. Dana Airlines, which started operations in November 2008 has the oldest fleet of a range of McDonnell Douglas MD-80, with one of them, still in use, 28 years and one month old. But several aviation experts said the age of an aircraft has little relationship with safety issue. Mr Olumide Ohunayo, Ohunayo, who is a member of the Aviation Round Table Safety Initiative (ART), cited the recent crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 owned by Lion Air aircraft in Indonesia, which killed 189 people on board. "The Lion Air aircraft was just a few months old and yet it developed mechanical issues which were not checked. "So, as far as aviation is concerned, what matters is the maintenance schedule enforced on airlines by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and that is what keeps the airspace safe. "The only problem with using an older aircraft is that you spend more on fuelling and maintenance as an operator compared to using newer models for flight services, " he said. Mr Chris Iwarah, Corporate Communications Manager, Air Peace, said the age of the airline's fleet was irrelevant because of its commitment to safety. Iwarah said Air Peace spends an average of between $2.5 million and $3.5 million every 18 months to carry out C-check on aircraft in its fleet, stressing that the maintenance was being done in some of the best places in the world. He said: "As professionals, we cannot be talking about the age of an aircraft because it has no impact on its safety. What matters is maintenance and we use some of the best facilities in the world. "Three of the planes we started with, we have sold them to a subsidiary of British Airways which they are using for their short haul flights. "So, if the planes were not air worthy, an organisation like British Airways will not be coming to buy them from us. "Importantly, you must understand that every single part of an aircraft has its expiring date. Once that time comes, whether you use the plane or not, you must change that part. " According to him, Air Peace recent move to acquire brand new planes was not due to safety reasons but based on its business model to reduce fuelling and maintenance costs. He said :"It is largely due to fuel efficiency that we signed the deal with Boeing to acquire 10 brand new B737 Max 8 aircraft. "It is not because of age. Most big airlines in the world prefer to use aircraft that have been there and tested in terms of their safety records. British Airways uses some of the oldest aircraft and they are proud of it. " On his part, the General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Sam Adurogboye, said there is no limit to an aircraft age that can be used for operation globally but that airlines with older fleets spend more to keep them in shape. "So, it is the operator that takes the decision whether to continue spending more money on the scheduled maintenance as the CAA insist or opt for buying a brand new aircraft. "If anybody tells you that there is a country that specifies the age limit of an aircraft you can use, that is total falsehood. "As we speak, the airplane that the American President is using is over 40 years old. It is the same plane that Barack Obama used, it is same plane that George Bush used and it is the same plane that Ronald Reagan used. Curfew: "They are simply following the maintenance schedule." Adurogboye said all airlines are mandated to adhere strictly to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) safety standards. Adurogboye said: "You should know that Arik bought some of its aircraft brand new when they started operation. There is no airline that has all its fleet brand new. "What happens is that they must follow the engineering maintenance process which is called maintenance schedule. The NCAA exist for that purpose and if you follow the process, the aircraft is as good as new. " He confirmed that Nigeria airlines are buying newer aircraft, with Air Peace recently signing a deal with Boeing to acquire 10 brand new B737 Max 8. Aero Contractors and others have also placed bookings. "Even during President Olusegun Obasanjo's government, Nigeria gave out some planes to some African countries and those planes are still being used today. " According to data provided by planespotters.net, Dana Airlines aircraft are the oldest plying the Nigerian skies. At present, it operates six aircraft, all MD-80s, with the youngest delivered October 2014 and registered as 5N-BKI. It is now 22.3 years old. Another plane in the fleet, 5N-SAI is 28.1 years old. Air Peace, with a fleet strength of 20 aircraft averages 19 years. It has 13 Boeing 737, with average age of 22.3 years and 2 Boeing 777, with average age of 18.1 years. However, two of the Boeing 737-500 in its collection are between 25 and 26 years old. One of them was acquired in July 2014 and another December 2014. However, Air Peace, boasts of four Embraer ERJ-145, being run by its subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper, with an average age of 19 years. Medview, which was founded in 2007 has five planes, all Boeing models. They included a Boeing 777-200(5N- BVY), which is 16.7 years old, Boeing 767, 23.6 years old and three Boeing 737-400, with an average age of 20.9 years. Azman Air Services, which took off in 2010 has four aircraft in operation, which notch an average age of 20.9 years. The airline has two Boeing 737-300 and two Boeing 737-500, averaging 20.9 years. Max Air, which entered the Nigerian aviation business just this year, has six aircraft, with average age of 20.4 years. Apart from an Embraer ERJ-145, which is less than 10 years old, all the other aircraft in its fleet are 20 years and above. Aero Contractors, Nigeria's oldest airline with a peerless safety record, has 11 aircraft in operation. Among them are nine Boeing 737, with an average age of 26.5 years and two De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 planes, aged 17.8 years. The airline, which was founded in 1959, is now being run by AMCON, along with Arik Air, following huge indebtedness to the banks. Arik Air entered Nigeria's turbulent aviation business in October 2006 with a grand ambition to operate with new aircraft, instead of the creaky 'Tokunbo' aircraft being used then and now by airlines in the country. So it ordered new planes, with the oldest in its fleet today being four Bombardier CRJ-900 planes delivered in 2006 as new. They are now 12.6 years old. Arik also has one Bombardier CRJ-1000 bought new in 2014. It is now five years old. It has 13 Boeing 737, with average age of 12.1 years and an Airbus A340, which is 10.4 years old. In contrast to the ageing planes being used by commercial airlines in Nigeria, Ethiopia Airlines, Africa's largest has 104 aircraft, with an average fleet age of 5.8 years. The airline, which started business in 1945 has ordered for four planes that will increase its fleet size to 108. Ethiopian Airlines has a whopping 23 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with average age of 3.4 years, 17 Boeing 777, with average age of 5.2 years, 26 Boeing 737, with an average age of 7.9 years, nine Airbus350, with an average age of 1.4 years and 23 DHC-8 Dash 8, which are 5.4 years old. The oldest aircraft in the fleet of the airline based in Addis Ababa are six Boeing 767, which are 16.3 years old. Kenya Airways has a fleet size of 39, with an average age of 6.8 years. The Nairobi based airline has 12 Boeing 737, 10 years old, three Boeing 777, which are 4.7 years old, nine Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 4.1 years old and 15 Embraer ERJ-190, which are 6.3 years old. Royal Air Maroc, founded in 1957 has 51 aircraft in operation with an average age of 11.4 years. They are 37 Boeing 737, which are 12.3 years, five Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which are 2.8 years old and four Embraer ERJ- 190, which are four years old. South Africa Airways fleet has an average age of 11 years. Among them are 21 Airbus A320 and A330, with an average age 4.7 years. It also has 16 Airbus A340, with ab average age of 15 years and seven Airbus 319, average age of 13.8 years. The oldest planes in the fleet are three Boeing 737, which are 27.5 years old. Rwandair, with Pan-African ambition like Ethiopian, South African Airways and Royal Air Maroc, has 13 aircraft, with two more Airbus A330 on order. The average age of its fleet, that comprised six Boeing 737, two Airbus A330 and two Bombardier CRJ-900 is 7.1 years. The oldest plane in its collection is one De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8, which is 11.5 years old, far much younger than many of the planes flying in Nigeria's airspace. A recent study by SGI Aviation, ordered by IATA said the average retirement age of a freighter aircraft is 32.5 years and for a passenger aircraft 25.1 years. The study said aircraft retirements are generally governed by a number of principles: - More than half of the aircraft which are utilised for commercial operations are retired between the age of 20 and 30 years; Freighters accounted for 17% of all the commercial aircraft retirements. Freighters tend to retire later than passenger aircraft. It found that the average retirement age for aircraft increased from 18.8 years in 1980-1984 to 29.4 years in 2005- 2009. The retirement age dropped to 27.6 years in the last six years due to the record-high oil prices in early 2010s. According to another report, some of the factors governing the retirement of aeroplanes are pressurisation cycles, hours of flights and fuel efficiency. A Boeing 747 can endure about 35,000 pressurization cycles and flights-roughly 135,000 to 165,000 flight hours-before metal fatigue sets in and is retired at approximately 27 years of service, said the report written two years ago. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/11/age-of-nigerias-airlines-fleet-not-an-issue-in-aviation-safety-experts/ Back to Top Bristow Group acquires Columbia Helicopters for $560M A Houston-based Bristow Group helicopter. Photo: Bristow Group The Houston aviation services company Bristow Group is acquiring Aurora, Ore.-based Columbia Helicopters in a $560 million deal that will reduce its exposure to the volatile oil and gas market. "The acquisition will diversify our revenue by geography and end-market, deepen our position with the U.S. government and enable us to pursue global government contract opportunities that would not be available to either standalone company," Jonathan Baliff, CEO of Bristow Group, said in the news release. Oil and gas services, such as ferrying workers to and from offshore oil rigs, is the largest part of Bristow's business. The combined company will have a more diversified fleet, with 304 operating aircraft, a more varied customer base and an expanded market, particularly in the U.S. government sector. Columbia provides heavy-lift helicopter operations as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul services. It will remain headquartered in Aurora, Ore., with Bristow headquarters remaining in Houston. The local company on Friday also announced a second quarter fiscal year net loss of $144.2 million, or $4.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $31.2 million during the same three-month period ending Sept. 30 last year. The loss was mainly due to Bristow paying more for its H225 helicopters and Eastern Airways assets than what it can currently make in the market. Adjusted net loss, not including the above impairments related to the helicopters and Eastern Airways assets, was $28 million for the second quarter of 2018 compared to an adjusted net loss of $11.6 million last year. Bristow also announced that Baliff will retire in the coming months. Thomas N. Amonett, vice chairman of the board, will serve as interim president until a CEO search is conducted. https://www.chron.com/business/bizfeed/article/Bristow-Group-acquires-Columbia-Helicopters-for- 13378398.php Back to Top Former gate agent at Logan Airport charged in $785,000 flight scam A former gate agent at Logan International Airport allegedly bilked her airline by canceling friends and relatives' cheap domestic flights and re-booking them on costlier trips to international locales without authorization, legal filings show. The suspect, Tiffany Jenkins, 30, allegedly defrauded her airline of about $785,000 during the 15-month scheme, and she told the FBI that she "wanted her family and friends to see the world and visit tropical destinations," said an affidavit filed in US District Court in Boston. Jenkins made her initial appearance there Thursday on a wire fraud charge stemming from the alleged scam. She did not enter a plea and was released on $10,000 unsecured bond, records show. Court papers didn't identify the airline she worked for (JetBlue). https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/11/09/former-gate-agent-logan-airport-charged-flight-scam- wanted-relatives-see-world/fhGTJnD6uYDWwdoeiz6WOK/story.html Back to Top Virgin Australia's effort to boost the number of female pilots on course Virgin Australia Pilot Cadet Program The number of females enrolled this year is up 200 percent. Virgin Australia's efforts to increase the number of female pilots is beginning to pay off with the number of women involved in their pilot cadet programme rising a massive 200 percent on the previous intake. The airline committed to a 50- 50 gender target at the beginning of this year. Currently 56 percent of cadets are female. And overall enrollment is on the increase too, with more applications being submitted this year than ever before. The growth in the number of people studying for a career in aviation will be good news to the industry, which is on track for an 'unprecedented' pilot shortage. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing says airlines will need to find nearly 800,000 pilots within 20 years to keep up with the massive growth in the aviation industry. Asia will need 260,000 of those and 320,000 cabin crew need to be found in the Asia-Pacific region alone. Stuart Aggs from Virgin Australia said the push for more female recruits has not come at the cost of quality applications. Nealy 900,000 extra jobs will need to be filled in the aviation industry in the next 20 years "At the end of the day, the selection process is merit based, and the application and assessment process sets a necessarily very high standard. Candidates are exposed to screening and panel interviews, abilities testing, personality profiling, computer based learning and examination, and reference checks. We also look at cultural fit, motivation, passion, and community involvement," Mr Aggs said. This announcement comes after the Virgin Australia Group was selected by Tamworth Regional Council in October as the preferred airline group to establish a world-class pilot training centre in the New South Wales city. "The future looks bright for this next generation of pilots, and we're excited to have the opportunity to play a part in the development of this promising group of cadets and welcome them to what is a very exciting industry," Ms Gemmell said. At the end of the training course, cadets graduate with a Commercial Pilot Licence and are offered employment by Virgin Australia. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2018/11/virgin-australia-s-effort-to-boost-the-number-of-female- pilots-on-course.html Back to Top Hawaii expects pilot shortage to worsen with school closures HONOLULU - Hawaii's shortage of pilots could lead to fewer flights and higher prices if the problem is left unchecked, aviation officials said. Three flight schools on Oahu have closed over the last 18 months, citing high operating costs and diminishing student enrollment numbers, Hawaii News Now reported this week. The closings could worsen the shortage, which became more pronounced when the University of Hawaii closed its flight program in 2015. "We just cannot generate the number of pilots we need," said Pat McNamee, president of the General Aviation Council of Hawaii. The state needs about 100 new pilots each year to replace the pilots who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, McNamee said. "We try to teach as many pilots as we can, but we're limited by facilities, air space, and obviously money. It's very expensive," McNamee said. Charter flight companies are already seeing the effects of the pilot shortage, and it could eventually reach the big airlines, officials said. The shortage has the potential to cause more harm in Hawaii than in other states, said Peter Forman, a Hawaii aviation expert. "I think it will be in a worse situation both because there is fewer pilots being trained here than other places, and because we depend so heavily on air travel," Forman said. It could also affect air safety, McNamee said. "We've really lowered the minimum qualifications to get into the airlines because we're running out of pilots," McNamee said. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article221402400.html Back to Top Ryanair Forced to Pay the French €525,000 for Impounded Jet Things have gone from bad to worse for Europe's most hated low-cost airline Ryanair and chief executive Michael O'Leary. The tight-fisted Irish man is known for pioneering the low-cost airline movement. But also for making passengers travel like sardines with minimal luggage and maximum discomfort. He even proposed a move to make them pay for using the restroom onboard (which turned out to be illegal). Now O'Leary is left positively fuming after the company's latest gaffe which sees them pay the French airport of Bordeaux some €525,000 ($595 million) in return for an impounded jet. Low-Cost and High Penalties Yet over the years, it isn't just Ryanair's passengers who have suffered at the hands of O'Leary and his cost- cutting policies. The ruling by the European Commission to pay the funds to recover the jet (in which 150 London-bound passengers were forced off as the airport seized it) was just one of seven rulings over illegal operations by Ryanair. over illegal arrangements at local airports including Cagliari, Altenburg, and Klagenfurt. The airline was forced to pay some €23.7 million ($26.9 million) over the unfair competitive advantage it had arranged with airports across Europe. Ryanair employees have been having a bad time lately as well, staging strikes over pay and working conditions. Six employees were also recently fired after being pictured sleeping on the floor in a Ryanair office in Spain. The Cases Against Ryanair Just Keep Piling Up As if a €23.7-million fine, half a million for an impounded jet, dissatisfied staff and customers weren't enough, Ryanair's woes are just getting started. Italy's antitrust agency has opened up a probe against the airline's new hand luggage policy. The policy means that if you don't pay for a premium service you can pretty much carry nothing on board, not even a laptop. Moreover, the airline and chief exec O'Learly are being sued by a New York shareholder who claims that the share price was inflated by O'Leary and his promise of managing labor relations and keeping costs down. Ryanair has also recently been the subject of a high-profile racial case against an elderly passenger in which a customer was filmed hurling abuse. https://www.moneymakers.com/ryanair-forced-to-pay-the-french-e525000-for-impounded-jet/ Back to Top Chronicles of Bombardier's jet programs: signs were there What was to be a regular quarterly earnings report, turned into a stunning announcement for the global aviation industry, when on November 8, 2018, Bombardier revealed it would sell two of its businesses, including the aging Q400 aircraft program, and cut 5,000 jobs across the board. With the CSeries and the QSeries now out of the manufacturer's portfolio, only the CRJ regional jets remain. Will Bombardier end up being exclusively a business-jet and rail manufacturer? Let us break down Bombardier's announcement. With its third quarter 2018 earnings results, the Canadian aircraft and train manufacturer said it will sell its Q Series turboprop aircraft program as well as de Havilland trademark to a subsidiary of home-based Longview Aviation Capital, Viking Air, for $300 million. The sale package includes Bombardier's Q400 turboprop line as well as assets and intellectual property for other Dash 8 models, the -100, -200 and -300. Bombardier said it also reached an agreement to sell its business aircraft flight and technical training unit, which is run out of Montréal, Québec City (Canada) and Dallas (U.S.), to Canadian training solutions company CAE, for $645 million. The transactions with CAE will total $800 million in revenue for Bombardier. Overall, the manufacturer said it expects to get around $900 million in net proceeds out of the two all- Canadian deals, which should be finalized by mid-2019. By that time, the company's large scale cost reduction and restructuring measures will have begun to erase around 5,000 jobs (which translates into over 7% of its global workforce), helping the manufacturer to generate $250 million in annual savings at full run rate by 2021, as it stated. The company defends itself by saying the cuts and sales are necessary, and that it would continue to "streamline" its operations. The Bombardier saga The offloading of the slow-selling QSeries turboprop business comes months after the Canadian plane maker handed over another of its commercial jet programs: its signature CSeries to Airbus. Under the deal, the European aircraft manufacturer acquired a majority stake (50.01%) in the CSeries aircraft line effective July 1, 2018. It has since renamed the two models (CS100 and CS300) to the A220-100 and A220-300, pledging to boost sales of the rebranded plane. Heavy investments into the loss-making CSeries a few years back had led Bombardier to a similar situation it has found itself with the QSeries today. In October 2016, the company announced plans to cut a total of 7,500 jobs (over 10% of its global workforce) through the end of 2018. It was, in fact, the second wave of job cuts to hit Bombardier's employees in less than a year, Canadian Global News reported at the time. The company hoped the measures would save it $300 million a year. All the while, since 2015, it had been asking the Québec government for a $1 billion investment in the CSeries. In February 2017, the manufacturer's pleas were finally answered: the federal government pledged to provide $372.5 million in interest-free loans to Bombardier over a four year period, according to Canadian news site CBC. Most of the loans were to go to the Global 7500 business jet program (originally named the Global 7000) and the remaining third - to the CSeries program. The CSeries passenger jet was plagued by delays and cost overruns prior to entering commercial service with SWISS airlines in July 2016. And Bombardier's Global business jet program was not exempt from those problems either. The 7500 was initially scheduled for introduction in 2016, while the 8000 - for 2017. But the former received type certification by Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just a day before Bombardier's breaking news, on November 7, 2018, and is now expected to enter into service by end of year. Bombardier's plan B The drastic cost reduction measures mentioned were part of Bombardier's recovery plan launched in 2015. The Montréal-based company is still seeing it through aiming to improve profitability and competitiveness by 2020. Signs of the demise of its QSeries program were there too, when in May 2018, Bombardier sold its Downsview factory in Toronto, where the Q400 is built, to the Public Sector Investment Board for $635 million, CBC reported. In its second quarter earnings results released on August 2, 2018, Bombardier said it would try to turn its loss-making regional jet program around by cutting costs, and boosting volumes: "Adding a little bit of volume here also is very beneficial to those programs as you add units especially at the current rates - that does improve the cost structure," CFO John Di Bert said during a conference call about the results. At the time, CEO Alain Bellemare said the company was making "solid progress" in its turnaround plan and "positioning the company for the future". He also added that, "With our heavy investment cycle largely behind us, our focus is now on ramping-up production and improving operational efficiency to accelerate growth." Bombardier's aircraft order backlog rose to 116 planes, which is enough for three years of production, allowing a potential increase in production rates, CBC observed. During the quarter, the manufacturer delivered 18 commercial aircraft, out of which, eight were CSeries jets, and five of CRJ Series and Q400 aircraft each. It had secured orders for a total of 16 Q400 aircraft and 35 CRJ Series. In its third quarter earnings report, announcing the sale of the Q400 program, Bellemare reiterated his words, stating the heavy investment cycle was now "completed". As for the regional jet program, the plan also remains the same. Only now it says it would also "explore strategic options" for the program while seeking to return it to profitability. That is to say, of course, for the remaining regional jet program - the CRJ family of airliners. Quarter three results showed that Bombardier's order backlog stood at 122 jets as of September 30, 2018. The quarter saw only five deliveries of the CRJ Series and Q400 combined, and firm orders totaled 11 aircraft. https://www.aerotime.aero/ruta.burbaite/22078-chronicles-of-bombardier-s-jet-programs-signs-were-there Back to Top Quantum 'compass' promises navigation without using GPS It could keep society humming when satellites fail. GPS is vital to modern navigation, but it's extremely fragile. Never mind coverage -- if a satellite fails or there's a jamming attack, it quickly becomes useless. Scientists may have a much more robust answer, though. Scientists have demonstrated a "commercially viable" quantum accelerometer that could provide navigation without GPS or other satellite technology. The device uses lasers to cool atoms to extremely low temperatures, and then measures the quantum wave properties of those atoms as they respond to acceleration. The result is an extremely sensitive device that's also considerably more reliable than conventional accelerometers. While existing hardware can help determine to location to some extent by measuring velocity, it quickly falls apart without help from space. As you might have noticed by looking at the photo above, this quantum 'compass' isn't ready to replace the accelerometer in your phone. It's only truly ready for ships, trains and other large vehicles where size and power requirements aren't major factors. It could keep transportation networks humming even if GPS fails outright. The researchers also expect the underlying concepts to help with science studies, such as looking for gravitational waves. Quantum 'compass' could allow navigation without relying on satellites https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/11/quantum-compass/?yptr=yahoo Curt Lewis