Flight Safety Information December 7, 2018 - No. 248 In This Issue Incident: UPS B763 at Raleigh Durham on Dec 5th 2018, engine fire indicaton Incident: Southwest B737 at Burbank on Dec 6th 2018, overran runway on landing Beechcraft 99 - Gearup landing (Oregon) Police meet British Airways plane upon landing after passenger turns violent mid-flight Emergency system stops Southwest jet rolling off Burbank Airport runway, arrivals resume Airlines must tighten alcohol rules for pilots (Japan) India Urges Training to Replicate Lion Air Crash for Boeing Pilots Marine Corps aviation disaster that killed 16 renews questions about U.S. military aircraft safety Air India Grounds 2 Pilots After Aircraft 'Descends Rapidly' In Hong Data analysis could help locate the missing Malaysian MH370 plane Saudi Aviation Investigation Bureau raises profile, authority Aviation: India's domestic air traffic grows in double digit for 50th month SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL AVAILABLE AT SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Bombardier aims to deliver up to 155 business aircraft in 2019 Researchers look at potential of hybrid aircraft IndiGo becomes first domestic airline to have 200 aircraft in its fleet (India) High altitude solar aircraft find testing site in outback Western Australia Alumni News: NTSB's Managing Director Keeps His Eyes on the Sky Incident: UPS B763 at Raleigh Durham on Dec 5th 2018, engine fire indicaton A UPS United Parcel Service Boeing 767-300, registration N327UP performing flight 5X-2276 from Louisville,KY to Raleigh/Durham,NC (USA), was on approach to Raleigh Durham's runway 23R about to join final approach when the crew reported they had just got a fire indication, they needed to get the thing on the ground and requested to roll the fire trucks. The crew explained the indication didn't tell which engine (CF6) at all, maybe it was a false indication. They would be able to vacate the runway and stop clear of the runway. Emergency services did not find any trace of fire. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 10.5 hours, then positioned to Houston Intercontinental,TX (USA) and is still on the ground in Houston 9 hours after landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UPS2276/history/20181205/2333Z/KSDF/KRDU http://avherald.com/h?article=4c1388b6&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Southwest B737 at Burbank on Dec 6th 2018, overran runway on landing A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, registration N752SW performing flight WN-278 from Oakland,CA to Burbank,CA (USA) with 112 passengers and 5 crew, landed on Burbank's runway 08 (length 5800 feet/1765 meters) at 09:02L (17:02Z) but overran the end of the runway and came to a stop in the EMAS (engineered material arrestor system) past the end of the runway. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained minor if any damage. The passenger disembarked via mobile stairs. The airline reported the aircraft went into the EMAS at Burbank. All 112 passengers and 5 crew are unharmed and have disembarked via stairs. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA278/history/20181206/1620Z/KOAK/KBUR Related NOTAMs: 12/012 (A1008/18) - RWY 08/26 CLSD. 06 DEC 17:58 2018 UNTIL 07 DEC 07:00 2018. CREATED: 06 DEC 17:59 2018 12/014 (A1010/18) - RWY 26 RWY END ID LGT U/S. 06 DEC 20:54 2018 UNTIL 12 DEC 07:00 2018. CREATED: 06 DEC 20:54 2018 Metars: KBUR 061806Z 01014G17KT 3SM +RA BR SCT022 BKN050 OVC070 08/08 A2992 RMK AO2 PRESFR P0006 T00830078= KBUR 061753Z 29005KT 2 1/2SM +RA BR FEW020 BKN026 OVC048 08/07 A2996 RMK AO2 SLP139 AIRCRAFT MISHAP P0049 60166 T00830072 10100 20083 53035= KBUR 061723Z 28012KT 1 1/4SM +RA BR FEW008 BKN016 OVC024 08/08 A2994 RMK AO2 AIRCRAFT MISHAP P0032 T00830078= KBUR 061715Z 29008KT 1SM +RA BR FEW005 BKN013 OVC031 08/08 A2993 RMK AO2 AIRCRAFT MISHAP P0026 T00830078= KBUR 061653Z 28011KT 1 1/2SM +RA BR FEW004 OVC013 08/08 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP122 P0033 T00830083= KBUR 061641Z 26011KT 2 1/2SM RA BR FEW004 BKN013 OVC019 09/09 A2989 RMK AO2 P0023 T00890089= KBUR 061553Z 29005KT 1 1/4SM +RA BR BKN011 BKN017 OVC047 09/09 A2986 RMK AO2 SLP106 P0021 T00940089= KBUR 061547Z 29005KT 1 3/4SM +RA BR SCT011 BKN047 OVC060 09/09 A2986 RMK AO2 P0017= KBUR 061453Z 32003KT 4SM RA BR FEW003 SCT026 OVC049 09/09 A2985 RMK AO2 SLP103 P0020 60063 T00940094 58002= KBUR 061440Z 26005KT 4SM +RA BR FEW003 SCT026 OVC049 09/09 A2985 RMK AO2 P0016 T00940094= KBUR 061353Z 31005KT 5SM RA BR FEW015 SCT025 OVC049 09/09 A2986 RMK AO2 SLP104 P0020 T00940094= KBUR 061253Z 32007KT 3SM RA BR SCT010 OVC017 09/09 A2986 RMK AO2 SLP104 P0023 T00890089= N752SW in the EMAS: http://avherald.com/h?article=4c1378c5&opt=0 Back to Top Beechcraft 99 - Gearup landing (Oregon) Date: 06-DEC-2018 Time: 08:55 Type: Beechcraft 99 Owner/operator: Ameriflight LLC Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Unknown Location: Rogue Valley International/Medford Airport (KMFR), Medford, OR - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Portland Int'l (KPDX) Destination airport: Rogue Valley Int'l (KMFR) Narrative: The aircraft, operating as Ameriflight 1908 from Portland International, experienced a gearup landing at Rogue Valley International/Medford Airport (KMFR), Medford, Oregon. The airplane sustained unreported damage and the sole pilot onboard was not injured during the incident. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=219117 Back to Top Police meet British Airways plane upon landing after passenger turns violent mid-flight A violent British Airways passenger was restrained by cabin crew during a flight from London to Singapore Wednesday. The airline confirmed the incident in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday but declined to provide details on what the passenger did. "The crew on board reassured customers, moved nearby passengers to alternative seats, and arranged for the police to meet the aircraft," the statement read. "This sort of behavior will not be tolerated, and the appropriate action will always be taken. Our customers and crew should be able to enjoy their flights, and not suffer from any form of abuse." According to The Independent and The Sun, the passenger was apparently drunk and tried to punch fellow passengers. A passenger told The Sun that the chaos ensued about three hours after taking off. "This passenger sitting in front of us was getting more and more agitated," she explained. "He was drinking a bottle of spirits he'd somehow managed to bring onto the plane from duty free." Photos obtained by the news site also show flight crew using what appear to be seat belts to restrain the passenger in question. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2018/12/06/british-airways-crew-restrain-violent-flyer-call-police/2228426002/ Back to Top Back to Top Emergency system stops Southwest jet rolling off Burbank Airport runway, arrivals resume A Southwest 737 that overran the runway Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, at Burbank Airport, is stuck in the facility's engineered materials arrestor system (EMAS) made up of concrete blocks designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft and keep it from continuing to move forward and potentially injure passengers and crew. (Photo by Mike Meadows/Special to the Los Angeles Daily News) A Southwest Airlines flight landing at Hollywood Burbank Airport rolled off the end of a runway Thursday morning but was stopped when the aircraft hit an emergency area designed to slow down runaway planes. What caused the Boeing 737 arriving from Oakland to skid during its 9 a.m. landing was still under investigation, officials said. A spokesman for Southwest Airlines said the plane landed safely, but careened into the emergency area. Shortly after the landing, a passenger said on Twitter that the aircraft hydroplaned on the runway that was slick with rain. "Pilot regained control and hit brakes," Moe Storch said in a tweet as he was still seated inside the plane. "Reverse thrust, just in time." Investigators were at the scene evaluating the plane for damage Thursday morning, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. The same passenger showed damage to the plane's right wing after the landing in another photo published to Twitter. There were 112 passengers and five crew members on the plane at the time of the landing, said Brian Parrish, the Southwest spokesman. A Burbank Fire Department battalion chief said no one reported any injuries. Firefighters used a stair lift to get the passengers off the plane. They were taken back to the terminal on a bus, said Ian Gregor, the FAA spokesman. The emergency area the aircraft entered after skidding off the runway - called an "engineered material arresting system" - is made of material that's designed to crush when an aircraft rolls over it, sinking the plane's wheels and slowing it down. This was the second time in a little over a year and a half that the system has stopped a plane at the Burbank Airport. In April 2017, a smaller Cessna 750 aircraft overran a runway at the airport and came to a halt in an emergency area, according to the FAA. There were only two people aboard the aircraft at the time of the landing. All flights scheduled to arrive at the airport from less than three hours away were grounded as a result of the emergency landing Thursday morning, Gregor said. That "groundstop" was lifted just before 11 a.m. after about an hour and 45 minutes. Parrish said the airline was working to get passengers on other flights as soon as possible. https://www.dailynews.com/2018/12/06/emergency-system-stops-southwest-jet-rolling-off-burbank-airport-runway/ Back to Top Airlines must tighten alcohol rules for pilots (Japan) The arrest of a Japan Airlines co-pilot in Britain for being intoxicated just before a flight has shed light on the problem of pre-flight consumption of alcohol by airline crews. The fact that the 42-year-old co-pilot was about to board the Oct. 28 flight from London to Tokyo after cheating on an alcohol test at the airport - before being caught by the British police and sentenced to 10 months in prison by a U.K. court - is proof of lax control over airline crews' consumption of alcohol. Under Japanese law, it has effectively been left up to each airline company to enforce controls. Efforts by the transport ministry and the airline industry to tighten regulations are long overdue. But new regulations must be accompanied by a greater awareness on the part of airline pilots that flying while intoxicated can put huge numbers of lives at risk. Japan's aviation law prohibits aircraft crew members from flying when it is feared that they would be unable to properly operate the aircraft due to the effects of alcohol or drugs, and offenders can be punished by up to a year in prison or a fine of up to ¥300,000. However, the law does not set specific levels of alcohol in pre-flight breath tests that would be subject to punishment, and such inspections are not even legally mandated. A government directive bans aviation crews from drinking within eight hours of flight duty, and requires pilots to mutually check each other's health condition prior to boarding. But the standards and methods of pre-flight alcohol tests for pilots have been left to the discretion of the individual airlines. What has emerged in the wake of the arrest of the JAL co-pilot - who is found to have consumed two bottles of wine and five cans of beer on the evening before the flight - is that the alcohol problem is prevalent in the airline industry. According to data from the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry shown to an experts' panel called to discuss the issue, there have been 37 cases since 2013 in which airline pilots were found to have been drinking alcohol beyond the company-set limits before their scheduled flights, 20 of which led to either the cancellation or delay of the flights. Such cases took place in seven of the 25 domestic airline firms, with JAL accounting for 21 of the 37 cases, followed by eight cases involving All Nippon Airways. The JAL co-pilot, who has been fired by the airline, cleared the pre-flight breath test at a JAL office at Heathrow Airport by cheating and briefly boarded the plane. But a bus driver who transported the crew to the airplane noticed the smell of alcohol and alerted airport security officials. Breath and blood tests by the police confirmed that the level of alcohol in the co-pilot's system exceeded the legal limit by about tenfold. The two pilots assigned to the same flight have since been suspended by JAL from flight duty for their negligence in checking the co-pilot's health condition. The case is illustrative of the airline companies' poor oversight of alcohol consumption by their pilots, and raises the question of whether many such cases have gone undetected. In the wake of the co-pilot's case, JAL said it would tighten in-house rules on drinking by its pilots by extending its pre-flight drinking ban from within 12 hours of flight duty to 24 hours and prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in stopover locations between flights. ANA, whose group company fired a pilot who had to be removed from a domestic flight in late October because of the effects of heavy drinking during the previous night, also plans to tighten regulations on pre-flight consumption of alcohol by the group's pilots. The transport ministry reportedly plans to set an upper limit on alcohol levels in pre-flight tests on pilots. Britain's law sets a legal limit on alcohol levels for pilots at 0.09 milligram per 1 liter of breath - 0.93 milligram was detected in the breath of the arrested JAL co-pilot. An equivalent limit in the United States is 0.19 milligram, while the threshold for driving under the influence of alcohol under Japan's road traffic law is set at 0.15 milligram. The regulations will need to be tightened and strictly followed. What's also important is that the pilots themselves have a greater sense of awareness of the tremendous risk such reckless behavior poses for passengers and fellow crew members - as the British judge told the JAL co-pilot in handing down his sentence. The proper training and education of pilots by aviation authorities and airline companies are also critical at a time when the aviation industry faces a chronic worldwide shortage of pilots. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/12/06/editorials/airlines-must-tighten-alcohol-rules-pilots/#.XApI29tKiUk Back to Top India Urges Training to Replicate Lion Air Crash for Boeing Pilots NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pilots flying Boeing Co's 737 MAX jets in India should be trained on a simulator that replicates the suspected scenario that led to the Lion Air crash, India's aviation regulator said in a statement on Thursday. An Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX passenger jet flying to Jakarta from Bali crashed on Oct. 29, killing all 189 people on board. While India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recommended more training, it said Jet Airways Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd, which operate 737 MAX jets in India, have not had problems with the aircraft. "Even though Indian operators have not experienced such major concern ... following decisions were taken as interim precautionary safety measures till such time Boeing issues more detailed information or clarification," the DGCA said. An interim Indonesian report did not give a cause for the crash but focused on airline maintenance and training and the response of a Boeing anti-stall system to a recently replaced sensor. Lion Air pilots flying the same plane on its penultimate flight a day earlier had experienced a similar problem of nose-down movements, but used a procedure to switch off the relevant system. Boeing has said this was the correct procedure. But U.S. pilot unions have said a software upgrade was not included in training or manuals and that it changed the behavior of some controls in a way that could confuse pilots. The Seattle-based airplane maker is weighing plans to launch a software upgrade for the 737 MAX that would help address the issue faced by the Lion Air crew, sources have told Reuters. Boeing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The DGCA has asked the airlines to provide detailed technical information and a reporting plan to its crew if it detects a Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) defect. The Indian regulator said airlines must instruct the crew to divert to the nearest possible airport in case there is a MCAS defect in the flight. Indonesia's transport safety committee, in its preliminary report, criticized the decision by a crew on the same jet the evening before the crash to continue to their destination rather than diverting the flight after the MCAS system activated. The crew in that case managed to shut off the system. The DGCA said that if an aircraft has had any MCAS related issues, the airline would need to carry out a verification flight, meaning one without passengers, before undertaking any commercial flight. Lion Air did not perform a test flight after conducting maintenance the night before the crash, according to the Indonesian report. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-12-06/india-aviation-watchdog-advises-training-for-737-max-pilots-after-lion-air-crash Back to Top Marine Corps aviation disaster that killed 16 renews questions about U.S. military aircraft safety In 2017, 15 Marines and a sailor were killed in a transport plane crash in Itta Bena, Miss. (AP) High over the American Southeast, a Marine transport plane was cruising at 20,000 feet through clear skies when disaster struck. A corroded propeller blade on the left wing of the KC-130T broke free, punching a gaping hole in the fuselage. That prompted a chain reaction in which a propeller on the opposite wing snapped away and cut through the aircraft. The plane disintegrated in explosions and plummeted into a soybean field near the Mississippi town of Itta Bena. Those are among the findings of a Marine Corps investigation released Thursday about a July 10, 2017, crash that killed 15 Marines and one sailor. The service determined that the disaster was avoidable and was caused by an unnoticed fatigue crack on the first propeller blade that broke free, resulting in the service's deadliest aviation mishap in more than a dozen years. The military is flooded with raw data. Artificial intelligence holds enormous power to turn this chaos into coherence. "Neither the aircrew nor anybody aboard the KC-130T could have prevented or altered the ultimate outcome after such a failure," Brig. Gen. Bradley S. James, the commanding general of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, wrote in his assessment of the crash. The investigation renews questions about whether the U.S. military, after 17 years of war, is keeping up with the demands of maintaining an aging fleet of aircraft. The report was released while U.S. and Japanese officials searched for survivors in an incident in which an F/A-18 Hornet and a KC-130 tanker plane appear to have collided during a refueling operation off the southwestern coast of Japan. As of Thursday, one Marine had been rescued, one was declared dead and five were missing. The investigation of the Mississippi crash cites several groups for their handling of the aircraft before the crash, including Air Force aircraft maintainers at Georgia's Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, where the corrosion on the first propeller blade that broke should have been noticed during extensive servicing six years earlier. Deficiencies in the overhaul process at Robins continued through 2017, prompting the U.S. military to temporarily ground dozens of similar planes, the probe concluded. Investigators also questioned why the Navy Department did not discover deficient work on its aircraft at Robins sooner. And it said the unit responsible for the plane - Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 of Newburgh, N.Y. - did not have a formal process for tracking manual inspections of propeller blades. It was not clear whether the crack had grown large enough for the squadron's maintainers to find it during routine safety checks, investigators found. Other fatal incidents this year include a WC-130H transport plane crash in Georgia in May that killed nine members of the Puerto Rico National Guard, an Apache helicopter crash at Fort Campbell, Ky., in April that killed two soldiers, and the crash of an F/A-18F Super Hornet that went down in March off the coast of Key West, Fla., killing two Navy aviators. Scores of service personnel have been killed in similar accidents over the past five years. A Military Times newspaper investigation published in April found that from 2013 to 2017, the number of aviation mishaps rose 39 percent, from 656 to 909. During the same period, the number of hours of training aviators received while airborne dropped because of the effects of congressionally mandated budget cuts and a need to keep available aircraft focused on operations, including the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Senior Pentagon officials have said the trend does not constitute a crisis, but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned lawmakers last spring that the reduction in ready aircraft and time in the cockpit for pilots will take time to fix and require money. More recently, defense officials have suggested that they are starting to improve the availability of aircraft. The plane involved in the Mississippi crash was 24 years old - younger than some U.S. military aircraft, but among the last "T" models of the KC-130 in the Marine Corps. The plane is due to be replaced by the newer KC-130J. The WH-130H that crashed in Georgia was more than 50 years old and making its last scheduled flight. Among the dead in the Mississippi crash were seven members of an elite Marine Raider team from Camp Lejeune, N.C.: Staff Sgt. Robert Cox, 28; Staff Sgt. William J. Kundrat, 33; Sgt. Chad E. Jenson, 25; Sgt. Talon R. Leach, 27; Sgt. Joseph J. Murray, 26; Sgt. Dietrich A. Schmieman, 26; and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan M. Lohrey, 30. They were members of the Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC), a force of less than 3,000. The others killed came from the transport squadron. They were Maj. Caine M. Goyette, 41; Capt. Sean E. Elliot, 30; Gunnery Sgt. Mark A. Hopkins, 34; Gunnery Sgt. Brendan Jackson, 45; Staff Sgt. Joshua M. Snowden, 31; Sgt. Julian M. Kevianne, 31; Sgt. Owen J. Lennon, 26; Cpl. Daniel I. Baldassare, 20; and Cpl. Collin J. Schaaff, 22. The Mississippi disaster marked the second major loss of life in an aviation mishap for MARSOC in 28 months. In March 2015, a Black Hawk helicopter crashed off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, killing seven special operators from the same unit and four members of the Louisiana Army National Guard. A group of current and former Marine Raiders launched long marches from the crash sites back to Camp Lejeune in 2016 and 2018 to mark the anniversaries of the crashes. The breakup of the aircraft over Mississippi required an extensive recovery effort in two separate debris fields separated by about a mile, the report said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/marine-corps-aviation-disaster-that-killed-16-renews-questions-about-us-military-aircraft-safety/2018/12/06/e3576992-f96c-11e8-863a-8972120646e0_story.html?utm_term=.83744187a4ee Back to Top Air India Grounds 2 Pilots After Aircraft 'Descends Rapidly' In Hong Kong The aircraft had triggered a Ground Proximity Warning System alert, the report said. The incident took place on October 20. (Representational) Air India has grounded two pilots after an aircraft they were flying "descended rapidly and deviated from the normal glide path" at the Hong Kong International Airport runway, news agency ANI has reported. The aircraft had triggered a Ground Proximity Warning System alert, the agency adds. The incident took place on October 20 when the plane was approaching to land at the at Hong Kong International Airport at at 6.14 am (local time). The Boeing 787 plane had 197 passengers and 10 crew members aboard. "Before the approach to Hong Kong International Airport, the crew had received cautionary information from the Hong Kong arrival Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) regarding the possibility of Instrument Landing System (ILS) glideslope fluctuation. At 06:08:17 hours, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) further advised the crew of the possible glide path signal fluctuation. At 06:11:00 hours, ATC cleared the aircraft for the instrument landing system (ILS) approach for Runway 07R," a priliminary report read. The crew "recovered the aircraft at about 200 feet above mean sea level, approximately 2.6 nautical miles from Runway 07R before performing a go around," the report said. The aircraft landed "uneventfully on the runway on the second approach," it said. A probe had been ordered into the incident by Chief Inspector of Hong Kong's Transport and Housing Bureau and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India, representing the State of Design and Manufacture and State of Registry of the aircraft respectively. In another incident in October, an Air India pilot and his co-pilot were taken off roster when the pilot flying the Boeing 737 hit a brick wall at the Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu. The Dubai-bound plane had 130 passengers on board. And despite the audible and obvious collision, the pilot apparently saw no reason not to continue on, said reports. Another failed landing due to deteriorating weather at New York's John F Kennedy International airport turned out to be a nightmare for an Air India pilot in September. The Air India's flagship flight, AI-101, had 370 passengers on board. They had been flying for more than 15 hours on the non-stop service from New Delhi, among the longest flights in the world. Moments before touchdown, the tower at Newark Airport sounded out an alert and said AI-101 was flying too low on its approach. 90 seconds later, the big jet was on the ground, approximately 38 minutes after the in-cockpit crisis first occurred. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/air-india-grounds-2-pilots-after-aircraft-descended-rapidly-deviated-from-normal-glide-path-on-hong-1958749 Back to Top Data analysis could help locate the missing Malaysian MH370 plane Despite the most expensive search in history, Malaysian Airlines MH370 has never been found. A new mathematical model suggests searchers have been looking in the wrong location. by Emerging Technology from the arXiv December 6, 2018 On March 8, 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur airport, bound for Beijing. Soon after takeoff, the plane's transponders and communications systems mysteriously shut down, and contact with the plane stopped. Two extensive searches, the most costly in aviation history, failed to find the aircraft in a remote part of the Indian Ocean where it was initially thought to have crashed. Indeed, various pieces of the aircraft have washed up on distant beaches. The various governments involved halted the search in January 2017, saying they would resume only when new information emerged. Enter Martin Kristensen, an engineer at Aarhus University in Denmark, who today publishes a new analysis of the data associated with the aircraft's demise. He says his analysis points to an entirely new location, near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The broad details of the disappearance are well known. The journey began normally, with the plane following its planned route northwest toward Vietnam. But after the final voice communication with ground control, the plane deviated from this route, turned to the east, and flew back across Malaysia and out over the Andaman Sea. During this time it was tracked by Malaysian military radar but eventually flew beyond range. After this, the only data from the aircraft comes from an onboard device known as a satellite data unit. This sent a "log on" request, presumably after rebooting for some reason. The device then responded with digital handshakes to hourly status requests from the ground that went unanswered by the cockpit. These digital handshakes have been hugely important in working out where the aircraft flew next. The signals were relayed to the ground via a communications satellite called Inmarsat 3F1 that was geostationary over the Indian Ocean. The difference between the time the signal was sent from the plane and the time it was received by the satellite has been a crucial clue for investigators. That's because it determines the distance between the plane and the satellite. It defines a circle on the surface of Earth with the satellite at its center; at this time, the aircraft must have sat somewhere exactly on this circle. The aircraft sent seven of these digital handshakes. So the distance derived from these signals allows investigators to draw seven concentric circles that the aircraft must have crossed as it flew. But exactly where the plane crossed each circle is unknown, and its trajectory cannot be determined from this information alone. However, there is another clue buried in these digital handshakes. The aircraft's movement relative to the satellite creates a Doppler shift in the frequency of the radio signals. And since Inmarsat recorded the precise frequency of the signals, engineers can work out the relative velocity of the satellite and the aircraft. This provides more information about the aircraft's motion but does not give a unique solution. That's because the Doppler shift records only the relative motion of the plane and satellite toward or away from each other. The satellite's motion is known, but the plane's motion might have other perpendicular components: lots of different trajectories can all produce the same Doppler shift. Kristensen's analysis creates a mathematical model of all these factors, which produces four solutions. Each solution is a potential location for the aircraft that is consistent with all the data. Two of these locations are to the north and over land. Kristensen dismisses them quickly. He says an aircraft in this region would have been picked up by Chinese or Indian military radar. Any mobile phones left on by passengers would have attempted handshakes with networks on the ground, but there is no evidence of this. Neither is there any debris from a crash in these areas. By contrast, the only debris recovered so far is from the ocean, clearly suggesting that the aircraft came down over water. The third solution from Kristensen's analysis is the location that has already been searched extensively. There is no sign of the aircraft here. But the final solution is in a new location that search teams have not considered in detail. It lies close to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean and is a much smaller area than that searched already. For the aircraft to have crashed here, it must have executed a U-turn somewhere to the north of Indonesia and then flown southwest over the Indian Ocean, roughly parallel with the Indonesian coast. Indeed, there is an eyewitness statement from a fishing boat in this region that claims to have seen the aircraft that night, flying relatively low in this area. Kristensen's analysis suggests the plane must now lie in an elliptical region of ocean, some 140 kilometers (87 miles) long and 30 kilometers wide. "The probability of finding the plane there is above 90%," he says. That's interesting work that could provide the additional data needed to restart the search. Kristensen says this location is also consistent with other data, such as the study of barnacles on the washed-up aircraft debris. He says this suggests the aircraft must have crashed in a more northerly location than was originally searched. Kristensen also offers some grist for the conspiracy theorists' mill. The data analysis cannot tell how high the plane was flying during its last hours. So the eyewitness statement that it was flying relatively low is something of a mystery. But Kristensen has a theory about the pilots. "The only plausible explanations are that they wanted to land in Banda Aceh or abort the flight by parachute," he says. "Since the airplane did not land, the only option is parachuting." This would have required the plane to fly low and relatively slowly, just as was observed. The pilots must then have programmed the plane to return to normal flying height after they had bailed out. Of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and of that there is precious little right now. But if Kristensen's conclusion helps find the plane, then he will have helped to have settled one of the greatest aircraft mysteries of all time. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612551/data-analysis-points-to-new-location-for-mh370-aircraft-that-vanished-in-mysterious/ Back to Top Saudi Aviation Investigation Bureau raises profile, authority Saudi Arabia's Aviation Investigation Bureau (AIB) is looking to improve ties to the business-aviation industry in the kingdom, as it asserts its primacy in the air accident investigation process, and seeks to involve additional industry participants beyond scheduled operators. Founded in 2013, the AIB operates independently from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and is tasked with overseeing air accident investigations and aviation safety in the kingdom. Addressing the "effect of incident reporting on business-aviation safety," Ismail Y. Kashkash, director of the AIB's engineering laboratory, told the Middle East Business Aviation Association's (MEBAA) Jeddah Conference on September 4 that the AIB is looking to raise the profile of business aviation in the kingdom, despite the slowdown witnessed by the industry in the second half of 2017, driven by a government-mandated crackdown on corruption. "We are doing another round of certification next year, and we look forward to the participation of the business-aviation industry," he told the conference. Director General Abdulelah O. Felemban wrote in the AIB's 2017 annual report that it handled 628 notifications last year, an increase of 4 percent on 2016. He said the number of reported incidents had increased by approximately one-third, or 32 percent, while the number of non-reportable events fell by approximately one half, or 48 percent, indicating a significant improvement in the Saudi aviation community's reporting culture. "There were only three accidents reported in 2017, all involving light sport aircraft, and all are still under investigation," he said. The AIB also gave a presentation to a body known as the General Aviation Security Command on reporting aviation accidents last year. "A facilitation agreement to transfer the investigation teams to accident sites is currently under review," the annual report says. Kashkash urged all operators in Saudi Arabia to consider coming forward, even when in doubt. "You are encouraged to report all incidents. We do not just investigate accidents and serious incidents, we may investigate repeated incidents that may impact safety," Kashkash said. "We provide non-punitive analysis to facts. However, the facts may be beneficial to the owners or operators for insurance claims. Lawyers and legal [teams] may also use the factual information of a safety investigation, but not the analysis, conclusion, or the safety recommendation in any context." William Mermelstein, a former co-chair of the region's Gulf Flight Safety Council (GFSC), said that while accident investigation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) remained a highly sensitive issue, especially when local pilots are involved, much progress has been made to improve the safety culture on the ground. According to its website, the GFSC, founded in Oman in 2000, is an organization that consists of members from all over the region and around the world, including manufacturers, regulators, air traffic service providers, business-jet and VVIP operators, airlines and cargo operators and many more. "While, historically, in the region, incidents and accidents were treated more sensitively than in the West, today's professional culture, due in part to safety management systems [SMS] and enhanced safety training, is rapidly changing to be much less of an issue. All of the GFSC members, both private and commercial operators, are very professional," Mermelstein told AIN. "The Saudi AIB was actually created in a quite timely manner. The airspace was transferred to civil control just a few years prior. The model is based on the freedom, transparency, and openness of the US NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board), so that an impartial investigation and analysis could be performed outside of GACA, just as the NTSB is outside of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)." The AIB recently inaugurated the Memory Access Retrieval System (MARS), which allows retrieval of flight recorder data at chip level, eliminating the difficulty of acquiring bench units for damaged recorders. MARS was developed in partnership between the AIB, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board, the National Research Center of Canada and Canada's Plane Sciences. "The AIB is very much an impressive team, and they have been given the authority to further and [promote] the Saudi aviation sector in all matters concerning safety, and learning from any past and present incidents, accidents, and concerns. They are very open to continuous improvement and furthering the cause of safety," Mermelstein said. "The GCC countries are working hard to further safety goals together, and sharing information to learn and improve the safety culture and SMS throughout the region. The GFSC has been instrumental in bringing all of the civil aviation authority (CAA) and AIB groups together to learn, share, and work in harmony to the extent possible." Speaking to AIN, Ali Alnaqbi, MEBAA chairman, said AIB invited him to join the organization's board following the Jeddah event. "I am very pleased with the result of the AIB's reporting of incidents and accidents, [especially] business-aviation incidents. It is very important for us to participate in order to get the message across in the Middle East and North Africa on business-aviation safety reporting. I am grateful to the AIB for the opportunity to participate on the board." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-12-07/saudi-aviation-investigation-bureau-raises-profile-authority Back to Top Aviation: India's domestic air traffic grows in double digit for 50th month India posted its 50th consecutive month of double-digit growth (15 per cent), said the International Air Transport Association. India's domestic RPK in the month under review rose 15 per cent compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. Reuters India's domestic air passenger traffic grew in double digit for the 50th consecutive month in October, a global airline association said on Thursday. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that India`s domestic air passenger volume, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), was the highest amongst major aviation markets like Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and the US. "India posted its 50th consecutive month of double-digit growth (15 per cent). While this was a slowdown from 19.6 per cent in September, the strong upward trend in traffic remains in place," IATA said in its air passenger market analysis for October 2018. "This is being supported by structural changes, including ongoing rises in living standards, as well as large increases in the number of airport connections within the country. The latter translates into time savings and has a similar stimulatory impact on demand as reductions in fares." India's domestic RPK in the month under review rose 15 per cent compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. India's domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of China at 12.2 per cent and Russia at 11.7 per cent. In terms of capacity, India`s domestic available seat kilometres (ASK) -- which measures available passenger capacity -- stood higher by 17.4 per cent in October, than that of China`s 11.1 per cent and Russia`s 8.8 per cent. https://www.zeebiz.com/india/news-aviation-indias-domestic-air-traffic-grows-in-double-digit-for-50th-month-74637 Back to Top SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL AVAILABLE AT SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Shell Aviation and SkyNRG have commenced the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to international airlines KLM, SAS and Finnair at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The fuel is produced by World Energy, currently the only SAF refinery worldwide. The initial phase of the arrangement aims to pave the way for longer-term, more resilient supply chains for sustainable aviation fuelsand reduce the carbon emissions of flights from SFO and other airports. Following May's agreement, Shell Aviation is the first major fuel supplier to support SFO in its ambitiions to expand the use of sustainable aviation fuel in its operations. "With our focus on achieving zero net energy, carbon neutrality and zero waste, we are setting bold goals for our airport, and our industry," said SFO's airport director, Ivar Satero. "Shell Aviation, World Energy, SkyNRG, KLM, SAS and Finnair have partnered to take an important first step towards this goal. We thank this entire team for leading the way in reducing carbon emissions in air transportation and at SFO". This initiative responds to the aviation industry's ambitious targets, including the cap on net aviation CO2emissions from 2020 and is a clear sign of commitment by those involved. "The aviation industry faces a formidable challenge; how to grow safely and responsibly given the expected doubling of passenger numbers by 2037," noted Anne Anderson, vice-president of Shell Aviation. "At Shell Aviation we are proud to be leading the response. The supply of SAF to San Francisco airport brings together all parts of the sustainable aviation fuel value chain and embodies the spirit of collaboration that is essential to delivering a low carbon future for the industry." The SAF sourced by SkyNRG from World Energy's Paramount refinery in Los Angeles is made from used cooking oil, resulting in a fuel that has significantly lower lifecycle carbon emissionsthan conventional jet fuel. In general, sustainable aviation fuel has a reduction potential of 60-80%, compared to conventional jet fuel. The SAF is supplied through the existing SFO refuelling infrastructure and can be used by airlines without requiring technical modification to their current fleets. http://www.airport-world.com/news/general-news/6928-shell-supplies-sustainable-aviation-fuel-available-at-san-francisco-international-airport.html Back to Top Bombardier aims to deliver up to 155 business aircraft in 2019 • Canadian aircraft maker's jets sold out until 2021 Bombardier says it expects to deliver 150 to 155 business aircraft in 2019, as the Canadian plane maker's Global 7500 jets go into service later in 2018. The Global 7500 aircraft, which lists for $73m each and are sold out until 2021, is expected to boost the company's sales in 2019 and play a key role in Bombardier's five-year turnaround plan to boost revenue and margins by 2020. Bombardier also sees a 10% rise in 2019 revenue to about $18bn, as Global 7500 business jet deliveries accelerate. The company also expects to deliver two new longer-range variants of its large-cabin business jets, the Global 6500 and 5500, at the end of 2018,at a time when demand for corporate planes is recovering. It forecast deliveries of 35 commercial aircraft in 2019. The company said in October it had delivered 96 business jets in 2018, meeting more than 70%of its forecast for the year. The Montreal-based company, which signed a deal to sell its Q400 turboprop programme in November,is weighing options for its money-losing regional jet programme as the company expands its stronger-performing corporate jet and rail divisions. Shares have fallen about 28%year-to-date on investor jitters over Bombardier's $9bndebt and concerns over a disappointing free cash flow forecast. Bombardier said on Thursday it expects to generate free cash flow of $250m to $500m in 2019, excluding one-time items. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/2018-12-06-bombardier-aims-to-deliver-up-to-155-business-aircraft-in-2019/ Back to Top Researchers look at potential of hybrid aircraft Researchers from the University of Illinois created a flight-performance simulator in order to model potential fuel savings for two hybrid systems for airplanes. The simulations include take off, climb, cruise, descent, and landing. After first configuring the simulator to collect baseline performance data using the Texnam P2006T, they simulated two different hybrid systems (parallel and serial), and varied their calculations in terms of electrification, battery energy density and motor performance capacity. The result was that the parallel hybrid system could reach a maximum of 175 nautical miles (about 325 km) with the current state of technology. The parallel system beat the serial system in a number in most conditions, although the latter could catch up with the expected technological improvements in the near future. https://www.electrive.com/2018/12/06/researchers-look-at-potential-of-hybrid-aircraft/ Back to Top IndiGo becomes first domestic airline to have 200 aircraft in its fleet (India) The Gurgaon-based no-frills carrier, which enjoys over 40 per cent of the total domestic traffic, had inducted the 100th aircraft on December 24, 2015 IndiGo currently offers over 1,200 flights to 63 domestic destinations, which include 49 domestic and 14 international ones. Photo:Reuters Mumbai: Budget carrier IndiGo on Thursday said it has become the first domestic airline to have 200 aircraft in its fleet. Four new aircraft have joined the fleet, including town Airbus A320 ceo (VT-IKA and VT-IKB) and two A320 neo (VT IZK AND VT-IZI) taking the fleet count to 200 and number of deliveries to 226, IndiGo said in an internal communication. With the addition of VT-IZI, IndiGo has become the first Indian airline to have two aircraft in its fleet, the largest domestic carrier said in the communication. The Gurgaon-based no-frills carrier, which enjoys over 40 per cent of the total domestic traffic, had inducted the 100th aircraft on December 24, 2015. "It has taken us only three years to take delivery of another 100 planes," it added. The airline's fleet now comprises 123 A320ceos (current engine option), 61 A320 neos (new engine option) as well as 12 regional jets ATR. IndiGo currently offers over 1,200 flights to 63 domestic destinations, which include 49 domestic and 14 international ones. https://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/smP8QpCpI1QW0ofQiqp0mO/IndiGo-becomes-first-domestic-airline-to-have-200-aircraft-i.html?utm_source=scroll&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=scroll Back to Top High altitude solar aircraft find testing site in outback Western Australia Airbus zephyr HAPS Space tech giant Airbus is celebrating the opening of its official testing location for its all-electric, solar-powered high altitude aircraft, the Zephyr HAPS at a remote outback airport in Western Australia. The Zephyr HAPS, an unmanned "high-altitude pseudo-satellite" that can cruise altitudes of 21km for months at a time, will be tested from the site at Wyndham which is surrounded by mostly unrestricted airspace and relatively consistent weather conditions, making it ideal as a testing site. The aircraft's maiden flight in August 2018 from Arizona, USA, saw it fly non-stop for 25 days, making it the world's longest ever solar flight. Airbus Zephyr HAPS WA premier Mark McGowan said in a statement, "I am delighted to welcome the Airbus team and their Zephyr project to Western Australia. This is the culmination of almost a year of hard work by Airbus and my Government to bring this exciting and innovative technology to our state." "The Zephyr aircraft provides new capabilities to commercial and military customers and will bring an economic boost to the East Kimberley region," he said. The high altitude and extended flight capabilities of the Zephyr HAPS will make it ideal to fill a niche that exists between satellites and lower altitude aircraft such as UAVs, bringing persistent surveillance and communications to even the remotest parts of the world. Wyndham Airport "The official opening of the Airbus Wyndham launch site in Western Australia, the world's first operational HAPS site, marks the start of a new era for Zephyr," said Jana Rosenmann, head of Unmanned Aerial Systems at Airbus in a statement. "We are proud to see Australia become part of the Zephyr operational network. The site is our gateway to the stratosphere and will be the main flight base for Zephyr going forward." The Zephyr HAPS trumps other options such as weather balloons with its ability to land and be redeployed again and again. If the idea of stratospheric "eyes in the skies" sparks a concern for some, Airbus is keen to emphasise the potential of improved disaster management, and monitoring of the planet's changing environment as well as catastrophic events such as wildfires and oil spills. https://thedriven.io/2018/12/07/high-altitude-solar-aircraft-find-testing-site-in-outback-western-australia/ Back to Top Alumni News: NTSB's Managing Director Keeps His Eyes on the Sky It's 10:30 a.m. on a Friday and Embry-Riddle graduate Dennis Jones, now the managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), has already put in half a day's work, having clocked in before most people have gotten out of bed. There's a small crowd gathered outside his office, waiting for him to wrap up our phone conversation so he can get back to the day-to-day operations of the NTSB. Most days, that translates to interfacing with Congress and NTSB board members, meeting with staff and working with the Coast Guard, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Railroad Administration. "There's never a dull moment," Jones says. "I have a very fulfilling job, and as long as my days are, they go by quick." Getting Up in the Air As a kid growing up on Long Island, Jones always had his eyes on the sky. He would sit in his backyard watching airplanes from a nearby airport fly overhead, dreaming of someday being behind the controls. Money was tight, so Jones washed planes and cut grass at the airport in exchange for flying lessons. His first lesson, at the controls of a Cessna 150, was his first time on a plane, period. To complicate matters, he was scared of heights. But once in the sky, his fears faded away. He got his pilot's certificate at the age of 17 and began taking solo flights to airports throughout the Northeast, where he was often greeted with a mix of curiosity and surprise. "I got a lot of attention," he says. "Back then, it was rare to see African-American folks flying." Around that time, a magazine advertisement for Embry-Riddle caught his eye. He applied and was accepted, working all summer to save up the money to attend. He flipped through the course catalog and picked the first course his finger landed on - aviation maintenance. The program required an airframe and powerplant maintenance certificate, so he worked on his A&P license in the morning and took core academic classes at night. "The A&P was fascinating," Jones says. "Prior to that, I didn't think I was mechanically inclined. I knew how to fly a plane, but I didn't know what was going on beneath me." In the Field Jones began his NTSB career as an intern in 1979 and was hired on full-time as a field-investigator trainee in 1980. His first major investigation was the August 1987 crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 out of Detroit, which killed everyone on board except one little girl. "I was always concerned about how I was going to respond to the scenes and the victims of crashes," Jones says. "That aspect of the job was very surreal. During that trainee period, I realized I could handle it." All told, Jones has investigated approximately 1,300 aviation accidents in his nearly 40-year career. Going Global In the late 1990s, Jones began traveling to Africa to investigate plane crashes. During that time, he kept hearing about Safe Skies for Africa, a Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative focused on bringing the continent's aviation safety and security practices up to accepted world standards. Jones' work was a natural fit, so an interagency agreement between the NTSB and DOT was formed. Jones found himself not just leading accident investigations, but also helping African countries launch and improve their investigation programs, implementing safety procedures and providing on-the-job training. His work in Africa propelled him onto the international stage, giving him the opportunity to conduct safety workshops in Sudan, Singapore, Iraq and Russia. "Working with folks in that part of the world has been fulfilling," Jones says. Piloting the NTSB into the Future In January 2017, Jones was called back to Washington to serve as the NTSB's acting managing director, with the assumption that he would remain for a few months then return to his work abroad. But at the request of then-acting NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt ('14), Jones accepted the full-time position and was confirmed in September 2017, becoming the agency's first African-American managing director. "Dennis has street cred," Sumwalt says. "He's done the job, he's been an investigator. He's got the piloting knowledge, the technical knowledge, the intellect and, most importantly, the people skills." Jones will need to call upon those skills as he helps the NTSB navigate a rapidly changing transportation landscape, with autonomous vehicles, new recording technologies, solar-powered planes and hyperspeed rail all becoming increasingly prevalent. And as ever, Jones will be looking to the skies. "A lot of these emergent technologies have been present in planes, so what I learned in aviation is now applying to other modes of transportation." Investigating Aviation's Greatest Mystery Jones has investigated dozens of headline-making international plane crashes, but perhaps the most mysterious is Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China, with 239 people aboard. Serving as a U.S. accredited representative, Jones and a team of U.S. investigators traveled to Malaysia to assist with the multinational search. "This was not my first time dealing with a missing plane," Jones says. "But this was certainly the first of this magnitude. We had in mind that it would be found by the time we got there but that didn't manifest." The team worked in Malaysia for nearly two months. When it became obvious the plane would not be found, they returned to the United States and continued to assist remotely. "I've been to the scenes of a whole lot of crashes all over the world," Jones says. "But this was a very odd case. There was no crash site. It's the first of its kind involving a commercial airliner and everything was different." To date, the aircraft has not been recovered, though several pieces of debris have been found. The governments of Malaysia, China and Australia called off the nearly three-year official search in January 2017. It was the largest and most expensive search operation in aviation history, costing approximately $160 million. In January 2018, the Malaysian government announced that it had sanctioned a new search by Ocean Infinity, a private American underwater technology company. In May, the company's search officially concluded, with no sign of the aircraft. https://news.erau.edu/headlines/alumni-news-ntsb-managing-director-eyes-on-sky/ Curt Lewis