Flight Safety Information January 28, 2019 - No. 020 In This Issue Incident: UTAir B735 at Moscow on Jan 27th 2019, electrical problems Accident: Alliance AT72 at Diu on Jan 26th 2019, tail strike on landing Incident: Lufthansa Cityline CRJ9 at Zurich on Jan 26th 2019, could not retract landing gear Incident: LATAM Chile B763 near Rio de Janeiro on Jan 26th 2019, bird strike Incident: ANZ A320 over Tasman Sea on Jan 24th 2019, first officer incapacitated Incident: France B773 over Atlantic on Jan 24th 2019, burning odour on board EVAS - Cockpit Smoke Protection A320 - Strong Winds - Ground Damage (Turkey) Indian Air Force Fighter Jet Crashes in Uttar Pradesh Disoriented pilot, bad runway approach cited in Nepal crash 'Asinine and irresponsible' and 'craziest thing' - ex-airline CEOs blast government over shutdown NASA made airliners safer by blowing one up in 1984 China Southern Airlines Announces New Head Japan's Narita airport to extend runway hours for first time ever from October Dubai keeps rank as world's busiest international airport Aer Lingus may need up to 380 more pilots for new aircraft and transatlantic routes ONLINE SURVEY REQUEST Aircraft Maintenance Investigation from SCSI IATA Safety & Flight Ops Conference - 2-4 April - Barcelona 2019 AIR CHARTER SAFETY SYMPOSIUM Position: Audit Production Manager Position Available Aircraft Fire Hazards, Protection and Investigation Incident: UTAir B735 at Moscow on Jan 27th 2019, electrical problems A UTAir Boeing 737-500, registration VQ-BJS performing flight UT-355 from Moscow Vnukovo to Grozny (Russia), was in the initial climb out of Vnukovo at about 02:26L (23:26Z Jan 26th) when the aircraft suffered electrical problems taking out the left hand instruments, the transponder and associated systems. The crew returned to Vnukovo for a safe landing at 03:11L. A replacement Boeing 737-500 registration VQ-BJV reached Grozny with a delay of 3:15 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service after about 15 hours on the ground. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c36b079&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: Alliance AT72 at Diu on Jan 26th 2019, tail strike on landing An Alliance Air Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A on behalf of Air India, registration VT-AIX performing flight 9I-623 from Mumbai to Diu (India), landed on Diu's runway 05/23 (length 1825 meters/5900 feet) but struck its tail onto the runway surface. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage however. The return flight was cancelled. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Diu about 35 hours after landing. No weather data are available for Diu. The tail of the aircraft (Photo: Tarun Shukla): http://avherald.com/h?article=4c36a42c&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Lufthansa Cityline CRJ9 at Zurich on Jan 26th 2019, could not retract landing gear A Lufthansa Cityline Canadair CRJ-900, registration D-ACKE performing flight LH-2373 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Munich (Germany), was climbing out of Zurich's runway 34 when the crew could not retract the landing gear, stopped the climb at 8000 feet and returned to Zurich for a safe landing on runway 16. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 75 minutes, then performed a ferry flight LH-9931 to Munich. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c360142&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: LATAM Chile B763 near Rio de Janeiro on Jan 26th 2019, bird strike A LATAM Chile Boeing 767-300, registration CC-CXG performing flight JJ-8154 from Rio de Janeiro Galeao,RJ (Brazil) to Orlando,FL (USA), was climbing out of Rio's runway 10 when the aircraft sustained a bird strike. The crew continued the climb to initial cruise level 330 in absence of abnormal indications. After levelling off indications for an engine (CF6) prompting the crew to shut the engine down. The aircraft drifted down to FL220, dumped fuel and returned to Galeao Airport for a safe landing on runway 15 about 105 minutes after departure. The airline confirmed a bird strike and said, all passengers disembarked safely. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c35fd5a&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: ANZ A320 over Tasman Sea on Jan 24th 2019, first officer incapacitated An Air New Zealand Airbus A320-200, registration ZK-OJB performing flight NZ-706 from Sydney,NS (Australia) to Auckland (New Zealand) with 131 passengers, was enroute at FL350 over the Tasman Sea when the first officer became ill, presumably because of a bug causing vomitting, and was no longer able to continue his duties. Being closer to Auckland than to Australia the captain continued the flight to Auckland where he landed the aircraft on runway 23L. Medical services awaited the aircraft, performed a first treatment of the first officer and took him to a hospital. The airline reported the ill crew member was taken to a hospital for observation and is now recovering at home. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c3543aa&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: France B773 over Atlantic on Jan 24th 2019, burning odour on board An Air France Boeing 777-300, registration F-GZNG performing flight AF-792 from Paris Orly (France) to Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe), was enroute at FL340 over the Atlantic about 330nm west of Lajes, Azores Islands (Portugal) when the crew declared emergency and decided to turn around and divert to Lajes reporting a burning odour on board. The aircraft landed safely on Lajes' runway 15 about 80 minutes after the decision to divert and taxied to the apron, where the passengers disembarked normally. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration F-GSQN positioned from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Lajes, continued the flight and reached Pointe-a-Pitre with a delay of about 15 hours. The occurrence aircraft departed Lajes after about 20 hours on the ground and returned to Paris Orly. The aircraft is still on the ground in Paris about 4 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c3541bb&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top A320 - Strong Winds - Ground Damage (Turkey) Status: Date: Saturday 26 January 2019 Time: ca. 11:00 Type: Airbus A321-231 Operator: Onur Air Registration: TC-OEB C/n / msn: 968 First flight: 1999-02-18 (20 years) Engines: 2 IAE V2533-A5 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Antalya Airport (AYT/LTAI) ( Turkey) Phase: Standing (STD) Nature: - Departure airport: - Destination airport: Antalya Airport (AYT/LTAI), Turkey Narrative: A thunderstorm with strong winds and a tornado caused several injuries as well as damage to aircraft, vehicles and airport equipment at Antalya Airport, Turkey. An Onur Air Airbus A321 (TC-OEB) suffered serious impact damage to the nose cone and right hand forward fuselage. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20190126-0 Back to Top Indian Air Force Fighter Jet Crashes in Uttar Pradesh An Indian Air Force "Jaguar" fighter crashed in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, in the north of India, the Times of India reports. The jet was on a routine mission from Gorakhpur. The pilot manged to eject safely, according to reports. "This morning, a Jaguar aircraft crashed while on a routine mission from Gorakhpur. The pilot ejected safely. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the accident," the Indian Air Force said a statement. There is no information about the cause of the crash yet. Authorities are investigating the accident. Earlier, in September, an Indian Air Force MiG-27 fighter jet crashed during a routine flight near the city of Jodhpur in the country's northern state of Rajasthan; the pilot managed to eject safely. The Jaguar is a twin-engine, ground attack aircraft which was designed and developed jointly by Breguet of France (now part of Dassault) and the UK-based British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in the 1960's; India started using the planes in 1979. https://sputniknews.com/asia/201901281071877336-india-jet-crash/ Back to Top Disoriented pilot, bad runway approach cited in Nepal crash KATHMANDU, NEPAL - A Bangladeshi airliner was misaligned with the runway and its pilot was disoriented and tried to land in "sheer desperation" when the plane crashed last year in Nepal, an investigation report said. US-Bangla Airlines Flight BS211 from Dhaka crashed on its second landing attempt at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on March 12, 2018. The 51 people killed were 28 Bangladeshi, 22 Nepalese and one Chinese national, and 20 others were injured. The pilot and co-pilot were among the dead. The investigation report compiled by Nepalese officials and made available Monday said the probable cause of the crash was the pilot's disorientation and loss of situation awareness. "Contributing to this, the aircraft was offset to the proper approach path that led to maneuvers in a very dangerous and unsafe altitude to alight with the runway. Landing was completed in a sheer desperation after sighting the runway, at very close proximity and very low altitude," it said. The report also said the pilot had been released from the Bangladesh Air Force in 1993 due to depression and was only allowed to fly civilian planes from 2002 after a detailed medical evaluation. Also, the pilot was under stress and emotionally disturbed and had lack of sleep in the preceding night. The report also cited a lack of assertiveness from controllers at Kathmandu airport in monitoring the flight path and failing to issue clear instructions to carry out a standard missed-approach procedure. The flight crew and the controllers also lacked a clear understanding of each other when they communicated about the landing runway, the report said. The report recommended that assertiveness in such situations become part of the training for air traffic controllers. It also asked the Bangladesh civil aviation authority to reassess the physical and psychological status of grounded pilots before their licenses are renewed and that all airline pilots undergo psychological evaluation during training. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article225171685.html Back to Top Back to Top 'Asinine and irresponsible' and 'craziest thing' - ex-airline CEOs blast government over shutdown • The former CEOs of two major U.S. airlines slammed the government over the partial shutdown Friday. • "It just makes absolutely no sense," says former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall. • "This is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life," says Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental Airlines. Bob Crandall: Government has 'violated contract' with air traffic controllers by not paying them Government 'violated contract' with air traffic controllers by not paying them: Fmr. airline CEO The former CEOs of two major U.S. airlines slammed the government over the shutdown Friday, warning passenger safety could be at risk. "This whole thing is both asinine and irresponsible. It just makes absolutely no sense," former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall said on CNBC's "Squawk Alley," before President Donald Trump announced a deal with congressional leaders to end the shutdown and temporarily reopen the government. Flights were disrupted at several East Coast airports after an increase in sick leave among air traffic controllers on Friday. Delays were seen at New York's LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport. At one point earlier in the day, the FAA briefly halted flights into LaGuardia. "There will be a call on the margin of safety," argued Crandall. "The reality is if we don't have full staffing then we can't do the full job. If you are going to squeeze in one more flight, if you want to say 'yes' one more time and maybe you make a mistake then you are eroding the margin of safety." The partial government shutdown entered its 35th day on Friday. Just a day earlier, the Senate blocked two dueling bills that would have temporarily funded the government. The hope was that a short reprieve might help produce a deal to end the standoff over President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding and the refusal by Democratic leaders to allocate any money for additional barriers along the U.S.-Mexico boundary lines. On Friday afternoon, Trump said he expects Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the new measure to restart government operations to the Senate floor "immediately," which the president said he would sign. Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental Airlines, agreed with Crandall's assessment, saying, "This is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life." (Continental merged with United in 2010 to create United Continental Holdings in 2010.) "You have to restore the operations and you have to end this ludicrous shutdown," he added. "I can't imagine why anybody would hold anybody except the president and the government responsible for this," Crandall said. "The government's willingness to shut down the economy, to have the profound adverse impact that this is going to have on the economy, just staggers the imagination." The ongoing disruptions in airports around the country prompted air travel workers to issue a warning on Thursday. "In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break," said a joint statement from unions representing U.S. pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers. "It is unprecedented." Asked whether the shutdown will affect the way airlines plan for the future, Crandall said Friday that it won't - because it should never happen again. "This is no way to run a government, a railroad or an airline," he said. "You can't do long-term planning in any area, certainly in aviation, unless you have the anticipation of stability." Crandall also praised air traffic controllers, pointing out that the bulk of them are going to work despite not being paid. And the fact they are doing so "entitles them to accolades," he said. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/25/asinine-and-irresponsible-ex-airline-ceos-on-government-shutdown.html Back to Top NASA made airliners safer by blowing one up in 1984 It's an experiment that an eight-year-old aviation fanatic might concoct: What if we crammed a remote-controlled jetliner with special fuel and crashed it into the ground-just so-in order to ignite its gas tanks? That's exactly what NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration did 35 years ago, in one of the most visually arresting safety tests ever performed. Spoiler alert: The test helped change the way we fly for the better, but not the way its architects envisioned. "This is the only time it ever happened," Albion Bowers, the chief scientist at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, says of the Controlled Impact Demonstration, as it is known officially, or the Crash in the Desert, as it was known by internal wags. "There aren't that many airframes that are available for that kind of work." In 1980, when Congress approved the program, jetliner fatalities had been rising in the previous decade. Some experts identified a particular issue: Passengers often survived the impact of a crash, only to die in fires caused by igniting jet fuel. One answer was something called anti-misting kerosene, or AMK-a fuel with an additive designed to prevent it from catching fire if it spilled out during a crash. The primary goal of the CID was to test that additive. The plan was to crash a decommissioned Boeing 720 in such a way that the fuel tanks would rip open on pre-placed barriers, creating an opportunity for the AMK to prevent it from igniting. This did not work, in part because the plane impacted differently than planned, and in part because AMK just wasn't very effective. Hence, this impressive fireball: Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID) flight video montage "One of the other things that we found out that day was the additive, the AMK itself, once you ignited the fuel, it made the fuel much harder to put out. The entire vehicle was left to burn out on its own," Bowers, then a junior aerodynamicist at NASA Armstrong who helped prepare and analyze the experiment, recalls. The VIPs on-hand, including Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, who told reporters the day before that "we expect to make history," hopped on private planes and skedaddled rather than talk to the press. It could have been worse. "One of the things that we did not realize at the time and was added as a last-minute afterthought, we did not have a way to bring the thing down if it started heading off toward LA or San Francisco," Bowers says. "So we asked the Air Force to roll out some fighters with live armament onboard and their job was to intercept and shoot it down before it got away anywhere." NASA Pilot Fitz Fulton prepares for the Controlled Impact Demonstration. Thankfully, the remote control system developed expressly for this experiment-the first time a four-engine jetliner had been controlled from the ground-worked largely as planned, despite the difficulty of using the technology of the time to control an airplane at a distance. To make the most of their opportunity to crash a jetliner, the engineers had covered it in sensors and cameras, and stacked the plane with crash test dummies. That helped generate data used to make planes safer, one reason that US airliners are some of the safest in the world, going nearly a decade without any deadly accidents until an engine malfunction on a Southwest plane last year killed one passenger. When it came to post-impact fatalities, the safety researchers realized that a bigger problem than fuel was that plastic fixtures in the airplane released toxic fumes as they heated, disabling and killing passengers. Today, jetliners are required to be built of materials that won't overpower people during fires after a crash. The CID plane also tested floor-level lighting designed to help people evacuate smoky cabins. NASA Breathe deeply. Another issue revealed by the accelerometers on the crash dummies was seat design: At the time, seats were built solidly so they didn't break in a crash-instead, they transmitted the energy of impact into the passengers. Today, airline seats are built to bend and break during a crash, absorbing the energy of the impact so your body does not. Bowers spent the rest of his career working on aviation research at NASA, most recently helping develop new technology to help pilots avoid flying their planes into the ground, a problem that is now responsible for 20% to 30% of recent aviation fatalities. "Sometimes the experiment doesn't work the way you thought it would," Bowers says. "You get surprised, sometimes when it does that, you can learn a heck of a lot." https://qz.com/1531625/nasa-made-airliners-safer-by-blowing-one-up-in-1984/ Back to Top China Southern Airlines Announces New Head Ma Xulun. Photo: VCG One of China's biggest state-owned airlines, China Southern, has announced new leadership. The company has welcomed Ma Xulun, who will serve as the new general manager and vice chairman, the state-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) announced Monday. Ma was previously with China Eastern, the Shanghai-based airline that is also state-owned, where he became general manager and vice chairman in December 2016. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2019-01-28/china-southern-airlines-announces-new-head-101375342.html Back to Top Japan's Narita airport to extend runway hours for first time ever from October CHIBA - Narita International Airport will extend the operational hours of one of its runways from October as part of efforts to boost the services that can be offered via the major international gateway, officials said Monday. The extension of the hours for landings and takeoffs, the first such move since the airport's opening in 1978, was finalized after the last town that had opposed the proposal eventually accepted the plan. The current hours for incoming and outgoing flights - basically from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. - will be prolonged to midnight on the main runway as Tokyo hosts the Olympics and Paralympics in 2020. With approvals by the town of Yokoshibahikari and the city of Sammu in Chiba Prefecture, all nine surrounding municipalities have agreed with the extension now scheduled to begin late October. "It is inevitable," Haruhiko Sato, mayor of Yokoshibahikari, told reporters. "I will try to explain things to residents in the town." The town and the city said in December they were opposed to the extension, citing concerns such as noise. But the operator of the airport later promised it would shoulder part of the necessary costs for noise reduction measures. The nine municipalities, the infrastructure ministry and Narita International Airport Corp. will soon formally sign an agreement on the extension of hours for the 4,000-meter runway, according to the officials. Sammu Mayor Hiroaki Matsushita, who spoke to the media after discussing the issue with assembly members on Friday, said it was a "wrenching decision." The airport, which is situated inland, plans to build a third runway in the 2020s. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/01/28/national/japans-narita-airport-extend-runway-hours-first-time-ever-october/#.XE75WFVKiUk Back to Top Dubai keeps rank as world's busiest international airport DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Dubai International Airport says it remains the world's busiest for international travel. The airport said on Monday that it welcomed over 89 million passengers in 2018. That's compared to the hub seeing about 88.2 million passengers in 2017. Dubai International Airport first surpassed London Heathrow as the world's busiest airport for international traffic in 2014. It has maintained the title ever since, with some 75 airlines flying into the main airport for this skyscraper-studded city, a gateway for East-West travel. The airport is also home to the long-haul carrier Emirates. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia remains the world's busiest airport overall. http://www.startribune.com/dubai-keeps-rank-as-world-s-busiest-international-airport/504958092/ Back to Top Aer Lingus may need up to 380 more pilots for new aircraft and transatlantic routes Cockpit crew to be hired over next four years as first of nine Airbus orders set to arrive Aer Lingus A330 with the new branding. Photograph: PA Aer Lingus may have to hire up to 380 pilots over the next four years as the airline expands its north Atlantic business, according to some calculations. The Irish carrier, now part of International Consolidated Airlines' Group (IAG) will in the coming months receive the first of nine Airbus A321neo long-range craft that it is acquiring over the next few years to expand its fleet of 50 planes. Industry estimates of the number of new pilots the airline will have to hire as a result of its expansion run as high as 380 over the next four years. It is understood that Aer Lingus will have to take on new cockpit crew to fly the A321s and replace pilots who are due to retire from the airline or leave it for other reasons. As a general industry rule of thumb, an airline such as Aer Lingus needs to hire 10-12 pilots for each new craft it buys, indicating that it could have to take on up to 108 extra flying crew as it takes the new Airbus craft on board. Aer Lingus said that the number of pilots employed by it has grown by 21 per cent since 2015, the year that IAG took it over, and it plans to grow by a further 41 per cent between now and 2023. Recruitment "We have had an excellent response to our recruitment campaign and are confident that we will be able to recruit to match our crewing requirements as we expand and grow over the coming years," the company said in a statement. Rapid expansion in air travel in Europe and the growth of low-cost players such as Ryanair have boosted demand for pilots in recent years to the point where some observers argued there was a shortage. However, some carriers, such as Norwegian, are cutting back, with a likely loss of pilots' jobs, as costs and competition increase. Aer Lingus is taking on the new Airbus craft to open a greater number of north American destinations to the airline. The aircraft's range allows it to fly to cities in the northeast and upper midwestern US. It is understood that Aer Lingus intends using the A321 long-range craft on its new service from Dublin to Minneapolis, which the airline plans to launch this summer. It announced details of that route and flights from the capital to Montreal, Canada, late last year. The company could also deploy the craft on its Hartford, Connecticut service. The airline wants to grow its business by connecting passengers flying between Europe and North America through its base at Dublin Airport Aer Lingus recently announced details of a rebranding that will see most its craft painted mostly white, although it is retaining the Shamrock symbol that it has used since the 1960s. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/aer-lingus-may-need-up-to-380-more-pilots-for-new-aircraft-and-transatlantic-routes-1.3769887 Back to Top ONLINE SURVEY REQUEST Dear Participant, You are being asked to participate in a research study to evaluate pilot decision-making. This study is expected to take approximately 5 minutes of your time. In order to participate, you must be at least 18 years old and currently employed as a professional pilot. Participation in this study is voluntary, and you may choose to opt out of the study at any time. If you choose to opt out, your data will be destroyed. We appreciate your consideration and time to complete our study. Please click on or copy and paste the URL below: https://goo.gl/forms/9ITjTgICot9o9Jjp1 For more information, please contact: Dr. Stephen Rice scrice@outlook.com We appreciate your interest and participation! Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top Aircraft Fire Hazards, Protection and Investigation Course presented by N. Albert Moussa, PhD, PE July 9 to 11, 2019 BlazeTech Corporation 29 B Montvale Ave, Woburn MA 01801 USA. Dear Colleague, While commercial air transport is very safe, the advent of new technologies poses fire safety challenges that will be treated in this course. This offering draws upon Dr. Moussa's work in this area since 1971 as well as related courses that BlazeTech has been teaching since 1998. Lectures will include Li and Li-ion battery fires, flammability of carbon fiber and glass fiber composites, emerging aviation fluids, engine fires, fuel tank fire/explosion, fire extinguishment methods, protection methods, aircraft accident investigation, and fire/explosion pattern recognition. Recent accidents are continuously added to the course. For each type of fire, this course will provide a cohesive integrated presentation of fundamentals, small- and large-scale testing, computer modeling, standards and specifications, and real accident investigation - as outlined in the course brochure. This integrated approach will enable you to address safety issues related to current and new systems and circumstances, and to investigate one of a kind fire and explosion accidents. The course will benefit professionals who are responsible for commercial aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles including design, equipment selection, test, operation, maintenance, safety management system, hazard/risk assessment, and accident investigation. View Brochure for course content and registration form (also embedded below). View Testmonials of previous attendees and their Companies. View some of the technical references discussed in this course. We also offer this course at the client site as well as customized courses on fire and explosion in other areas. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Albert Moussa, Ph.D., P.E. BlazeTech Corporation 29B Montvale Ave. Woburn, MA 01801-7021 781-759-0700 x200 781-759-0703 fax www.blazetech.com firecourse@blazetech.com LinkedIn Curt Lewis