Flight Safety Information March 21, 2019 - No. 060 In This Issue Southwest pilots say extra training required after 737 MAX software update European, Canadian regulators to do own review of Boeing jet Ethiopian Airlines Installed Max 8 Simulator, but Pilot on Doomed Flight Didn't Get Training Incident: Jetblue E190 at Boston on Mar 19th 2019, bird strike Incident: Envoy E135 at Mc Allen on Mar 18th 2019, smoke on board List of accidents involving brand new passenger aircraft Automation of Planes Began 9 Years After the Wright Bros Took Flight-But Still Leads to Baffling Disasters GE Aviation to expand 3-D printing facility in Auburn Qatar Airways reaches 250 delivered aircraft GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY 2019 - RTCA Global Aviation Symposium Workshops Across Canada! There's Still Room! Aircraft Cabin Air Conference ISASI-Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter (MARC) Dinner/Meeting--2 May 2019 Southwest pilots say extra training required after 737 MAX software update A Southwest Airlines Co. Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft taxis to the maintenance area after landing at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Kamil Kraczynski CHICAGO (Reuters) - Extra computer-based training will be required after a planned update to the software on the Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft, Southwest Airlines Co's pilot union said on Wednesday, adding that it was seeking additional information for pilots. Boeing has been working on a software update to an anti-stall system called MCAS since a Lion Air plane crashed in Indonesia in October, killing all 189 aboard. That effort has become urgent after a second 737 MAX 8 crashed in Ethiopia last week, with the death of 157 people, and regulators grounded the global fleet of the aircraft. Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) said it had previewed the proposed Boeing training, including a required test at the end, which would be mandatory for Southwest pilots before flying the 737 MAX again. "It is still very disturbing to us that Boeing did not disclose MCAS to the operators and pilots," the association told members in a memo seen by Reuters. "This methodology should, and can, be examined....Questions about increased digitization of an existing aircraft should be examined." The union said Southwest expects to receive its first 737 MAX simulator in July, which should be ready for use around October. The airline should also receive two more 737 MAX simulators in October and three more in January 2021, it said. A Boeing spokeswoman said training on the software update would be provided by the manufacturer, but declined to disclose further details. Last week, Boeing said the software update was expected to be deployed across the 737 MAX fleet "in the coming weeks". https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-airplane-southwest/southwest-pilots-say-extra-training-required-after-737-max-software-update-idUSKCN1R206P Back to Top European, Canadian regulators to do own review of Boeing jet In this Monday, March 11, 2019 file photo, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane being built for TUI Group sits parked in the background at right at Boeing Co.'s Renton Assembly Plant in Renton, Wash. The Transportation Department confirmed that its watchdog agency will examine how the FAA certified the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, the now-grounded plane involved in two fatal accidents within five months. The FAA had stood by the safety of the plane up until last Wednesday, March 13, 2019 despite other countries grounding it. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) Boeing's grounded airliners are likely to be parked longer now that European and Canadian regulators plan to conduct their own reviews of changes the company is making after two of the jets crashed. The Europeans and Canadians want to do more than simply take the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's word that alterations to a key flight-control system will make the 737 Max safer. Those reviews scramble an ambitious schedule set by Boeing and could undercut the FAA's reputation around the world. Boeing hopes by Monday to finish an update to software that can automatically point the nose of the plane sharply downward in some circumstances to avoid an aerodynamic stall, according to two people briefed on FAA presentations to congressional committees. The FAA expects to certify Boeing's modifications and plans for pilot training in April or May, one of the people said. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the briefings. But there are clear doubts about meeting that timetable. Air Canada plans to remove the Boeing 737 Max from its schedule at least through July 1 and suspend some routes that it flew with the plane before it was grounded around the world last week. American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, which are slightly less dependent on the Max than Air Canada, are juggling their fleets to fill in for grounded planes, but those carriers have still canceled some flights. By international agreement, planes must be certified in the country where they are built. Regulators around the world have almost always accepted that country's decision. As a result, European airlines have flown Boeing jets with little independent review by the European Aviation Safety Agency, and U.S. airlines operate Airbus jets without a separate, lengthy certification process by the FAA. That practice is being frayed, however, in the face of growing questions about the FAA's certification of the Max. Critics question whether the agency relied too much on Boeing to vouch for critical safety matters and whether it understood the significance of a new automated flight-control system on the Max. The FAA let the Boeing Max keep flying after preliminary findings from the Oct. 29 crash of a Lion Air Max 8 in Indonesia pointed to flight-control problems linked to the failure of a sensor. Boeing went to work on upgrading the software to, among other things, rely on more than one sensor and limit the system's power to point the plane's nose down without direction from the pilots. The FAA's assurance that the plane was still safe to fly was good enough for the rest of the world until an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed. Satellite data suggests both planes had similar, erratic flight paths before crashing minutes after takeoff. Patrick Ky, the executive director of the European regulator, said his agency will look "very deeply, very closely" at the changes Boeing and the FAA suggest to fix the plane. "I can guarantee to you that on our side we will not allow the aircraft to fly if we have not found acceptable answers to all our questions, whatever the FAA does," he said. The message was the same from Canada's Transport minister, Marc Garneau. "When that software change is ready, which is a number of weeks, we will in Canada - even if it is certified by the FAA - we will do our own certification," he said. Other countries could also conduct their own analysis of how much pilot training should be required on the Max. Ky noted that one Lion Air crew correctly disabled the plane's malfunctioning flight-control system, but not the crew on the next flight, which crashed. He said pilots under stress might have forgotten details of a bulletin Boeing issued in November that reminded pilots about that procedure. The FAA's handling of issues around the Max jet have damaged its standing among other aviation regulators, said James Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA will have to be more transparent about its investigation, and it should require that pilots train for the Max on flight simulators, Hall said, because "that is how pilots train today, not on iPads." John Hansman, an aeronautics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and chairman of an FAA research and engineering advisory committee, said separate approvals by Canada and the Europeans will reassure the public because those countries are seen as having no vested interest in the plane. "It's unfortunate because it will probably cause a delay, but it may be the right thing in the long haul," Hansman said. He expects that the FAA will wait until other regulators finish their reviews before letting the Max fly again. FAA spokesman Greg Martin would not comment on whether the agency's reputation has been hurt by its approval of the Max, the crashes or the agency's initial hesitation to ground the planes after the second crash. Meanwhile, the FAA is getting a new chief. The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump will nominate former Delta Air Lines executive and pilot Stephen Dickson to head the agency. Daniel Elwell has been acting administrator since January 2018. Boeing too is shifting personnel. This week, the company named the chief engineer of its commercial airplanes division to lead the company's role in the investigations into the Oct. 29 crash of the Lion Air jet and the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash. The executive, John Hamilton, has experience in airplane design and regulatory standards. From 2013 until early 2016, Hamilton oversaw the use of Boeing employees to perform some safety-certification work on behalf of the FAA. That program has come under criticism from critics including members of Congress. The Justice Department is investigating the FAA's oversight of Boeing, and a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to someone involved in the plane's development. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao formally directed her agency's inspector general to audit the FAA's handling of that process. Congressional committees are looking into the matter as well. A Senate subcommittee will hold a hearing on Max and aviation safety on March 27. The company declined to comment. The Max, the latest and most fuel-efficient version of the half-century-old 737, is Boeing's best-selling plane, with more than 4,600 unfilled orders. https://www.apnews.com/2367c31ef06d4014a5bfb0b5e8ed6ba4 Back to Top Ethiopian Airlines Installed Max 8 Simulator, but Pilot on Doomed Flight Didn't Get Training A Boeing flight simulator.CreditCreditAviation-Images.com, via Getty Images ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Ethiopian Airlines surpassed many carriers by becoming one of the first to install a simulator to teach pilots how to fly the new Boeing 737 Max 8, but the captain of the doomed Flight 302 never trained on the simulator, according to people close to the airline's operations. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Ethiopian Airlines had not authorized disclosure of the information, said the carrier had the Max 8 simulator up and running in January, two months before Flight 302 crashed. Boeing has said that experienced 737 pilots needed little training for the new Max 8, an assertion that has now come under close scrutiny by regulatory officials and pilots at other airlines. Two of the planes have fatally crashed in the past five months, and regulators around the world grounded all Max 8s last week. The pilot of Flight 302, Yared Getachew, who had 8,000 hours of flying experience including on the 737, took a refresher course on a different simulator in late September and early October, according to one person familiar with the airline, and was not due for another round of simulator training until after the crash on March 10. It was unclear if the second pilot on Flight 302, the co-pilot, had trained on the Max 8 simulator. Nor was it clear if the airline had used the simulator for refresher courses it requires pilots to take every six months, or only to train new pilots. Still, use of the simulator by Ethiopian Airlines means the carrier was among the few in the world that not only had a working simulator for Boeing Max jets but was using it a few months after the first Max 8 crash, Lion Air Flight 610. Despite Boeing's assertions that the plane was safe, the crashes have raised questions about whether Boeing and its American regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, did enough to train pilots on how to deal with the Max 8's new features, in particular an automated system to prevent stalls. Boeing said that pilots who had flown earlier models did not need additional simulator training, and even after the October crash in Indonesia, the F.A.A. agreed. Many pilots learned the new features of the Boeing Max on an iPad, and many were not originally informed of the existence of the automated system, which can push the plane's nose down if it is approaching a stall. The Ethiopian and Lion Air flights crashed minutes after takeoff and showed similar up-and-down oscillations before fatal nose-dives. A central focus of the Indonesian investigation is the possibility that the automated system pushed the nose down into a fatal dive because of inaccurate input from a sensor. The Ethiopian Flight 302 crash killed all 157 aboard and the Lion Air Flight 610 crash killed all 189. Even if both pilots on Flight 302 had trained on the simulator, it is unclear if such preparation would have included maneuvers to deal with the kinds of problems they may have faced. After the Lion Air crash, Ethiopian Airlines also shared with its pilots Boeing's instructions on how to deal with the kind of problems Lion Air pilots appeared to have encountered, the people close to Ethiopian Airlines operations said. In a bulletin issued in November, Boeing said that emergency procedures that applied to earlier 737 models would have corrected the problems that may have contributed to the Max 8 crash in Indonesia. Pilots for Ethiopian Airlines, who declined to speak on the record, said they paid close attention to bulletins issued by aircraft manufacturers, especially following an accident. One pilot said failing to read the bulletins would be tantamount to "walking out of your house naked." The Ethiopian crash has brought new scrutiny to the system Boeing put in its new Max planes to prevent stalls, called MCAS. The system was designed to compensate for changes to the aerodynamics that arose from alterations to the size and position of the engines on the wings. The pilots on the doomed Lion Air flight did not appear to understand why the jet was tipping downward and how to correct that problem. One flipped through a technical manual, and the other began to pray, according to the cockpit voice recording. An investigation is still underway to determine what caused the crash in Ethiopia. A possible fault in the MCAS system is part of the inquiry, and the authorities in Ethiopia have said that a preliminary review of the "black boxes" - voice recording and flight data - revealed similarities to the Indonesian crash. But experts have cautioned that any conclusions at this stage of an investigation are preliminary and could change. On Wednesday in Washington, the F.A.A. published a notification to regulators in other countries reiterating that Boeing was preparing a software upgrade for the 737 Max along with training to accompany the updated software. The F.A.A. said its review of the new software and training was "an agency priority, as will be the rollout of any software, training or other measures to operators of the 737 Max." The message from the F.A.A. did not reveal any new information about what may have led to the crash in Ethiopia. "Understanding the circumstances that contributed to this accident is critical in developing further actions and returning aircraft to service," the F.A.A. said. In a further sign of scrutiny facing Boeing and the F.A.A., a Senate subcommittee on aviation and space said it was planning a hearing next Wednesday on airline safety. "In light of the recent tragedy in Ethiopia and the subsequent grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, this hearing will examine challenges to the state of commercial aviation safety, including any specific concerns highlighted by recent accidents," the subcommittee said in a statement. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/world/africa/ethiopian-airlines-boeing.html Back to Top Incident: Jetblue E190 at Boston on Mar 19th 2019, bird strike A Jetblue Embraer ERJ-190, registration N178JB performing flight B6-111 from Boston,MA to Chicago O'Hare,IL (USA) with 52 people on board, was in the initial climb out of Boston's runway 27 when upon contacting departure the crew advised they had hit a bird and needed to return. The aircraft stopped the climb at 3000 feet and returned to Boston for a safe landing on runway 33L about 25 minutes after departure. The airline reported the crew returned as a precaution after a bird strike, the passengers were re-accommodated on the next flight, which reached Chicago 2 hours after the scheduled landing of B6-111. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU111/history/20190319/1019Z/KBOS/KORD http://avherald.com/h?article=4c5a13c0&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Envoy E135 at Mc Allen on Mar 18th 2019, smoke on board An Envoy Embraer ERJ-135, registration N807AE performing flight MQ-4158/AA-4158 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Mc Allen,TX (USA), was descendint towards Mc Allen when the crew reported smoke on board. The crew worked the related checklists. Descending below 10,000 feet the crew advised they had run the checklists and had contained most of the smoke. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on runway 32. A replacement Embraer ERJ-135 registration N803AE performed the return flight with a delay of about 3 hours. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in Mc Allen for about 23 hours, then positioned to Dallas Ft. Worth and resumed service. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL4158/history/20190318/1205Z/KDFW/KMFE http://avherald.com/h?article=4c5a1547&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top List of accidents involving brand new passenger aircraft This brand new (38 days; TT 202 hours) Boeing 737-800 crashed in September 2006 Two recent accident involving brand new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft caused a global grounding of the type over fears relating to a malfunctioning safety feature specific to the 737 MAX. How does the age of both aircraft relate to previous aircraft accidents? Focussing on fatal aircraft accidents involving passenger flights, the ASN databases shows (for available data! *) that there was at least one aircraft that crashed within a month of having first flown. A Braniff Lockheed Electra crashed 25 days following its first flight and just 11 days after having been delivered to the airline. A subsequent accident in March 1960 under similar circumstances revealed an engine mount problem on the outboard engines that allowed propeller oscillations to be transmitted to the wings, resulting in a structural failure of the wing in flight. This finding led to operational speed restrictions of the aircraft before modifications were carried out. Age (days) Date Aircraft type Operator Fatalities 25 1959-09-29 Lockheed L-188A Electra Braniff 34 34 1967-03-11 DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 Aeralpi 4 38 2006-09-29 Boeing 737-8EH Gol 154 52 1968-03-05 Boeing 707-328C Air France 63 69 1959-02-03 Lockheed L-188A Electra American Airlines 65 72 1960-01-19 Caravelle SAS 42 74 1961-09-23 Fokker F-27 Friendship THY 28 75 1968-04-20 Boeing 707-344C SAA 123 87 1948-01-30 Avro 688 Tudor 1 BSAA 31 90 1965-08-16 Boeing 727-22 United Airlines 30 91 2018-10-29 Boeing 737 MAX 8 Lion Air 189 94 1989-01-08 Boeing 737-4Y0 BMA 47 95 1968-11-23 DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 Cable Commuter 9 107 1961-09-17 Lockheed L-188C Electra Northwest 37 107 1962-07-19 DH-106 Comet 4C United Arab 26 118 1961-09-12 Caravelle III Air France 77 119 1962-06-22 Boeing 707-328 Air France 113 125 1977-09-08 DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 Burma Airways 25 126 1934-12-20 Douglas DC-2 KLM 7 131 2019-03-10 Boeing 737 MAX 8 Ethiopian Airlines 157 https://news.aviation-safety.net/2019/03/20/list-of-accidents-involving-brand-new-passenger-aircraft/ Back to Top Automation of Planes Began 9 Years After the Wright Bros Took Flight-But Still Leads to Baffling Disasters Autopilot has existed since 1912. But some experts worry that too much plane automation introduces danger. The first successful airplane pilot, Wilbur Wright, flew his 1903 craft by lying on his stomach, pushing and pulling levers as the wind swept over his head. Since then, piloting a plane has become a lot less physical thanks to automation and autopilot functions that do a lot of pilots' work for them. But there have also been serious accidents linked to this technological advancement-like in 2009, when automation technology failed on Air France Flight 447, and pilots weren't able to take control manually. Automating certain functions was necessary to making bigger and better planes. After all, Wright's plane couldn't fly as fast or far as jets today, let alone seat the number of people that a modern commercial plane can. Just nine years after Wright flew his plane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a man named Lawrence Sperry created the first successful autopilot. American aviation pioneer Lawrence Sperry (1892 - 1923) with his Sperry Messenger biplane, circa 1923. Sperry's invention was known as "gyroscopic automatic pilot," or "George," as many pilots nicknamed it; and its innovation was to automatically balance the plane in flight so the pilot didn't have to. Sperry's autopilots became popular during the 1920s and '30s. Howard Hughes installed one on the plane he used to set a world record (he flew around the world in 3 days and 19 hours), and American World War II planes had similar devices. After the war came the boom in commercial air travel, and more demand for automation. In the 1950s, commercial planes had five crew members in the cockpit: a flight engineer, a radio operator, a navigator and two pilots. Over the next few decades, automation and improved technology made the first three jobs unnecessary-and saved airline companies a lot of money. During the 1970s, airline companies started exploring automation using digital technology. At the time, studies showed that most plane accidents were caused by human error rather than mechanical error, so automation seemed like a way to make air travel safer (self-driving car developers also use this argument). Pilots let autopilot take control en route to Anchorage, Alaska, above North America circa 1977. With these safety studies in mind, the aviation company Airbus set out to design a plane that even a bad pilot could safely fly. For this, the company developed a new "fly-by-wire system." "Whereas autopilot just does what a pilot tells it to do, fly-by-wire is a computer-based control system that can interpret what the pilot wants to do and then execute the command smoothly and safely," explains Slate. "For example, if the pilot pulls back on his or her control stick, the fly-by-wire system will understand that the pilot wants to pitch the plane up, and then will do it at just the right angle and rate." In the late 1980s, Airbus fully introduced this technology for the first time on its A320 plane, also known as the "Electric Jet." Other aircraft carriers like Boeing adopted these fly-by-wire systems in the 1990s. But in the 21st century, this technology drew scrutiny after a series of accidents in which automation was a factor. In a 2009, an Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris mysteriously crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people aboard. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Airbus A330-200 plane in the middle of a thunderstorm, and investigators didn't discover the plane's black box records for over two years. They concluded the autopilot and fly-by-wire functions had malfunctioned and turned themselves off, and the pilots were unable to take over the plane manually. Investigators look through debris from the mid-Atlantic crash of Air France flight 447 on July 24, 2009 at the CEAT aeronautical laboratory in Toulouse, France. The Air France flight from Rio to Paris came down during the night of May 31 to June 1, 2009 during a storm, with the loss of all 228 people on board. Journalist and former pilot William Langewiesche later wrote in Vanity Fair that because flying a commercial plane had become such an automated process, the pilots on Flight 447 didn't have the experience necessary to take over in emergency conditions. "To put it briefly," he wrote, "automation has made it more and more unlikely that ordinary airline pilots will ever have to face a raw crisis in flight-but also more and more unlikely that they will be able to cope with such a crisis if one arises." This was a problem the Future Aviation Safety Team had been warning airlines about since at least 2004. The Flight 447 crash prompted calls to retrain pilots on how to manually fly a plane, but a decade later, concerns about pilots not having enough experience to take over a plane manually persist. Investigators are still determining what caused the Lion Air Flight 610 crash in October 2018 that killed 189 people and the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash in March 2019 that killed 157; but many suspect automation programs in the Boeing 737 Max plane may have played a role in these deadly disasters. https://www.history.com/news/plane-automation-autopilot-flight-302-610 Back to Top GE Aviation to expand 3-D printing facility in Auburn Governor Kay Ivey announced Wednesday that GE Aviation has plans to invest $50 million into expanding the additive manufacturing operation at its facility in Auburn, which is the first site to mass produce a jet component using 3-D printing technology for the aerospace industry. "GE Aviation is at the leading edge of advanced aerospace additive manufacturing, and the company's expansion plans at the Auburn facility will strengthen its technology leadership position," Ivey stated, via Made in Alabama. "We look forward to seeing where the great partnership between Alabama and GE Aviation will take us both in an exciting future." As a part of the project, GE Aviation will reportedly create 60 jobs and place new additive production machines in Auburn, which will allow the factory to begin greater production of a second engine part by implementing the additive process. The expansion will allow the Auburn facility to mass produce a 3-D printed bracket for the GEnx-2B engine program. "We're very excited for this new investment in our additive manufacturing operation here in Auburn," said GE Aviation's Auburn plant leader, Ricardo Acevedo. He added, "Our success thus far is a testament to all the hard-working folks at this facility who are leading the way in advanced manufacturing. The future here is bright, and we're glad to have such great support from the Auburn community and the state of Alabama." Instead of taking the more traditional route to produce a part, additive manufacturing uses a CAD file to grow parts by using layers of metal powder and an electron beam. It is a much quicker process and allows for more product with less waste. "Additive manufacturing technologies are revolutionizing how products are being made in many industries, and GE Aviation is helping to drive that revolution in aerospace," said Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield. He added, "We welcome GE's decision to expand AM activities in Auburn because this will solidify the Alabama facility's position as a hub for next-generation manufacturing techniques." Before today's expansion announcement, the Auburn facility was set to employ an estimated 300 people in 2019. "We're grateful for GE's continued investment in our community, and we are proud to be the home of GE Aviation's leading additive manufacturing facility," said Auburn Mayor Ron Anders. "For years, Auburn has sought after technology-based industries, and this expansion is evidence of the value in that. https://yellowhammernews.com/ge-aviation-to-expand-3-d-printing-facility-in-auburn/ Back to Top Qatar Airways reaches 250 delivered aircraft Arrival of Airbus A350-900 from Toulouse takes airline to historic high and will support growth into new markets and new destinations Qatar Airways today celebrated the arrival of its 250th aircraft, an Airbus A350-900 from Toulouse, France, the latest addition to the group's growing fleet of passenger, Cargo and executive aircraft. This impressive landmark comes just 22 years after the carrier began operations, and is testament to the incredible growth of an airline that has become world-leading in that time, winning a host of awards, including the Skytrax World Airline of the Year accolade on no less than four occasions. The new A350-900 joins the airline's state-of-the-art fleet, where the average age of aircraft is less than five years old. As of 20 March 2019, Qatar Airways' fleet is made up of 203 passenger aircraft, 25 Cargo and 22 Qatar Executive jets. Commenting on the achievement, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: "I am extremely proud that we have reached this historic landmark of having a fleet that now numbers 250 aircraft. The delivery of our newest Airbus A350-900 is a mark of the outstanding growth we have seen over the last two decades, and to our commitment to flying only the newest and most technologically advanced aircraft in the world. "Qatar Airways is moving forward with the rapid expansion of our global route network, an enhanced on board product offering in all cabin classes and, most importantly, taking delivery of the world's most technologically advanced aircraft because we want our customers to have an unforgettable experience when they fly with us. This is an important moment in our growth, and I look forward to seeing our fleet grow even more in the coming years." Qatar Airways is renowned for its state-of-the-art fleet. Last year, the airline became the world's launch customer of the Airbus A350-1000, symbolising Qatar Airways' determination to lead the way in the industry by pioneering and championing the latest technology and innovation. In 2014, the airline became the global launch customer of the Airbus A350-900, becoming the first airline in the world to operate every family of Airbus' modern airliner portfolio. In January 2015, Qatar Airways deployed its newly-received, world-first, Airbus A350 XWB aircraft on the Frankfurt route and in 2016, it became the first airline to fly the A350 family of aircraft to three continents. A multiple-award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named 'World's Best Business Class' by the 2018 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named 'Best Business Class Seat', 'Best Airline in the Middle East', and 'World's Best First Class Airline Lounge'. Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) to more than 160 destinations worldwide. https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/qatar-airways/qatar-airways-reaches-250-delivered-aircraft/ Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Participants for a 5-minute survey regarding hypoxia and high altitude chamber training are being sought for a study assessing hypoxia perceptions and experiences related to hypoxia awareness training. To be eligible for participation, you must have previously completed high altitude chamber training. All responses are anonymous and no identifying information will be collected. The study is being conducted by Kasey Stevenson, a graduate student studying Aviation Management and Human Factors at Arizona State University. Kasey's research is being conducted at the Del E. Webb High Altitude Chamber; previously the Williams Air Force Base High Altitude Chamber. The research is being completed with the goal of improving hypoxia awareness and training methods, in an effort to reduce hypoxia-related incidents and accidents. The survey can be accessed at: https://asu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ealbH4xwJRL8P2J Curt Lewis