Flight Safety Information April 1, 2019 - No. 067 In This Issue Ethiopian Air Report on Boeing Plane Crash to Be Released Monday Ethiopian crash could be largest non-war aviation reinsurance claim Incident: Jetstar A320 near Brisbane on Mar 29th 2019, electrical problems Accident: United B738 near Baltimore on Mar 29th 2019, odour on board sends 7 passengers to hospital Incident: British Airways A320 near Basel on Mar 31st 2019, electrical fumes in cockpit Incident: Lufthansa A320 at Sofia and Munich on Mar 30th 2019, flat tyre on departure Incident: Kalitta B744 at Brussels on Mar 29th 2019, engine problem Embraer ERJ-190AR - Multiple Bird Strikes (Boston) 2 Marine pilots killed in Arizona helicopter crash Epic LT - Fatal Accident (Germany) Milan's Malpensa Airport temporarily shut by drone sighting Dubai International Airport To Close One Runway Next Week Schumer calls for suspending Boeing from federal aviation advisory panel FAA extends security notice for flights over Egypt Sinai Peninsula More than 60 runway mishaps at O'Hare Airport in past 2½ years MIT and NASA engineers demonstrate a new kind of airplane wing Meet SpaceX's Starship Hopper BASS 2019 -...Keynote Speaker Announced...John S. Duncan Positions: Director of Audit Programs & Manager of Quality Control HOT-STOP 'L' Helps You Check All the Boxes Call for Nominations For 2019 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award ISASI - 2019 Call For Papers Deadline April 1 2019 - CHC Safety and Quality Summit 2019 CHC Safety and Quality summit offers grant opportunities for aviation students Certificate Courses in Slovenia from SCSI Ethiopian Air Report on Boeing Plane Crash to Be Released Monday * Media briefing on preliminary findings will be held Monday * March 10 Ethiopian Air crash led to Boeing 737 Max groundings * Boeing's Real Challenge Is From Reputational Standpoint, Teal Group Says A preliminary report into the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet last month will be released Monday, a key step toward explaining a disaster that has rocked the credibility of Boeing Co. A media briefing will be held later in the day, said Nebiat Getachew, a spokesman for Ethiopia's foreign ministry. Boeing has said it is reviewing the report. The March 10 crash, the second involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 since October, triggered groundings worldwide for the aircraft and a probe into how regulators cleared the plane to fly. The initial findings may explain whether the aircraft's anti-stall system was to blame after it malfunctioned on a doomed Lion Air flight in Indonesia five months earlier. Missing 737 Sensor Said to Be a Focus of Ethiopian Crash Probe According to people briefed on the probe, investigators working on the Ethiopian Airlines crash concluded that the anti-stall system had activated on the flight and they are searching for a key piece of equipment that might explain why. Preliminary data from the Max's black-box recorder indicates that the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, known as MCAS, was pushing the plane's nose down during the March 10 disaster, said the people, who asked not to be named because the findings aren't yet public. Boeing Reprograms 737 System Linked to Crashes A software update will prevent a single sensor from activating the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. The data from both sensors will be considered. Boeing has spent months refining the 737 Max's software since data from the Lion Air crash indicated the stall-avoidance system had repeatedly tipped the nose down before pilots lost control. Boeing was close to a software fix when the Ethiopian Airlines jet went down. The MCAS was designed to keep the Max from climbing too steeply and stalling. The U.S. Transportation Department has begun an inquiry into how it was approved as part of the Max's certification in 2017, while the Justice Department is using a grand jury to gather information. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-01/ethiopian-air-report-on-boeing- plane-crash-to-be-released-monday Back to Top Ethiopian crash could be largest non-war aviation reinsurance claim FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian Federal policemen stand at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) - Liability claims related to the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft could be the largest non-war aviation reinsurance claim on record, hitting reinsurers' profitability, reinsurance broker Willis Re said. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 on March 10 killed 157 passengers and crew, the second deadly crash involving a Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 airliner in five months. As the crash site and black boxes are investigated, the 737 MAX 8 has been grounded worldwide as a precautionary measure and regulators are stepping up action to improve air safety while Boeing is carrying out a software upgrade to the plane's automated flight control system. Liability claims for the passengers' loss of life and in relation to the grounded aircraft could total around a billion dollars, James Vickers, chairman of Willis Re International, told Reuters by phone, a large sum for the aviation reinsurance market which Vickers said was "very small and very, very specialist". Reinsurers help insurers share the cost of large claims, in return for part of the premium. The losses could erode three to four years of aviation reinsurers' premium in the "global excess of loss" category of reinsurance, Willis Re said on Monday in its summary of reinsurance activity at the key April 1 renewal date. In excess of loss reinsurance, the insurers are on the hook for the first part of the claim, and reinsurers only pay out on claims above a certain level. The world's biggest reinsurers include European firms Munich Re, Swiss Re and Hannover Re, U.S. billionaire global investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and companies operating in the Lloyd's of London market. British insurer Global Aerospace led a consortium of insurers and reinsurers providing cover for Boeing. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-airplane-reinsurance/ethiopian-crash- could-be-largest-non-war-aviation-reinsurance-claim-willis-re-idUSKCN1RD1TR Back to Top Incident: Jetstar A320 near Brisbane on Mar 29th 2019, electrical problems A Jetstar Airbus A320-200, registration VH-VFP performing flight JQ-782 from Brisbane,QL to Adelaide,SA (Australia), was climbing through FL310 about 90nm southwest of Brisbane when the crew stopped the climb due to electrical problems and decided to return to Brisbane for a safe landing about 45 minutes after departure. A replacement A320-200 registration VH-VFO reached Adelaide with a delay of 2.5 hours. Passengers reported the problem started with the cabin lights starting to flash off and on. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c6023f9&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: United B738 near Baltimore on Mar 29th 2019, odour on board sends 7 passengers to hospital A United Boeing 737-800, registration N37263 performing flight UA-1675 from Baltimore,MD to San Francisco,CA (USA), was climbing through FL250 out of Baltimore when the crew stopped the climb reporting about 20 passengers were complaining about health problems as result of an abnormal odour on board. The aircraft diverted to Washington Dulles,DC (USA) for a safe landing about 40 minutes after departure. Seven passengers were taken to hospitals, a number of passengers were treated at the airport. The airport reported emergency services responded to a report of an odour on board of the aircraft. United confirmed a strong odour on board causing several passengers to be taken to hospitals and pledged to cover the passengers' hospital cost and related expenses. Passengers reported there was some faint fuel smell prior to departure, which substantially worsened once airborne. About 20 passengers began to complain about nausea, chest pain, headache and breathing trouble. Medical staff awaited them at the airport and treated all those not feeling well. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c602875&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: British Airways A320 near Basel on Mar 31st 2019, electrical fumes in cockpit A British Airways Airbus A320-200, registration G-MEDK performing flight BA-2585 from Venice (Italy) to London Gatwick,EN (UK), was enroute at FL360 about 20nm southeast of Basle (Switzerland) when the crew declared PAN PAN reporting electrical fumes in the cockpit and decided to divert to Basle/Mulhouse (Switzerland/France) for a safe landing on runway 15 about 25 minutes later. The aircraft was able to continue the journey after about 2.5 hours on the ground and reached Gatwick with a delay of about 3 hours. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c618ef0&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Incident: Lufthansa A320 at Sofia and Munich on Mar 30th 2019, flat tyre on departure A Lufthansa Airbus A320-200, registration D-AIUT performing flight LH-1707 from Sofia (Bulgaria) to Munich (Germany), departed Sofia's runway 09. Later into the flight the crew was informed of a possibly flat tyre, the crew continued the flight to Munich, where emergency services awaited the aircraft. The aircraft landed safely on Munich's runway 26L, vacated the runway and stopped clear of the runway for an inspection by emergency services, after about 5 minutes the crew advised they didn't need support from the ground and could continue to the apron on own power. The aircraft continued taxi to the apron. The occurrence aircraft departed for the next flight about 2 hours later. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c60d94f&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Kalitta B744 at Brussels on Mar 29th 2019, engine problem A Kalitta Air Boeing 747-400, registration N740CK performing freight flight K4-978 from Brussels (Belgium) to Cincinnati,KY (USA), was in the initial climb out of Brussels' runway 25R when the #4 engine (CF6, outboard right) emitted a number of bangs associated with streaks of flame prompting the crew to level off at FL070 and enter a hold. The crew subsequently decided to divert to Leipzig (Germany) where the aircraft landed safely about 90 minutes after departure. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c603002&opt=0 Back to Top Embraer ERJ-190AR - Multiple Bird Strikes (Boston) Date: 31-MAR-2019 Time: c. 14:10 LT Type: Embraer ERJ-190AR Owner/operator: American Airlines Registration: N953UW C/n / msn: 19000133 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Unknown Location: Boston - United States of America Phase: Take off Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Boston-Logan International Airport, MA (BOS/KBOS) Destination airport: New York-La Guardia Airport, NY (LGA/KLGA) Narrative: American Airlines flight AA2163 returned to land at Boston after the aircraft hit a flock of geese. The engines were reportedly not affected but bird remains were noted on the windscreen. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=223640 Back to Top 2 Marine pilots killed in Arizona helicopter crash Ariz. - Two Marine pilots have died in a helicopter crash during a training mission in southwestern Arizona, U.S. Marine Corps officials said Sunday. The AH-1Z Viper crashed Saturday night while the pilots were conducting a training mission as part of a weapons and tactical instructor course, according to the Marine Corps. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Capt. Gabriel Adibe, a Marine Corps spokesman, said the helicopter crashed on the vast Marine Corps Air Station Yuma training grounds but no additional information was immediately available. The names of the pilots who died have not been released pending notification of their families. The station is located about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Yuma and the 1,300-square- mile (3,367-square-kilometer) training ground is one of the world's largest military installations. There have been several fatal crashes involving Marine Corps aircraft near Yuma over the years. In 1996, a Marine electronic-warfare plane went down during a training mission on a gunnery range near the Gila Mountains, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of the Yuma station, killing all four people aboard. The crew was from the Marine base at Cherry Point, North Carolina, and was training at Yuma. Two Marine pilots, a crew chief and a Navy corpsman died in a 2007 crash of a search- and-rescue helicopter near the Colorado River during a training mission. The crew members were attached to a headquarters squadron of Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma. In 2012, seven Marines were killed when an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter and a UH-1Y Huey utility helicopter collided in midair during a training exercise in a remote area of the Yuma training grounds. The crash site was in the Chocolate Mountains on the California side of the range. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/31/marine-corps-pilots-killed- helicopter-crash-arizona/3328464002/ Back to Top Epic LT - Fatal Accident (Germany) Date: 31-MAR-2019 Time: 15:30 LT Type: Epic LT Owner/operator: Globus Airlines Registration: RA-2151G C/n / msn: 019 Fatalities: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Erzhausen, Hessen - Germany Phase: Approach Nature: Private Departure airport: Cannes-Mandelieu Airport (CEQ/LFMD) Destination airport: Egelsbach Airport (EDFE) Narrative: The private plane was in final approach of the runway 08 of EDFE. The aircraft impacted an asparagus field in Erzhausen under unknown circumstances and was destroyed by the post-crash fire, the wreckage was scattered over 20 meters, and the 3 occupants, one pilot and 2 passengers, Russian national, received fatal injuries. One of the occupants was Natalia Fileva, the Co-owner of S7 Airlines and one of Russia's richest women. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=223635 Back to Top Milan's Malpensa Airport temporarily shut by drone sighting Milan's Malpensa Airport was temporarily closed by a drone flying near a terminal, forcing four planes to be redirected to nearby airports. The airport operator SEA said Monday that the airport was closed for about a half hour after the drone was sighted around midday. Three flights landed at Milan's Linate airport and a fourth in Turin. Malpensa underwent a similar closure last month when a drone was spotted from the control tower several kilometers (at least two miles) away. Police were investigating both incidents. Drone sightings have caused major chaos at London airports in recent months. Rules by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority specify that drones are not permitted to fly within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of airports. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article228678829.html Back to Top Dubai International Airport To Close One Runway Next Week Dubai International Airport (DXB) will close its Southern Runway for 45 days starting April 16th. During its closure, the runway will undergo a complete refurbishment. The Southern Runway is DXB's longer runway. It is 4,500 meters long and 60 meters wide. DXB Runway Only one runway will be available at DXB between April 16 and May 30, 2019. Photo: Dubai Airports. What are the details? According to Dubai Airports, DXB's Southern Runway has reached its life limit. Consequently, it is time for a major refurbishment. As a matter of fact, the airport's Northern Runway underwent a similar rehabilitation program in 2014. As part of its upgrade, the runway (12R-30L) will be resurfaced. Additionally, the airfield ground lighting and supporting infrastructure will be replaced. More specifically, "the project will involve the placement of approximately 60,000 tonnes of asphalt and 8,000m3 of concrete to strengthen and resurface the runway and the adjacent taxiways". Over 5,500 runway lights are scheduled to be replaced. Impact of the runway closure Dubai International Airport is the world's busiest airport for international travel, handling about 1,100 departures and arrivals a day. Consequently, losing one runway for an extended period of time has a pretty big impact on the capacity of the airport. They are expected to lose as much as 43% of its capacity during the refurbishment period. However, the reduction in passengers flights will be lower (about 32%). To compensate, some airlines will operate larger aircraft in and out of DXB. As a result, we will only see a 26% reduction in seats during the period. Dubai's second airport, Dubai World Central (DWC), will be available to service some of the flights. As a matter of fact, several airlines including Air India, Condor, Indigo, SpiceJet, and flydubai will operate out of Dubai World Central during the construction. DWC will handle about 158 passenger flight movements per day during the 45-day period. DWC Airport Once completed, DWC will have a capacity of over 160 million passengers per year. Photo: Dubai Airports. The refurbishment project was scheduled during this time of the year because it is typically the slowest season for Dubai International Airport. Nevertheless, a significant number of Emirates flight will need to be rescheduled or canceled. Additionally, Emirates is planning on parking as many as 48 of its aircraft during the runway closure. This will lead to a 25% reduction of Emirates flights. https://simpleflying.com/dubai-international-airport-closure/ Back to Top Schumer calls for suspending Boeing from federal aviation advisory panel, citing crash probe of two jets There is an ongoing federal investigation into the cause of two crashes of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft, in which more than 300 people were killed. Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are parked on the tarmac after being grounded, at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif., on Thursday. Photo Credit: AFP / Getty Images / Mark Ralston Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the Federal Aviation Administration to suspend Boeing officials from a federal advisory committee amid an ongoing investigation into two fatal plane crashes involving the company's 737 Max line. Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a letter to acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell, said he should "suspend and/or update the public on Boeing's membership" on the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee as the FAA investigates a pair of deadly crashes involving Boeing 737 Max airplanes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. President Donald Trump ordered the FAA to ground the line of planes earlier this month after dozens of other countries barred the planes from flying over their airspace in response to the pair of crashes. The advisory committee is tasked with providing "advice and recommendations concerning a full range of aviation-related issues," according to the FAA website. "It makes no sense for Boeing -or any company for that matter- to be involved in an active investigation surrounding questions of safety while also retaining 'membership' on a federal committee that recommends airline industry regulations," Schumer said in a statement. "That is why I am demanding the FAA both suspend Boeing from this committee and any others until the formal investigation has ended, and to also answer serious questions I have raised." FAA spokesman Jim Peters in an email Sunday said: "We have not received the senator's request and when we do, we'll provide a thoughtful response." Boeing did not immediately return emails seeking comment on Sunday. The advisory committee's charter caps the number of members to 30 individuals, but the FAA website does not specify how many members currently belong to the group, or who has been appointed, prompting calls by Schumer for more "transparency." Schumer, who serves as Senate minority leader, called on Elwell to "make public who else sits on the committee (all airline and industry members) and release the minutes of each and every meeting since the Trump administration took office." He also called on the administrator to "commit to reforming the entire FAA committee by examining the member selection process, transparency, and potential conflicts of interest so the public and Congress know who is making regulatory decisions at the FAA - and for what reasons." "Congress and the public expect instant access and transparency in order to assess safety concerns and potential conflicts of interest at the FAA," Schumer said in his letter. Schumer has previously spoken out against the advisory committee, citing news reports that indicate the panel previously recommended 300 existing regulations that it believed could be cut. "These suggestions [of proposed cuts in regulations] are not posted online and an update on where they presently exist in the regulatory queue is unavailable for easy access," Schumer said on Sunday. https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/schumer-boeing-committee-1.29220272 Back to Top FAA extends security notice for flights over Egypt Sinai Peninsula 30 March 2019 Sinai Peninsula (FAA) The United States FAA extended a security warning for the Egypt Sinai Peninsula by another year due to continuing concern for flight safety. The initial Notam was issued on March 30, 2015, based on the FAA's assessment that international civil air routes that transit the Cairo (HECC) Flight Information Region (FIR) over the Sinai Peninsula and aircraft operating to and from Sinai airports are at risk from potential extremist attacks involving antiaircraft weapons, to include Man- Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), small arms fire, and indirect fire from mortars and rockets targeting Sinai airports. The FAA reports that the Islamic State in Iraq and ash-Sham in the Sinai (ISIS-Sinai), an Egypt-based affiliate of ISIS, continues to conduct attacks in northern and southern Sinai, some of which demonstrate their capability and intent to target civil aviation. Throughout 2018, ISIS-Sinai targeted Egyptian security forces and police check-points in the Sinai. Based on this information, the FAA continues to advise U.S. airlines and operators to avoid flying below FL260 in this area. https://news.aviation-safety.net/2019/03/30/faa-extends-security-notice-for-flights-over-egypt-sinai-peninsula-2/ Back to Top More than 60 runway mishaps at O'Hare Airport in past 2½ years Runway 10R-28L at O'Hare Airport | Tim Boyle/For the Sun-Times One January morning last year, a Chicago Department of Aviation employee called an air traffic controller at O'Hare Airport asking for permission to drive a work vehicle onto an active runway at the busiest airport in the nation to complete an unspecified task. Even as a Boeing jet in the air above lined up to land on Runway 10-Center on the south side of the airport, the controller cleared the employee to drive across the runway, though not remain on it. But the city employee drove his vehicle onto the landing strip anyway - setting off alarms and prompting the controller to order the jet to abort its landing, records show. The mishap was among 62 runway "incursions" that took place at O'Hare in just the past few years, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation found. Among the investigation's other findings, based on interviews and recently obtained records: Ground traffic as seen from the control tower at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Runway 10 Center - 28 Center is in the background. AP/M. Spencer Green * While city officials have boasted the airfield is getting safer, records show the number of incursions rose at O'Hare - from 22 in fiscal year 2017 to 26 in 2018. In fiscal year 2019, which began Oct. 1, there have been 14. * A dozen of the incidents involved city workers violating runway safety protocols by driving vehicles onto active takeoff and landing zones - and workers often ended up with relatively brief suspensions but kept their jobs. * Once in 2018 and once in 2017, aircraft departed O'Hare without clearance from air traffic controllers. * Many incursions involved planes making their way onto runways that other aircraft had been cleared to use, with blame sometimes sitting with pilots and sometimes with controllers. On Aug. 16, a taxiing Gulfstream jet was cleared by an air traffic controller to cross a strip north of the terminals, Runway 27-Left. The jet was told it could cross "at the approach end, then proceed via Hotel 2, Alpha, and advised of traffic on 3-mile final," according to city records that refer to the airfield pathways that were supposed to be navigated by the plane on the ground as another aircraft was a few miles out, preparing to land. "Several airport vehicles were blocking the taxiway on the other side" of Runway 27- Left, so the taxiing plane entered "and turned westbound on the runway," records show. That forced the controller to issue "go-around instructions" requiring the arriving plane to abort its landing when it was within a mile or so of touching down. The runways at O'Hare. | FAA On Aug. 9, a jet was given permission to depart Runway 22-Left, a strip that runs diagonally on the southeast part of the airfield. But another plane was arriving, readying to land on Runway 28-Center, an east-west strip, and flew over 22-Left in the process - setting off an anti-collision alarm because of the other plane taking off from there, records show. Some of the incidents examined by the Sun-Times caused no immediate conflicts with planes but were safety violations nonetheless. On May 26, 2017, city workers who planned to mow grass on the airfield "requested access" to do so and "had been told to remain clear," records show. But a controller then "observed the vehicles mowing up to the edge of the runway," records show, prompting city officials to issue tickets to two city employees. Last September, another city worker drove onto Runway 22-Right, which "was active at the time but was not in use" by aircraft, records show. The Chicago Department of Aviation - the government agency running O'Hare and Midway airports, reporting to Mayor Rahm Emanuel - told the Federal Aviation Administration about that incident and said the city may be "seeking a suspension" against the city employee. It's unclear if any action was ultimately taken. Emanuel's aviation commissioner, Jamie Rhee, wouldn't comment. Her spokeswoman, Lauren Huffman, released a prepared statement saying: "The safety and security of the flying public will always be our number one priority for Chicago's airports. Since implementing new training policies, infrastructure and technology at O'Hare, runway incursions are trending lower than ever, with fewer airfield incidents overall today, and zero severe incidents for the past three years. "As always, CDA takes any incident that occurs on the airfield very seriously - from low- level movement violations to runway incursions - and no incident is overlooked. Working with our partners at the FAA and the airlines, the CDA remains vigilant on airfield safety, and continues to demonstrate a strong safety performance on its annual certifications and exceeds the minimum requirements for airfield safety." https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/ohare-airport-runway-mishap-plane-aviation/ Back to Top MIT and NASA engineers demonstrate a new kind of airplane wing Assembled from tiny identical pieces, the wing could enable lighter, more energy- efficient aircraft designs. A team of engineers has built and tested a radically new kind of airplane wing, assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces. The wing can change shape to control the plane's flight, and could provide a significant boost in aircraft production, flight, and maintenance efficiency, the researchers say. The new approach to wing construction could afford greater flexibility in the design and manufacturing of future aircraft. The new wing design was tested in a NASA wind tunnel and is described today in a paper in the journal Smart Materials and Structures, co- authored by research engineer Nicholas Cramer at NASA Ames in California; MIT alumnus Kenneth Cheung SM '07 PhD '12, now at NASA Ames; Benjamin Jenett, a graduate student in MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms; and eight others. Instead of requiring separate movable surfaces such as ailerons to control the roll and pitch of the plane, as conventional wings do, the new assembly system makes it possible to deform the whole wing, or parts of it, by incorporating a mix of stiff and flexible components in its structure. The tiny subassemblies, which are bolted together to form an open, lightweight lattice framework, are then covered with a thin layer of similar polymer material as the framework. The result is a wing that is much lighter, and thus much more energy efficient, than those with conventional designs, whether made from metal or composites, the researchers say. Because the structure, comprising thousands of tiny triangles of matchstick-like struts, is composed mostly of empty space, it forms a mechanical "metamaterial" that combines the structural stiffness of a rubber-like polymer and the extreme lightness and low density of an aerogel. Jenett explains that for each of the phases of a flight - takeoff and landing, cruising, maneuvering and so on - each has its own, different set of optimal wing parameters, so a conventional wing is necessarily a compromise that is not optimized for any of these, and therefore sacrifices efficiency. A wing that is constantly deformable could provide a much better approximation of the best configuration for each stage. While it would be possible to include motors and cables to produce the forces needed to deform the wings, the team has taken this a step further and designed a system that automatically responds to changes in its aerodynamic loading conditions by shifting its shape - a sort of self-adjusting, passive wing-reconfiguration process. "We're able to gain efficiency by matching the shape to the loads at different angles of attack," says Cramer, the paper's lead author. "We're able to produce the exact same behavior you would do actively, but we did it passively." This is all accomplished by the careful design of the relative positions of struts with different amounts of flexibility or stiffness, designed so that the wing, or sections of it, bend in specific ways in response to particular kinds of stresses. Cheung and others demonstrated the basic underlying principle a few years ago, producing a wing about a meter long, comparable to the size of typical remote- controlled model aircraft. The new version, about five times as long, is comparable in size to the wing of a real single-seater plane and could be easy to manufacture. While this version was hand-assembled by a team of graduate students, the repetitive process is designed to be easily accomplished by a swarm of small, simple autonomous assembly robots. The design and testing of the robotic assembly system is the subject of an upcoming paper, Jenett says. The individual parts for the previous wing were cut using a waterjet system, and it took several minutes to make each part, Jenett says. The new system uses injection molding with polyethylene resin in a complex 3-D mold, and produces each part - essentially a hollow cube made up of matchstick-size struts along each edge - in just 17 seconds, he says, which brings it a long way closer to scalable production levels. "Now we have a manufacturing method," he says. While there's an upfront investment in tooling, once that's done, "the parts are cheap," he says. "We have boxes and boxes of them, all the same." The resulting lattice, he says, has a density of 5.6 kilograms per cubic meter. By way of comparison, rubber has a density of about 1,500 kilograms per cubic meter. "They have the same stiffness, but ours has less than roughly one-thousandth of the density," Jenett says. Because the overall configuration of the wing or other structure is built up from tiny subunits, it really doesn't matter what the shape is. "You can make any geometry you want," he says. "The fact that most aircraft are the same shape" - essentially a tube with wings - "is because of expense. It's not always the most efficient shape." But massive investments in design, tooling, and production processes make it easier to stay with long-established configurations. Studies have shown that an integrated body and wing structure could be far more efficient for many applications, he says, and with this system those could be easily built, tested, modified, and retested. "The research shows promise for reducing cost and increasing the performance for large, light weight, stiff structures," says Daniel Campbell, a structures researcher at Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company, who was not involved in this research. "Most promising near-term applications are structural applications for airships and space- based structures, such as antennas." The new wing was designed to be as large as could be accommodated in NASA's high- speed wind tunnel at Langley Research Center, where it performed even a bit better than predicted, Jenett says. The same system could be used to make other structures as well, Jenett says, including the wing-like blades of wind turbines, where the ability to do on-site assembly could avoid the problems of transporting ever-longer blades. Similar assemblies are being developed to build space structures, and could eventually be useful for bridges and other high performance structures. The team included researchers at Cornell University, the University of California at Berkeley at Santa Cruz, NASA Langley Research Center, Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania, and Qualified Technical Services, Inc., in Moffett Field, California. The work was supported by NASA ARMD Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Program (MADCAT Project), and the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms. http://news.mit.edu/2019/engineers-demonstrate-lighter-flexible-airplane-wing-0401 Back to Top Meet SpaceX's Starship Hopper Artist's illustration of a prototype of SpaceX's Starship vehicle. Starship is designed to help humanity explore and settle the moon, Mars and other distant destinations.Artist's illustration of a prototype of SpaceX's Starship vehicle. Starship is designed to help humanity explore and settle the moon, Mars and other distant destinations.(Image: © Adrian Mann/Steve Jurvetson) SpaceX continues to amaze in popularizing space exploration. Not only is it doing fantastic work in reaching and exploring space, shown by its efforts to transport supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station, it also flaunts retro exhibitions that capture the interest of people worldwide. Recently, Elon Musk - the CEO of SpaceX - released images and information on what he calls the "Starship" Hopper test rocket. The prototype hopper was recently constructed in a project that will hopefully be used to help colonize Mars. Anyone who follows Musk will know that he is a keen advocate of going to Mars, and with scientists and engineers urging everyone to get behind an exploration mission that can take us to a whole new frontier, it is now becoming more of a reality than a dream. Starship and its huge first-stage booster, Super Heavy - which together were formerly known as the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) - could be the vehicles to undertake this important task. In order for Starship and Super Heavy to be successful, there are many things to take into account, and a lot of power needs to be exerted. This is not just another 384,400-kilometer (238,855 miles) mission to the moon. This is going to be a journey more than 140 times longer. This means that there needs to be enough food, supplies and protection from the harmful radiation of space in order to survive this journey, and even then there's the question of how much fuel is needed to break free of Earth's gravity and make it Mars. Diagrams of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket (top) and planned Starship-Super Heavy vehicle (bottom). SpaceX CEO Elon Musk envisions the reusable Starship-Super Heavy duo helping humanity colonize Mars. These are the reasons why a voyage to Mars is a struggle. But nothing good ever comes easy. SpaceX has shown extremely promising signs of improved space exploration with the introduction of reusable rockets, and now Musk has released the first images of the Starship prototype that will soon undergo short "hopping" excursions to test its feasibility. These vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) tests will hover up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) above the ground before landing back on Earth. The hopper prototype towers at a height of about 39 meters (128 feet) and has a diameter of 9 meters (30 feet), with a stainless-steel exterior starting at its pointy tip to its three rear "fins" that serve as its legs as it stands on the ground. Starship looks strikingly like something out of a 1950s science-fiction comic book, and that's because it was modelled after one. Again, anyone who follows Musk will also know that he is a huge fan of cultural references in his SpaceX work. Back in February 2018, Musk tested the Falcon Heavy, in the process launching one of his sister company's Tesla cars into an orbit around the sun. Inside the Tesla was Starman, a human-scale mannequin with SpaceX's spacesuit, given its name after the 1972 hit song by David Bowie. In the case of Starship, the rocket was inspired by the 1954 adventure of comic-book hero Tintin in "Explorers on the Moon." Although Starship doesn't have the red-and- white checkered appearance of Tintin's rocket, everything else is remarkably similar. This inspiration was confirmed by Musk at an event in September 2018, which he followed up by saying: "If in doubt, go with Tintin." Musk tweeted a picture of the prototype sitting at one of SpaceX's factories near Boca Chica Village in Texas. Starship and Super Heavy will both utilize the powerful Raptor engine that SpaceX is still working on. It has been suggested that in June 2019 SpaceX will create the orbital prototype of Starship and connect it to the Super Heavy booster for improved testing. This project is sure to be an extremely exciting one to follow. Musk has outlined his ambitions to conduct two unmanned cargo missions to Mars by 2022, followed by a crewed trip around the moon and back as early as 2023; this latter mission will carry 43-year-old Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. Then, by 2024, SpaceX could be ready to conduct crewed missions to Mars. This will provide the platform for creating settlements on Mars, and science fiction will become a firm reality. After that, the possibilities are endless. Could Mars be the answer to problems on Earth? https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-hopper-elon-musk-explained.html Back to Top BASS 2019 - Keynote Speaker Announced John S. Duncan, deputy associate administrator for Aviation Safety at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will be the opening keynote speaker at this year's Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS) in Denver. BASS is the premier forum for the discussion and exchange of safety information for corporate and business aviation operators and the ideal venue to connect with hundreds of aviation safety professionals. https://flightsafety.org/summit-seminar/bass2019/ Back to Top Apply Now! - mba is seeking the following candidates: Director of Audit Programs mba is seeking an experienced individual to manage its audit programs with respect to IATA's (International Air Transport Association) IOSA* (IATA Operational Safety Audit) program. The candidate must meet the following requirements, be a self-starter and a leader within the organization. * Must have airline operational and safety experience and be familiar with the IOSA Program. * Be willing to travel globally without restriction to perform audits and attend meetings. * Manage and lead a team of experienced individuals in the performance of aviation safety focused audits. * Manage and develop new opportunities for mba in areas of auditing globally. Manager of Quality Control mba is seeking an experienced mid-career individual to manage its Quality Control function with respect to IOSA* (IATA Operational Safety Audit). The candidate must meet the following requirements, be a self-starter and a leader within the organization. * Must have airline quality control, operational and/or safety experience and be familiar with the IOSA Program. * Be familiar with Quality Control processes and methodology. * Manage and lead a team of experienced individuals in the performance of aviation safety focused audits. APPLY HERE *IOSA is a registered trademark of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Back to Top Back to Top Call for Nominations For 2019 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2019 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award, honoring a leader in global aviation safety. The Award will be presented during the 72nd Annual International Air Safety Summit, taking place Nov 4-6 in Taipei, Taiwan. Presented since 1956, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award recognizes notable achievement in the field of civil or military aviation safety in method, design, invention, study or other improvement. The Award's recipient is selected for a "significant individual or group effort contributing to improving aviation safety, with emphasis on original contributions," and a "significant individual or group effort performed above and beyond normal responsibilities." Mechanics, engineers and others outside of top administrative or research positions should be especially considered. The contribution need not be recent, especially if the nominee has not received adequate recognition. Nominations that were not selected as past winners of the Award can be submitted one additional time for consideration. Please note that self-nominations will not be considered. The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award's story dates back 74 years. On April 14, 1945, after visiting family in Pittsburgh, Laura Taber Barbour was aboard a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3 when it crashed into the rugged terrain of Cheat Mountain near Morgantown, West Virginia. All passengers and crew were killed. In the years following, her husband, Dr. Clifford E. Barbour and son, Clifford E. Barbour, Jr., established the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award in her honor. The Award Board, composed of leaders in the field of aviation, meets each year to conduct a final review of nominees and selection of the current year's recipient. Please help us honor this year's most deserving recipient. Nominations, including a 1-2- page narrative, can be submitted via the Laura Taber Barbour Foundation website at http://ltbaward.org/the-award/nomination-form/. Nominations will be accepted until May 10, 2019. For more information, including a complete history of Award recipients, see www.ltbaward.org. ABOUT THE LAURA TABER BARBOUR AIR SAFETY AWARD: The Award was established in 1956 through early association with the Flight Safety Foundation and from its founding has enjoyed a rich history of Award Board members, nominees and Award recipients. In 2013, the non-profit Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation was formed from members of the Award Board, the aviation community and the Barbour family. As the foundation plans to broaden the scope of its intent, with great purpose, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award will continue to spotlight those champions who pioneer breakthroughs in flight safety. CONTACT: Philip Barbour, 205-939-1700, 205-617-9007 Back to Top The Hague Marriott Hotel & World Forum The Hague September 3 - 5, 2019 Preparations for ISASI 2019 in The Hague are well underway in anticipation of an excellent seminar. This year we have 2 cut-off dates for early registration and the first date is almost here. In order to take advantage of the best prices, be sure to register before April 7. All up to date information, including on line seminar registration forms and links to the hotel, can be found by going to www.isasi2019.org. We look forward to seeing many of you in The Hague. Back to Top Time is running out to submit a presentation for consideration for the 15th annual Summit will take place at the Omni Dallas Hotel October 1-3. This year's theme is "Shining a Light on Safety: Are We Looking in the Right Places?" Potential speakers will have until April 1, 2019 to submit entries to lead one or more of the 90-minute sessions during the three-day event. Submissions should be online and include proposed titles, a description or outline, objectives and audience benefits, a brief speaker biography and contact information. Interested speakers are encouraged to visit www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com for additional information. Please make your submission online at Call For Papers Relevant topics include (but are not limited to): * Integrity and Management * Compliance Monitoring * Technology and Safety Methods of Training * Crisis Management * Organizational Leadership and Viability * Fatigue Risk Management * Human Factors * Risk Assessment and Hazard Management * Human Error Management * Flight Data Monitoring * HUMS * Organizational Causes of Accidents * Sustaining and Improving Industry Safety * Management System for Reducing Safety Risk and Business Risk * Safety Management Tools * Crew Resource Management * Practical Tools ABOUT THE CHC SAFETY & QUALITY SUMMIT Each Summit event features a series of presentations led by experts in the fields of aviation, oil & gas and energy, and safety. Invited speakers will lead approximately 100 concurrent sessions over a three-day period, addressing the theme and helping to contribute to the safety conversation in our industries, promoting excellence in safety and human factors and maintaining a robust safety environment. Approximately 500 delegates from nearly 30 countries and a range of industries join the Summit each year, making it one of the largest aviation safety events in the world. Visit www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com for more information. ABOUT CHC For more than 70 years, CHC Helicopter has provided safe, reliable, cost-effective helicopter service in some of the most remote and challenging environments around the world. With extensive experience transporting customers in the oil and gas industry, supporting search-and-rescue and EMS contracts, and providing maintenance, repair and overhaul services, our dedication to safety and reputation for quality and innovation help our customers reach beyond what they thought possible. Visit www.chcheli.com for information. SUMMIT CONTACTS Michelle Chrystal S&Q Support Coordinator Speaker Liaison michelle.chrystal@chcheli.com Back to Top CHC Safety and Quality summit offers grant opportunities for aviation students CHC Helicopter and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, announced the opportunity for aviation students to apply for two grants to attend the 2019 CHC Safety and Quality summit in Dallas this October. This partnership will support full-time students with fully funded travel and entrance to both the renowned industry safety event and one of the leading Human Factors training courses in aviation. The Peter Gardiner grant, named after the late Dr. Peter Gardiner - a major figure in establishing and shaping the Summit in its early days - is provided by CHC in collaboration with Dr. Scott Shappell and Dr. Doug Wiegmann, co-developers of the human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS). Sikorsky, a key sponsor and long-time supporter of the Safety and Quality summit, will award the Sikorsky Safety Scholarship to a deserving aviation student. This will be the third year Sikorsky has awarded the student grant on behalf of the summit. Students interested in being considered for either of these grant opportunities must currently be engaged in an aviation-related educational program and will need to submit an application, along with a 500 word essay related to this year's theme for the summit: "Shining a Light on Safety: Are We Looking in the Right Places?" www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com https://www.verticalmag.com/press-releases/chc-safety-and-quality-summit-offers- grant-opportunities-for-aviation-students/ Curt Lewis