Flight Safety Information July 1, 2019 - No. 131 In This Issue Southwest Airlines Cancels More Flights as Boeing 737 MAX Woes Continue Boeing Outsourced Software to $9 Programmers, Probe Expands Beyond the Max Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i - Fatal Accident (Dallas, Texas) Boeing 737-8HGSFP (WL) - Taxiway Excursion (India) Incident: Envoy E135 near College Station on Jun 29th 2019, fumes on board Incident: Spirit A320 at Atlantic City on Jun 29th 2019, fumes in the cabin Accident: Transmandu JS32 at Canaima on Jun 27th 2019, runway excursion, aircraft caught fire Allegiant Air says inspection of a jet at Fargo was not hit by lightning during Saturday storm Newark International Airport temporarily grounds flights after United jet's emergency landing MN Medical Flight Pilot, Nurse Killed in Helicopter Crash Future of Aviation Safety and Tech 3 runway accidents in 24 hours cap scary day for Indian aviation WHEN COMPUTERS DO THE WRONG THING: FROM AIR FRANCE 447 TO THE BOEING 737 MAX Saudi aviation academy starts admission registration Beijing's New Airport Is Completed, Opens September NASA tests onboard sensors designed to improve drone safety MITRE - SMS Course - September 2019 Human Factors in Accident Investigation 'Leading Change within a Safety Management System' AVIATION COMMUNICATION: STRATEGY AND MESSAGES FOR ENSURING SUCCESS AND PREVENTING FAILURES Join us in Washington, D.C., on July 15-18 for ALPA's annual...Air Safety Forum Southwest Airlines Cancels More Flights as Boeing 737 MAX Woes Continue A new vulnerability with the Boeing 737 MAX will delay its return until at least October. The Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX was grounded this March following two fatal crashes. At the time, it appeared that Boeing would be able to fix the safety issues created by its faulty Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) software relatively quickly, clearing the way for its best-selling jet to return to the skies for the busy summer travel season. However, the timeline for recertifying the Boeing 737 MAX has been slipping over the past few months. As recently as one month ago, a return to service in August seemed likely. That's out of the question now, as FAA test pilots recently discovered new potential vulnerabilities. As a result, U.S. airlines are once again delaying the return of the 737 MAX to their fleets and canceling flights. On Thursday, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) extended its 737 MAX cancellations by another month -- and further cancellations are virtually inevitable. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX parked on the tarmac. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES HAS REMOVED THE 737 MAX FROM ITS SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE. Boeing acknowledges a new issue Boeing finished developing updated MCAS software more than a month ago. It began flight testing in April, and by mid-May, the company had logged more than 360 hours in the air across 207 test flights using the new software. This made it seem realistic for Boeing to complete certification flights with FAA personnel on board in June and get 737 MAX jets flying again beginning in August. However, during simulator testing this month, FAA pilots encountered a data processing issue that made it difficult to execute the standard recovery procedures in case of the MCAS software erroneously pushing the 737 MAX's nose down. The FAA has instructed Boeing to address this issue prior to scheduling certification flights. In a statement released on Wednesday, Boeing said that it agreed with the FAA's assessment. The good news is that Boeing thinks it can resolve this latest issue with another software update rather than any hardware changes. Nevertheless, Boeing doesn't expect to have a fix ready for certification until at least September, according to Reuters. After that, it will take weeks for the FAA to make a final decision. It would then take at least a month for most airlines to get their 737 MAX fleets back in the air, due to the need for software updates, maintenance work, and additional pilot training. Southwest cancels more 737 MAX flights As of earlier this week, American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and Southwest Airlines expected to put their 737 MAX fleets back into service in early September. On Wednesday, United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) adopted the same timetable, canceling another 1,900 flights between early August and Labor Day weekend. A rendering of an American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX. Yet the most recent setback for the 737 MAX means that Boeing's troubled jet won't be ready to fly until October in a best-case scenario -- and possibly even November or December. This has made another round of flight cancellations inevitable. Even before the latest delay surfaced, Southwest Airlines had decided to postpone the return of the 737 MAX by a month, from Sept. 2 to Oct. 1. That means it will scrap about 150 daily flights in September: nearly 4% of its total schedule. Ultimately, a similar number of flight cancellations will be necessary until the Boeing 737 MAX is finally ready. American Airlines also could be forced to cancel more than 100 flights a day for much of the fall if it forges ahead with a plan to retire all of its MD-80s in early September. (The impact will be smaller at United, which has fewer 737 MAX aircraft.) Expect a strong pricing environment The 737 MAX grounding has upended capacity plans at Southwest, American, and United -- but particularly at Southwest. Whereas the low-fare airline giant had initially planned to grow its capacity by as much as 5% this year, its capacity is on track to decline 3.5% year over year in the second quarter. With a substantial proportion of its fleet out of service, Southwest Airlines will continue to shrink (albeit temporarily) in the coming months. This unplanned capacity crunch means that airlines aren't growing as quickly as air travel demand is rising. As a result, airlines' pricing power in the domestic market will continue to improve this summer and into the fall. In short, travelers should expect higher airfares. For Boeing 737 MAX operators, the unit revenue benefits of flying fewer planes will be more than offset by higher unit costs related to the grounding. By contrast, airlines that don't rely on the 737 MAX can look forward to unusually strong profits for the next quarter or two. https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/06/30/southwest-airlines-cancels-more-flights-as-boeing.aspx Back to Top Boeing Outsourced Software to $9 Programmers, Probe Expands Beyond the Max Boeings problems continue to mount. The FAA discovered more problems and a DOJ probe expands beyond the Max. New Uncommanded Dive Risks Last week the FAA issued statement on a new risk that Boeing must mitigate. The new risk does not involve the MACS but could lead to similar results according to the Seattle Times. The Federal Aviation Administration discovered that data processing by a flight computer on the jetliner could cause the plane to dive in a way that pilots had difficulty recovering from in simulator tests, according to two people familiar with the finding who asked not to be named discussing it. While the issue didn't involve the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System linked to the two accidents since October that killed 346 people, it could produce an uncommanded dive similar to what occurred in the crashes, according to one person, who wasn't authorized to speak about the matter. David Learmount, consulting aviation-safety editor at Flight Global and a former Royal Air Force pilot, said details of the new issue are sketchy but it's possible that it could further delay the MAX's return. "The implication is that this is different software in a different control computer that's presenting similar symptoms," he said. "When you control an aircraft with computers, which we do now, you've always got potential for problems." Boeing agreed with the FAA's findings but has not yet presented a fix to the FAA. DoJ Probe Expands to Dreamliner The Seattle Times reports DOJ probe expands beyond Boeing 737 MAX, includes 787 Dreamliner. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records from Boeing relating to the production of the 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, where there have been allegations of shoddy work, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. The subpoena was issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the sources said. DOJ is also conducting a criminal investigation into the certification and design of the 737 MAX after two deadly crashes of that jetliner. The 787 subpoena significantly widens the scope of the DOJ's scrutiny of safety issues at Boeing. The grand-jury investigation into the MAX has been cloaked in secrecy, but some of the Justice Department's activities have become known as prosecutors issued subpoenas for documents. Allegations relating to the 787 Dreamliner have centered on shoddy work and cutting corners at the company's South Carolina plant. Prosecutors are likely looking into whether broad cultural problems run throughout the company, according to the third source and a person in South Carolina, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter. That could include pressure to sign off on faulty work to avoid delays in delivering planes to customers, the source said. The entire [Dreamliner] fleet was grounded in January 2013 after two battery-overheating incidents: a battery fire on an empty 787 parked at the gate at Boston airport, then a smoldering battery on a flight in Japan that forced an emergency landing. The FAA lifted the grounding in April 2013 after Boeing modified the jets with beefed-up batteries, containment boxes and venting tubes. In the 737 MAX investigation, prosecutors appear to be getting information from someone with inside knowledge of the plane's development based on the questions they are asking, the third source said. $9 an Hour Programmers with No Aviation Experience Shoddy work and cutting corners? Uh ... Yes. Bloomberg reports [Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers](Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers) It remains the mystery at the heart of Boeing Co.'s 737 Max crisis: how a company renowned for meticulous design made seemingly basic software mistakes leading to a pair of deadly crashes. Longtime Boeing engineers say the effort was complicated by a push to outsource work to lower-paid contractors. The Max software -- plagued by issues that could keep the planes grounded months longer after U.S. regulators this week revealed a new flaw -- was developed at a time Boeing was laying off experienced engineers and pressing suppliers to cut costs. Increasingly, the iconic American planemaker and its subcontractors have relied on temporary workers making as little as $9 an hour to develop and test software, often from countries lacking a deep background in aerospace -- notably India. In offices across from Seattle's Boeing Field, recent college graduates employed by the Indian software developer HCL Technologies Ltd. occupied several rows of desks, said Mark Rabin, a former Boeing software engineer who worked in a flight-test group that supported the Max. The coders from HCL were typically designing to specifications set by Boeing. Still, "it was controversial because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code," Rabin said. Frequently, he recalled, "it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly." Double Dividends Not only did Boeing benefit from cheap coders who did not know what they were doing, Bloomberg notes that Boeing's cultivation of Indian companies appeared to pay other dividends. Boeing won several orders for Indian military and commercial aircraft, such as a $22 billion one in January 2017 to supply SpiceJet Ltd. That order included 100 737-Max 8 jets and represented Boeing's largest order ever from an Indian airline, a coup in a country dominated by Airbus. Grounded for Cause The Wall Street Journal reports Boeing 737 MAX Likely Grounded Until Late This Year. Boeing Co.'s troubled 737 MAX fleet is expected to stay grounded until late this year as a result of the latest flight-control problem flagged by U.S. air-safety regulators, according to people briefed on the issue. The setback, at the very least, is expected to prompt additional disruptions to airline schedules across the U.S. and overseas as some 500 of the planes remain idled for months longer than previously projected. During simulator tests of certain emergency procedures, FAA pilots uncovered a potentially dangerous situation they hadn't encountered before, according to people briefed on the issue. The crux of the problem, according to the Boeing official and company messages to airlines, is that if a chip inside the plane's flight-control computer fails, it can cause uncommanded movement of a panel on the aircraft's tail, pointing the nose downward. Tests of the emergency procedures to cope with this so-called runaway stabilizer condition, the official said, revealed that it would take average pilots longer than expected to recognize and counteract the problem. Darn those Simulators When you use actual flight simulators instead of iPads problems turn up. But all along Boeing has insisted and still insists iPads are all the pilots need to train. No New Parts Needed "We believe this can be updated through a software fix," a Boeing official said. Of course it does. It could take many more months if the 737 fleet needs new parts. What Can Possibly Go Wrong? Boeing took a base 1964 design, overloaded it with huge engines making the aircraft unstable, then depended on poorly designed software that cannot easily be overridden to keep the plane from nosediving in crashes, while insisting training can take place on an iPad. What could possibly go wrong with that set of cost-cutting decisions? Unfortunately, we just found out. Yet, even after the second crash, Boeing begged the FAA to keep the plane in service. https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/boeing-outsourced-software-to-9-programmers-probe-expands-beyond-the-max-1BlvqbeUhUecHGy0ryegPA/ Back to Top Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i - Fatal Accident (Dallas, Texas) Date: Sunday 30 June 2019 Time: 09:11 Type: Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i Operator: EE Operations LLC Registration: N534FF C/n / msn: First flight: Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8 Total: Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10 Aircraft damage: Destroyed Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Dallas-Addison Airport, TX (ADS) ( United States of America) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Unknown Departure airport: Dallas-Addison Airport, TX (ADS/KADS), United States of America Destination airport: St. Petersburg-Albert Whitted Airport, FL (SPG/KSPG), United States of America Narrative: The Beechcraft 350i Super King Air was destroyed after impacting a hangar during takeoff from runway 15 at Dallas-Addison Airport (ADS/KADS), Dallas, Texas. A post-impact fire ensued. The ten occupants onboard received fatal injuries. Inside the hangar a Falcon jet and a helicopter sustained some damage. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20190630-0 Back to Top Boeing 737-8HGSFP (WL) - Taxiway Excursion (India) Date: 30-JUN-2019 Time: c. 17:40 LT Type: Boeing 737-8HGSFP (WL) Owner/operator: Air India Express Registration: VT-AYA C/n / msn: 36337/2861 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 182 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Unknown Location: Mangalore Airport (VOML) - India Phase: Landing Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Dubai Airport (DXB/OMDB) Destination airport: Mangalore-Bajpe Airport (IXE/VOML) Narrative: Air India Express flight IX384 from Dubai to Mangalore aircraft veered off the taxiway after landing. The aircraft came to a stop across a drainage ditch. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/226696 Back to Top Incident: Envoy E135 near College Station on Jun 29th 2019, fumes on board An Envoy Embraer ERJ-140, registration N817AE performing flight MQ-3496/AA-3496 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Beaumont,TX (USA), was enroute at FL250 about 40nm north of College Station,TX (USA) when the crew reported fumes on board and decided to divert to College Station, where the aircraft landed safely about 14 minutes later. A replacement ERJ-140 registration N824AE reached Beaumont with a delay of 8.5 hours. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ENY3496/history/20190629/1535Z/KDFW/KBPT http://avherald.com/h?article=4c9d508b&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Spirit A320 at Atlantic City on Jun 29th 2019, fumes in the cabin A Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration N652NK performing flight NK-341 from Atlantic City,NJ to Tampa,FL (USA) with 163 people on board, was climbing out of Atlantic City when the crew stopped the climb at FL240 reporting fumes in the cabin and decided to return to Atlantic City where the aircraft landed safely about 40 minutes after departure. 4 members of the crew were taken to a hospital. The airline reported an unusual odour on board prompted a precautionary return, the crew members were taken to a hospital for assessment. A replacement A320-200 registration N621NK reached Tampa with a delay of 13 hours. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/NKS341/history/20190629/1025Z/KACY/KTPA http://avherald.com/h?article=4c9d4e3d&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Accident: Transmandu JS32 at Canaima on Jun 27th 2019, runway excursion, aircraft caught fire By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Jun 28th 2019 21:27Z, last updated Friday, Jun 28th 2019 22:13Z A Transmandu British Aerospace Jetstream 32, registration YV2536 performing a charter flight from Puerto Ordaz to Canaima (Venezuela), landed on Canaima's runway at about 11:30L (15:30Z), burst a tyre, veered off the runway and came to a stop in rough terrain. The right hand side of the aircraft caught fire, all occupants were able to evacuate and remained uninjured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Authorities did not comment on the occurrence, that became known through social media only. Transmandu is based in Puerto Ordaz and specialized in tourist flights. Canaima Airport features a paved (asphalt) runway 18/36 of 7070 feet/2155 meters length. YV2536 in rough terrain: http://avherald.com/h?article=4c9c1c6f&opt=0 Back to Top Allegiant Air says inspection of a jet at Fargo was not hit by lightning during Saturday storm Personnel inspecting Allegiant Airbus at Hector International Airport in Fargo FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) - A spokesperson for Allegiant Air says after inspection it was determined a jet headed from Fargo to Los Angeles was not hit by lightning during Saturday's severe weather. Hilarie Grey told KFGO News there was lightning around the airport and there was a suspected lightning strike as the Airbus taxied back to the terminal as the storm hit. Grey says there was a "smell" in the aircraft but after approximately 3 hours of investigation, maintenance workers could find no evidence of a lightning strike and the flight departed for its destination. The National Weather Service reported a peak gust of 81 mph at the airport during the storm. https://kfgo.com/news/articles/2019/jun/29/lightning-strikes-allegiant-air-jet-preparing-for-take-off-from-fargo/ Back to Top Newark International Airport temporarily grounds flights after United jet's emergency landing "Our pilots reacted quickly to ensure the safety of the aircraft and our customers, who deplaned using deployed slides after landing," the airline said. A United flight's emergency landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Saturday led to a temporary suspension of all flights into and out of the airport. United flight 2098 was traveling from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Houston when it made the emergency landing at about 8:45 a.m. because of a mechanical issue upon takeoff, according to the carrier and the FAA. The crew then quickly diverted the plane to Newark. "Our pilots reacted quickly to ensure the safety of the aircraft and our customers, who deplaned using deployed slides after landing," United said in a statement. "There are no reported injuries and we're making alternate arrangements to get our customers to their final destination as soon as possible." The Federal Aviation Administration said it planned to investigate the incident, noting that the crew reported a brake problem. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics Two of the plane's tires blew when it landed, the FAA said. The flight was met by emergency vehicles on the runway, which remains closed. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/newark-international-airport-temporarily-grounds-flights-after-united-jet-s-n1024946 Back to Top MN Medical Flight Pilot, Nurse Killed in Helicopter Crash A third North Memorial Air Care crew member-a paramedic-also was injured when the helicopter went down in heavy fog early Friday in Brainerd. A Minnesota medical flight pilot and a nurse were killed when the helicopter they were flying went down in extremely foggy weather early Friday. The crash involving a North Memorial Air Care AgustaWestland A-109 helicopter happened at about 1 a.m. near the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport, KARE-TV reports. The pilot and nurse died at the scene, and another crew member-a paramedic-was injured. Steven Wright, the airport manager, told Minnesota Public Radio that the paramedic was taken to Brainerd's St. Joseph's Medical Center in "severe but stable condition." As of Friday night, his condition was unknown. An airport worker told KARE that dense ground fog had limited visibility at the time of the crash. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators are traveling to Brainerd to look into the crash. Members from the Baxter Police Department and the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office, as well as the Brainerd Police and Fire departments also responded to the crash scene. North Memorial Air Care makes around 4,500 medical flights throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and North and South Dakoa, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. https://www.firehouse.com/safety-health/news/21086764/brainerd-mn-medical-flight-pilot-nurse-killed-in-north-memorial-air-care-helicopter-crash-firefighters Back to Top Future of Aviation Safety and Tech Advances in aircraft technology have contributed significantly to making commercial aviation the safest mode of transportation. Each decade has yielded a significant decrease in the rate of fatal accidents and hull losses despite an increase in air traffic. The continual evolution of the commercial air transport fleet can be credited with much of this improvement; each successive generation of aircraft has employed new technologies to curb threats to aviation safety. In the future, technology is expected to continue to play a critical role in further enhancing aviation safety. Airbus and Boeing each forecast explosive growth in future air traffic. Historically, commercial air travel has doubled every 15 years. This significant growth increases the exposure to vulnerabilities in the air transport system. Despite the recent uptick in accidents, the long-term view has shown that the rate of both fatal accidents and hull losses has steadily decreased over time. To maintain low accident rates that the traveling public demands, the aviation industry must continually evolve and employ new technologies. A recent Airbus study-"A Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents 1958-2018"-highlighted the three major accident categories (there are 40 total) that have historically caused the most significant number of accidents: controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), loss of control in flight (LOC-I), and runway excursion (RE). The study further identified each generation of jets and the impact that each had on improving safety. First-generation jets designed in the 1950s were analog aircraft and had crude autoflight systems. The overall accident rate for first-generation aircraft was approximately three accidents per million flights. Second-generation aircraft from the 1960s and 1970s began to employ more integrated autoflight systems that included more advanced autopilots and autothrottles to ease workload; the accident rate with these aircraft decreased to 0.7 accidents/million flights. The third generation of jets introduced in the 1980s included more advanced avionics such as glass cockpits (early EFIS) and flight management systems (FMS). The greatest contribution to flight safety was the introduction of GPWS/TAWS (ground proximity warning system/terrain awareness and warning system) that reduced the number of CFIT accidents by 85 percent when compared with second-generation aircraft. The overall accident rate with this generation of aircraft decreased further to 0.2 accidents/million flights. Fourth-generation jets introduced fly-by-wire technologies with flight envelope protections. Nearly all newly certified air transport and larger business aviation aircraft employ some form of FBW system. As of 2018, approximately half (47 percent) of all air transport jets in service are fourth-generation aircraft. FBW has reduced the number of LOC-I accidents by 75 percent and have cut the overall accident rate in half, to 0.1 accidents/million flights. Technologies introduced with third- and fourth-generation jets have significantly reduced the rate of both CFIT and LOC-I accidents. Runway excursions are the third major cause of fatal accidents and account for the highest number of hull losses; these events can occur on takeoff or landing. During landing, runway excursions are being addressed with energy and performance-based technologies. Introduced at the end of the last decade, many of these systems are included on new aircraft or available as upgrades on in-service aircraft. Only 5 percent of in-service air transport aircraft have this technology. Examples of these systems include the Honeywell SmartRunway and SmartLanding system and the Airbus Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS). Honeywell offers its SmartRunway and SmartLanding systems as an upgrade to existing EGPWS Mk V and Mk VII systems. These systems are the next generation of the Honeywell runway awareness and advisory system (RAAS) and are offered by several OEMs. SmartRunway primarily addresses runway incursions, while SmartLanding addresses high-energy runway excursions. SmartLanding alerts pilots if the aircraft is too fast, too high, improperly configured, or going to incur a long landing. Airbus ROPS was introduced in 2009 on the A380. The system is now available on all Airbus FBW aircraft. ROPS is an alerting system that reduces the exposure to the runway overrun risk, and if necessary, provides active protection. This system provides cues during final approach and the landing rollout; if the runway available is too short for the conditions, ROPS will command a go-around. During takeoff, a misconfigured aircraft can lead to a runway excursion. Misconfigured takeoffs might involve either the wrong flap setting, no flaps, or the wrong thrust selection. Modern fourth-generation aircraft with highly integrated avionics systems help prevent these situations by comparing FMS performance selections (flaps, thrust, and bleed configuration) with the actual aircraft configuration. As an example, the Airbus A220 will alert the crew (via an electronic CAS message) if the aircraft is not properly configured 60 seconds after engine start. Likewise, the system performs a reasonability check to ensure the proper V-speeds are selected. It is widely understood that technology is only one part of the solution; improvements in training, procedures, and other "soft safeguards" must also advance. Together, technology, pilots, and operators must continually evolve to meet the expectations to maintain the highest level of safety. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/blogs/ainsight-future-aviation-safety-and-tech Back to Top 3 runway accidents in 24 hours cap scary day for Indian aviation Three passenger aircraft met with minor mishaps on runways in the last 24 hours at different airports in the country On Sunday, an Air India Express flight from Dubai veered off the taxiway after landing in Mangalore (IANS photo) HIGHLIGHTS • On Sunday, an Air India Express flight veered of a taxiway in Mangalore • Also on Sunday, a SpiceJet plane overshot the runway in Surat • On Monday, an Air India Express plane brushed the surface while landing in Kozhikode The past 24 hours were scary for Indian aviation with three runway incidents that could have turned into deadly disasters. Three passenger aircraft met with minor accidents at three different airports over the past 24 hours. The first incident took place on Sunday in Mangalore where an Air India Express flight veered off the taxiway after landing and got stuck in soft ground. The second incident, which also took place on Sunday, had a SpiceJet aircraft overshooting the runway in Surat. The third accident took place Monday morning in Kozhikode where an Air India Express flight's tail brushed against the runway while landing. Thankfully, no passengers or crew were injured in any of the three incidents. MANGALORE In Mangalore, an Air India Express flight from Dubai veered off the taxiway after landing at the Mangalore International Airport. The Boeing 737 got stuck in the soft ground near the taxiway and all passengers and crew onboard safely deboarded using a step ladder. Strong winds, wet surface due to bad weather and insufficient braking were identified as the possible factors behind the incident. The Mangalore incident brought back memories of the 2010 crash of Air India Express Flight 812 -- the last major crash of a passenger aircraft in India. On May 22, 2010, an Air India Express flight, also from Dubai, overshot the runway after landing and crashed down a hillside located on one end of the Mangalore airport; 158 people died in the crash. SURAT In the second aviation incident from Sunday, a SpiceJet domestic flight overshot the runway while landing at the Surat International Airport. Nobody was injured in the incident. The aircraft -- a SpiceJet Bhopal-Surat flight -- overshot the runway at around 8:15 pm. According to an airport official, the incident was a result of heavy rain and wind. "A SpiceJet flight from Bhopal to Surat overshot runway at the airport here due to heavy rainfall and wind. All the 43 passengers and four crew members are safe and they are being handled by the SpiceJet officials," Surat airport director S K Panigrahi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The incident caused the Surat airport to shut down for the night; three flights were diverted to Ahmedabad. KOZHIKODE Capping a scary 24 hours for Indian aviation was an Air India Express flight from Saudi Arabia which brushed the runway while landing at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala. According to news agency ANI, the Air India Express flight suffered a "tail tip", i.e. the rear part of the plane touched the surface while landing. The Air India Express flight was flying from Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Nobody was injured in the incident. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/mangalore-surat-kozhikode-air-india-express-spicejet-runway-accidents-1559677-2019-07-01 Back to Top WHEN COMPUTERS DO THE WRONG THING: FROM AIR FRANCE 447 TO THE BOEING 737 MAX By Roger Rapoport Flight Safety Information Senior Editor Working on the Air France 447 story I have had the privilege of getting to know some of the best minds in the aviation business. As we all know some bloggers, magazine and newspaper writers, indeed entire publishing companies, are dedicated to the proposition that every crash is the direct result of pilot error. Those words resonate with me. They happen to be the title of a feature film I produced a few years back, http://www.pilot-errormovie.com, and are part of the insidious and self-defeating blame game that is the enemy of aviation safety. We believe that blaming all accidents on "pilot error" is a dangerously misleading way to perpetuate a failed safety management system. Ten years ago , in the wake of the first "computer crash," Air France 447, the industry got a wakeup call and chose to ignore it. The accident investigators who spent three years diligently studying the evidence warned that similar automation related crashes were inevitable unless major reforms were made in the aviation safety system. More than 50 crashes taking the lives of over 2,500 passengers since Air France 447 are a grim confirmation of this fact. A decade later the tragically similar crashes of two state of the art Boeing 737 Max aircraft parallel what went wrong on Air France 447. The safety management system at the heart of the aviation industry, including design, manufacturing, certification, training and regulation is failing the flying public. Created for the steam engine era and single point of failure electro-mechanical systems, this approach is hopelessly obsolete in the computer age. Today our incredible flying machines are dependent on automated software and hardware systems that are perfect, except when something goes wrong. The problem begins when the computer does exactly what it is programmed to do which unfortunately turns to be the wrong thing. At that point untrained humans are expected to quickly step into the breach and save the day. In 2009, when I arrived at Aeroport Charles de Gaulle to begin working on Angle of Attack and Pilot Error, the French aviation industry was struggling to understand how a stall proof plane crashed into the South Atlantic taking the lives of 228 people. This month Captain Malmquist and I had the honor of meeting with families of some of those victims. Had it not been for their tenacious struggle to persuade the French Ministry of Transport to keep the seemingly hopeless search for Air France 447 alive (they threatened a hunger strike), search teams might have never found the plane 13,000 feet below the surface. As it turns out, the evidence shows that the crash cannot simply be chalked up to pilot error. Automation failure led directly to this tragic event well beyond the training of a first class flight crew. Now a teaching event in flight schools worldwide, the Air France 447 accident is slowly revolutionizing stall recovery training and has led to improvements in aircraft systems. Unfortunately these reforms have not, as yet, transformed the badly outdated aviation certification and regulatory system. In our new edition of Angle of Attack, Captain Malmquist and I present new evidence that many of these crashes could have been prevented if the industry had applied the important lessons learned from Air France 447. There is no question that, at a minimum, both of the recent Boeing 737 Max crashes would not have happened if the industry had followed the many important recommendations made by outstanding accident investigators following the 2009 Air France crash. We look forward to the industry implementing the long overdue safety management system reforms recommended in our book. A new edition of the acclaimed Angle of Attack (Curt Lewis Books/Lexographic Press) by Senior Editor Roger Rapoport and Boeing 777 Captain Shem Malmquist is now out https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SVNPJ5T. The French edition has also just been published https://amzn.to/2ZK7pXG The author is at rogerdrapoport@me.com Back to Top Saudi aviation academy starts admission registration Trainees of the Saudi Academy of Civil Aviation at their graduation. RIYADH - The Saudi Academy of Civil Aviation under the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) on Sunday opened its doors for registration of applicants for admission. Holders of high school diplomas in natural science may join the higher diploma and fast track program, which is a training program ending up with employment. The fields included in the program are fire and rescue and airport operations. Those wishing to join the program may apply through the academy's website www.saca.edu.sa until July 20. The academy stipulates that the applicants for the higher diploma in fire and rescue should be Saudi nationals not less than 18 years and not more than 23 years of age according to the Hijri calendar. The applicants must have a high school certificate with a grade no less than 80 percent, an aptitude test score of 70 percent and an achievement score of 65 percent. Applicants must also have a score of not less than 40 in the English language test (Step) of the National Center for Measurement. Furthermore, the academy requires candidates who apply for the fast track program in the fields airport safety, airport operation, alarm system, system operator and paramedic to be not more than 27 years of age according to the Hijri calendar and have an ILET score of 4.5. Those applying for the paramedic positions must have a one-year diploma after high school specializing in nursing and emergency medicine according to occupational classification card required by the health specialties authority. The certificate of registration and professional classification should be from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties. The academy graduates will receive an accredited certificate in which they will be appointed in any of the GACA's sectors or companies operating under its umbrella. The Saudi Aviation Academy, which was founded in 1962, has effectively contributed to the Saudization of the aviation industry. It has also carried out a large number of short development courses, which benefited many employees in various aviation sectors, in addition to companies operating within the field. The academy obtained many awards, from esteemed organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC). - SG http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/570452/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-aviation-academy-starts-admission-registration Back to Top Beijing's New Airport Is Completed, Opens September • Work is completed on Beijing Daxing International Airport • New airport designed to accommodate 100 million fliers by 2040 Beijing's New Airport Is Completed, Opens September Beijing's second international airport has been completed -- and it's expected to become one of the world's busiest. Designed to take the pressure off the overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport, the new site south of the city will be able to handle 72 million passengers a year by 2025, and 100 million by 2040. Combined, the two airports will handle 170 million fliers annually by 2025, according to official estimates. "The new airport is a landmark project for China's 70th anniversary of National Day, built to very high standards," said Ivan Zhou, an analyst with BOC International Holdings in Hong Kong. "It'll help optimize flight schedules from Beijing and attract more passengers." China's growing middle class is fueling a travel boom and the world's second-largest economy may displace the U.S. as the largest aviation market by 2022. With the new $12.9 billion airport, Beijing is joining a short list of major cities such as London, New York and Tokyo that have multiple international airports. Operations at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport will start by the end of September following six major test runs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Road and rail links, including a high-speed subway line, are already in place. Carriers such as China Eastern Airlines Corp. and China Southern Airlines Co. will start flying from the new facility later this year. The transition should be completed by the winter of 2021, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Daxing will add flight routes at a faster pace than the existing airport, Zhou said. The new airport will allow China Eastern and China Southern to increase their presence in Beijing, he said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-01/beijing-s-second-airport-gets-ready-for-72-million-passengers Back to Top NASA tests onboard sensors designed to improve drone safety The TigerShark stands in front of its hangar at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center In an effort to make conventional aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) get along, NASA has embarked on the latest in a series of flight tests using specially adapted drones and manned "intruder" aircraft. The purpose is to demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies and help develop new regulations that will allow UAVs to integrate into the US National Airspace System (NAS). In the last 20 years, drones have come a long way. Where once they were confined to toy shops or a handful of military reconnaissance units, they are now so diverse, commonplace, and have so many applications that official bodies like the US FAA are finally admitting that room in the sky must be made for these remote controlled and autonomous aircraft. To help with this, NASA has been carrying out a series of test flight programs since 2012. The latest, Flight Test Series 6 (FT6) is scheduled to begin in September of this year and continue through November. NASA says the main focus of the test flights will be to evaluate new small, lightweight, and low powered sensors to help conventional aircraft and UAVs detect and avoid one another. In addition, the tests will help in developing performance standards for such systems as well as air-to-air radar. Brad Petty from Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation attaches a winglet to the TigerShark For FT6, NASA has taken delivery of a TigerShark Block 3 XP developed by NAVMAR Applied Sciences Corporation, which has a wingspan of 21.9 ft (6.7 m), a payload capacity of 95 lb (43 kg), and can stay aloft for 12 hrs. It's controlled remotely using a ground-based cockpit and has been equipped with a smoke generator to allow the crews of the intruder aircraft to track them visually and a nose-mounted DAPA-Lite radar built by Honeywell that uses a fixed phased array to steer the radar beam electronically.using three flat panels. "The radar system is cutting-edge technology with panels small enough to be carried on a smaller UAS, but still have enough range to see and avoid other aircraft," says FT6 DAA Principal Investigator Michael Vincent. "Our goal for FT6 is to challenge the effectiveness of our DAA (Detect and Avoid) system and Honeywell's radar system as we develop performance standards of unmanned aircraft being integrated in our national airspace system." Using a fleet of intruders consisting of a twin-turboprop BeechcraftKing Air B200, a Beechcraft T-34C Mentor trainer aircraft, and a two-person TG-14 motorized glider, the tests will determine how well the Darpa-Lite radar works in terms of range and accuracy as it locks on to the intruders and calculates their relative distance, bearing and elevation. This will allow the onboard computers to alter the drone's flight path to keep it a safe distance away. In addition to this, the avoidance system will alert pilots if there is a problem with a drone in the vicinity and provide relevant information to avoid danger. The program includes tests involving an intruder aircraft deliberately attempting a head-on collision course with a target zone. NASA stresses that such flights will use an adequate safety buffer to prevent mishaps across the 150 encounters in 26 flights. These will use a series of pilots, who are unaware of the FT6 mission objectives to avoid the problem of the pilot anticipating a solution to a scenario. "Every decision we have made for FT6 was a result of what we have learned in previous flight tests," says Vincent. "Our journey through each flight test series has been instrumental in the hopes of allowing unmanned aircraft to enter unsegregated airspace in the near future. FT6 will be a big factor on how we can safely integrate unmanned aircraft." https://newatlas.com/nasa-flight-tests-drone-safety-ft6/60342/ ISASI 2019 is pleased to announce that the technical program is now posted on the seminar website at www.isasi2019.org Choose the "Program" page and "Program Review" for the most up to date information. It will be necessary for you to click on the program icon to open the full program. Dates to remember: July 28 - Final date for registration for the MH 17 Master Class. Please register for the seminar first and then contact Daan Zwart at D.Zwart@vnv.nl for more information. July 28 - Final date for Early Bird pricing. August 4 - Deadline for hotel reservations. After this date we will not be able to guarantee the seminar rate. We look forward to seeing many of you in The Hague! Back to Top Join us in Washington, D.C., on July 15-18 for ALPA's annual Air Safety Forum Curt Lewis