Flight Safety Information July 30, 2019 - No. 152 In This Issue Boeing 737 Max Grounding Takes Toll On Airlines And Passengers Southwest doesn't think 737 Max simulator time is necessary for pilots Incident: LATAM Chile A20N at Lima on Jul 29th 2019, engine shut down in flight Incident: Frontier A20N at Windsor Locks on Jul 28th 2019, gear refuses to come down Accident: American A333 near Boston on Jul 28th 2019, fumes on board Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i - Fatal Accident (Pakistan) DGCA suspends flying licences of 2 SpiceJet pilots for one year TSA screeners find missile launcher in checked luggage at airport ICAO flags areas of concern in aviation safety (India) BOC Aviation expects up to 30 jet deliveries to slip into 2020 DOD's global flight tracking system needs upgrades, Air Force says RESEARCH STUDY REQUEST RESEARCH STUDY REQUEST Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance from SCSI ISASI - 2019 Upcoming USC Aviation Safety & Security Program Courses Boeing 737 Max Grounding Takes Toll On Airlines And Passengers Boeing 737 Max airplanes are stored in an area adjacent to Boeing Field, on June 27, in Seattle. Airlines around the world are cutting flights because of the grounding of the plane. When Nancy Dunne goes to see her family outside Chicago, she likes to fly Southwest Airlines from Newark Liberty International Airport near her home in Maplewood, N.J. Starting in November, she'll need to make alternate arrangements. Last week, Southwest announced it would no longer fly to Newark. The grounding of the Boeing 737 Max after two deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia has forced the airline to cancel flights and consolidate routes into places such as Newark, which are less profitable. "For me this is really a big thing. I'll figure something out. Maybe it's time for me to move back to Chicago," says Dunne with a laugh, as she stands near the airport's Southwest counter. When the 737 Max was taken grounded last March, carriers around the world were forced to adjust suddenly, canceling thousands of flights and delaying the retirement of some older planes. Now, the impact of the grounding on airlines and their passengers is becoming more clear: smaller profits and more crowded planes. "Obviously it was a shock to everybody in the industry," says airline analyst Richard Aboulafia. "But of course this has grown significantly as a problem over the past few months." In recent days, airlines have begun releasing their earnings reports for the second quarter, and some major carriers have taken a big hit. No longer able to use their 737 Maxes, airlines have been forced to reduce the number of routes they serve. American Airlines has cancelled 115 flights per day, potentially affecting about 23,000 passengers daily. Foreign carriers have been hit as well. Flydubai, a low-cost Middle East airline serving 95 destinations, has canceled 17% of its flying schedule. European budget airline Ryanair warned Monday that it may have to lay off employees because of the grounding. With so many cancellations, flights are naturally becoming more crowded. Southwest, which flies more 737 Maxes than any other U.S. carrier, said last week that the number of passengers per jet had risen during April, May and June. "For customers, what people will notice compared with the same season of last year is the airplanes have become fuller," says Yi Gao, associate professor in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University. The cancellations are also having an impact on the airlines' bottom line. Southwest said the grounding had reduced its second-quarter profit by $175 million. Boeing has set aside nearly $5 billion for losses tied to the grounding, and some part of that will go toward compensating the airlines for their losses. But how much it will pay is to be negotiated individually. Fortunately, these are good times for the airline industry, with heavy demand for seats, and airlines such as Southwest are still making money. "At the moment the U.S. economy is strong, so people are traveling. No matter [if it's] business persons or leisure travelers, they're all traveling," Gao says. But the longer the grounding goes on, the more precarious each airline's positions will be. Aboulafia notes that the 737 Max is part of a new generation of planes that were supposed to be much more fuel efficient than their predecessors. Being forced to use older planes will make operations more costly, he says. "Increasingly, there are other airlines that have new-generation Airbus jets, and they're at a competitive advantage" in terms of efficiency, he says. That's bad news for carriers like American, United and Southwest that rely on the 737 Max, and good news for those - such as Delta Airlines - that don't. And right now, no one can say for sure when the 737 Maxes will be back in the air. While Boeing hopes to get them flying by October, the 737 Max's fate remains in the hands of regulators. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/29/746345317/boeing-737-max-grounding-takes-toll-on- airlines-and-passengers Back to Top Southwest doesn't think 737 Max simulator time is necessary for pilots Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly said since pilots are so familiar with the 737 Max, he doesn't think simulator time is necessary. Southwest Airlines doesn't anticipate its pilots will need time in a flight simulator to get reacclimated with the 737 Max when it's eventually introduced back into service. Part of the reason is pilots' familiarity with the aircraft, said Chief Executive Gary Kelly on the Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) earnings call last week. "There will be training, but we think it can be done on a computer-based approach," Kelly said. "That's what the FAA seems to be leaning towards anyway. But we're comfortable with that." The Dallas-based carrier is the largest U.S. operator of the 737 Max with 34 of the plane in its fleet at the time it was grounded. Southwest also has hundreds more of the plane on order. Getting the 737 Max back into service is expected to take some time, as Southwest said it anticipates it will take one or two months to comply with any FAA directives, including pilot training. For that reason, the airline became the first to extend the 737 Max- related cancellation window into 2020. Determining whether or not pilots will need time in training simulators has been the subject of debate. Pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who became famous for landing a plane in the Hudson River, recently testified before Congress recommending 737 Max pilots receive training in simulators. On an earnings call last week, Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company will have a "comprehensive update" to its training materials and it's working in concert with regulators and customers to develop a training plan. He added it's "likely" some customers will opt to use simulators to train their pilots. Eric Ferguson, newly elected president of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) pilots, said it "remains to be seen" whether American pilots will undergo simulator training prior to the plane reentering the airline's network. The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, MCAS, on the 737 Max was "the main problem" pilots had with the plane, Ferguson said. More specifically, pilots didn't know the system existed until after the Lion Air crash in October. "You had an airplane in a situation where it was acting in a manner that was not anticipated due to a system you didn't know was on it," Ferguson said. Kelly offered his opinion last week on where the MCAS fix stands, saying he believes Boeing fixed the system and the FAA signed off on it. "What we believe is there needs to be an awareness of the MCAS system, how it works, what it's doing in the airplane," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest chief operating officer, on the earnings call, adding that his understand is "there is computer-based training and it shows the pilots what is going on there." https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2019/07/29/southwest-airlines-boeing-737- max-pilot.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo Back to Top Incident: LATAM Chile A20N at Lima on Jul 29th 2019, engine shut down in flight A LATAM Chile Airbus A320-200N, registration CC-BHF performing flight LA-2085 from Lima to Puerto Maldonado (Peru), was climbing through FL120 out of Lima when the right hand engine stalled, showed excessive temperatures and high vibrations prompting the crew to shut the engine down. The aircraft returned to Lima for a safe landing. A replacement Airbus A320-200 registration CC-BFW reached Puerto Maldonado with a delay of 4 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground about 9 hours after landing back. http://avherald.com/h?article=4caf1888&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Frontier A20N at Windsor Locks on Jul 28th 2019, gear refuses to come down A Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-200N, registration N329FR performing flight F9-1610 from Raleigh/Durham,NC to Windsor Locks,CT (USA), was on final approach to Bradley Airport's runway 24 when the crew initiated a go around advising tower the "gear refuses to come down". The aircraft entered a hold while the crew worked the checklists and performed an alternate gear extension, then performed a low approach to runway 24 to have tower/ground to look at the gear, tower reported the gear appeared to be down, the aircraft subsequently positioned for another approach to runway 24 and landed safely about 30 minutes after the first go around. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in Windsor Locks for about 17.5 hours, then positioned to Tampa,FL (USA) maintaining 10,000 feet all the way. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT1610/history/20190728/1905Z/KRDU/KBDL http://avherald.com/h?article=4caf175d&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: American A333 near Boston on Jul 28th 2019, fumes on board An American Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N272AY performing flight AA-728 from Philadelphia,PA (USA) to London Heathrow,EN (UK) with 154 passengers and 12 crew, was enroute at FL370 about 110nm east of Boston,MA (USA) when the flight crew donned their oxygen masks and declared a medical emergency reporting a number of passengers and all 9 cabin crew had become ill, there was an odour of dirty old socks on board. They were 3 pilots on the flight deck, they were all "A-Ok". The aircraft turned around and diverted to Boston for a safe landing on runway 22L about 45 minutes after the decision to divert to Boston. The airline reported the flight attendants were taken to a hospital and were later released. None of the passengers reported sick or required medical attention. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for about 16.5 hours, then positioned to Philadelphia. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL728/history/20190729/0215Z/KPHL/EGLL http://avherald.com/h?article=4caf1505&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i - Fatal Accident (Pakistan) Date: 30-JUL-2019 Time: morning Type: Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i Owner/operator: Pakistan Army Aviation Corps Registration: 766 C/n / msn: FL-766 Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Other fatalities: 12 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Rabi Center, Rawalpindi, Punjab - Pakistan Phase: Unknown Nature: Military Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: A Pakistan Army Aviation Corps Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i was destroyed when it impacted residential structures near Rabi Center in the residential area of Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi northwest of PAF Base Nur Khan (RWP/OPRN) in Punjab. The aircraft was destroyed during the accident sequence. At least 17 people, including two pilots and 3 crewmembers, perished, and 15 others were injured. Rescue officials said the death toll could rise since some of those injured were critical. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/227731 Back to Top DGCA suspends flying licences of 2 SpiceJet pilots for one year The DGCA suspended the flying licences of the two SpiceJet pilots for unstabilised landing approach that led to their aircraft overshooting runway after landing at Mumbai airport this month. * The accident, involving a Boeing 737 plane, happened on July 1 * It had also led to the closure of Mumbai airport's main runway * Licences of the two pilots have been suspended for one year Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday suspended flying licences of two SpiceJet pilots for unstabilised landing approach that led to their aircraft overshooting runway after landing at Mumbai airport this month, according to a senior official. The accident, involving a Boeing 737 plane coming from Jaipur, happened on July 1. It had also led to the closure of Mumbai airport's main runway for more than three days before the aircraft was removed. The official told PTI that the licences of the two pilots -- Ajinkya Hanchate and Tushar Dasgupta -- have been suspended for one year and they also have to undergo corrective training. Preliminary probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed that final approach was unstabilised and the plane touched down with high speed at around 1,600 metres from runway threshold, resulting in runway excursion. The two pilots failed to exercise due caution and did not take corrective measures, the official added. As per the regulator, the plane floated for longer time and landed after consuming half the runway 27. After one-year suspension, Dasgupta has to undergo corrective training. He would fly as first officer for six months or for 300 hours whichever is earlier and his licence would be restored after assessment, the official said. There was no immediate comment from SpiceJet. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/dgca-suspends-flying-licences-of-2-spicejet- pilots-for-one-year-1574941-2019-07-29 Back to Top TSA screeners find missile launcher in checked luggage at airport * The man said he was returning home from military duty and wanted to keep the weapon as a souvenir from his time stationed in Kuwait. * Transportation Security Administration officers at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport detected a missile launcher in a man's checked luggage early this morning, July 29, 2019. WASHINGTON - Security screeners found something troubling at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Monday morning - a military missile launcher. The Transportation Security Administration says its officers found it in a traveler's checked baggage during routine screening. They notified the airport police who were able to track down the bag's owner and detain him for questioning. TSA said the man, from Jacksonville, Texas, told the police that he was traveling home from U.S. military duty in Kuwait where he picked up the missile launcher and wanted to keep it as a souvenir. "Fortunately the item was not a live device," the TSA said in a statement. It was confiscated and turned over to the Maryland fire marshal for disposal. The man was released and allowed to resume his journey home. Military weapons are not allowed in either checked or carry-on baggage. Civilian firearms, such as hunting rifles, are prohibited in carry-on bags but are allowed in checked bags if they are unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tsa-screeners-find-missile-launcher-checked- luggage-airport-n1035756 Back to Top ICAO flags areas of concern in aviation safety (India) Also lauds improvement in strengthening regulations While India's attempts to strengthen the regulatory mechanism for safer civil aviation has won it plaudits from the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the aviation body of the United Nations has also red-flagged the areas of aerodrome certification, foundation of state safety, performance-based navigation and high safety indexes. The ICAO state safety briefing assessment of June 8 is based on periodic data submitted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The ICAO has found aerodrome standards to be unsatisfactory. India score 76.92% in the state safety programme, an integrated set of regulations and activities aimed at improving air safety. On the scale of performance-based navigation, meant to ensure global standardisation of rules for landing of aircraft, India scored 7.69%. On high safety indexes, ICAO gave India 0 out of 3 for the areas of operations, air navigation and support. As per the ICAO, safety indexes provide a risk-based prioritisation of operational, air navigation and support-related universal safety oversight audit programme (USOAP) areas. In each of the functional areas, a State is given a target effective implementation score, which is calculated based on a global linear regression of traffic versus effective implementation of all ICAO member states. ICAO mandates that a state with a high safety index of over 1 would be considered to have sufficient regulatory controls in place to cover its existing traffic volume. A state with a low safety index below 1 would be considered to have an insufficient oversight system taking into consideration its traffic volume. ICAO noted that India does not have a high safety index in any areas. In operations, it said India needed to increase its effective implementation score by at least 17.72 %, while in support and air navigation, India needed an improvement of 7.32% and 7.63% respectively. In a June 20 letter to the DGCA, ICAO council president Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said a certificate will be presented to India during the 40th session of the ICAO Assembly in Montreal from September 4 to October 4. Mr. Aliu's letter said India had been selected to receive the prestigious council president certificate "in recognition of (its) progress in resolving its safety oversight deficiencies and improving the effective implementation of applicable ICAO standards and recommended practices." The award has been established in support of the 'no country left behind' initiative. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/icao-flags-areas-of-concern-in-aviation- safety/article28752758.ece Back to Top BOC Aviation expects up to 30 jet deliveries to slip into 2020 Lessor BOC Aviation expects that up to 30 aircraft that were due for delivery this year could be pushed into 2020, primarily due to the Boeing 737 Max grounding. Previously, the lessor had forecast that it would receive 79 aircraft this year, but now forecasts that up to seven A320neos and 23 737 Max jets will be pushed into next year. BOC Aviation cites Boeing's ongoing delays with returning the 737 Max to service as the main issue behind the delays. "We therefore expect that some or all of our 23 remaining 737 Max aircraft that were scheduled for delivery in 2019 will be delayed out of this year and we are working with Boeing on a revised delivery timeframe," it states in an operating update for its second fiscal quarter. At the end of June, 18 aircraft were behind schedule for delivery in the first half of 2019. Of these, 12 Airbus aircraft were delayed primarily due to "industrial constraints," while six were 737 Max aircraft. Separately, the company signed 32 lease commitments in the quarter ended 30 June, during which it took delivery of 14 new aircraft, including two that were transferred to airline customers on delivery. It sold eight owned aircraft and two from its managed fleet; repossessed five owned and three managed aircraft from airlines that had ceased operations, and redelivered them to new customers. That leaves the lessor with 314 owned and 23 managed aircraft in its portfolio at the end of June. A further 162 aircraft are on order or committed to purchase, including 87 737 Max and 56 A320neo family jets. Compared to the year-ago period, BOC Aviation's average age of its owned portfolio inched up to 3.1 years, while the average remaining lease term is marginally lower at 8.2 years. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boc-aviation-expects-up-to-30-jet- deliveries-to-slip-459974/ Back to Top DOD's global flight tracking system needs upgrades, Air Force says The U.S. Air Force wants to modernize the Department of Defense's system for global flight information. The modernization effort for the Defense Aeronautical Information Portal (DAIP) would include creating a "one stop shop" with flight planning, briefing and filing functions, according to the Air Force's request for information. On top of creating new software, a contractor would be required to maintain and upgrade existing functions and applications in the portal. "DAIP provides improved business processes through utilization of modern information technologies and ensures inter-operability between DoD and other Government agencies," the request stated, but said some of its parts still would still need upgrades by a contractor. The contractor would be on call 24/7 to support the portal, as its functions guide DOD global flight operations. Information interacts with Federal Aviation Administration flight data and follows its data security requirements. The DAIP is located in the DISA MilCloud and works both in the internal NIPRNet and internet-based environments. https://www.fedscoop.com/daip-upgrades-air-force-rfi/ Back to Top RESEARCH STUDY REQUEST Participants Needed for Pilot Simulator Experiment Iowa State University is conducting a study to examine pilot performance while using an enhanced flight vision system for approach and landing phases. The study is being led by Dr. Michael Dorneich and is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration. We are looking for pilots to participate in the study. As a participant of this study, you'll be asked to use flight simulator to complete tasks, and to answer questions. To participate this study, you must be over 18 years old, have at least 10- hour flight experience. You will be compensated $50 for about 2 hours of your time. The study is being conducted in Ames, IA. If you are interested, please contact Ramanathan Annamalai at P24experiment@iastate.edu . Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top ISASI 2019 Future Safety: has the past become irrelevant? The Hague Marriott Hotel & World Forum The Hague September 3 - 5, 2019 *** Early Bird registration ending soon *** ISASI 2019 is pleased to announce that the Preliminary Program is now available. The Seminar's agenda includes a wide range of topics including accident case studies, airport and airline operations, human factors and commercial space accident investigations. Presentations will be given by industry experts, accident investigators, manufacturers and academics. To find out more about the program and how to register, please visit the seminar website at - www.ISASI2019.org Questions about registration can be sent to Barb Dunn at avsafe@shaw.ca As a reminder - Early Bird registration ends at midnight on July 28, 2019 MST (GMT-7). In order to receive the seminar rate at the hotel, reservations must be made by July 28. On Monday 2nd September, the day before the start of the ISASI Seminar, there is also a choice of three Tutorials: Monday (Tutorial) program: Tutorial 1 - Hosted by the Dutch Safety Board A. Aviation Safety versus Medical Confidentiality (morning) B. Communications with Victims and Relatives (afternoon) Tutorial 2 - Military accident investigation. Hosted by the Military Air Safety Investigators (MASI) - a subset of ISASI - this tutorial is the forum for International Military Accident Investigators to share knowledge on their respective capabilities, experiences, processes and procedures with a view to the development of future relationships and common practices. ****************** Fellow ISASI members: The dnata Haarlemmermeer Run will be held on Sunday September 1 in the community of Hooffddorp near Amsterdam and Schiphol. Three distances are offered; five and 10 kilometers and half marathon. Entry fee is between 11 and 17 Euros. Race shirts are available as well. This is a timed run. The race starts and ends at the Hoofddorp Pioneers Baseball Stadium. Attendees of ISASI and their companions who want to arrive early in order to participate in the race can contact me at christine.negroni@gmail.com and I will coordinate a group entry. Registration closes on August 19th. Christine Negroni author of The Crash Detectives Investigating the World's Most Mysterious Air Disasters Published by Penguin Books ================================================ 203 637-8441 landline 203 952-8441 mobile christine.negroni - skype @cnegroni - Twitter christinenegroni - Instagram Back to Top Photo Credit: Glen Grossman, Los Angeles Police Department Air Support Division Upcoming USC Aviation Safety & Security Program Courses Safety Management for Aviation Maintenance Safety principles and practices needed to manage the problems associated with aircraft maintenance operations. August 5-9, 2019 4.5 Days Tuition: $2575 Data for Safety Management Collection and analysis of flight data to contribute to safety management and improve safety performance. August 5-9, 2019 4.5 Days Tuition: $2575 Aviation Law & Dispute Resolution Legal processes, trends, and practices affecting aviation safety, accident investigation, and aviation regulation. This is the successor to the previous Legal Aspects of Aviation Safety & Role of the Technical Witness in Litigation courses. August 19-22, 2019 4 Days Tuition: $2125 Safety Management Systems for Ground Operation Safety Practices and methodologies for the identification and mitigation of hazards in all phases of airport ground operations. August 19-21, 2019 2.5 Days Tuition: $1300 Accident/Incident Response Preparedness Planning for the complex, challenging, and stressful investigation, legal, family response, and communcations situations after an accident. August 26-29, 2019 4 Days Tuition: $2125 Human Factors in Aviation Safety Theoretical and practical knowledge of Human Factors in aviation operations. August 26-30, 2019 4.5 Days Tuition: $2575 Earn Credit for FlightSafety Master Technician- Management Program Students taking the following USC courses will earn elective credits towards FlightSafety International's Master Technician-Management Program * Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance * Human Factors in Aviation Safety * Gas Turbine Accident Investigation * Helicopter Accident Investigation * Safety Management for Aviation Maintenance * Safety Management for Ground Operations Safety * Accident/Incident Response Preparedness Earn Points Toward NBAA Certified Aviation Manager Program Students taking the following USC courses will earn two points toward completing the application for the National Business Aviation Certified Aviation Manager Exam. * Aviation Safety Management Systems * Accident/Incident Response Preparedness * Human Factors in Aviation Safety * Aircraft Accident Investigation * SeMS Aviation Security Management Systems For further details, please visit our website or use the contact information below. Email: aviation@usc.edu Telephone: +1 (310) 342-1345 Curt Lewis