Flight Safety Information AUGUST 21, 2019 - No. 168 In This Issue Are Max 737s closer to flying? FAA cautions airlines on maintenance of sensors that were key to 737 MAX crashes A Boeing 737 Max panel will reportedly tell the FAA to revise how it certifies new planes Incident: France A319 near Luxembourg on Aug 20th 2019, hot brakes indication Accident: ANA B788 near Beijing on Aug 15th 2019, turbulence injures 4 people Incident: Pobeda B738 at Gyoumri on Aug 19th 2019, tail scrape on go around Incident: India Regional AT72 at Delhi on Aug 19th 2019, nose gear problem after departure Flight Into JFK Airport Declares Emergency Landing, Wheel Falls Off Landing Gear French BEA Asks For Help Finding Swiss Airbus A220 Engine Parts India's DGCA, snubbed globally, is a cosy club of IAS officers with no aviation expertise Embraer develops electric propulsion demonstrator aircraft Allegiant to establish aircraft base at LVIA, creating 66+ new jobs U.S. Air Force and Civil Air Patrol Help Tackle the Pilot Shortage Delta pilots union alleges airline uses joint venture to outsource flying Air Force getting grasp on pilot shortage, now addressing individual pilot communities SpaceX's Starman and Elon Musk's Tesla Have Made a Lap Around the Sun International Conference on Unruly Airline Passenger Behaviour Position Available:...SRC Safety Analyst | Florence, KY (near CVG) Position Available: Manager, System Safety & Data Assurance Are Max 737s closer to flying? FAA 'looks forward' to international panel's findings as grounding drags on The FAA says it "looks forward" to an international panel's findings on the certification and safety of Boeing 737 MAX jets but stands by the process that approved a key component of the aircraft shortly before two crashes that took the lives of more than 300 passengers. The FAA established a Joint Authorities Technical Review team, including experts from the U.S., the European Union and eight other nations, four months ago. The team was asked to take a comprehensive look at the FAA's certification of the aircraft's contentious automated flight control system that has been linked to the crashes. The FAA at the time had estimated the review, considered vital toward returning the planes to the skies, would take three months. CNN has reported the panel could provide its recommendations to the FAA as soon as next week. "The FAA is following a thorough process, not a prescribed timeline, for returning the Boeing 737 MAX to passenger service," the FAA said in a statement to USA TODAY. "While the agency's certification processes are well-established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs, we welcome the scrutiny from these experts and look forward to their findings." The FAA says the plane's certification program involved 110,000 hours of work over five years by FAA personnel, including 297 test flights. Any recommendations will be reviewed and those that would "improve our certification activities" will be incorporated, the agency said. A Boeing 737 MAX 8 returns from a test flight on March 12, 2019. The planes were grounded around the world in March, days after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 passengers and crew. The U.S. was the last nation to order the planes out of the skies. The Ethiopian Airlines crash came five months after a 737 MAX flown by Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people aboard. Both flights crashed after experiencing drastic speed fluctuations during ascent, and their pilots tried to return to the ground after takeoff. Regulators and industry experts suspect that plane's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, may have caused the jets to make unwanted dives. The planes debuted in 2017 as the newest reincarnation of Boeing's 737 and quickly became the best-selling airliner ever, with almost 400 worldwide and airline orders for 4,500 more. Records show that federal aviation authorities received at least 11 reports concerning perceived safety problems with the aircraft. Two pilots reported their planes unexpectedly pitched nose down after engaging autopilot following departure. Another pilot reported a "temporary level off" triggered by the aircraft automation. The captain of a November 2018 flight called part of the aircraft's flight manual "inadequate and almost criminally insufficient." Last month, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg predicted the planes would return to service by year's end. But federal and global aviation authorities, not Boeing, must approve software changes sought to make the planes airworthy. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/21/boeing-max-737-faa-to-hear-findings-certification/2062753001/ Back to Top FAA cautions airlines on maintenance of sensors that were key to 737 MAX crashes A Boeing 737 Max 8 sits behind the Boeing 737 Renton factory waiting for engines. The Angle of attack (AOA) instrument of the 737 MAX, is the bottom piece of equipment below just below the cockpit windshield. Following two deadly crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX, both of which were initiated by a faulty reading from a single angle of attack sensor, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cautioned airlines, aircraft-maintenance companies and manufacturers that the sensors are vulnerable to damage and must be carefully maintained. "It is imperative that all operators are aware of the criticality of AOA sensors and the potential for damage during normal operations, maintenance procedures, servicing procedures, and any other procedures around an aircraft," states the FAA notice, which was issued last week. The angle of attack is the angle between an airplane's wing and the oncoming air flow. If the angle gets too high, above about 14 degrees, the air stream that has been flowing around the contours of the wing will suddenly detach from the wing surface. When this happens, the plane will lose lift and begin to fall - a condition known as stalling. The sensors are small vanes sticking out from the fuselage that rotate in the air flow. The FAA notice recommends that all personnel involved "review current procedures identified in their appropriate operational, maintenance, or servicing manuals ... around AOA sensors." The notice suggests that the failure of the AOA sensors on the Lion Air MAX in Indonesia last October and then the Ethiopian Airlines MAX in March is one focus of some of the various independent reviews of the crashes. The two disasters together killed 346 people. The FAA typically issues such safety alerts after specific in-flight incidents or reports from airlines of a recurrent problem. In this case, no such reason is given. The notice, first reported Tuesday by Aviation Week, applies to all airplanes with an AOA vane, not only the 737 MAX. An FAA spokesman said that the notice "was issued as a reminder and is not connected to any specific findings." However, though international protocol precludes the agency from saying anything about the continuing accident investigations, what happened on the two MAX crash flights is almost certainly what has spurred the notice. The tragic sequence of events on both flights began when a false reading from an AOA sensor activated a new flight-control system on the MAX - a piece of software called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) - that was designed, if the angle of attack got too high, to automatically push the jet's nose down uncommanded by the pilot. Although every 737 has two exterior AOA sensors, one on each side of the cockpit, Boeing designed MCAS to take a signal from only one of them on any given flight, switching to the other sensor on the next flight. However, the AOA failures in each crash appear to have different causes. The separate failures, four months apart, underline the vulnerability of these critical sensors. On the Lion Air jet, the sensor had given false readings on previous flights and at least one AOA vane was replaced. On the crash flight, the AOA vane feeding MCAS gave a false reading, off by 20 degrees from the vane on the other side, even as the jet taxied on the ground. The faulty vane maintained that difference throughout the 11-minute flight. On the Ethiopian Airlines jet, the AOA vane feeding MCAS was reading accurately until just after take-off, when suddenly it veered off by 75 degrees, an impossible reading. This suggests the vane may have been sheared off by a bird strike. Boeing is expected to deliver the finalized redesign of the MCAS software to the FAA next month, seeking clearance to allow the 737 MAX fleet to return to passenger service. The updated MCAS will take input from both AOA sensors, rather than one. If the readings differ by 5.5 degrees or more, MCAS will not activate. In addition, the MAX cockpit will now include a standard warning light that will illuminate when the two angle-of-attack sensors disagree. Because of a Boeing software error, this light wasn't working on the two crash flights. And airlines can now opt to add, free of charge, angle of attack data to the primary flight display. A separate change to MCAS, unrelated to the AOA, will ensure that if activated the system will respond with a less forceful nose-down command, one small enough that the flight crew can always counteract it by pulling back on the control column. But even if the updated MCAS is no longer a danger, faulty AOA sensors will have to be a separate safety focus because the measurement from these sensors is fed into the flight computer and used to calculate other parameters. Boeing's bulletin to airlines a week after the Lion Air crash told pilots that on the MAX "an erroneous AOA can cause some or all of the following indications and effects": Continuous or intermittent stick shaker (which means the pilot's control column shakes alarmingly to warn of a possible stall) • An indication that the aircraft is approaching its minimum speed limit • Increasing nose down control forces • Inability to engage autopilot • Automatic disengagement of autopilot • An alert that the Indicated Air Speed sensors disagree • An alert that the altitude sensors disagree • An alert that the AOA sensors disagree • A light warning of a difference in hydraulic pressure applied to the control columns of the captain and the first officer. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/faa-cautions-airlines-on-maintenance-of-sensors-that-were-key-to-737-max-crashes/ Back to Top A Boeing 737 Max panel will reportedly tell the FAA to revise how it certifies new planes FILE PHOTO: Employees walk by the end of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo • An international panel is set to recommend major changes to the way the FAA certifies new planes, according to a new report. • The panel, the Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR), was formed to examine the FAA's processes following the two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes. • The JATR's report is expected as early as next week, although it's not clear whether the FAA will accept or publicly release the panel's recommendations. An international panel formed after the two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes is planning to recommend that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) overhauls the way it inspects and certifies new airplanes, according to a CNN report. The Joint Authorities Technical Review, or JATR, was formed following the crashes to review the certification process that allowed the 737 Max to enter commercial service despite the twice-fatal flaw in an automated system meant to compensate for the larger engines on the existing 737 airframe. The panel comprises US officials and representatives from nine other countries' aviation safety agencies. The JATR is in the final stages of completing its work, according to CNN's source, and will issue its report as early as next week. It is not clear whether the FAA would accept and implement the recommendations, nor whether the JATR or FAA would publicly disclose them. The recommendations - which were not detailed in the CNN report - would include detailed ways to "address deficiencies" in the certification process, according to the source. The JATR has been looking into ways to prevent potential issues - like the one that caused the crashes - from slipping through the cracks. In the case of the 737 Max, the plane was not subjected to the full certification process that a new airplane would undergo, since Boeing argued that it was simply an updated version of an existing airplane. Boeing was also allowed to "self-certify" elements of the aircraft under an FAA program called Organization Designation Authorization. The FAA says that the practice, which is common but controversial, is increasingly necessary due to the sheer amount of work involved with certifying immensely complex modern airplanes, compared to the analog aircraft from previous decades. The JATR's work is separate from the review the FAA will conduct of Boeing's proposed software fixes to determine when it can be allowed to fly again. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has said that the planemaker expects to submit the fix in September. The FAA has expressed hopes that foreign aviation regulators clear the Max at around the same time as the FAA. The JATR report could serve as an effective gauge of whether or not that will be likely, depending on its recommendations and input from foreign members. In the months since the second crash, some have wondered whether global confidence in the FAA has been diminished, and questioned whether other countries would be as willing to trust the FAA. The FAA has faced withering criticism from both victims' families and experts for not catching the safety hazards in the plane's automated systems that have been blamed for the crashes. Some have argued that in the process of certifying the plane, and after both crashes, the FAA prioritized Boeing's interests over safety and objectivity. Boeing is the largest manufacturing exporter in the US by value. "It seems like the FAA existed to protect Boeing's profits," Tor Stumo, whose sister Samya was killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, said in an interview with Business Insider. "We want the FAA to regulate planes properly and protect people." "It seems pretty clear that there was a corporate takeover of the FAA by Boeing," Robert Clifford, a lawyer representing family members of more than 50 victims of the crashes, told Business Insider. "[A] cloud has gathered over the FAA and its lack of credibility." In a statement, the FAA said that it was continuing to review its processes: The FAA's certification of the Boeing 737 MAX is the subject of several independent reviews and investigations that will examine all aspects of the five-year effort. While the agency's certification processes are well-established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs, we welcome the scrutiny from these experts and look forward to their findings. We will carefully review all recommendations and will incorporate any changes that would improve our certification activities. https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-737-max-panel-recommend-faa-change-certification-process-report-2019-8 Back to Top Incident: France A319 near Luxembourg on Aug 20th 2019, hot brakes indication An Air France Airbus A319-100, registration F-GRHB performing flight AF-1145 from Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), was enroute at FL380 about 50nm northeast of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) when the crew received a hot brakes warning and decided to divert to Luxembourg. The aircraft performed a low approach to runway 24 about 30 minutes after leaving FL380 and landed safely on Luxembourg's runway 24 about 40 minutes after leaving FL380. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 3:45 hours, then departed Luxembourg and reached Paris with a delay of 4.5 hours. The airline reported the aircraft diverted due to the release of an alarm in accordance with standard operating procedures by aircraft manufacturer and airline. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cbcbfb7&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: ANA B788 near Beijing on Aug 15th 2019, turbulence injures 4 people An ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-8, registration JA808A performing flight NH-963 from Tokyo Haneda (Japan) to Beijing (China) with 225 people on board, was descending through about 5500 meters (FL180) towards Beijing when the crew illuminated the fasten seat belt signs. Shortly afterwards the aircraft encountered turbulence causing serious injuries to four people on board. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on Beijing's runway 01 about 30 minutes later. The injured were taken to hospitals. It became known a lady (60) was diagnosed with the fracture of her right instep. Japan's Ministry of Transport reported, the aircraft was descending through 5500 meters about 140km (76nm) northeast of Beijing on Aug 15th 2019 when the aircraft was shaken. Two passengers and two flight attendants received serious injuries. The airline reported the aircraft was descending through about 5500 meters when the crew illuminated the fasten seat belt sign, the aircraft shortly afterwards jolted causing injuries to 4 people on board. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cbcbd6f&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Pobeda B738 at Gyoumri on Aug 19th 2019, tail scrape on go around A Pobeda Boeing 737-800, registration VQ-BTJ performing flight DP-855 from Moscow Vnukovo (Russia) to Gyoumri (Armenia) with 173 people on board, landed on Gyoumri's runway 02 at about 20:40L (16:40Z), however the tail contacted the runway surface while the aircraft went around. The aircraft positioned for another approach and landed without further incident at 21:04L (17:04Z). Armenia's Civil Aviation Committee reported the aircraft hit the runway surface and received damage to its tail. An investigation has been opened into the occurrence. The airline reported the tail skid assembly received scratches when the aircraft went around on first approach, there had been no hard touch down or tail strike. Russian and Armenian media had reported a hard touchdown causing a tail strike. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Gyoumri 24 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cbcaf63&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: India Regional AT72 at Delhi on Aug 19th 2019, nose gear problem after departure An Air India Regional (formerly known as Alliance Air) Avions de Transport Regional AtR-72-212A, registration VT-AII performing flight CD-643/AI-9643 from Delhi to Jaipur (India) with 59 passengers and 4 crew, was climbing out of Delhi's runway 29 when the crew stopped the climb at 3000 feet due to a problem with the nose gear. The aircraft returned to Delhi for a safe landing on runway 29 about 17 minutes after departure. Attending emergency services did not need to intervene. The airline reported a problem in the nose gear and some material failure. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cbcc943&opt=0 Back to Top Flight Into JFK Airport Declares Emergency Landing, Wheel Falls Off Landing Gear NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A passenger plane with nearly 200 people on board have a terrifying close call at JFK Airport Tuesday afternoon. CBS2's Tony Aiello reports the Delta flight from Portugal declared an emergency after the axle of its nose gear broke - causing one of the plane's wheels to come off. Delta flight's landing gearing missing a wheel at JFK Airport. (Credit: CBS2) Port Authority officials report that 193 passengers were on board the flight, but luckily there were no injuries reported. Passengers on board a flight into JFK Airport are escorted off after the plane's landing gear broke on Aug. 20, 2019. (Credit: CBS2) The fliers were escorted off the flight using emergency stairs by first responders around 12:30 p.m. after the damaged 757 airliner was towed to a gate. https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/08/20/jfk-airport-emergency-landing/ Back to Top French BEA Asks For Help Finding Swiss Airbus A220 Engine Parts Following an engine failure of a Swiss Airlines Airbus A220 on July 25th, the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) has called for help in finding some missing parts. The engine's first stage low-pressure compressor rotor was missing from the engine, and finding the parts could provide vital clues to help unpick what went wrong. Swiss CS100 over mountains A Swiss A220 suffered an engine failure at the end of July. Photo: SWISS What happened? According to the Aviation Herald, the Airbus A220, formerly Bombardier C-Series, was operating flight LX-348 for Swiss Airlines from Geneva in Switzerland to London Heathrow in the UK. The one year old aircraft, registered HB-JCM, was climbing through FL320 around 100 nautical miles to the southeast of Paris when the incident occurred. A bang was heard from the engine, and streaks of flame were reported to be coming out of the engine. As a result, the crew shut down the engine and diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The plane made a safe touchdown around 30 minutes after the incident. It was met by emergency services but nobody on board was hurt. Upon inspection of the aircraft, it was noted that the left engine, at Pratt & Whitney PW1524, suffered a major mechanical failure. The low-pressure compressor rotor stage 1 was missing from the engine as a result. Although nobody was hurt, the occurrence is being rated as a serious incident and as such is being thoroughly investigated. Searching for the parts As the engine was not intact after the incident, the investigators are keen to retrieve the missing parts to further understand what went wrong. As the engine was designed and built in the US, the NTSB is leading the investigation with help from the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA). On behalf of the NTSB, the BEA has issued a call for witnesses and requested help in locating the missing parts. They say that the parts may have ended up in a woodland area close to the conurbations of Perrigny-sur-Armancon and Cry. To help with the search, they have issued the following map outlining the potential areas where the parts may be. Map area for search The marked area is where the BEA is calling for a search. Photo: BEA According to the BEA, the parts they are looking for are from the first stage of the engine's low-pressure compressor and are made from titanium. They say that the pieces would be under 30cm in length. The BEA has issued the following instructions to anyone who comes across the parts. Anyone who may have found one of these pieces is invited to follow the protocol below: • Note the location of the item • Handle the piece with care, the metal can be very sharp • Send a photograph by mail to appel-a-temoins@bea.aero • Wait for further instructions from the BEA Often, when an engine fails, finding all the missing parts can give vital clues to where the fault lies, as we saw in the case of the Air France flight 66 A380. Scrutiny of the parts enabled the manufacturer to better understand what went wrong and to take steps to prevent it from happening again. Let's hope someone can find those missing items. https://simpleflying.com/french-bea-swiss-a220-engine/ Back to Top India's DGCA, snubbed globally, is a cosy club of IAS officers with no aviation expertise In the past decade, India's civil aviation watchdog DGCA has only had IAS officers heading it, none of whom have had real domain expertise. General interior view of Terminal 2 of the Delhi airport. | Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee | Bloomberg New Delhi: In June, when the US Federal Aviation Administration - deemed the apex airline regulator worldwide - called civil aviation authorities from across the world to review software modifications to the grounded Boeing 737 Max, it didn't extend the invite to India's watchdog - the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This despite the fact that India is one of the 10 countries that flew the controversial new generation jet and is also one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets. It was no anomaly - just the latest in a series of international aviation safety seminars that no DGCA official has been invited to. DGCA representatives have, off late, not been invited to seminars of the US-based International Society of Air Safety Investigations (ISASI). The Indian aviation body has also been left out of safety seminars held in Europe. The repeated snubs, experts say, is due to a structural issue at the apex of the aviation regulatory sector in the country. Unlike in even other developing nations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines, where the regulatory bodies are headed by technocrats with an aviation background, all the top posts in the DGCA, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) or for that matter even public carrier Air India are held by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. Such is the situation, that in the past decade, the DGCA has always been headed by an IAS officer, not always with the relevant domain experience. The last technocrat to head the body was the late Kanu Gohain (2007-08), who had 35 years of experience in the industry. The upsurge of IAS officers donning the role, however, only began after his tenure. Since 1980, for instance, of the 15 DGCA heads, eight have been from the IAS cadre (see box). But six of them have headed the DGCA in the last decade alone. Captain Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety consultant and former flight instructor, said bureaucrats made their way into the DGCA after Gohain's tenure. "Bureaucrats in the ministry wormed their way into DGCA via the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) route," Ranganathan said. A joint secretary would be sent to ICAO as India's representative and qualification requirements for DGCA were tweaked by the ministry to make sure that the IAS cadre swarmed into all the top posts in aviation. None of the bureaucrats knew the subject." The former flight instructor said it is a far cry from the early days when the DGCA was headed by professionals. "Except for a short stint of M.R. Sivaraman in the '90s, the DGCA in the past had always been someone with an aviation background," he said. "There was a time when Air Marshall C.S.K. Raje, a former Indian Air Force chief, was the DGCA. He was very good and he did understand the difference between a military set up and a civil aviation one." IAS musical chairs in DGCA In the decade since Gohain's retirement, the DGCA head has always been an IAS officer. Gohain was succeeded by senior IAS officer Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, who took over in 2008. After Zaidi, Bharat Bhushan was appointed to the post in 2010. A former financial adviser in the civil aviation ministry, Bhushan was sacked in 2012. DGCA joint secretary Prashant Narain Sukul held charge temporarily before another IAS officer, Arun Mishra, took over as DG in 2012. In 2014, Prabhat Kumar was appointed a full-time DGCA chief for three years but he was removed after a year of his appointment. His removal came at a time when the US FAA was reviewing the downgrade of India's safety rankings. Kumar was succeeded by M. Sathiyavathy who took over in 2015. She was the first woman DGCA chief but was a career bureaucrat. She had held positions such as joint director general in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; controller, ISRO Satellite Centre, Department of Space; member secretary, Central Silk Board and the Ministry of Textiles. Once she was moved out to another ministry in 2016, IAS officer B.S. Bhullar, the current DGCA chief, took over. While Bhullar and Sathiyavathy refused to comment, Zaidi cited his association with the ICAO to defend his appointment. "I had six years of experience with the ICAO," he said. "I spent two years with DGCA and brought adequate transformational changes in the aviation sector. I dealt with Pawan Hans, the Airport Authority of India and Aerodrome services etc. I was later made the secretary, civil aviation." Zaidi admitted that the government should look for suitably qualified officers but added that in case it can't, it should look for an IAS officer who has adequate aviation background and good exposure. "The most preferred solution is to find a suitably qualified officer having a sound technical background, who knows good management and international cooperation and has sufficient aviation background," he said. "This officer should be found internally and if that is not possible then look for an IAS officer who has adequate aviation background and good exposure." In other countries India's dependence on bureaucrats to head its aviation watchdog isn't even in sync with countries in the region. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is chaired by a former fighter pilot - Shahrukh Nusrat began his career with the Pakistan Air Force in 1979 and served till the rank of squadron leader. He later joined the civil services of Pakistan in 1993. According to the CAA website, Nusrat also holds a BSc Avionics degree. Bangladesh's Civil Aviation Authority too is headed by a former fighter pilot - Air Vice Marshal M. Naim Hassan. He has also held key aviation positions such as the commanding officer of the 25 Squadron; director, special security force, Prime Minister's office; air officer commanding and chief of air staff operations among others. Further east, Indonesia's aviation regulatory body is headed by Polana B. Pramest. Polana has a post-graduate diploma in aerodrome engineering from the Singapore Aviation Academy and Nanyang University. She also has a post-graduate programme in transportation from the Bandung Institute of Technology. Australia, for instance, has appointed former commercial pilot Anthony Mathews as head of its aviation regulator. Mathews was also a Qantas regional airline manager and on the board of Air Services, Australia. He has spent over 45 years in the aviation industry. Aerospace analyst Saj Ahmad says there is a lesson for India from these countries. "In short, India should be looking to other developed nations and should procure staff who have the technical capabilities to undertake leadership at an office such as the DGCA," he said. "While it's commendable to employ from the IAS, civil servants are not experts. The IAS is also too closely aligned to the government to make any coherent and independent decisions." https://theprint.in/india/indias-dgca-snubbed-globally-is-a-cosy-club-of-ias-officers-with-no-aviation-expertise/270579/ Back to Top Embraer develops electric propulsion demonstrator aircraft The first flight of the 100% electric propulsion single-aisle aircraft is scheduled for 2020. Embraer (Sใo Jos้ dos Campos, Brazil) recently unveiled a new under-development demonstrator aircraft with 100% electric propulsion technology. The company says that the prototype has a special paint scheme and is ready to receive systems and components. The aircraft's electric motor and controller are being manufactured by WEG Industries (Jaraguแ do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil) as part of a scientific and technological cooperation agreement between the two companies. Parker Aerospace (West Chester Township, Ohio, U.S.) will supply the cooling system for the demonstrator aircraft. The first flight of the prototype is scheduled for 2020. According to Embraer, over the next few months, the companies' technical teams will continue testing the aircraft's systems in a laboratory setting in preparation for testing under real operating conditions. The partnership between Embraer and WEG Industries, announced in May of this year, targets the research and development of aeronautical electrification, Embraer says. As part of the program, a small single-engine aircraft, based on the EMB-203 Ipanema, will be used as test bed, carrying out the initial evaluation of the electrification technology. https://www.compositesworld.com/news/embraer-develops-electric-propulsion-demonstrator-aircraft Back to Top Allegiant to establish aircraft base at LVIA, creating 66+ new jobs Airline to invest $50 million ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Allegiant Travel Company is setting up shop in the Lehigh Valley. The company announced Tuesday plans to establish a two-aircraft base at Lehigh Valley International Airport. Allegiant plans to invest $50 million to establish the new base, creating at least 66 new, high-wage jobs, according to a news release. The Las Vegas-based company has worked out of ABE since 2005, but it doesn't have any full-time employees there yet. Until now, those who worked at Allegiant counters were contracted by ABE. The new base will change that. Starting immediately, the airline will start hiring new pilots, flight attendants, ticket agents, mechanics and more, and is hoping to hire them all locally. Interested applicants can apply online. Allegiant plans to begin base operations at LVIA on February 12, 2020. It will be the airline's 18th aircraft base in the country. "As a base airport, having locally-based aircraft and crews will give us a host of options for both new service and expanded operational hours," said Keith Hansen, vice president of government affairs for Allegiant. "This will mean more opportunities for affordable, convenient travel for local residents and visitors to the area." The base means two planes will stay at LVIA overnight, so flights can leave earlier and arrive later, creating more options for passengers. Allegiant currently offers seven non-stop routes from ABE, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando/Sanford, St. Pete-Clearwater and Punta Gorda, Florida; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Savannah, Georgia. https://www.wfmz.com/news/lehigh-valley/allegiant-to-establish-aircraft-base-at-lvia-creating-66-new-jobs/1111479273 Back to Top U.S. Air Force and Civil Air Patrol Help Tackle the Pilot Shortage Cadet Wings program helps pilots earn their private certificate. Lt. Col. Ken Curell (center) of the Civil Air Patrol's Ohio Wing is flanked by two Pilot Prep Program students - Air Force 1st Lts. Sherry Meadows (L) from Aviano AB, Italy and Makenna Elliott from Offutt AFB, Nebraska.Civil Air Patrol The Air Force and its auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol, are testing a new approach to help tackle the service's pilot shortage. The Pilot Prep Program (PPP) will prepare 52 airmen from 38 installations across the globe for the Air Force's fiscal 2020 undergraduate flight training selection board this fall. Pentagon Aircrew Crisis Task Force boss Brig. Gen. Christopher Short created the initiative as part of his effort to dig the service out of an approximately 2,000-pilot shortfall. As part of the program, PPP airmen complete online training before heading to Columbus Municipal Airport, Indiana, to take part in CAP's National Emergency Services Academy (NESA). The PPP is being conducted alongside NESA's Mission Aircrew School, one of three schools combining task-based training with practical application. In addition to its Air Force students, more than 500 CAP members will participate in NESA this year from every state. To prepare participants for the selection test, they'll log six to eight hours in the cockpit, with simulator-based training and ground instruction, as well as mentorship from officers and CAP pilots. This experience helps people in the program explore the career field before committing to more than 10 years as an Air Force pilot. Another nationally focused CAP program may also help fill the national pilot gap, which in turn affects the Air Force's shortage. Through "Cadet Wings," participants are certified as private airplane, glider, or balloon pilots by training one-on-one with a local, certified CAP instructor, attending a 30-day course in Texas, or attending a commuter or residential flight school. Receiving a private certification is a stepping-stone toward further professional flight training. https://www.flyingmag.com/air-force-and-civil-air-patrol-tackle-pilot-shortage/ Back to Top Delta pilots union alleges airline uses joint venture to outsource flying The pilots union at Delta Air Lines is calling for conditions to be placed on a proposed joint venture between Delta and Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic, as the federal government weighs approval of antitrust immunity for the deal. The proposed trans-Atlantic deal would combine two existing joint ventures: Delta-Virgin Atlantic and Delta-Air France-KLM. Getting antitrust immunity allows airlines to coordinate on prices and schedules and to share revenue on flights between the United States and Europe on a joint venture, instead of competing against each other. The Air Line Pilots Association at Delta alleges Virgin Atlantic is adding flights while Delta is flying fewer flights between London and New York than it did before the joint venture (JV)."In other words, Delta effectively used the JV to outsource flying that should have been performed by Delta pilots to a foreign airline partner," the union said in a written statement. Notably, Delta and its pilots union are in the middle of negotiations on a new labor contract.In response to the union's comments on the proposed joint venture, Delta said it is already growing its flight capacity between the U.S. and U.K. by 15 percent in 2020, with new flights from New York's John F. Kennedy International and Boston. One of the new flights is a daytime flight between JFK and London Heathrow.The airline also said it has grown its trans-Atlantic departures on its own planes by 11 percent since 2013, and says that growth was enabled by the joint venture. The union is calling for the U.S. Department of Transportation to place conditions on the proposed broader joint venture "to ensure that Delta realizes an equitable share of any JV growth."The Delta pilots union submitted comments to the DOT after the agency gave tentative approval earlier this month and allowed interested parties 14 days to submit comments. Virgin Atlantic pilots who fly between the U.S. and U.K. are paid at "significantly lower rates" than Delta pilots, according to the filing by Ryan Schnitzler, master executive council chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta. And, the majority of Virgin's U.S.-U.K. flights have two pilots instead of three on Delta, the filing says.."Thus, in allocating joint venture capacity growth almost exclusively to Virgin, Delta has utilized the alliance mechanism to functionally reduce labor costs and circumvent the higher negotiated labor standards to which it agreed in its pilot collective bargaining agreement," the filing says.A Delta spokesman responded that the airline has hired about 4,000 pilots since 2013, in part to make up for attrition as pilots retire. The airline has a total of about 14,000 pilots.The DOT said it would review review comments before making a final decision on the deal. https://www.ajc.com/blog/airport/delta-pilots-union-alleges-airline-uses-joint-venture-outsource-flying/qyWlBkTzksTOCVa3c2aizJ/# Back to Top Air Force getting grasp on pilot shortage, now addressing individual pilot communities After years of fighting a losing battle in retaining pilots, the Air Force may be veering in a better direction, but there is still much more work to do before the service is in a comfortable position. This year is the first time in several years that the Air Force ended up with more pilots at the end of the year than at the beginning, according to Air Combat Command leader Gen. James Holmes. While that's a positive trend for the service, the shortage still stands at about 2,000 pilots. "We still have a lot of work to do," Holmes told reporters Tuesday at the Defense Writers Group in Washington. "One of the things I've learned is that there are things that apply to every pilot in our shortage, but also each community in our pilot and operations career fields is a little different and unique. The problems in the A-10 pilot force are not the same as those in the F-16 pilot force." To keep pilots in the Air Force, the service plans to tailor some of its solutions to specific issues and communities, instead of only addressing the pilot force at-large. Holmes said one tailored issue will be how hard the Air Force pushes certain pilot communities. "In the F-16 community I have three active duty F-16 operational squadrons in the continental United States and I have eight overseas," Holmes said. "Pilots go there for a year without their families. It's a tremendous burden on the three squadrons in the United States to train people to fill those eight overseas squadrons. So what can I do to readdress that and take some of the pressure off so they don't feel like they are on a hamster wheel of training the next maintainer or operator to go to an overseas squadron? Otherwise, they feel they never have a chance really to dig in and achieve the readiness they'd like to." By contrast, Holmes said his A-10 squadrons have the best retention. Holmes said he thinks it's because of the strong sense of community the pilots feel and because they feel they are high performing members who are doing something important and are not in over their heads trying to catch up with requirements. Holmes said the Air Force will focus on those community specific issues over the next year. The service already put in place plenty of wide-net incentives to keep pilots. It gave pilots more flexibility in professional development pathways, eliminated non-essential training, cut operational and administrative requirements and raised bonus pay. The Air Force is also continuing to grow its pilot training pipeline. It will train 1,500 pilots a year by 2022. It's also opened up programs that allowed retired pilots to come back to the service. However, job satisfaction is still hurting retention. "Job dissatisfaction, career dissatisfaction, frequent and long deployments, poor quality of life, non-competitive pay and lack of personal and professional development are among the reasons cited for why many experienced military pilots separate from military service," a DoD study on the pilot shortage states. Pilots aren't happy in the military and the packages the Air Force has to offer aren't cutting it. The study states that major airline hiring increased steadily from 2012 and during that timeframe the number of eligible Air Force pilots who took aviation bonuses decreased from 67% to 44%. Holmes hopes more community-oriented programs will help increase job satisfaction and retention. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/air-force/2019/08/air-force-getting-grasp-on-pilot-shortage-now-addressing-individual-pilot-communities/ Back to Top SpaceX's Starman and Elon Musk's Tesla Have Made a Lap Around the Sun The deep-space duo have come full circle. Starman and his deep-space ride have completed their first lap around the sun. The spacesuit-clad mannequin, who sits behind the wheel of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk's red Tesla Roadster, launched on Feb. 6, 2018, on the inaugural flight of the huge Falcon Heavy rocket. The duo wrapped up their first solar orbit over the weekend, according to the tracking site whereisroadster.com. Starman and the Tesla have an orbital period of about 557 Earth days, the website calculated, and they've been in space for 560 days as of Monday (Aug. 19). At launch, the Roadster's radio was playing David Bowie's "Life on Mars." If the car's battery is still working, Starman has now heard the song more than 150,000 times, according to the tracking site. And the site provides some other interesting tidbits as well. For example, the Tesla has now traveled more than 760 million miles (1.2 billion kilometers) in space, meaning the car has exceeded its 36,000-mile (58,000 km) warranty more than 21,000 times over. Debut flights by rockets are inherently risky, which explains why SpaceX chose to put a dummy payload rather than a functional satellite on the February 2018 Falcon Heavy launch. Musk has said he chose Starman and the Roadster for fun, but the car likely serves a marketing purpose as well. (Musk also runs Tesla, of course.) Car and driver will probably make many more laps around our star. Last year, an orbit-modeling study calculated that the Roadster will eventually slam into either Venus or Earth, likely within the next few tens of millions of years. But there's just a 6 percent chance of an Earth impact, and a 2.5 percent chance of a Venus impact, within the next million years, the study's authors found. The Falcon Heavy now has three liftoffs under its belt. This past April, the rocket lofted the communications satellite Arabsat-6A. And on June 25, a Heavy launched the STP-2 mission for the United States Air Force, delivering two dozen payloads to orbit for a variety of customers. The two-stage Falcon Heavy consists of three strapped-together, modified first stages of SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. The central core booster is topped by a second stage and the payload(s). Like the Falcon 9 and SpaceX's other spaceflight hardware, the Heavy is designed to be reusable. During the February 2018 test flight, the two side first-stage boosters landed successfully but the central core did not. The flight this past June had the same outcome. All three first stages touched down successfully on the Arabsat-6A mission, but the central core, which landed on a ship at sea, toppled over on its way back to port, a victim of rough seas. The STP-2 mission in June featured a different reusability milestone - the first payload-fairing catch by a SpaceX net-equipped boat. The company has since snagged a second falling fairing and recently got another boat to potentially double its success rate. (Payload fairings are the protective nose cones that surround satellites during launch. SpaceX fairings come in two pieces, both of which have small steering thrusters and parafoils. Each boat can catch just one fairing half.) https://www.space.com/spacex-starman-tesla-falcon-heavy-first-orbit-sun.html Back to Top DISPAX World 2019 18 - 19 September 2019, The Riverside Venue, London, UK The 3rd International Conference on Unruly Airline Passenger Behaviour With only a few weeks to go, DISPAX World 2019 is fast approaching! We are delighted to be able to offer all subscribers to Curt Lewis a 20% discount on the delegate rate. To redeem this offer use the promotional code: CURT20 when registering on the conference website: www.unrulypax.com/registration/ Disruptive passenger incidents are a daily occurrence on board commercial flights around the world. Seemingly trivial issues can quickly escalate into explosive situations that endanger the safety of passengers and crew. The much anticipated 3rd edition of DISPAX World returns to London to explore the broad range of causes of such behaviour, the responses available and the legal implications for carriers and states. Looked at from diverse perspectives, including those of aircrew, passengers, regulatory authorities, industry associations, and law enforcement, DISPAX World 2019 will provide a comprehensive and authoritative programme over two days in one of the busiest airline hubs in the world: London. Speakers will include industry leaders, aircrew, airport operators, academics and law enforcement agencies. DISPAX World 2019 is a must-attend conference for: Flight attendant instructors Unions & staff associations Pilots Law enforcement agencies Airline Security Personnel Airport operators Government transportation regulators Security companies Aviation health professionals & psychologists Consumer bodies Academics & researchers International law firms For more information and to view the programme, please visit: www.unrulypax.com or contact the Event Manager, Lucy Rawlings, at lrawlings@avsec.com and don't forget to follow us on Twitter: @DispaxWorld Back to Top Position Available: SRC Safety Analyst | Florence, KY (near CVG) Are you ready to take flight with the global leader in airfreight? Do you have a passion for flight safety along with the ability to proactively identify trends through targeted analysis? If so, we invite you to explore new heights with Atlas Air! Overview: This position will be responsible for assisting in the overall gathering, validating, tracking, and analyzing of Safety Data. Flight data studies and investigations will be done at the direction of Safety and Flight Operations. Responsibilities: • Ensure data integrity and validity through maintaining flight data database and validating safety events. • Analyze flight data and develop detailed queries within Excel and additional software programs. • Assist with flight data investigations, conducting root cause analysis of identified safety concerns. • Assist in administration of all internal safety programs (ASAP, FDM, FRMC, FCR, & LOSA) making up components of the Company Safety Management System (SMS), and assist in external and internal operational audits (IOSA, DoD, customer, etc.). • Solicit and process safety improvement suggestions and write reports based on empirical safety data. • Conduct industry safety data comparisons and attend industry safety conferences. • Create presentations of current and past safety data trends and present to a wide variety of audiences. • Assist in development and deployment of internal newsletters. • Provide timely advice and assistance on Company aviation safety matters. • Perform other duties as assigned. Qualifications: • Bachelor's Degree or higher; preferably aviation or mathematics focus. • 2 - 4 years of relevant work experience. • Knowledge of Part 121 airline procedures; preferably holds at least Private Pilot License. • Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel); advanced experience in Excel preferred. • Must be self-starter with ability to work with little supervision in fast paced environment. • Minimal travel will be required; must be able to travel without restrictions. • Strong written and verbal communication skills required. • Authorization to work in the U.S. without requiring sponsorship. About Atlas Air: Atlas Air Worldwide is a world leader in aircraft and aviation outsourcing with more than 25 years of experience serving freight, commercial, charter, and military customers. We deliver a powerful combination of an efficient fleet, cost-saving operations, and superior customer service. With nearly 3,300 employees working together across 89 countries, Atlas Air generated 2018 net sales of $2.7 billion. Our companies operate the world's largest fleet of Boeing 747 Freighters and provide customers a broad array of Boeing 747, 777, 767, 757 and 737 aircraft for domestic, regional and international applications. We are dedicated to safety, integrity, and excellence; and we're seeking applicants who are interested in working in a challenging, fast-paced environment with a truly international company. Our rapid growth continues both on the ground and in the sky, and we invite you to grow along with us! APPLY HERE Back to Top Manager, System Safety & Data Assurance Position Overview The position supports the Director, Safety Programs & Analytics in the administration of HA's Safety/Security/Quality Assurance (SSEQ) database. Responsible for the implementing SMS standards to the database and operational departments' SMS programs. Responsible for performing periodic evaluation of the standards and their application within the SSEQ database and operational departments SMS programs. Key Responsibilities • Provide oversight of the airlines SSEQ database to ensure processes and tasks performed within the database are in compliance with Hawaiian's Safety Management System Manual (SMSM) • Perform critical functions to include the development and application of taxonomy, change management and Data analysis within the safety programs database • Establish and administer that SSEQ database steering committee by developing system standards and workflows in compliance with Hawaiians Safety Management System (SMS) • Develop advanced models, tools and templates to drive the safety planning, and development processes • Evaluate accuracy of data, reporting, and forecasting outputs and perform adjustment to maximize commercial impact • Interface with the Operations SMS managers, IT, and other operational departments to document and ensure system and analysis expectations are being met • Perform periodic evaluations of operational departments' SMS programs to ensure compliance with Hawaiian's SMSM • Support the airline's corporate safety department with evaluations and conformance with IOSA (Int Operational Safety Audits) [SMS] requirements • Oversee the investigations for company mishaps, incidents, and accidents and support the Primary Investigator for aircraft mishaps and accidents • Participate in InfoShare Conferences to meet 14CFR ง13.401 (FOQA) requirements. In coordination with other Safety Departments, use available databases to identify areas where enhanced equipment, training or procedures are required • Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) • Safety Database & Analysis Administrator • Other duties as assigned Minimum Requirements Bachelors' degree or equivalent work experience Three years aviation safety experience with a 14CFR Part 121 carrier or relevant operational safety management experience, such as 14CFR Part 135 or military Working knowledge in Aviation Safety Programs including SMS, AQP, ASAP, FOQA, ASIAS, and LOSA Have a thorough understanding of relevant CFRs and applicable company manuals Extensive statistical methods experience Excellent interpersonal, analytical, and problem-solving skills Must possess the ability to work effectively with a minimum of supervision Must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat software and Tableau (or similar software) Excellent communication and presentation skills are required Must be able to obtain and maintain an airport SIDA credential Must be able to travel to both domestic and international locations; passport required Preferred Qualifications Quantitative and qualitative data analysis, data modeling, developing reports relational database experience SQL, SAS, Unix programming experience preferred 5+ years of SMS or Safety Analytics experience preferred About Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiianฎ has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 15 years (2004-2018) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Cond้ Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and TripAdvisor have placed Hawaiian among the top of all domestic airlines serving Hawai'i. Now in its 90th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaii's biggest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers non-stop service to Hawai'i from more U.S. gateway cities (13) than any other airline, along with service from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides, on average, more than 170 jet flights daily between the Hawaiian Islands, and over 260 daily flights system-wide. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow Hawaiian's Twitter updates (@HawaiianAir), become a fan on Facebook (Hawaiian Airlines), and follow us on Instagram (hawaiianairlines). For career postings and updates, follow Hawaiian's LinkedIn page. For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines' online newsroom. APPLY HERE Curt Lewis