Flight Safety Information October 22, 2019 - No. 215 In This Issue Europe regulator to clear Boeing 737 MAX in Jan at earliest Incident: Jetblue A321 near Albany on Oct 19th 2019, fuel pump problem Incident: Rudufu F50 at Mandera on Oct 20th 2019, runway excursion Accident: American A333 near Shannon on Oct 21st 2019, two cabin crew unconscious due to forgotten cleaning chemical Incident: Smartlynx A320 near Munich on Oct 21st 2019, smoke in cockpit Incident: Swiss A321 at Zurich on Oct 21st 2019, smoke in cabin Incident: Thai B773 at Bangkok on Oct 20th 2019, rejected takeoff due to uncontained engine failure Incident: Mesa CRJ9 at Birmingham on Oct 19th 2019, main tyre missing American Airlines pilot: Crew members "lost consciousness" due to fumes in cabin Airline pilots must not become passengers as computers take over, warn safety officials South African Airways recalls some aircraft for compliance checks Drunk man tries opening airplane door mid-flight. Passengers wrap him in cellophane Battery or charger in luggage explodes at Chicago's Midway Airport IBAC's Edwards Sees Gains in Global Recognition of Bizav Remarkable Composite Metal Foam Outperforms Aluminum for Use in Aircraft Wings Gulfstream Moves To Reclaim High Ground From Bombardier With Luxe New $75M Executive Jet Deliveries of Mitsubishi's SpaceJet face fresh delay Hope Mars Mission: Launching the Arab World into the Space Race CABIN CREW FATIGUE RESEARCH PROJECT AVIATION COMMUNICATION: STRATEGY AND MESSAGES FOR ENSURING SUCCESS AND PREVENTING FAILURES - Book United States Helicopter Safety Team...Industry Co-Chair Search Chair Position Announcement Instructor Pilot Aviation Safety Officer Manager, Helicopter Maintenance SAFE SKIES FOR ALL: INTRODUCING SPACEFLIGHT INTO OUR SKIES Europe regulator to clear Boeing 737 MAX in Jan at earliest By Tim Hepher COLOGNE, Germany, Oct 21 (Reuters) - European regulators expect to clear Boeing's BA.N grounded 737 MAX to return to service in January at the earliest, following flight trials by European test pilots scheduled for mid-December, Europe's top aviation safety official told Reuters. The head of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) declined to estimate when U.S. regulators would make their own decision to lift a flight ban imposed in March, but said any gap between the agencies would be a matter of weeks rather than months. Boeing has said it aims to return the jet to service by end-year following changes to cockpit software and training in the wake of two fatal crashes that sparked the grounding in March. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has primary responsibility for lifting the ban and is expected to be followed by other regulators including EASA, but there have been reported concerns that other agencies could be slow to act. "For me it is going to be the beginning of next year, if everything goes well. As far as we know today, we have planned for our flight tests to take place in mid-December which means decisions on a return to service for January, on our side," EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky said late on Friday. He said a return to service of the MAX would be coordinated with the FAA as much as possible, but that the two agencies had slightly different processes and consultation requirements. "So we may end up with a couple of weeks of time difference but we are not talking about six months; we are talking about a delay which, if it happens, will be due mostly to process or administrative technicalities." Ky was speaking shortly before the disclosure of internal Boeing pilot messages from 2016 plunged the planemaker into fresh turmoil. On Monday, he declined comment on the messages. Some analysts and unions suggested the texts could further delay a return to service, but FAA officials said following the release they did not expect the messages would affect tentative plans for a certification flight in early November. The FAA says it needs at least 30 days from that flight to end the grounding. A European source said there were no immediate signs of an impact. HUMAN FACTORS However, the timing for ungrounding the MAX is not set in stone and depends on a number of outstanding checks. The FAA is waiting for a final Boeing system update designed to avoid so-called MCAS control software pushing the MAX's nose downwards due to data from a single faulty angle-of-attack (AOA) or airflow sensor. Instead, MCAS will monitor both sensors. EASA has not withdrawn a suggestion that only a third sensor would make the system foolproof, but says it is prepared to set its concerns aside - at least on a transitional basis - if a separate exercise aimed at improving pilot procedures can make the workload from such faults manageable for an "average" crew. "We are still looking at the changes made by Boeing on their flight control computers which they did over the summer and early September. We are entering a critical stage in the project where we look at the human-factor issues and how much in terms of workload a crew can take in terms of alarms," Ky said. The workload tests will be carried out together with the FAA, but EASA will perform its own flight and simulator tests. These will help EASA decide whether to rely solely on improved cockpit procedures so that pilots can easily cope with any sensor outage, or demand another technical safety net to make it harder for sensor data to disappear in the first place. "The two are complementary...If you want better AOA integrity, one obvious way would be to add another sensor, which is not easy to do," Ky said. TRANSITIONAL PERIOD If EASA concludes an extra fallback is still needed, Ky did not exclude making this a "synthetic" or computerised sensor capable of imitating a probe and sending calculated data to aircraft systems to supplement data from actual sensors. "This has never been done before but we are open to discussing all possible solutions with Boeing," Ky said. He did not rule out introducing a transitional period in which the plane could be cleared with reduced pilot overload. "If you have a new operational procedure which simplifies the workloads for pilots and enables you to arrive at an acceptable level .... this can be done for the return to service," he said. "Now, is this level acceptable for a longer period than just the transitional period? That is something we need to assess." The outcome of the workload tests will also influence what training is required, Ky said. Ky dismissed concerns that competition between global regulators would hamper a smooth worldwide return to service. "There is no real competition between regulators," he said. He also rebuffed suggestions from some analysts that EASA is dragging its feet or allowing recent transatlantic political tensions to sharpen its scrutiny of the U.S.-made jet. "All the decisions that we took on this project were technical decisions. We don't do politics." Asked whether regulators now fully understood the accidents, the first of which is due to trigger a final Indonesian accident report later this month, Ky cited a combination of factors. "With hindsight everything is much easier. ... The interaction between the machine and the human is never completely rational; it is a human-machine interface," he said. "There were design mistakes for sure - the MCAS should never have been designed the way it was designed - and bad luck." Boeing has said the accidents were caused by chains of events of which the performance of MCAS represented one link. On Suunday, it said it had developed improvements to the 737 MAX that would ensure similar crashes never happened again. Back to Top Incident: Jetblue A321 near Albany on Oct 19th 2019, fuel pump problem A Jetblue Airbus A321-200, registration N937JB performing flight B6-1077 from Boston,MA to Las Vegas,NV (USA) with 126 people on board, was climbing out of Boston when the crew stopped the climb at FL220 and subsequently decided to divert to Albany,NY (USA) declaring emergency due to an overweight landing as result of a fuel pump issue. The aircraft landed on runway 01 about 52 minutes after departure from Boston. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 3 hours, then continued the journey and reached Las Vegas with a delay of 3.5 hours. The FAA reported the aircraft diverted due to a fuel imbalance. Passengers reported they were instructed to assume their brace positions for landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1077/history/20191019/1235Z/KBOS/KLAS http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce4ba47&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Rudufu F50 at Mandera on Oct 20th 2019, runway excursion A Rudufu Ltd. Fokker 50, registrtion 5Y-SKN performing a flight from Takaba to Mandera (Kenya) with 30 passengers, landed on Mandera's dirt strip but went off the runway and became stuck in mud. The airstrip of Takaba is located at N3.426 E40.23 (dirt runway of about 1600 meters/5300 feet length), Mandera Airstrip is located at N3.934 E41.845 (dirt runway of about 1100 meters/3700 feet length). At the time of the occurrence heavy rains had worsened the state of the airstrips. 5Y-SKN in the mud: http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce4b75f&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: American A333 near Shannon on Oct 21st 2019, two cabin crew unconscious due to forgotten aircraft cleaner on board An American Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N273AY performing flight AA-729 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Philadelphia,PA (USA), was enroute at FL370 about 170nm southwest of Shannon (Ireland) about to enter the Oceanic crossing when the crew reported a chemical odour on board, two flight attendants had passed out. The crew decided to turn around and divert to Dublin advising, that both cabin crew regained their consciousness in the meantime, the crew had been actually able to identify the spillage, at Heathrow Airport a canister with an aircraft interior cleaner CH2200D had been left behind in a lavatory, the canister had leaked its fluid into the carpets and was now secured into a plastics bag, they were told it was not a toxic substance, but mainly consisting of derivatives of ammonium chloride, in addition a number of passenger are complaining about respiratory and eye irritations. Paramedics were requested at the gate, they would taxi to the gate after landing and meet the paramedics at the gate. The aircraft landed safely on Dublin's runway 28 about one hour after turning around. Paramedics attended to the affected cabin crew and a number of passengers. Dublin Airport reported the aircraft diverted to Dublin due to a medical emergency. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Dublin about 10 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce4b307&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Smartlynx A320 near Munich on Oct 21st 2019, smoke in cockpit A Smartlynx Estonia Airbus A320-200 on behalf of TUI Airlines Belgium, registration ES-SAT performing flight TB-3141 from Brussels Charleroi (Belgium) to Sharm el Sheikh (Egpyt) with 183 people on board, was enroute at FL350 about 15nm northwest of Munich (Germany) when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and decided to divert to Munich. The aircraft landed safely on Munich's runway 26L about 20 minutes later and taxied to the apron. The airport reported the crew declared emergency due to smoke in the cockpit, there were no injuries and no damage. The airline reported the crew received a cargo smoke indication, no fire, heat or smoke were detected. A replacement aircraft was dispatched to take the passengers to their destination. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration OO-JLO departed Munich about 7 hours after ES-SAT had landed and is currently enroute to Sharm el Sheikh. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in Munich for about 5.5 hours, then positioned back to Charleroi. http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce4817e&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Swiss A321 at Zurich on Oct 21st 2019, smoke in cabin A Swiss International Airlines Airbus A321-200, registration HB-IOL performing flight LX-1726 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Rome Fiumicino (Italy) with 92 passengers and 8 crew, was in the initial climb out of Zurich's runway 28 when the crew stopped the climb at about 6500 feet reporting smoke in the cabin and decided to return to Zurich. While on approach to runway 14 the crew advised the smoke did not intensify further and requested emergency services to inspect the aircraft after landing. The aircraft landed safely on runway 14 about 11 minutes after departure. Emergency services did not observe any anomaly, the aircraft taxied to the apron. A replacement A321-200 registration HB-IOF reached Rome with a delay of 2:15 hours. http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce46843&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Incident: Thai B773 at Bangkok on Oct 20th 2019, rejected takeoff due to uncontained engine failure A Thai Airways Boeing 777-300, registration HS-TKL performing flight TG-970 from Bangkok (Thailand) to Zurich (Switzerland) with 339 passengers and 20 crew, was accelerating for takeoff from Bangkok's runway 01L when the crew rejected takeoff at low speed (about 55 knots over ground) due to the failure of the left hand engine (GE90). The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. The left engine shows a large hole at the inboard casing. The airline reported the aircraft was taking off from Bangkok when the left hand engine failed prompting the crew to reject takeoff. It was found the aircraft needs repair, no spare aircraft was immediately available, hence the passengers were taken to hotels. A replacement aircraft departed later the day. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration HS-TKK reached Zurich with a delay of 12 hours. The damage engine: http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce47f3f&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Mesa CRJ9 at Birmingham on Oct 19th 2019, main tyre missing A Mesa Airlines Canadair CRJ-900 on behalf of American Airlines, registration N929LR performing flight YV-5732 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Birmingham,AL (USA), completed a seemingly uneventful flight with a safe landing in Birmingham. The FAA however reported a left main tyre was missing identifying the flight phase of approach when the occurrence happened. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASH5732/history/20191019/2039Z/KDFW/KBHM http://avherald.com/h?article=4ce48c14&opt=0 Back to Top American Airlines pilot: Crew members "lost consciousness" due to fumes in cabin Two crew members who apparently lost consciousness on an American Airlines plane have been taken to a hospital in Dublin after fumes from spilled cleaning fluid caused an emergency landing. A spokesman for the airline said Monday that medical personnel met American Airlines flight 729 after it landed Monday afternoon. The spokesman says the two crew members who became ill were treated and released. One passenger was also hospitalized. The plane was flying from London to Philadelphia when it diverted to Dublin due to odor from cleaning fluid that spilled in the galley. According to LiveATC.net audio of the incident, the pilot can be heard requesting "immediate assistance." "We've had one, actually we've had two of our flight crew staff, excuse me, the cabin staff has actually lost consciousness, I think they're back to state of consciousness now and there are general complaints about burning eyes and other problems with the mucus in the nose, skin problems." American says the Airbus A330 was carrying 287 passengers and a crew of 12. The flight landed safely in Dublin at 1:15 p.m. local time, and taxied to the gate, the airline said. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-airlines-pilot-crew-members-lost-consciousness-fumes-from-spilled-cleaning-fluid-today-2019-10-21/ Back to Top Airline pilots must not become passengers as computers take over, warn safety officials Exclusive: Improving technology has been making flying safer than ever but the industry must be 'cautious about the effects of automation' Pilots inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 (Photo: JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty) Pilots must not become glorified passengers as computers take over more tasks in flying airliners, because they will be less able to deal with dangerous problems that could lead to crashes, safety officials have warned. Improving technology has been making flying safer than ever but the industry must be "very cautious about the effects of automation", Julian Firth, a principal inspector at the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), told i during a visit to their base in Farnborough, Hampshire. "These aircraft are so capable. They currently can't take off by themselves - or at least we don't let them - but they are capable of landing themselves," he said. "We've already reached the stage with aircraft design where a lot of effort is going into keeping the human in the loop... If they're merely passengers, and they don't understand what's going on, that's where we're seeing the real errors occurring." Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft parked at Southern California Logistics Airport after being grounded (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty) His colleague Toni Flint, a human factors specialist at the AAIB, said: "The difficulty is being able to anticipate every way that the computer system is going to behave, and every way that people are going to respond. "The complexity is becoming greater and therefore the ability to predict what mistakes someone might make, how they might behave - and therefore what might go wrong - is less and less." The Boeing investigation continues Boeing's use of an automated flight system called MCAS on its 737 Max airliners is being investigated in the US for its role in two crashes that killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. For a major design flaw on an airliner to be the cause of disaster is "unprecedented" in modern aviation history, said Robert Vickery, an AAIB engineering inspector. "We have to be very careful in drawing assumptions and pointing fingers," he said, but added that he is concerned about potential regulatory failings in certifying the aircraft as safe to fly. "You have to ask yourself: is the system we have in place robust enough?" It emerged last week that a former senior Boeing test pilot, Mark Forkner, told a colleague in 2016 that he was worried about how the system was "running rampant" in a flight simulator session, before the airliner was certified as safe to fly. "These messages indicate that Boeing withheld damning information", Peter DeFazio, Chair of the US House of Representatives transportation committee, wrote on Friday. Boeing has now said it regrets that Forkner's messages not being released earlier to US investigators but said they had been misinterpreted and they did not mean there was any prior knowledge of how dangerous MCAS could prove to be. https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/airline-pilots-automation-boeing-737-max-817811 Back to Top South African Airways recalls some aircraft for compliance checks JOHANNESBURG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - South Africa's cash-strapped national airline SAA said on Tuesday it may operate an amended flight schedule following a decision to recall some of its planes to undertake compliance checks in line with regulatory requirements. South African Airways (SAA) said in a statement that some of the flights will operate later than usual and four flights have been cancelled, but the airline has combined flights and deployed bigger aircraft to accommodate affected passengers, it said. "The decision to recall the aircraft follows an oversight inspection conducted by SACAA (South African Civil Aviation Authority) at SAA's maintenance subsidiary, South African Airways Technical (SAAT)," the airline said. https://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-saa/south-african-airways-recalls-some-aircraft-for-compliance-checks-idUSL5N27711Z Back to Top Drunk man tries opening airplane door mid-flight. Passengers wrap him in cellophane A rowdy man created a ruckus on a flight. He tried opening the emergency exit door of the airplane and the passengers tried to hold him down by tying him with cellophane. Passengers try to tie drunk man with cellophane after he tried to open the emergency exit Photo: YouTube We have heard a lot of bizarre flight instances. From a Chinese flyer throwing hot water on an air stewardess to a woman sitting in her own urine for 7 hours, we thought we had heard it all. But this latest incident from a Norwind flight that was bound from Moscow to Phuket proves that we are not even close. A drunk passenger tried opening the emergency door of the Nordwind Airline Boeing 777 while the flight was at a height of 33,000ft. A doctor was called in, who tried to calm the drunk man down but to no avail. The cabin crew had to finally tie him down with a cellophane wrap and make an emergency exit. TV reporter, Elena Demidova was on the same flight and she recorded the entire incident explaining the details of the situation. In the video, she explains, the flight was in the air when suddenly the seat belt signs lit up. She can be heard saying, "Suddenly the sign 'fasten your seat belts' began to flash." The passengers were a little confused. She added, "Minutes later the captain explained, a passenger in the rear of the plane was drunk and rowdy. A doctor tried to calm him. Then tougher measures were taken." She added, "They tried to use plastic food wrap to tie him. 7 people were holding him, but nothing helped." Finally, the flight landed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where the drunk man was handed over to the Uzbek police. As the flight took off again, the passengers took a sigh of relief, but their problems did not end there. After that whole incident, two other drunken men got into a fight and had to be separated by the cabin crew. Finally, a third man went inside the washroom of the airplane and started smoking. All three men were arrested as soon as they landed in Thailand. https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/drunk-man-tries-opening-airplane-door-mid-flight-passengers-wrap-him-in-cellophane-1611754-2019-10-22 Back to Top Battery or charger in luggage explodes at Chicago's Midway Airport (CNN)The bomb squad was called to Midway International Airport in Chicago on Monday after a cell phone battery or charger in someone's luggage exploded, police told CNN. The incident was cleared by the squad and no one was injured, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a tweet. The bag had been run over by a luggage vehicle and the item did not combust or explode on its own, he said. "Thanks to everyone for being vigilant and to the firefighters, officers and technicians who assisted," Guglielmi said. There was no impact on flight traffic, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said. The luggage was destined for a Volaris flight to Leon, Mexico, Chicago police said. There was no damage to the aircraft and minimal impact on airport operations, police said. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/us/chicago-airport-luggage/index.html Back to Top IBAC's Edwards Sees Gains in Global Recognition of Bizav Kurt Edwards, International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) director general. Business aviation is making strides on a global platform in its safety and environmental goals, said International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) director general Kurt Edwards. Edwards comes to NBAA on the heels of the 40th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that ran from September 24 to October 4. Business aviation goals were recognized on a number of fronts by ICAO and other stakeholders, Edwards said, pointing to the global civil aviation community recognition of its efforts to heighten awareness of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The Assembly further endorsed IBAC's call for ICAO to facilitate-and states to implement-positive incentive policies to encourage the production and use of SAF, Edwards said. In addition, IBAC (Booth N2816) collaborated with industry players on a range of other issues during the triennial event, including its support for the CORSIA program as an offset to carbon use. In another area pushed by IBAC, the Assembly backed the use of a data-driven approach when developing noise and emissions standards for supersonic aircraft; and, Edwards said, IBAC secured support for further work on turboprop safety and the sharing of best practices on air traffic management procedures to all for greater use of rotorcraft. A key to IBAC's presence at such gatherings is to ensure that state regulators understand the different needs of business aviation. "ICAO has fundamentally always recognized the differences between business aviation, or more broadly general aviation, and commercial, scheduled air transport," Edwards said, but "most states and regulators around the world think first about the airline sector." There are several reasons for that, he said, including a much higher level of airline activity that brings a greater familiarity with those operations. "Because there are many, many more airline passengers, the exposure to safety risk is perceived as greater and gets more attention." As such, fewer resources are dedicated toward business aviation issues. But he is encouraged that the business aviation community is making strides. "We continue to build on...recognition [of business aviation] by participating in as many ICAO forums as possible," he said. "We have had great success in providing differentiated but constructive treatment of business aviation in CORSIA, the new CO2 emissions standard, and, of course, with regard to the weight threshold for aircraft requiring a hardened cockpit door in commercial operations." Edwards added that he is receiving requests for IBAC participation in an increasing number of ICAO forums. "IBAC and its member associations have significantly raised the visibility of business aviation at ICAO, but it is incumbent on the industry as a whole to get behind the collective effort at IBAC to ensure... that ICAO takes into account the inherent differences of business aviation." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-10-21/ibacs-edwards-sees-gains-global-recognition-bizav Back to Top Remarkable Composite Metal Foam Outperforms Aluminum for Use in Aircraft Wings Composite metal foam, with ruler for scale. Credit: Afsaneh Rabiei The leading edges of aircraft wings have to meet a very demanding set of characteristics. New research shows that a combination of steel composite metal foam (CMF) and epoxy resin has more desirable characteristics for use as a leading-edge material than the aluminum currently in widespread use. "We call our hybrid material 'infused CMF,'" says Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State. "And while infused CMF is about the same weight as aluminum, it is tougher and has other characteristics that make it more appealing from a flight performance, safety and fuel efficiency standpoint." CMF is a foam that consists of hollow, metallic spheres - made of materials such as stainless steel or titanium - embedded in a metallic matrix made of steel, aluminum or metallic alloys. For this study, the researchers used steel-steel CMF, meaning that both the spheres and the matrix were made of steel. Previous work has found the metal foam is remarkably tough: it can withstand .50 caliber rounds, resist high temperatures, and block blast pressure from high explosive incendiary rounds. The infused CMF is made by immersing the steel-steel CMF in a hydrophobic epoxy resin and using vacuum forces to pull the resin into both the hollow spheres and into much smaller pores found in the steel matrix itself. This results in about 88 percent of the CMF's pores being filled with epoxy resin. The researchers then tested both infused CMF and aerospace-grade aluminum to see how they performed in three areas: contact angle, which determines how quickly water streams off of a material; insect adhesion, or how well bug parts stuck to the material; and particle wear, or how well the material stands up to erosion. All of these factors affect the performance of an aircraft wing's leading edge. Contact angle is a measure of how well water beads up on a surface. The lower a material's contact angle, the more the water clings to the surface. This is relevant for aircraft wings because water buildup on a wing can affect aircraft performance. The researchers found that infused CMF had a contact angle 130% higher than aluminum - a significant improvement. Insect adhesion is measured in two ways: by the maximum height of insect residue that builds up on a material, and by the amount of area covered by insect residue on a material's surface. Again, infused CMF outperformed aluminum - by 60% in regard to maximum height, and by 30% in regard to the surface area covered. The researchers also conducted grit blast experiments to simulate the erosion caused by the wear and tear that occurs over time when aircraft wings are in use. The researchers found that, while grit blast did increase surface roughness for infused CMF, it still fared better than aluminum. For example, at its worst, infused CMF still had a contact angle 50 percent higher than that of aluminum. In other words, the infused CMF retained its properties through erosion and wear, which indicates that it would give leading-edge wing components a longer lifetime - and reduce the costs associated with maintenance and replacement. "Aluminum is currently the material of choice for making the leading edge of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft wings," Rabiei says. "Our results suggest that infused CMF may be a valuable replacement, offering better performance at the same weight. "By the same token, the results suggest that we could use different materials for the matrix or spheres to create a combination that performs as well as conventional aluminum at a fraction of the weight. Either way, you're improving performance and fuel efficiency." https://scitechdaily.com/remarkable-composite-metal-foam-outperforms-aluminum-for-use-in-aircraft-wings/ Back to Top Gulfstream Moves To Reclaim High Ground From Bombardier With Luxe New $75M Executive Jet The Gulfstream G650 was the undisputed king of business jets until the Bombardier Global 7500 showed up this year. On Monday evening in Las Vegas, Gulfstream unveiled a new plane designed to take back the crown that the company says will have the largest, most comfortable cabin on the market. It will also be the most expensive business jet on the market with a list price of $75 million. The G700, which is based on the fuselage of the G650, will match that plane's industry-leading maximum speed of Mach 0.925 despite its greater size, thanks to new Rolls Royce Pearl 700 engines. Gulfstream opted not to try to top the Global 7500's market-leading range of 7,700 nautical miles - with a range of 7,500 nm, the G700 arguably gets close enough. Instead Gulfstream is positioning the G700 as giving owners more space, in every dimension. "The tallest, widest, longest cabin in business aviation," Gulfstream President Mark Burns said - twice - while introducing the company's new flagship jet. With a length of 109 feet, 10 inches, the G700 will be 10 feet longer that the G650 and a foot shorter than Bombardier's Global 7500, but it will have a 2-foot longer cabin (56 feet, 11 inches), a smidge higher height of 6 foot 3 inches and a little more room at the waist: 8 feet, 2 inches. G700 The galley on the Gulfstream G700 offers plenty of room.GULFSTREAM In other passenger comforts, Burns said the plane will be pressurized to have the lowest cabin altitude in the industry, less than 4,000 feet at most cruising altitudes, as well as the quietest cabin, and will have a circadian lighting system that mimics sunrise to sunset. Qatar Airways will be the launch customer with an order of 10 planes for its charter service Qatar Executive. Flexjet has ordered an unspecified number. Gulfstream says deliveries will begin in 2022. Gulfsteam and parent company General Dynamics are hoping the G700 will have similar appeal as the G650, which after its launch in 2012 quickly became a must-have status symbol for the rich and famous, boasting a luxe, spacious cabin, the longest range of any business jet and the highest speed of any nonmilitary aircraft. Gulfstream introduced an extended range version in 2014 capable of going 7,000 nm. At a current list price of about $73 million a pop, the G650 has been a huge moneymaker for General Dynamics and the most successful plane of the past decade. Gulfstream delivered 336 of the planes through 2018, Teal Group estimates (the company doesn't report deliveries by model). Gulfstream got seven years alone at the top with the G650 as Bombardier's efforts to develop a competing plane were delayed amid its struggles with the CSeries, an ambitious, money-draining attempt by the Montreal-based company to move up in size to challenge Airbus and Boeing at the smaller end of the airliner market. The Global 7500, certified late last year, threatened to turn the tables on Gulfstream in the most important segment of the business aviation market. Honeywell forecasts large cabin jets will account for 73% of overall sales by dollar value over the next five years. The Teal Group expects Bombardier to deliver 345 Global 7500s through 2028. The G700 should restore the balance of power, but with two strong players now, neither is likely to reap the high profits Gulfstream enjoyed for so long with the G650, says Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with Teal Group. And with a march higher in performance and price, the market for high-end jets won't keep growing indefinitely, he warns. At Bombardier's press conference earlier in the day before the opening of the NBAA business aviation conference, executive jet division chief David Coleal took a veiled potshot at the soon to be unveiled G700 in touting the benefits of the 7500 as an all-new design: "Remember, anything else out there is just a stretch." https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2019/10/21/gulfstream-g700-bombardier-7500/#430fa150732d Back to Top Deliveries of Mitsubishi's SpaceJet face fresh delay - Nikkei FILE PHOTO: Chief Development Officer of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation Alex Bellamy poses in front of a SpaceJet M100 aircraft (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp is seeking to postpone deliveries of its SpaceJet regional airplane as it battles delays in securing regulatory certification, with one option being a six-month delay from a mid-2020 target date, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Such a delay would be the sixth for the programme, which aims to revive Japan's dormant commercial aviation industry. A new first-delivery date could be set next month, the paper said on Saturday, without citing a source. The plane, this year renamed the SpaceJet instead of the Mitsubishi regional jet, was originally due to enter service in 2013. Jefferies analyst Sho Fukuhara said in a note to clients that the delays, if confirmed, could trigger market concerns about Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd <7011.T>, the planemaker's largest shareholder. Mitsubishi Heavy told the stock exchange on Monday that the planemaker was putting its "utmost effort" into completing certification and was sharing information about the schedule with all relevant parties. It did not provide an update on the delivery schedule for the plane. "There has been no official announcement or comment on our schedule," a Mitsubishi Aircraft spokesman said on Tuesday. "As we are evaluating the long term schedule, we are doing so not only for the development, certification and delivery of our first aircraft, but ... also to make decisions that will benefit the long term success of commercial aviation in Japan," the spokesman said. ANA Holdings Inc <9202.T>, Japan's largest airline by revenue, is due to be the first customer for the plane. Nikkei said the manufacturer would probably begin to hash out compensation for the delay, which would push the entry into service beyond the Tokyo Summer Olympics next year. An ANA spokesman declined to comment on potential delays but said the airline looked forward to having the SpaceJet in its fleet and providing its customers with a new regional jet. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/deliveries-mitsubishis-spacejet-face-fresh-021635424.html Back to Top Hope Mars Mission: Launching the Arab World into the Space Race Facts about the Hope Mars Mission led by the United Arab Emirates. Artist's depiction of the UAE's Hope satellite in space. Artist's depiction of the UAE's Hope satellite in space. (Image: © UAE Space Agency) The Hope Mars Mission, also called the Emirates Mars Mission, is the first uncrewed, interplanetary satellite spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates. In fact, the Hope satellite is the first planetary science mission led by an Arab-Islamic country. And the United Arab Emirates has not shied away from making lofty goals for the spacecraft. When Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, announced in July 2014 that the Emirates would send a satellite to Mars, he said that the launch date would be in July 2020, only six years from his announcement. That timing coincides with the alignment of Earth and Mars, which occurs once every two years. It also means the spacecraft should reach Mars in 2021, the year of the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates' formation. The Emirati government later said it also planned to build a habitable settlement on Mars by 2117. But the United Arab Emirates Space Agency - the government agency tasked with developing and regulating a world-class space sector for the United Arab Emirates - was established only in 2014, the same year that the Al-Amal (Arabic for "hope") mission was announced. And it wasn't until April 2015 that Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, established the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, where the Hope satellite would actually be built. That left the country with little time to reach its target launch date. "We chose the epic challenge of reaching Mars because epic challenges inspire and motivate us," Mohammed bin Rashid said in the 2014 statement. "The moment we stop taking on such challenges is the moment we stop moving forward." The United Arab Emirates Space Agency has faced those challenges head-on and accelerated forward. As of April 2019, the country had completed roughly 85% of the Hope probe, according to an article in Gulf News. And in September 2019, the United Arab Emirates sent its first Emirati astronaut into space. Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, a former pilot, spent eight days on the International Space Station, where he performed a series of experiments and gave a tour of the station in Arabic. "The UAE is on the verge of making history, after turning its dream of becoming the first Arabic and Islamic country to send a spacecraft to Mars into reality," said Ahmad Belhoul al Falasi, chairman of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency. "This monumental endeavor is the culmination of the efforts of a skilled and experienced team of young Emiratis, who, with the support of the nation and its visionary leadership, will secure the UAE's position at the forefront of space exploration and the international space sector." What is the Hope satellite going to do? Built in collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University, the Hope spacecraft is in many ways a state-of-the-art weather satellite. It will help answer some outstanding questions about Mars' climate and atmosphere. The satellite mission has four primary objectives: • Search for the connection between current Martian weather and the ancient climate of Mars. Substantial geophysical evidence suggests that Mars was once a much warmer and more humid world, with substantial liquid water on its surface. Those past conditions may have been optimal for some form of life to evolve. • Study the mechanisms that have driven oxygen and hydrogen out of Mars' atmosphere. Loss of the Martian atmosphere is believed to be the root cause behind Mars becoming a cold desert in which water can exist only as either a vapor or ice. Understanding what is driving (and may have driven) away these crucial parts of the atmosphere could help researchers understand how the Martian atmosphere has evolved over time and potentially how life on Mars could have been lost. • Study the connections between the lower and upper atmospheres of Mars. • Create a global picture of how the Martian atmosphere varies throughout the day, season and year. Current available data provides temperature and climate information for only a small stretch of time on Mars. If successful, the data collected by the Hope satellite will provide the first holistic view of the Martian climate every day of the year for multiple years. Hope Mars orbiter. Artistic rendition of what the Hope satellite will look like. It's essentially designed to be a state-of-the-art weather satellite. Hope satellite design The Hope satellite will have a total mass (including fuel) of 3,300 lbs. (1,500 kilograms), according to NASA. And at about 7.78 feet (2.37 meters) wide and 9.51 feet (2.90 m) tall, the probe will be about the size and weight of a small car. Four to six 120-newton Delta V thrusters will propel the spacecraft using hydrazine, and inorganic and highly volatile chemical. After seven to nine months of space travel, the probe will approach its orbit around Mars in May 2021, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates. The spacecraft will then collect two years' worth of scientific data, with an optional two-year extension that would take the mission into 2025. Hope will collect the scientific data using three state-of-the-art technologies mounted on the satellite: The Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI): This multiband camera will take 12-megapixel images at a spatial resolution of less than 5 miles (8 kilometers). The camera will be able to image the Martian atmosphere in three visible bands and three ultraviolet bands, all of which will help the mission to measure dust, water ice and ozone abundance in the atmosphere. The Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS): In collaboration with Arizona State University, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre designed EMIRS to measure the dust, ice clouds, water vapor and temperature profile of the Martian atmosphere. The Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS): This spectrometer will measure changes in the thermosphere; the structure of the hydrogen and oxygen exospheres around the planet; and the ultraviolet emissions of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. It will also track changes in the exosphere by season, solar inputs and winds driven by the lower atmosphere. The Emirates called the satellite "Hope" because its manufacture and scientific data would hopefully provide value for the future in two major ways: helping scientists understand how atmospheres evolve over time and helping to modernize the Arab world. Understanding how factors such as sunlight, dust and temperature affect the entire Martian atmosphere each day and throughout the seasons could also illuminate details about the atmosphere around the Earth and even planets around other solar systems, called exoplanets, according to the mission's scientific goals. Scientists could also use the information to model the future of Earth's atmosphere, such as how it may evolve under the forces of climate change. The Emirati government has also said that it sees this satellite as a way to bring the Arab world back to the forefront of science and astronomy - a position the region hasn't held since the Islamic Golden Age, from the ninth century to the 13th century. During that time, the Muslim world was the stronghold of knowledge in philosophy, math, astronomy and medicine. The Arabs made pioneering strides in algebra and trigonometry and further developed astronomical tools such as sundials. But since the end of its halcyon days, the Arab world has statistically made little contribution to science, according to a review in The New Atlantis. The Hope satellite is an attempt to help change that. "This is the Arab world's version of President John F. Kennedy's moonshot - it's a vision for the future that can engage and excite a new generation of Emirati and Arab youth," said Yousef al Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to the United States, during the UAE Embassy's National Day celebration in 2015, The National reported. The Emirati government invested over $5.5 billion into space-exploration efforts, according to The National. And as the first-ever Arab-Islamic mission to another planet using a satellite built entirely by a Muslim nation, Hope is expected to help catalyze the development of a new generation of Arab scientists and engineers. They, in turn, will help shift the country's economic system away from the oil industry and prepare it for a world that depends less on oil, Sarah Amiri, the mission's science lead, told Scientific American in 2016. As of July 2019, more than 70 Emirati scientists and engineers, almost all under age 35, were working on the mission. That number is expected to grow to 150 by 2020, according to Smithsonian.com. https://www.space.com/hope-emirates-mars-mission.html Back to Top CABIN CREW FATIGUE RESEARCH PROJECT Fatigue is a pervasive issue that affects all airline cabin crew. Fatigue may impede cabin crews' ability to consistently and effectively manage passengers from safety, security and service perspectives. As part of our undergraduate research project at Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia), we are conducting a survey of international cabin crew primarily engaged in long-haul (LH) and ultra long-haul (ULH) flight operations. This survey asks cabin crew for their views on various issues associated with work-related fatigue and stress. We also seek your views on the availability and effectiveness of various fatigue countermeasures. If you are working as LH or ULH cabin crew, you are invited to participate in this study. You will be asked to complete an online questionnaire, which also includes a consent form. The study takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. To access the study, please go to the following website: https://swinuw.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qBLCKgmpWlraxT Participants who complete the study will be eligible to enter a draw to win the latest iPad (6th Generation). This research project is being supervised by Peter Renshaw at the Department of Aviation, Swinburne University of Technology. If you have any questions, please contact Peter at prenshaw@swin.edu.au Back to Top AVIATION COMMUNICATION: STRATEGY AND MESSAGES FOR ENSURING SUCCESS AND PREVENTING FAILURES, 1ST EDITION 'THIS BOOK IS A MUST-HAVE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL AVIATION BUSINESS COMMUNITY AS A TRI-FUNCTIONAL INDUCTION, TRAINING, AND REFERENCE TOOL.' Now available to order from www.routledge.com/9781138624825 Aviation Communication: Strategy and Messages for Ensuring Success and Preventing Failures by Linda J. Tavlin With a foreword by Professor Graham Braithwaite "This is a great book that helps prepare communicators and business leaders in facing the worst. As Linda rightly points out, communication is a thought process and needs to be practised." - Tony Fernandes, Group CEO, AirAsia Group Do you ever wonder why an airline's communication strategy can crash and burn in a crisis? A lack of understanding an acceptable aviation communication strategy can, in this fast world of social media, ruin a company's credibility in the aviation industry. Aviation Communication: Strategy and Messages for Ensuring Success and Preventing Failures is the first go-to book to reveal to everyone in the aviation industry how to stop an organization's communication strategy from becoming the tragedy-after-the-tragedy that we've seen so often. In such instances, after the media go home, the economic, political, regulatory, and legal effects can linger for years. The strategies and messages in this book show how to prevent this along with the ultimate safety net used by those who have been successful. Readers will learn to prevent catastrophic communication mistakes with strategic templates for a wide array of scenarios, as well as 25 specific techniques that give the actual words to use to deliver the book's messages and reveal the safety net of the 4-point formula that organizations with successful strategies have used. USE CODE A015 FOR 20% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT Purchase your copy here: https://www.routledge.com/9781138624825 Back to Top United States Helicopter Safety Team Industry Co-Chair Search The USHST also has begun a search for an industry co-chair to succeed Raj Helweg, chief pilot of Air Methods, who is nearing completion of his second two-year term as co-chair. Helweg will remain with the USHST Steering Committee. The USHST government co-chair is Wayne Fry, FAA Flight Standards Division Manager for General Aviation Safety Assurance. For information and criteria on how a helicopter safety expert can join the USHST effort, contact Chris Hill via email at chris.hill@rotor.org. And don't forget to join in on the Helicopter Safety conversation! https://www.facebook.com/groups/524159038149866/ Thank you for everything that you do to support our safety initiative! We are 93+ days since our last fatal accident due to a strong communication network and also exceptional leadership! We value your feedback. The AVS Customer Feedback Form is at: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/stakeholder_feedback/air/air600/ United States Helicopter Safety Team http://www.ushst.org/ Back to Top Chair Position Announcement Department of Aerospace Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) invites applications for an innovative leader to chair the Department of Aerospace. Start date for the position is August 1, 2020. Expedited tenure upon appointment possible. The selected candidate must have prior experience and/or academic credentials that would allow a tenured appointment at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. All applications must be submitted through the MTSU Jobs web page (https://mtsujobs.mtsu.edu). Additional details and instructions can be found there. With approximately 1,000 undergraduate majors, the Department of Aerospace (https://www.mtsu.edu/aerospace/) is a signature department at MTSU, and is one of the nation's largest collegiate aviation operations programs. Our majors can choose among six concentrations: Aerospace Technology, Aviation Management, Flight Dispatch, Maintenance Management, Professional Pilot, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations. In addition, the department offers minors in Air Traffic Control and Unmanned Aircraft Systems as well as a Master's degree in Aeronautical Science with concentrations in Aviation Education, Aviation Management, and Aviation Safety and Security Management. MTSU is located in Murfreesboro, just outside of Nashville, in one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation. Located in the geographic center of the state, and included in Money magazine's "Top 100 Places to Live," Murfreesboro is implementing a community-wide growth plan while still maintaining a small-town feel. In addition to college events, the 'Boro' features a thriving Square, an extensive Greenway system, a Center for the Arts, and a variety of festivals and music venues. The primary responsibility of the chair is strong academic leadership for the department, ensuring excellent quality program delivery and student success and achievement. Other responsibilities include budgetary coordination, faculty/staff hiring and management, operational oversight of the MTSU airport campus and flight school, and partnership development with business, industry, and associations. The chair will serve as a champion for the growing program and will be expected to engage in fundraising, navigate periodic AABI accreditation review, and ensure compliance with FAA and other pertinent regulations. Successful candidates must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrated vision, leadership, and the ability to work productively with faculty and students from diverse backgrounds. The selected candidate will have a bachelor's or higher degree in an aviation discipline and will also have a doctorate or terminal degree in an appropriate, related field. The selected candidate will have pilot, maintenance, or dispatch certification and must have 3 years teaching and/or leadership experience at the collegiate level. Candidates who have 5 years'experience working in or managing flight operations will receive special consideration. Back to Top Instructor Pilot: Assists with the development and delivery of flight, ground and simulator training programs to ensure that Air Care training is vigorously applied. Coordinates to integrate pilot training with medical crew training. Assists in developing and implementing flight related medical personnel training. Operate North Memorial aircraft according to Federal Aviation Regulations and North Memorial Policies to transport customers to local hospitals. Basic Qualifications: Education • Some college with Bachelor's Degree preferred. Experience • Helicopter & instrument instructor experience, or • Simulator instructor experience. • Classroom instructor experience. • Possess the required experience as listed in the Federal Aviation Regulations under Part 135. • FAA CFI/CFII or former military instructor pilot desired. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities • Possess a current FAA Medical Certificate; and an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate. • Ability to semi-annually pass the required FAA instrument proficiency exam. • Ability to annually pass the required FAA Ground exam. • Organizational & people skills. • Some management skills. • Computer knowledge and writing skills. Apply Here: https://northmemorial.com/north-memorial-health-careers/ Back to Top Aviation Safety Officer: Responsible for the development, implementation, and management of the Safety Management System (SMS). Serves as a consultant to the all aviation departments on safety issues and performs related safety duties as required. Establishes and maintains active working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Basic Qualifications: Education • Bachelor of Science Degree with major course work in Aviation Management, Industrial Safety or • Hygiene, Public Administration, or closely related field. Experience • Previous experience with helicopter or other aviation-related organization • Certified helicopter pilot and/or maintenance technician preferred • Experience with auditing protocols and accreditation programs Knowledge, Skills and Abilities • Familiar with FAA rules and regulations • Application of FAA/NTSB/NASA aviation safety programs Licensure/Certification(s)/Registration • Valid Class D Driver's license in the state of residency with acceptable driving record---State Requirement • FAA CFI/CFII----NMHC Preferred • Airline Transport Pilot/Commercial Pilot License---NMHC Preferred Apply Here: https://northmemorial.com/north-memorial-health-careers/ Back to Top Manager, Helicopter Maintenance This position serves in the role of Director of Maintenance as described in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Supervises maintenance personnel as well as managing and scheduling aircraft maintenance. Supervises the maintenance of all tools, equipment, and supplies. Maintains all required aircraft records in a current status and transfers any log discrepancies not repaired to the deferred sheet. Directs all training and maintenance activities of maintenance personnel, determines personnel requirements based on present and projected workloads, and submits reports required by FAR 135.415 & FAR 135.417. Basic Qualifications: Education • High School Graduate or equivalent (GED) required • Airframe and powerplant technical school graduate • Factory training on at least one aircraft operated by North Memorial Health Air Care Experience • Must meet recent experience requirements of FAR 65.83 on same category and class of aircraft operated by North Memorial Health • Five (5) years' experience as a certified aircraft mechanic • In lieu of item 2: 3 years' experience with a certified airframe repair station, including 1 year in the capacity of approving aircraft to return to service. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities • Must know maintenance sections of operations manual, operations specifications, FAR 135.39C, and other applicable regulations. • Must be highly knowledgeable of the Aircraft Manufacturer's Maintenance Manual, inspection and maintenance specifications, applicable Federal Aviation Regulations and applicable portions of the Operations Manual. Must maintain close liaison with local FAA-FSDO on maintenance matters. Apply Here: https://northmemorial.com/north-memorial-health-careers/ Back to Top JOIN US! SAFE SKIES FOR ALL: INTRODUCING SPACEFLIGHT INTO OUR SKIES www.alpa.org/safeskies October 31, 2019 | Hyatt Regency Hotel | Washington, D.C The Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation invite you to a dynamic one-day conference as we highlight numerous, ongoing efforts to transform our airspace for the future. Curt Lewis