Flight Safety Information December 17, 2019 - No. 259 In This Issue Qantas flight turns back after cabin fills with smoke Incident: United B763 near Shannon on Dec 16th 2019, suspected fuel leak Incident: United B763 near Glasgow on Dec 15th 2019, fuel leak Incident: United B739 near Albuquerque on Dec 16th 2019, engine failure Accident: Piedmont E145 at Philadelphia on Dec 15th 2019, turbulence injures flight attendant A flight bound for New York took off from Germany, flew for 8 hours, then landed 85 miles from where it took off IndiGo A320neo flight diverted to Bagdogra due to engine glitch Certified safety trainer sheds light on refueling mistakes at smaller airports Aireon To Expand Aircraft Surveillance in Africa Aerion Supersonic selects GE Aviation as its Electrical Power System provider for the AS2 NASA's X-59 Quiet Supersonic Research Aircraft Cleared for Final Assembly Hiring of pilots soaring in U.S. Bombardier Delivers First Factory SAF-fueled Jet JetBlue Founder David Neeleman Selects Salt Lake City as Headquarters for New Airline SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket and lands the booster Call for Papers - ISASI 2020 Safety Management Systems Certificate Program from SCSI IATA Safety and Flight Ops Conference - Baku, Azerbaijan 31 March - 2 April, 2020 Qantas flight turns back after cabin fills with smoke Passengers of Qantas flight 575 leave the plane via slides at Sydney Airport on December 14, 2019. (CNN)A Qantas flight was forced to return to Sydney when smoke filled the cabin shortly after takeoff. Passengers on Perth-bound Flight 575 evacuated the plane via slides on Saturday. In a statement to CNN affiliate 7news, Qantas said a hydraulic fluid leak was the likely cause of the incident. "The captain elected to return to Sydney and the aircraft landed safely shortly afterwards. No emergency was declared," said the statement. "Once the aircraft was back on the gate there were reports of a thick haze in the cabin, likely caused by hydraulic fluid entering the air conditioning unit. While customers may have thought it was smoke, there was no fire." Passenger Kelly Guerard told CNN that the Airbus A330-200 turned around after about 30 minutes in the air. "When we landed, we were told to stay seated and keep our seat belts on," she said. "When I looked out the window I saw a fire truck and started smelling and seeing smoke." A few minutes later, the captain ordered everyone to evacuate, Guerard said, and the flight attendants opened the emergency exit doors while talking "very loudly." "I was the last person in the back so I was the first one to jump off the plane from the slide," Guerard said. "That was pretty scary! Once I was off the plane, I saw every one jumping off and were really scared. Some people even got slightly injured while sliding." Guerard, who was traveling from Quebec City, took some videos of passengers using the slides to leave the plane. Another passenger told CNN affiliate 9News that "everybody just panicked" when the order to evacuate came. One person was taken to to hospital after making their way down the slide, 9News reported. Qantas Fleet Safety Captain Debbie Slade told 9News that it was "a very rare event and one we take very seriously." She added: "We'll investigate exactly what happened, including liaising with Airbus, before this aircraft is returned to service." https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/16/australia/qantas-flight-smoke-evacuation-scli-intl/index.html Back to Top Back to Top Incident: United B763 near Shannon on Dec 16th 2019, suspected fuel leak A United Boeing 767-300, registration N642UA performing flight UA-2768 from Manchester,EN (UK) to Chicago O'Hare,IL (USA), was enroute at FL320 about 150nm north of Shannon (Ireland) when the crew decided to divert to Shannon reporting they suspected a fuel leak. The aircraft landed safely on Shannon's runway 24 about 35 minutes after the decision to divert. The aircraft had suffered similiar occurrence a month ago and the day before, see Incident: United B763 near Shannon on Nov 18th 2019, fuel leak and Incident: United B763 near Glasgow on Dec 15th 2019, fuel leak. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d0aea0a&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: United B763 near Glasgow on Dec 15th 2019, fuel leak A United Boeing 767-300, registration N642UA performing flight UA-986 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Chicago O'Hare,IL (USA), was enroute at FL320 about 130nm northwest of Glasgow,SC (UK) when the crew decided to divert to London Heathrow,EN (UK) reporting a fuel leak, subsequently changing to divert to Manchester,EN (UK), where the aircraft landed safely about 70 minutes after turning around. The aircraft remained on the ground for 27 hours, then departed for Chicago as flight UA-2768 but suffered another fuel leak and needed to divert to Shannon, see Incident: United B763 near Shannon on Dec 16th 2019, suspected fuel leak. The aircraft had already suffered another fuel leak a month ago, see Incident: United B763 near Shannon on Nov 18th 2019, fuel leak. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d0ae8b5&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: United B739 near Albuquerque on Dec 16th 2019, engine failure A United Boeing 737-900, registration N39475 performing flight UA-366 from San Diego,CA to Chicago O'Hare,IL (USA), was enroute at FL310 just initiating to step climb when the right hand engine (CFM56) failed emitting continuous streaks of flame. The crew stopped the climb, reduced the engine to idle and diverted to Albuquerque for a safe landing on runway 08 about 30 minutes after leaving FL313. A passenger reported he felt the aircraft was shaking though not in turbulence and saw streaks of flame from the right hand engine, the flames stopped. The crew announced they had reduced the engine to idle thrust and were diverting to Albuquerque. The airline reported the aircraft diverted to Albuquerque due to a technical problem with one of the engines. Streaks of flames from the right hand engine (Video: Thomas Chorny): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvuIj0udcjE Emergency landing at the Sunport http://avherald.com/h?article=4d0ae73a&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: Piedmont E145 at Philadelphia on Dec 15th 2019, turbulence injures flight attendant A Piedmont Airlines Embraer ERJ-145 on behalf of American Airlines, registration N648AE performing flight AA-4797 from Columbia,SC to Philadelphia,PA (USA), was on approach to Philadelphia descending through about 7000 feet when the aircraft encountered turbulence causing injuries to a flight attendant. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on Philadelphia's runway 27R about 15 minutes later. The FAA reported the flight attendant received a serious injury, a fracture of the right hand ankle when the aircraft encountered turbulence. The occurrence was rated an accident. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL4797/history/20191215/1015Z/KCAE/KPHL http://avherald.com/h?article=4d0abe9a&opt=0 Back to Top A flight bound for New York took off from Germany, flew for 8 hours, then landed 85 miles from where it started Passengers on a Lufthansa flight last Monday flew for eight hours and landed 85 miles from where the plane took off. Flight LH404 departed from Frankfurt, Germany, and was destined for JFK Airport in New York but was forced to do a U-turn as it reached the Atlantic because of a fault in the plane's hydraulics system. Frankfurt Airport is closed at night, so the plane was forced to land in nearby Cologne and passengers were transported by bus back to Frankfurt, a Lufthansa spokesman told Business Insider. The spokesman said that the plane made a safe landing and that there were no problems despite the concern about the hydraulics system. Passengers on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to New York had an extremely frustrating day last Monday when their plane was forced to turn back having only just reached the Atlantic because of a fault in the hydraulics system. The plane flew for eight hours but eventually landed in Cologne, 85 miles from where it took off. Lufthansa Flight LH404, an Airbus A340-600, departed from Frankfurt Airport at 5:53 p.m. local time on December 9 and traveled for close to four hours until it made a U-turn and flew back to Germany, landing in the airport in Cologne at 1:53 a.m., a Lufthansa spokesman told Business Insider. Screenshot 2019 12 13 at 15.55.26 FlightRadar24 The Lufthansa spokesman said the plane was over the Atlantic near Ireland when the crew became aware of a fault in the hydraulics system. He said the decision to turn the plane around was not due to an emergency but was a "precautionary measure" stemming from worries that the plane's main gear would face problems when it landed in New York. But because Frankfurt Airport is closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., the aircraft was diverted to Cologne and the passengers were put on buses back to Frankfurt. "Some passengers re-booked for the same flight and others whose final destination was not New York City booked different flights," the spokesman told Business Insider. He said that the plane made a safe landing and that there were no problems in Cologne despite worry about the hydraulics system. In a somewhat similar incident, passengers on a KLM flight in November were forced to endure an 11-hour journey that ended with them being dropped them off exactly where they started because of an erupting volcano. Flight KL685 took off from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and made it all the way to eastern Canada when the crew realized that a volcanic eruption in Mexico meant that the flight wouldn't be able to land there. The flight turned around and headed back to Amsterdam. The Dutch airline told the aviation news website Simple Flying that "landing at another airport was not possible, because of the visa requirements of passengers and as there was a large cargo of horses on board." https://www.yahoo.com/news/flight-bound-york-took-off-154423035.html Back to Top IndiGo A320neo flight diverted to Bagdogra due to engine glitch The flight 6E 958, which had 180 passengers, was flying from Siliguri to Kolkata Air safety-related issues have recently grabbed public attention with the Airbus A320neo planes, which are using Pratt & Whitney engines New Delhi: An IndiGo A320neo aircraft flying from Bagdogra to Kolkata had to return back mid-air on Monday due to engine problems, raising fresh concerns following a series of such snags that have occurred over the past few month. The flight 6E 958, which had 180 passengers, has been grounded at Bagdogra airport in Siliguri. An IndiGo spokesperson confirmed the incident. "During the flight, the pilot observed a caution message. Following the laid standard operating procedure, the aircraft was returned to Bagdogra for further inspections," the spokesperson said. Air safety-related issues have recently grabbed public attention with the Airbus A320neo planes, which are using Pratt & Whitney engines, facing several on-ground and mid-air glitches. This prompted the Directorate General for Civil Avaiation (DGCA) to direct IndiGo and GoAir, which use these aircraft, to install modified engines. The latest incident also arose due to an "unmodified engine", a government official said on condition of anonymity. "Since the other engine was modified, the plane could come back safely." About a week ago, another IndiGo flight that took off from Delhi for Hyderabad returned to the capital after one of the two engines experienced high vibrations mid-air, but it landed safely. IndiGo commands almost half of India's air passenger traffic and therefore the series of incidents have raised not only safety worries, but question marks about whether capacity constraints may emerge in coming months. Last month, India's aviation regulator warned IndiGo that the airline's effort to modify older Pratt & Whitney engines installed on Airbus A320neo aircraft were not satisfactory and a significant portion of the airline's fleet could be grounded if the airline failed to meet 31 January, 2020, deadline for modification of engines. IndiGo has 98 A320neo family aircraft comprising 91 A320neo and seven A321neo planes, all with Pratt & Whitney engines. Pratt and Whitney has not responded to emailed queries about their engine modification plans for Indian carriers. "A320neo forms over 30% of IndiGo's fleet, which is the largest in India. If these planes are grounded, then the fares will skyrocket. I don't think the DGCA will allow that," an analyst said, on condition of anonymity. Glitches in Airbus A320neo family fleet compound issues for the aviation industry globally as Boeing's 737 MAX planes have been grounded since March following two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that have together killed 346 people. A Monday news report by the Wall Street Journal said that Boeing may consider suspending production of the planes or reducing it till it receives US Federal Aviation Administration's approval. https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/indigo-a320neo-flight-diverted-to-bagdogra-due-to-engine-glitch-11576496883242.html Back to Top Certified safety trainer sheds light on refueling mistakes at smaller airports TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - 8 On Your Side is continuing to investigate after a small plane crash that killed a Tampa Bay area surgeon in Kokomo, Indiana. Dr. Daniel Greenwald was flying a Piper Aerostar 602P in central Indiana when he crashed in a field in October. The 59-year-old died from blunt-force trauma in the crash, according to an Indiana coroner. NTSB officials say jet fuel was put into the plane Greenwald was flying instead of the regular aviation gasoline that should have been used. 8 On Your Side spoke with aviation experts who tell us jet fuel would have caused the engine to quit. 8 On Your Side investigates later learned the fueling technician in Dr. Greenwald's case was hired by the city on Aug. 26, 2019. The college student was paid $11 an hour. His previous experience included jobs at the YMCA and Burger King but nothing in the aviation field. For weeks, we've been working to determine how this deadly crash could have potentially been prevented. "The fuel safety training program through the FAA started Jan. 1 of 1990," said Paul Calderwood, a fuel handler safety trainer. "The FAA has a program in place. I've always said I can't understand why it isn't across the board." According to an Advisory Circular obtained by 8 On Your Side Investigates, the FAA can require specific training at big airports like Tampa International but they can only make recommendations at smaller airports. In that case, it is up to the facility to oversee the training of its technicians. As we wait for the NTSB's final investigative report, 8 On Your Side has been asking the FAA about its oversight of technician's at smaller airports. The agency says it doesn't have the regulatory authority to oversee training at smaller facilities. A spokesman sent us the following statement: "Through 14 CFR Part 139, the FAA has regulatory authority for airports that have scheduled and unscheduled air carrier aircraft with more than 30 seats and/or scheduled air carrier operations in aircraft with more than 9 seats but less than 31 seats. These airports are required to have an Airport Operating Certificate and are inspected on a routine basis. The FAA does not have the regulatory authority to require or inspect airports that do not meet these criteria. Advisory Circulars are made available to all airports in order for them to know the safest ways to operate an airport and this would include fueling operations. Some state aviation authorities do conduct inspections, but under their regulations, not the FAA's. The following statement is from Florida's Department of Transportation, Aviation Division website: All private airports in the State of Florida must comply with "site approval" and "registration" requirements. There is no requirement for inspection and licensing of private-use airports, either private or public-owned. However, airports open to public-use, private or public-owned, must comply with Florida's "inspection" and "licensing" requirements. An option exists, however, allowing for inspection and licensing of private-use airports that meet certain state specified criteria. There are no fees for these services." Meanwhile, Calderwood says pilots must watch every single move of technicians during the refueling process. "If they do it wrong, and you have a problem, there's no place to pull over up there," he said. https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/certified-safety-trainer-sheds-light-on-refueling-mistakes-at-smaller-airports/ Back to Top Aireon To Expand Aircraft Surveillance in Africa Aireon and the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (Asecna) will go live on January 1 with a space-based surveillance system for ADS-B-equipped aircraft in Asecna's six flight information regions-Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Terrestrial, Dakar Oceanic, N'djamena, and Niamey. Implementation of Aireon's system will give Asecna 100 percent real-time air traffic surveillance over 16.1 million square kilometers of its controlled airspace. "Expanding ATS surveillance across key oceanic airspaces will allow us to more easily partner with regional [air navigation service providers] in these important corridors," said Asecna director-general Mohamed Moussa. "Today's announcement reinforces our decades-long commitment to creating a seamless African sky." Since July, Aireon terrestrial surveillance data currently reaches Asecna centers in Dakar and Abidjan, which is then distributed to its other centers by way of very small aperture terminals. The space-based system allows for service expansion over water and connects ADS-B data that will enable Asecna to safely reduce aircraft separation minima, adding more capacity and permitting preferred routes for airlines. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-12-16/aireon-expand-aircraft-surveillance-africa Back to Top Aerion Supersonic selects GE Aviation as its Electrical Power System provider for the AS2 business jet RENO, Nev., Dec. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerion Supersonic, the leader in supersonic technology, announced today that GE Aviation has been selected as the Electrical Power Systems provider for its AS2 supersonic business jet. GE Aviation will design and develop the electrical power system for the AS2. The system includes electrical power generation, distribution, conversion and energy storage. In 2018, Aerion announced that GE's Affinity™, the first civil supersonic engine in 55 years, will power the AS2. The Affinity engine is optimized with GE technology to provide exceptional and balanced performance across supersonic and subsonic flights. "We are excited to expand our collaboration with Aerion and leverage our extensive electrical power expertise for this state of the art, supersonic AS2 program", said Brad Mottier, GE Aviation Vice President and General Manager for Business and General Aviation & Integrated Systems. "Along with the GE Affinity engine, our electrical power system will be designed, integrated, and optimized to deliver outstanding overall system performance for Aerion and its customers." The AS2 electrical power system design and initial integration planning work will be conducted at GE's Electrical Power Integration Centre (EPIC) in Cheltenham, UK, with final integration and procurement at GE's Electric Power Integrated Systems Center (EPISCenter), the electrical power integration headquarters, located in Dayton, Ohio. "We conducted an extensive trade study, analyzing several providers and multiple power generation and distribution architectures." said Aerion CEO Tom Vice. "As a result, we have selected GE Aviation as our partner for the AS2 electrical power system. We are excited to expand our outstanding relationship with GE." Aerion's AS2 is the first-ever privately built supersonic commercial aircraft. Designed to be inherently environmentally friendly, the AS2 is the first supersonic aircraft with the ability to accept 100 percent synthetic fuel. It is also the first to be designed without an afterburner. The 12 passenger business jet is scheduled to begin flight testing in 2024. About Aerion Corporation Aerion, the industry leader in supersonic travel, is pioneering a new generation of efficient, economical, and environmentally responsible supersonic aircraft. The Mach 1.4 AS2 business jet is scheduled to begin flight testing in 2024. Aerion entered into a partnership with Boeing in February 2019 to develop the AS2 and advance the supersonic market. In October 2018, Aerion and GE Aviation unveiled the quiet and efficient GE Affinity™ engine, the first civil supersonic engine in more than 50 years. More information can be found at www.aerionsupersonic.com. About GE Aviation GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation. SOURCE Aerion https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aerion-supersonic-selects-ge-aviation-as-its-electrical-power-system-provider-for-the-as2-business-jet-300974935.html Back to Top NASA's X-59 Quiet Supersonic Research Aircraft Cleared for Final Assembly WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's first large scale, piloted X-plane in more than three decades is cleared for final assembly and integration of its systems following a major project review by senior managers held Thursday at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The management review, known as Key Decision Point-D (KDP-D), was the last programmatic hurdle for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft to clear before officials meet again in late 2020 to approve the airplane's first flight in 2021. "With the completion of KDP-D we've shown the project is on schedule, it's well planned and on track. We have everything in place to continue this historic research mission for the nation's air-traveling public," said Bob Pearce, NASA's associate administrator for Aeronautics. The X-59 is shaped to reduce the loudness of a sonic boom reaching the ground to that of a gentle thump, if it is heard at all. It will be flown above select U.S. communities to generate data from sensors and people on the ground in order to gauge public perception. That data will help regulators establish new rules to enable commercial supersonic air travel over land. Construction of the X-59, under a $247.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, is continuing at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company's Skunk Works factory in Palmdale, California. Three major work areas are actively set up for building the airplane's main fuselage, wing and empennage. Final assembly and integration of the airplane's systems - including an innovative cockpit eXternal Visibility System - is targeted for late 2020. Management of the X-59 QueSST development and construction falls under the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project, which is part of NASA's Integrated Aviation Systems Program. For more information about NASA's aeronautics research, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasas-x-59-quiet-supersonic-research-aircraft-cleared-for-final-assembly-300975488.html Back to Top Hiring of pilots soaring in U.S. Air traffic surge, retirements cited Air carriers are on pace to hire nearly 5,000 pilots this year, even after canceling thousands of flights from the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. Airline hiring will top more than 4,000 pilots by year's end for the fifth-straight year, a pace not seen since before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That was before mergers halved the number of major air carriers and airlines were comfortable flying planes with more empty seats. The industry is trying to keep up with a record number of passengers and more pilots retiring as they hit the mandatory age 65 limit, said Louis Smith, president of the Nevada-based aviation hiring firm Future & Active Pilot Advisors. "Airlines need a lot of pilots," Smith said. "As long as the economy is good and pilots keep retiring, someone has to fly planes." The surge in hiring comes with an increase in commercial air traffic throughout the country. U.S. air carriers have shuttled about 848 million passengers this year through November, 3.9% more than in the same period in 2018. That includes about 75 million passengers this year at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which still has the most employees of any carrier, also has hired the most pilots this year, bringing on 925. American hired 894 pilots in 2018, Future & Active Pilot Advisors' data showed. American also plans to hire more pilots in 2020 than it did this year, said American Airlines spokeswoman Lanesha Gipson. Southwest Airlines, which is headquartered at Dallas Love Field, has actually cut back on hiring this year, adding only 390 through November after bringing on 759 in 2018. Southwest, which owns the most grounded Boeing 737 Max planes, delayed first officer training in late 2019 and doesn't plan to hold another class again until February. It also put off some pilot promotions to the captain position. Southwest was supposed to get about 41 more 737 Max planes this year, but the aircraft has been sidelined by the Federal Aviation Administration since March 13 and the agency is taking its time to get it back into service. However, Southwest is still making plans to boost pilot hiring in the future. In July, the airline launched a recruitment program called Destination 225 to partner with universities and flight schools. The program is intended to give pilots a direct path to flying for Southwest Airlines after they complete flight school. Delta Air Lines has hired 6,800 employees this year to replace retiring workers and to grow, said Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian. Next year, Atlanta-based Delta plans to hire thousands more employees, including 1,300 pilots and 2,500 flight attendants. After striking partnerships with airlines around the world including Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, Aeromexico, China Eastern and most recently LATAM, Bastian said Delta is now the largest airline revenue group in the world. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, he said, Delta had its highest single-day revenue in its history, bringing in nearly $200 million that day. "The U.S. consumer is healthy and is responding well," Bastian said. Airlines have been facing a potential shortage of pilots during the next few years, mostly from retirement. Some 2,000 to 3,000 pilots a year at the country's 11 biggest airlines will turn 65 and age out of the system. Airlines have been upping efforts to get students into pilot training programs and regional airlines, where starting pay was as low as $22,000 a few years ago, said Mike Sykes, CEO of US Aviation Academy in Denton, Texas. Now, pilots can make $50,000 to $60,000 a year in their first and second years, including big signing bonuses that first year. In 2016, American Airlines regional subsidiary Envoy Air started offering signing bonuses of up to $22,100 for new pilots and retention bonuses of $10,000 after the first year of flying. Envoy is also willing to pay up to $45,000 in signing bonuses for experienced pilots. "I would say it's been a good five years since students with enough flight hours had to work really hard to get a regional pilot position," Sykes said. Pilot pay at mainline airlines such as American is good, but many inexperienced pilots were looking at up to $100,000 in debt for flight school and then careers where many are "just scrapping by," Sykes said. But Sykes said rising pay has helped lure more students. He said financial institutions that dropped out of lending for flight schools are reentering the market. At American Airlines, average pilot pay hit $229,000 a year in 2018, up from $138,000 a decade ago, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Airline Data Project. The pay at Southwest was $234,000 for the average pilot, $52,000 better than in 2008. "The money is really good once you get to the mainline," Sykes said. "It used to be that you had to suffer through flying for a regional with low pay, but that's not the case anymore." https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/dec/17/hiring-of-pilots-soaring-in-u-s-2019121/ Back to Top Bombardier Delivers First Factory SAF-fueled Jet Challenger 350 factory SAF-fueled Bombardier has delivered its first new aircraft factory-fueled with SAF. Handed over to charter/management provider Latitude 33 Aviation, the airframer is continuing its championing of sustainable fuel. Bombardier Business Aircraft, which last month accepted the first load of sustainable aviation fuel at its Montreal headquarters, has delivered its first new aircraft, factory-fueled with the renewable fuel, as part of the OEM's continuing efforts to encourage operators on its adoption. The super-midsize Challenger 350 was handed over to San Diego, California-based aircraft management, charter, and sales provider Latitude 33 and it will become the sixth Challenger-series twinjet in the company's fleet. "We are very pleased that the customer and Latitude 33 Aviation joined us in demonstrating that SAF can become a mainstream, drop-in alternative to traditional jet fuel for general aviation aircraft," said Peter Likoray, the airframer's senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. "We are actively promoting the use of SAF as a regular part of flying business aircraft, and Latitude 33 Aviation's trust as the first customer to fly away from our delivery center on these fuels represents a turning point in the longstanding and industry-wide pledge to reduce CO2 emissions." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-12-16/bombardier-delivers-first-factory-saf-fueled-jet Back to Top JetBlue Founder David Neeleman Selects Salt Lake City as Headquarters for New Airline America's newest and perhaps most innovative airline does not yet have a name, or any airplanes. But it now has a headquarters. David Neeleman's startup will be based in Salt Lake City, where it plans to spend a capital investment of $3.2 million and create nearly 400 jobs over the next five years, according to local authorities. In return, the state offered tax rebates worth as much as about $1.1 million over five years. "There's a super strong technology base, and lower cost of living than California and some of the coastal areas," Lukas Johnson, the airline's chief commericial said in an interview. "We want to focus more on the technology aspect of the transportation side, and it makes a lot of sense. The tech sector is booming out here." In putting his startup in Salt Lake City, Neeleman, who also founded JetBlue Airways, may have sought to correct one issue that once plagued his former employer. When Neeleman started JetBlue, he created a satellite office in Utah, but based it in New York City, near its largest hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport. (Neeleman had run a much smaller airline, Morris Air, from Salt Lake before selling it to Southwest in 1993.) New York has been expensive, and Neeleman's successors have complained about high costs. JetBlue nearly moved to Florida in 2010, but stayed put after winning new incentives from New York. This time, putting the airline in Utah was an easy decision, Johnson said, even though the local airport is not expected to be a focus city, perhaps because it is dominated by Delta Air Lines. "People can be working and living everywhere," he said. "It doesn't make sense to be trying to hire in the highest cost of living places. It doesn't make a ton of sense for a competitive business." There is, however, one outstanding issue with basing an airline in Utah. There are fewer executives with airline operations experience, so Neeleman's startup is expected to keep an East Coast base for its operational team. That group will work on certifying the carrier with the Federal Aviation Administration. THE PLAN The startup has begun hiring for jobs in Salt Lake, and Johnson has moved there. But the airline is not yet sharing many more details about its plans. Here's what we know so far. Neeleman is planning a new low-cost airline that will focus on secondary airports, such as Burbank or Oakland, California, and should offer above-average service at competitive fares. The airline has made few public filings, but in August, the airport in New Haven, Connecticut said it was under consideration as an East Coast focus city. "They are specifically looking at secondary airports in large metro areas with access to highly qualified labor pools and sufficient land around the airport for future terminal expansion and a potential development of maintenance and crew training facilities," officials in New Haven said about the airline in their public report. Long-term, the airline plans to use Airbus A220 aircraft capable of flying coast-to-coast or even across the Atlantic from the Northeast United States. The first of the 60 new aircraft on order is supposed to come in 2021. But Neeleman has hinted he could start the airline sooner by launching with used Embraer airplanes. He also wats to focus heavily on the digital experience, and has said he expects few customers will need to speak with airline agents on the phone. Instead, the airline will help solve problems via mobile or computer. More news about the airline's plans should be made public next year, Johnson said, including the name. At first, Neeleman suggested he might want to use Moxy, but Marriott uses the name for one of its hotel brands. The company is now using the name, Breeze Aviation, though that probably will not be the name of the carrier. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/jetblue-founder-david-neeleman-selects-195511487.html Back to Top SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket and lands the booster, but misses the fairing catch SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket SpaceX has successfully launched its 13th rocket this year, and its 11th Falcon 9 (the company also flew two Falcon Heavy missions in 2019). The launch included the re-use of a twice flown Falcon 9 booster stage, which it recovered again with a landing at sea aboard one of its droneship landing pads, and a recovery attempt of both halves of the nose cone fairing that protects the spacecraft's cargo and that is shed before the upper stage reaches its target orbit. This launch carried a Boeing-built satellite that was created to provide communications services for customers Kacific and SKY Perfect JSAT, and it seems to have delivered the payload to the target orbit as planned. But primary mission success is only half the story here - and the other half is key to SpaceX's efforts to make even more of its launch system reusable over time. Elon Musk's rocket company has been recovering Falcon 9 (and more recently, Super Heavy) boosters since 2015 and has done 47 successful first stage recoveries in total, but its fairing catching system is a much more recent introduction. SpaceX first controlled the descent of, and recovered a fairing half in 2017 - but did so by dropping it into the ocean. It later began attempting to recover it using a barge recovery ship to keep from having to fish it out of the sea, and managed to do that successfully for the first time with one half of the two-part fairing used in a Falcon Heavy launch this past June. The attempt to catch the fairings was not successful - SpaceX said on Twitter that both halves missed the waiting boats "narrowly," but added that recovery teams will still seek to pull them from the ocean and see about re-using them on future missions. SpaceX re-flew a recovered fairing in November for the first time, and Musk has said previously that re-use of this part could save SpaceX as much as $6 million per mission, which is around 10% of the total cost of launch. https://www.yahoo.com/news/spacex-successfully-launches-falcon-9-010950238.htm Back to Top Call for Papers - ISASI 2020 Montreal Sheraton, Montreal PQ September 1 - 3, 2020 With "20/20 Vision for the Future" as our theme, the ISASI 2020 Committee is inviting interested individuals to submit abstracts for papers that address the future of aircraft accident investigation. Presentation topics that support the theme may include, but are not limited to: • Recent accident/incident investigations of interest. • Novel investigation techniques for aircraft, helicopter, and drone accidents. • Data investigation methods, techniques and future developments. • Airport investigation methods and techniques • Future investigator selection criteria and training needs. • Future of aircraft data capture and retrieval and protection of safety information. • Future developments in underwater wreckage recovery. • Future evolution of Family Assistance. We are also interested in papers that address the challenges surrounding the recent 737 Max accidents. While it is not our intent to discuss the accidents themselves, we are hoping to generate thought and discussion on the impact the accidents have had on to the industry as a whole and how it has affected the travelling public. Presentations must be in English and should be 25 minutes long. There will be an additional 5 minutes for questions at the end of each presentation. Abstracts should include the author's current CV [1 page only please] and be sent to isasi2020papers@shaw.ca Important dates: March 20th, 2020 - Last date for receipt of abstracts. May 8th, 2020 - Presenters informed of acceptance and provided with additional instructions. May 22nd, 2020 - Draft program for the 2019 Seminar Technical Program will be published. July 10th, 2020 - Last date for receipt of completed paper and PowerPoint presentation. Any papers not received by this date will be removed from the program and replaced by another speaker. If you have questions related to the paper topics or any other inquiries about the program, please contact the ISASI 2020 Program Chair at avsafe@shaw.ca Curt Lewis